Acton Select Board Meeting - August 25th, 2025

001Good evening. Like to call this August 25th, 2025 meeting of the act and select board to order. And uh we have a really packed agenda tonight, so we'll move right along as quickly as possible. Uh first item, resident concerns. appears we have no resident concerns. Thank you. Uh chair update. I've got a number of items that I'm going to be bringing up within the body of the meeting. So I will uh not take my time at this point. U defer to the town manager. >> Thank you. I have uh several updates. um throughout the meeting as well. But I have a few just a few quick things from our economic development office. Patricia Costa gave me a few items to to mention. Several new businesses in town that have opened recently. Uh J Crew and

002then there's some other one is example of one of them. Alligator Shot Tennis is an example of another one. Uh there are some businesses that are recently open like New England Woou Academy. Uh and then there's some things coming down the line that we're hoping will uh be open up in this fall including a bagel factory and um a new Indian restaurant and a new grocery store in South Aton. So, uh, a lot of things happening on that front. And, um, we're also working on some new wayfinding signage. And this is pretty small, but for many years, there hasn't been any wayfinding signage for people that find Narrow Park. And we all know where it is, but um, we think we've been working on some new signage to help people find it. And, uh, hopefully

003we'll be able to put that in before the winter. So, just wanted to mention that as well. Thanks. Thank you. Comments statements from my colleagues. Alyssa. >> Thank you. I have a couple of updates. One from the Actton Water District. At their most recent meeting, um the manager announced that on Saturday, August 9th, they fired up the two new bedrock wells on the 549 Main Street parcel. Um at that meeting they were still waiting for um Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to sign off but they were expecting a week or two. So that may have happened by now. Um that water will be sent to the center act and plant and our water restrictions outdoor water restrictions are back to two days a week. Um but it is important to note that just because you

004can water your lawn twice a week doesn't mean you have to. Um so a lot of the turf in town um as you may have read in the Actton Exchange is yellow brown because it's dormant um because of the the drought conditions. So you know your irrigation efforts are really not going to do anything to to bring it back. Um I have an an update on the health insurance trust which met on Thursday morning and it's not well I'll give you the good news first and then the not so good news. So, the good news is that um our um set a well our prepaid um amount to Blue Cross Blue Shield is actually growing. So, they insisted that we prepay for the runout claims. Um but we're also getting credits. So, that that fund

005is growing. Um Harvard Pilgrim is is sending bills um but they're very small. So, um, claims are really dwindling in this second year of runout and Gallagher, our consultants are trying to convince, um, Blue Cross Blue Shield to give us some of that money back before next, um, fiscal year, June 30th, 26, when the when the claims, um, can no longer be paid. So, we'll see how that goes. Um, but we do have about $1.2 2 million that will be coming back to the town and the school district divied up according to our split which is roughly 80 to the district 20% to the town. Um Gallagher did also note that um the retirees which are going to be signing a new contract with Etna in January. They're on a different schedule. um Gallagher has

006seen some really significant um rate increases and they quoted a couple of other municipal clients seeing 40% rate increases. So, um I just wanted to give everybody a heads up on that. Um even though I hate to be the bearer of bad news. So, that's going to be an increased cost. Um, also, uh, Fran and I are planning another public immigration educational forum with again Indivisible and the Peacemakers Network, and that will be on Tuesday, September 9th at 700 p.m. at Great Road Church. Um, so there will be an immigration attorney um to speak with folks. Um we'll cover again um folks rights and um how to support um anyone who is being targeted for detainment, what to do, what not to do, and also do a little bit of role playing. So we meet

007next on September 8th, the day before. So I thought I'd give everybody a heads up. Um just keep an eye out on social media for more details about that. September 9th at Great Road Church. Thanks. >> Okay. Anyone else? All right. >> Yes. >> Sorry, that was kind of >> Okay. >> Sorry. So, I just wanted to announce um the town will hold a September 11th memorial ceremony on Thursday, September 11th, at 9:55 a.m. to honor and remember the lives lost in heroism displayed during the events of September 11th, 2001. The ceremony will take place at the monument located in front of the public safety building on Main Street. participants. Participants will include members of the fire department, police department, local dignitaries, and invited guests. The program will last approximately 20 minutes. All members of

008the public are invited and encouraged to attend. >> Thank you. All right. Uh we'll move on to some of our new and special business. Um, Mr. Manager, I think we'll jump right to item 10. >> Item 10. Okay. Um, I am um not pleased to announce, but I am announcing anyways, uh, that the director of administration finance, Maryann Fleckner, uh, is retiring or has retired as of, uh, Friday. Um, I just wanted to uh mention that to the board, talk a little bit about the transition and also I'd ask Marian to come up just to uh so I could thank her. But we are we are moving forward as you know she Marian's been doing two jobs um for the last few years. So we're currently recruiting for human resources director and once that position

009is filled uh we'll sort out uh what to do with the other half of her job which is overseeing the finance department. In the meantime, Tom and me will be uh paying more attention to the finance staff, although we we already do pay attention, but we'll be paying even more attention to them to try to help support through this uh transitional period. So, Marian, would you would you mind coming up? Just I just wanted to say a couple things. So, Marian's worked here for 17 years. Um she started in 2008 as HR director. Um she's helped navigate helped this organization navigate some challenging times. We talked about health insurance. Uh she helped this organization sort through healthc care reform uh in many different variations in in the early 2000s uh and some major changes in

010how it's all handled at a municipal level. She was a leader in that in the ma in Massachusetts and we were lucky to have her here. uh she helped really do some important things through COVID when we had to close a building down all the policies and procedures and things that we had to do without her leadership it would have been very challenging um you know and a few years ago as I mentioned when the finance department had basically everyone retire um Maryanne stepped up and has provided uh substantial leadership uh and she helped rebuild we have an awesome finance department now filled with talented and dynamic people and it's under her leadership that she's been mentoring them and bringing them forward and she's really put put a good put us in a really good

011place. Um, and she continued to mentor people in her role as HR. She's developed visitor code of conduct policies that were used all across the state, flexible work schedule policy that has certainly benefited us. uh she was a the spearheaded the ERC and the WIN which are two committees that provide a lot of uh employee wellness and employee morale employee recognition efforts and that has to it's a group effort and there's a lot of people involved but there's always needs to be one person that's kind of the engine and that that's been Maryanne um she's a true model for local government service and community service she's not just dedicated her time 22 hours a day to Actton. She also serves her community in many ways. U she's been a longtime Rotarian. Uh she's been the

012president of the Rotary a few times, the Actton Boxboro Rotary. Also involved in uh the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, the Domestic Violence Services Network, the Center for Hope and Healing, and she's a trustee at the Westford JV Fletcher Library. So I'm personally thankful to Maryanne. She's she's not just been a mentor for people in the organization, she's been a mentor for me, a confidant, and um since day one, actually a few months before day one, she's been helping me, and I really appreciate everything she's done for me here in Actton, and I know she's going to keep busy cuz that's her nature. Uh but, uh I wish her the best in retirement, and and thank you for everything you've done here. >> Thank you. I'm speechless. Um, I'm just going to say

013that I am so thankful and being a public employee is probably the best job in the world. My dad was and he got me involved in public service. Um, almost 40 years ago. At first I thought, what are you doing? Um, but soon I learned that there's no other better job in the world. And so I worked for the state for 21 years. And he wanted me to um be home closer and spend a little bit more time with my family. And I thought, why would I leave? I have the best job in the world with the state. And um I applied for the director of human resources for the town. And as John mentioned, I started on um July 7th, 2008, and I thought, okay, if I'm just here for a short while, I'll

014go back to the state. Well, I never looked back. This is the best job. It was definitely a much shorter commute. Um and developed so many friends, so many co-workers that just have been phenomenal over the years. I'm so thankful to all of you. Um the select board you're the best. You really support us. We can't do this without you. We wouldn't be as good without you. Um my first job here, I was I uh next door neighbor to uh Dean Sharta. He was in the office next to me um as the director of municipal services. And Dean, you were very welcoming. Everyone was. And I will forever be grateful. I am con I just consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world. Never worked a day in my life. I just every

015day every day has been so enjoyable. I think just being able to um be there for people. Um not have to think about, you know, hey, we've got to we have to make that profit that that that's not why we're here. But also as important is that being fiscal conservatives and and making sure that the taxpayers money is being spent spent wisely um is extremely important simultaneously. Uh and thank you. I'm thank you. I just thank you John. You I really enjoyed working for you. I learned so much. Um, John, you're like this, you know, you're just very calm. Could be um like you're going like I feel like loosey goosey and he's like, "It's okay. It's all right. That's good. This is good." And I would say to myself like, "I don't get it.

016I don't understand what's good about this." But he's always right that no matter what, there's always a good side to everything. So, thank you, John. Um, and I'm I will hopefully hopefully I will never forget all of you. Um, that I know I say that because I'm thinking like, "Oh my god, I'm retired." um that I I really mean it that you also give so much of your time and you don't have to, but you do because you care about Actton and you care about the community and so that this is why we're all here. Thank you. [Applause] >> Well, Maryanne, you knew I was going to have to bring this up since since we could wrap on our on our wall between our offices for about seven years uh when we worked together. Um

017and you know one of the things that I noticed early on was just you know how very involved you were in all aspects of the organization and how much you cared for people. Um there were a couple of times when you reached out to me and said, you know, we should sit and have lunch and it was not necessarily going to be a good lunch, but it was going to be a lunch uh to discuss issues. Um and I always appreciated the way you handled those. And also, I I think John probably understated it when he said that you worked a 22-hour work week because I don't think there was ever a time when I was driving around here with storm damage or whatever that I'd drive by here at 3:00 in the morning and

018the corner office lights would be on because you'd still be working. Um, and it just a remarkable degree of dedication to the town and I so much enjoyed working with you as a colleague and as a friend and I wish you well. >> Thank you. I just kept the lights on and no one ever caught on. Thank you. That That's not true. I've gotten emails from you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Um, Mr. Manager, do you suppose we have enough time to consider the uh electric vehicle charging station rates if uh Andrea is available? >> Yes. Uh she Andrea is here, director of sustainability is here and there was some information she provided in the packet. I believe we've since updated that uh and she can walk you through

019uh what those updates are and the purpose of the tonight's discussion is for the board to agree with the new rates that we want to charge uh at the vehicle charging stations. So Andrea, take it away. In the packet it there was some data about the different stations that we've had up and running. It's interesting to see which ones get the most use. Um >> there you are. >> Hi, good evening. Um it's great to see you all again. Um I haven't seen many of you uh yet since I returned from leave, but it's great to see some of you virtually. Um so um I apologize we I sent some information last week. Um I have an updated set of numbers for you all. Um I can share my screen. So I'll share my screen

020real quick to give you show you the new updated numbers. Um, so in the memo we sent previously, we did not include some demand charges on our electricity rates. Um, and so we updated that to make sure that it reflects a more conservative estimate on the actton town hall. >> Can you can you please go bigger with that? >> Yes. Thanks. >> Apologies. Can you see that? A little better. >> A little better. Yeah. >> Okay. >> How about now? >> Yes, please. >> Okay. So for actton town hall um uh fire wreck and yeah just those three we have to do an estimate because we don't those um EV chargers aren't metered. Um and so based on the estimate we calculated um it's quite in-depth actually. Lauren West, our environmental analyst, put that data

021together looking and reviewing um our um electric bills from that past fiscal year and then took into account a demand rate and calculated like based on the percentage use of the EV chargers what that uh total cost is uh to operate those chargers. Um you'll see that overall we are making a revenue. Um a big chunk of that is due to the veterans fields fast charger stations and the um South Actton commuter rail stations because we do not pay um electricity right there. Um it's paid by the MBTA. Um, and then the Rex station, which is fairly new still. Um, you're seeing a very small profit there. Um, and we suspect that one will get more use. It was only installed in in May of of this year. Um, and this is capturing just the

022fiscal year 2025. So, the big reason that I am here today is to talk about setting an idol fee. Um so um we do have a lot of idling um for our some of our vehic for some of our chargers. So for the veterans field charger um we're especially interested in making sure that vehicles are circulating frequently. Um so let me look at this. I have an information here of the summary. One more please. So for um veterans field a total of 72 vehicles which is only 5%. So it's not a huge chunk of vehicles idled for over 30 minutes. And then for our town hall uh 139 vehicles idled for um over 30 minutes. And what that means is that the vehicle basically continued was connected to the charger and not drawing any charge

023or electricity. And so basically that vehicle is parked for free because we charge per kilowatt hour. And so we are interested in setting a idle fee. And so for the veterans field, we're interested in setting something that's equitable. So we looked at sort of industry um averages and we saw that the like a good fee structure could be giving folks 15 minute grace period at the veterans field charger. So, after they've um completed their charge um waiting 15 minutes um to let people, you know, return to their vehicle, they've gotten a notice over their phone, you know, your vehicle charge is complete. Um and then after that, start charging $5 per hour and then that could be built in 15minute increments. So, about $125 per 15 minutes. And then we could set a cap at

024$50 just to ensure that um that's it doesn't end up being like an exorbitant fee. Um and that's really just because the vehicle itself, the charger itself is getting a profit. Like we're not losing money on that charger right now. And so um we don't need to set an exorbitant fee. Um, and so that's that's the recommendation from the sustainability office and that's also just based on like industry standard sort of what the average is for a lot of chargers. Um, for the level two um once um charging has so once um charging has been completed um we could set a $240 $2.40 40 cent per hour um fee and that just um again would encourage people to cycle out. It's not an exorbitant fee, but it is enough for folks to come back to

025their car and say like, "Okay, this car is, you know, it's just a little bit of an incentive for people to come and get their car." And I apologize for rambling a bit. I didn't realize I was going to present just now. I was thinking I was going to present a little bit later. Um, so I was like searching for my documents, so I feel like I'm not as organized as I would have been at 7:30, um, or later. Um, so apologies if I rambled a bit, but it's a lot of information, so please let me know if you want a little more clarity. >> Thank you. Questions? Uh, David, uh, thanks Andrea. Um, uh, one question and then some comments. What is the idle time at the level two chargers? Yes. So, we have

026that data. There's a lot of data. >> No, I No, I meant what what were you proposing? When would the rates kick in after what amount of idle time >> at the fast charger? >> No, at the level two chargers. >> Um, so we could actually set um um after like a set amount of hours. So after um after 12 hours of charging doing $2.40 per hour. >> So that makes a lot of sense to me. After 10 or 12 hours, I think that's a a good number because um PE at a level two charger people may charge overnight. You don't want to have to have them return at 2:30 in the morning when their car is done. Or if they're on the train, they may be in Boston and they can't make it out.

027Um uh uh that kind of thing. or for people um uh in this building, they may be charging while they're working um and it's difficult to know when you're done and that kind of thing. So, I think that a 12-h hour idle or 10hour idle um at the level two chargers is good and I think that rate is good. I think the rate is a little bit low on the fast chargers. Um they're often much higher than that. Um I do think that the grace period could be a little bit longer than 15 minutes. Um because unless you like walk across the to the um Actton Woods Plaza um you know you you might leave your car and your car says it's going to take you know 45 minutes to charge or whatever it is.

028You might go over and have a cup of coffee or go to CVS or something. Um you know making it back exactly on time might be a problem. So, I would like to see maybe half hour or maybe even a little bit longer on on those, but I think you could charge more once it hits, right? Because it's th those charge um quickly enough. It's like leaving the gas pump handle in your car and um going shopping in the grocery store uh while you're you're just taking up a space at the gas pump. So, um I I think those those idle times could be the the fees could be higher, but I'd like to see the grace period just extended a little bit. Alicia, >> thanks Andrea. Um, I checked the the website. So, the

029the page where we have the table of all of the rates says that for the fast charger at Veterans Field, it's 45 cents, but in your memo, it says 40. So, I'm just wondering which is the correct fee. uh 40 cents should be the fee. >> Okay. So, thank you for that. And and I would concur with David that um they could that that that rate could be a little bit higher. I was going to suggest raising it to um 50 or even 60 cents because it seems that in Massachusetts fast charging stations range between 56 cents and 64 cents per kilowatt hour and some municipalities even have peak times. So they'll charge 75 cents for for a peak time. I'm I'm not suggesting that we do that, but um it might be good to

030to increase that rate. And and I think I would be okay with extending the grace period from 15 minutes to a little bit higher. Um I feel like Charge on America, it starts after a minute or 5 minutes. Um and and your the data you provided us said the number of cars that have been idling for more than a half an hour. So, I don't think I'd want to go beyond 30 minutes. Even 20 minutes might be enough cuz I'm just wondering where you're going to go from Veterans Field if not across the street to Actton Woods Plaza. Um, so I'd be okay with extending that a little bit, but not beyond 30 minutes. >> Other comments? David, I think the uh uh Alyssa, you were referring to cost per kilowatt hour. >> Yes, >>

031that is extremely high. Extremely high. Almost all um chargers are between 40 and 50 cents an hour. Um a kilowatt hour. So se 60 75 cents a kilowatt hour. That's more than twice the cost of the electricity. Um and so I I think that's an awful lot. um you know so um uh you know I I don't think I've ever paid more than 50 cents a kilowatt hour. Um so I think that that's that's a lot. I mean if we wanted to go into the high 40s I've certainly paid in the high 40s. Um and that that's fine but um I think 65 or 75 cents a kilowatt hour is very very high. Okay. Um would you folks have a uh suggested amendment uh that you'd like to bring forward or would you like to

032have uh Andrea come back um at a subsequent meeting? Alissa. Um so so I Googled Massachusetts um rates and it was per kilowatt hour and the range that I got was 0.56 to 64. But if you say it's high, fine. I believe you. Um but Andrea, what do you what are your thoughts about increasing it from 40 cents to 45? >> I want to apologize because it is 45 cents. So I did get it wrong in the memo. So very sorry about that. Um and I just double checked our charge point app. Um so it is 45 cents. I I don't necessarily So since it's already at 45 cents and it's working and it's covering our costs. Um in fact we're bringing in some revenue to help cover the cost of the other chargers. Um

033I don't necessarily think we need to increase the actual rate itself. Um, but I do suggest that, you know, we can, you know, go back and to the drawing board and think a little bit more about this, but we could in the interim set that idling fee. Um, because it sounds like I haven't heard from every one of you, but it sounds like folks are in favor of increasing the price. Um, and if you are in favor of increasing the price, I would suggest increasing it in that idling fee. Um, and I know David, you and it sounds like Alyssa, you suggested that 30 minute grace period. So, it sounds like there might be some consensus there. And then you, David, you mentioned like a higher cost than what I suggested, the $5 per hour.

034So, maybe we could do $6 per hour. Um, or, you know, we could consider a higher cost. But I at the very least I would suggest going with something that we can reach a little bit of consensus on because that is um pretty standard to have an idling fee and we do want the cars to cycle out and people not to be just parked for free at the especially at the fast chargers. And then for the for the uh level two chargers, do after 12 hours of charging, set that $250 per hour uh fee. Alicia. >> Um, so I just want to um clarify that I'm suggesting an increase partially because of the information that I found on the internet, but also because of your important note that the chargers that we're going to start

035incurring network fees once the grant coverage ends, so next August. So, I'm fine with leaving it at, you know, 45 cents per kilowatt hour now, but we might want to consider like paying close attention to it um and seeing if the revenue drops. So, it's great that we're getting revenue to cover the cost and a little bit extra. Um, but if that starts to level out or even dip, then we should think about increasing the rates. Fran >> Andrea, you haven't heard from me because I'm an odd man out and don't have an electric car. I'm learning by listening to my colleagues, but I'm in agreement with with having a motion tonight uh for both. Okay, David, >> Jim, um I'm I'm comfortable with this uh pro proceeding the way we are for now. Like

036you said, we have this um you know, looming uh network fee thing starting in about a year. Um and that'll be a time to revisit all this. Um, one question I had um to make sure I'm thinking about this right is sometimes idle fees are designed so that um um to prevent um all the chargers being in use uh by people that aren't actually charging. So, you know, they're if they're actually keeping them keeping the chargers from being used by other people that need them. So, I was wondering what sort of data we had about the fast chargers uh and how often um both ports are in use at the same time. Um yeah, so how how often is it the case that someone wanting a fast charge is going to go there and go,

037"Oh, shoot. There's nothing available." >> So, I have mountains of data. I don't have that exact data point. uh handy right now. Um but we could try to extrapolate that and figure that out because it is a good very good point. I I I have just the number as I gave you on the idling per station. Um so you can sort of maybe assume that it's taken one spot at least um at least for the fast chargers. There's only two spots for the fast chargers. Um and sometimes there's failures like one might not be working very well. So if one's idling then the other one doesn't work. You sort of the odds are just against you. >> I'm I'm happy to wait for you know for the future to get that information but I think

038it is something that we'll need to understand but for um you know resetting the the idling rates again. Thanks >> David. I could make a motion if you want. Please do. I I propose that we institute uh idle fees at our charging stations. For the level two chargers, $2.40 an hour after 12 hours of idle. And for the fast chargers, $6 an hour after 30 minutes of idle for a m and a maximum of $50 in that case. >> Second. >> Okay, we've got a motion and a second. Any other last thoughts? No. All in favor of the motion, please say I. >> I >> opposed. Abstensions. Okay. Thank you very much, Andrea. >> Thank you all so much. >> All right. It being 6:30, we have a site plan special permit. I'll read the

039notice. The ACT and Select Board will hold a public hearing on August 25th, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. continued from July 21st, 2025 in the Francis Faulner hearing room 204 at the town hall, 472 Main Street, Actton, and virtually at acttonma ma.gov/meing SB on the application of Riveroflife Church for a site plan special permit under zoning bylaw section 10.4. 4 and two separate use special permits under zoning bylaw section 10.3 6.23 23 and 3.5.15 PN 9 closed PN at 45 Nog Park to construct a clubhouse, pickle ball enclosure, and tennis court enclosure on the property within a portion of the property lo leased from the owner. Is the applicant here? Yes. >> Uh please come forward. And then Nate Ryan's here from the planning office to support the discussion as well. Okay. >> Thank you. Um

040which who is the select board member assigned to this? >> Jim, it's me. >> I'll let you lead off. >> Okay. Well, this is the second part of a hearing that we started before. Um and so you've given us a basic overview of the project. uh we left you with um um you know that the CSG analysis had was you know had just shown up the day of the application so no one had had a chance to react to it yet and by now you've had time and you have uh you'll be able to tell us about how you've responded to that and to the other concerns and questions that have come up. >> Yes. Um thank you. Uh my name is uh Frank McPartland. I'm the um engineer with Dillis and Roy the project

041manager for the project. I was um on vacation when the the uh the hearing opened, but um uh here here to cover it now. U with me is um Mike Co, the the architect and the the applicant Marcus Lewis. Um first um just like to go through uh what has uh changed on on on the plans since you would see seen them last. Uh the site plans themselves have been uh revised per uh the GSG gcg peerreview planning comments and um act and conservation comm commission comments. Uh the kind of the the largest change um is that the peer reviewer noted a discrepancy between test pit elevations and the existing topography on on the site. Um, and what what h happened there was I had transcribed um record test pit information from previous testing on

042on the site and I had missed that there was a just um about a 10-in datim change between what was on those test pits and my elevations. And a quick glance if you looked at the contours it's like that that looks about right. But when um when you uh when you looked close at at the the information, it was enough to throw off the the groundwater offset separation requirements. So uh the test pit elevations were corrected and uh the subsurface system was adjusted to meet groundwater offset requirements and I provided uh requested groundwater mounting cow calculations to to bring that system uh completely in into compliance. Additionally, the uh subsurface system footprint uh was revised to meet horizontal offset requirements to the foundations of the court. So, I was just basically able to um make

043the make the system slightly narrower and longer to get the required area that I needed to meet the uh requested offsets to the to the the court found foundations. Um some other uh smaller ch changes. Um I made a minor adjustment to the T turnaround configuration uh to meet uh firet truck turnaround requirements. It had originally been laid out to meet um international fire code but um it uh didn't quite work with wi with with a turning move movement. So I I made that adjustment. Uh I have also added a uh maintenance path um provided uh between the T turnaround and the fire lane that come that's coming off of nonset path. Um this is going to be the same reinforced grass fully per pervious material that the original fire lane was going to be.

044Um and this is to access uh roller doors at the rear of the court structures both for um uh kind of function of the facility itself as well as to um to pro facilitate maintenance of the storm water um sub subsurface facilities that are under the court surface. Um, within the peerreview response letter itself, uh, there were a number of items looking to document compliance with chapter X requirements, which is, um, acting storm water bylaw. um I went through um I think in detail in those and provided some additional information documenting compliance and I'm um I'm awaiting their uh their kind of response one way or or the the other on those uh uh those responses themselves. Um, would you like me to go in depth through the GCG letter or um or move kind

045of into planning com comments and um typically what we do at this point is we turn to people that know more than we do. Like I look over at Nate and say, "Are there are there any of these details uh that we think would be best talked about here or do things are things moving in the right direction?" Hi Nate, how's things? Hi. Um so I I think there were a lot of uh comments made by the GCG peer review that could be um handled either um just internally or in conditions of approval. Um, I would I would call out um some of the things highlighted in the planning memo. Um, just a second here. Um, I guess one big item for the board to um kind of think about it would be uh the

046ADA spaces >> um and the distribution of them. I think there were seven pre-existing um on the site and then they added two more um by the pickle ball center. Um but I think the highest use would most likely be the pickle ball center. So um that could be something to deliberate. >> Yeah. Right now there there's yeah there's the the I think yeah se seven spaces that are all low located up at the front of the site. um given its original use that that makes makes per perfect sense. Um I had added two more because uh just to have some down down by the the uh the clubhouse itself, >> but we could certainly um update the striping to more evenly distribute those. I I wouldn't want to add uh do do a straight

047ad of additional A8 parking down at at the pickle ball court given some of the parking constraints that we're we're seeing here. But I I I so I would definitely want to um have kind of a a restriping and swapping of of of spaces and redistribute if if that was the the wish of the board. >> Okay. So, it's something the board can talk about. Um, if we're making a list of issues, um, uh, I I' I'd want to ask at the same time about the the bicycle parking since that sort of sometimes bicycle parking spots compete with ADA spots since they both like to be uh, you know, by statute they like to be close to the entrance. >> Yes. Um so I have um four post and ring bike bicycle racks in ground

048mounted um configuration providing eight spa spaces in front front of the building >> and those aren't in conflict with um with the ADA spaces. >> Great. And and Nate, does that is that does that fit the the needs of the bylaw? >> Yep. Eight was the requirement. >> Great. Thank you. Um, were there other things, Nate, that you wanted to make sure that um were covered here? >> Um, yeah. So, I think last time, um, correct me if I'm wrong, I think the board um wanted to see the sidewalk repaired rather than a donation. Um, but it it's a little unclear to the extent of which it'll be repaired. Um, so I don't know if the board would want to talk about that. Um if if I may, I have it um called called out

049to be repaired on Nog Park essentially across the entire frontage of the project. I don't have a linear footage, but it's 2600 square ft and 5t wide. So that could back into a number, but it it it is the Oh, you know what? I have the frontage. I should have the frontage. The front edge of the property is about that's a radius 400 ft wide I believe frontage. No. Oh, I have the smaller of the two called called out on the table, but it's um I want to say it's about 400 ft of sidewalk that would be repaired. U rough numbers. >> Thank you. Um, and were there other issues that either Nate want you wanted us to make sure we were discussing? >> Sure. Um, there was also a dimminimous waiver requested by the

050applicant um from chapter X and then also the um fossil fuelf free um waiver as well. >> So um first I'll I I'll address that dimminimous waiver. Um I have received um in the last couple of days some additional soil testing information. So the the subsurface soils that are un under my um my subsurface drainage systems are better than what I was anticipating. >> So I have pro provided that to G gcg and and planning but I will no longer need that dimminimous waiver. Um my letter is yes. So I will now rather than having a dimminimous waiver to to allow for for me to be about 500 cubic feet of excess runoff um excess volume in the 100year storm. I am now um 9,400 ft below between existing and and proposed. So um that

051request will be with withdrawn. Okay. Um, and you mentioned the fossil fuel waiver. We we, you know, we haven't handled a lot of these yet, but so far um we've we've handled those uh as a as a separate hearing because we usually require some um specific technical analysis about the alternatives. Um and um so at least my recommendation would be not to try to handle that tonight but handle that as a separate matter as soon as possible. Um um do you look at that as a separate application pro process or once everything else is kind of ironed out then you you would take that up for discussion? >> Um I'm looking over at Nate again. We've only so because we're kind of new to this process. Um it seems like when we've had the the

052fossil fuel waiver application that we had um we had information developed with Ed with our building commissioner um that you know answered some um questions about um you know what the alternatives are um why why why a why a fossil fuel-free alternative wouldn't work whether that's for technical reasons or financial reasons. um you know with some with some analysis of so we can look at numbers um to compare um um yeah so I I don't I didn't see that in the in the packet yet >> believe we've had some discussions with the the the building commissioner about that but >> okay >> was has something formally been submitted as well so he he does have a formal p package with outlining um uh costs and fees feesability the the high points that that you me

053mentioned there. Yes. >> Okay. So, we'll we'll we'll look for that. Um was there other stuff you wanted to make sure that we understood uh either in the changes or in the overall picture of things? >> Um one of my uh questions was actually um one of the first comments that PL plan planning had had and I I just want to make sure I'm presenting my information correctly when you when you get the next re revision. But um it says um item one open space. Uh the applicant has not noted the percentage of open space on the plans and should submit a landscaping plan to include open space delineation and calculations. Uh the minimum requirement for open space in the zoning district is 35%. Uh this item still need needs to be addressed. So, I

054did document the open space on the uh cover page um that's that's in the zoning table um on the top for um existing and and proposed on the site and um I have kind of provided land that most recent land landscape exhibit. We've had had that called called out. If you need anything else on on that, I can I can s certainly provide additional clarification, but we're um well over well over that 35% requirement. Um Dean, I think we can you can handle this from here as far as calling on other board members and um you know, developing other questions or things that we need to discuss. the things that I heard we need to in particular we need to discuss are uh distribution of um ADA parking spaces um but there's probably other matters

055as well. >> Thank you David. >> I just wanted to tell everybody that the cover page says that the uh proposed is for uh 53% open space just so um people know. Um, and I just wanted to reiterate that um, whatever we we vote on today would not include um, uh, fossil fuel waiver. There are fossil there are heat pump systems that work in air supported structures. Um, uh, can I ask if um, this building is going to be air conditioned as well as heated? >> It is. >> So you only need one system for a heat pump, you know, two, right? So, um uh um it's not likely to cost much more, if any more to put in. Um it may or may not cost more to operate. Um so, uh the costs are

056going to be very close. And you know, I've I'm not speaking for the board here. I'm going to be looking for something that you where uh your your paperwork shows that it's financially infeasible um to do with um without fossil fuels um because other people do it. I I don't I don't expect that to be the case. Thank you. >> Other comments, Alissa. >> Thank you. So, a couple of the items that I noted in the GCG review that weren't discussed yet tonight or in the updated um memo was the length of the ramp um being noted as u being too short and also not including a landing. So, I'd love to hear from the applicant about that. Yes, I have uh revised the um the configuration of the ramp to provide the the required

057uh landings as well as the the additional length. Um I believe the the the first time that I laid it out um I had graded it to the top of concrete and not the finished floor and it worked great. Um and just completely just missed that I had a few more in inches to go up. So now we have um I have a detail um accessible ramp plan on sheet C5.1 and that calls out um grading and distances. >> All right, thank you very much for that. Um along the still the accessibility um topic, I um am concerned that the accessible spaces are close to the church building rather than the tennis pickle ball facility. Um because that will be absolutely the highest use. Um and in the narrative uh there's a description of you

058know current demographics um children going for lessons being you know dropped off by parents, grandparents. So there could potentially be quite a few folks um who need that accessible parking due to um mobility issues. Also, there was a mention in the GCG review about the maneuvering aisle width being 3 ft too narrow. Um and I'm wondering if the board would be interested in having that corrected that's in the parking lot. Um, you know, I think the narrative about the reduction in parking spaces being acceptable for the anticipated demand, you know, the number of players who are going to be there doubled um and the and we know the peak attendance at the church. I'm a little concerned about the vacant office space. So, if we do approve this reduction in required parking spaces, which sounds

059great, what happens if another tenant comes in and that office space is now occupied? Is there flexibility with the site to to um add um additional parking spaces if the demand for them um exists. Um I'm happy to hear about the sidewalk repair. Um that's that's great. I did see that in um the planning calculation for the potential contribution to the sidewalk fund um 595 ft was used. So I'm wondering why 400 versus I just want to make sure that we repair all the necess we make all the necessary repairs to the sidewalk. But thank you for that. >> I am reading a half-size plan plan sheet. >> Yeah. Um we so what's detailed on the plans is a repair across our entire frontage. It's called out from property corner to property corn corner. >>

060One more thing. Um the last thing was that I did not um see in the staff comments anything from the fire department. Um and I looked in all three folders. So, I may have missed it, but if I didn't miss it and it's not there, when will we when will we see comments from fire? >> Um, I have not been copied on anything with fire if if there has been any correspondence between the applicants and fire. >> No. Um the only discussion we've really had with fire was at the um the department interdep departmental meeting where we um I had reviewed the fire lane um and the layout of the site with um the deputy fire chief at at that time. So um there I I didn't receive anything for formal in writing, but we

061did receive um kind of direction on what he what he wanted to see on on the site. So, I guess if we can just get something in writing that all the changes that were made um are acceptable to the fire department. Um, and there was also a comment in GCG's memo about having the two um proposed buildings going over the church's underground electric utility. So, just want to make sure that that has been addressed because it wasn't recommended. We are uh at at the time time of my my response we hadn't found any indication that that was the actual route of the electric. Um since then I I've found in I think in the last uh couple of days I've found a little more evidence that that might actually be the uh the route. So

062we we we will be investigating and and addressing that. >> Brian I just have a quick question and um in that are you adding lighting or are you using existing lighting or do you >> um my intention was to reuse existing lighting in the parking lot itself and then add um wall wallpack site lighting on on onto the buildings at um at all of the egress points and um I have provided a supplemental um lighting design documenting that to to the planning department. >> Thank you. Yeah. Jim. Um, so Nate, you may may have been keeping closer track than I have. That wouldn't surprise me at all. Um, but so far what I heard for discussion among the board members, I heard about moving um some of the ADA spots from the church uh to

063the pickle ball facility. Um, I think Alyssa that the other things you mentioned were things that could go into uh conditions, but um but maybe there was there maybe one of those things that you mentioned is something that we should actually get resolved now. Um um the there was a the width of some accessibility width. The width of the maneuvering aisle, I think it was 21 ft and it's supposed to be 24 ft. And I'm assuming that's an update to the zoning bylaw since this parcel was developed. >> Yeah. Um so what one of the reasons that I want to make sure that the fire department is is okay with with the layout >> that is it is an existing condition of the um of the the the parking lot and we we were not

064proposing any work that would impact any of those aisles. So we we we hadn't touched those. Um, I do know, um, I've I've looked at this parking lot quite a bit and I and I kind of feel that if if we have to do any kind of, uh, widening and putting in new roundings in in the parking lot, we're going to lose more parking spaces >> to to make that that that geometry work. Uh it is possible that we could uh and I haven't discussed with with my my my client yet, so I might be a little um uh out out of field here, but po possibly we could um control the tra the traffic flow through the parking lot with um uh striping and and arrows. and may maybe have at this bottom at

065the southern end of the parking lot where it we do have that narrow throat have a one-way access through um coming south and then in north in front of the building potentially. >> So the the maneuvering is the is the entrance to and from. It's not the spaces in between the the parking spots. Is that correct? Um, yeah, I looking at at at the site, the the the two choke points, if you have have it in front of you, appear to be the entrances to the southern half of of the the parking lot. So if you're looking on um say the existing conditions plan um it would be the kind of the bottom I not half the bottom third um where the that driveway kind of ends and splits >> uh just after the the

066existing build building that appears to be the those choke that choke point. I think I would be okay as long as we get here from fire in in writing just to make sure because it is very close to the building. So >> um you just said a reasonable condition or a piece that you can make sure happens before um the permit proceeds to have um hear from the fire department positively from the fire department. >> Okay. Um just to to follow up on on that that that fire con concern for the the site access. I haven't de I have demonstrated with um turn turning movements submitted that that uh emergency vehicles can maneuver through this existing parking lot without any changes. >> Great. Um, is there is there a feeling from the other members of

067the board about how many spots uh ADA spots, if any, we would move from we'll recommend moving from the church to the to the uh to the facility. >> We're we're what now? Seven and two. >> We are um seven and two, correct? >> Yeah. >> I would love to hear from staff. >> Any opinions over there, Nate? Um, not off the top of my head. Uh, I could possibly defer to GCG on that. What um what I might suggest is I can look at the the kind of the the use distribution and see um what uh I can make a a recommendation as well and look at at not so much the the the use as the the number of parking spots in this in the club portion of the parking lot down by

068by the bottom. and and make sure that that makes sense with um with the the number of spots where we're proposing it definitely provide a basis for a um for restriping. Um, so it looks like potentially the two spaces that are already proposed there, um, in that row against the building might accommodate four more >> because there are six six additional spaces um, right adjacent to the two accessible ones. >> Yes. So, you know, three or four additional ones there. >> If if I was going to move move space spaces there, that's definitely where I I could put them. Um, I I just want to look I want I I want to make sure that the the numbers work for both. >> So, it sounds like um what you're proposing is that there's some additional

069analysis and thinking you'd like to do before you settle on a a a recommended number. And the question, I guess the question I have for the board is whether we're okay with um you know, letting that level of negotiation happen between the applicant and staff or whether we want to do that publicly. >> I I think this is something could be handled with staff rather than come back for another hearing >> here. So Nate, that suggests that you you'd be you'd be working with the applicant on the exact distribution of the ADA spots. Okay, great. >> I' I'd love to hear some feedback on the um question about what happens when if and when the office space is no longer vacant and needing additional parking. You know, if it's used as office space, um it's

070complimentary to the church use on Sunday. So, it shouldn't be an issue, but I' I'd love to hear from board members or the applicant or both. >> Yeah. And I and there might even be a staff suggestion about that, too. Um um I I I recall you you you said that the um the the special permit about reducing the number of parking spaces would have to be revisited if um if the if the office building started being occupied. >> Correct. they would uh that could be included as a condition that they would have to come back uh for an amendment. >> David, I I would like to see the the the thing that you said previously, Jim, that um that the uh applicant come to an agreement with staff on the final parking arrangement. That'd

071be a condition um explicitly stated. And also, I don't know if reusing the existing um lighting allows uh means that they have to bring it up to date, but I'd like to have that as a condition as well that the it's great that they can reuse the lighting, but I'd like to see it meet the act and bylaw for act and lighting bylaw. So um if I may um expand on on that, we have looked at the existing lighting that is out on site and from uh light readings that we have took as well as um reviewing um different light figures against what's out there. Um it it appears that it it's a a modern 40 watt 3000K L led which which is um with within your bylaw. >> Yeah, that would meet our by

072but I'd still like to just have that as a condition. >> Certainly. >> I see a nod from Nate. Okay. Two. >> Okay. Um, so I think if if you work with staff uh to work out these final issues and then I believe that staff can come back with a uh a final plan uh which we can vote on uh find that it satisfies all the conditions and kind of the the ball is in your court and Nate's court as far as how quickly that gets done. But um we'd certainly like to move it ahead as quickly as possible. >> Yeah. >> Um so as the applicant um and maybe I should have mentioned this earlier. So on the point on the parking, we do have um an agreement in principle with 43 NGO to

073actually um lease some additional space there. So on Sundays, you know, in the event that you know it ends up being too much, we can use their lot. So, I do have an email from them saying that we can tell you that. Yeah. Um, so that should help. Yeah. The other part, um, Dave, you mentioned about the about the heat pumps. Um, I've researched this at Nauseium and I don't know if you're talking about the clubhouse, which I agree that that will be electric, but um, I've not ever seen any tennis or pickle ball facility of the square footage that we're looking at that has gosh anything like that. Um and uh I have gone to a number of HBAC people to say look is there anything you can do? Most say I can't. Um

074some have said there's some things in development. I got one guy who says um that there's something and he's putting it together but um what I saw preliminar prelim preliminarily um it looked like it was both not um not cost effective and um I think it's questionable as far as the coverage I'm going to get. But if you know of something that I'm not aware of, um I I'd love to know. I just haven't for that kind of 25,000 40,000 square ft. Yeah. So there are certainly buildings bigger than that heated by electricity. The new stop and shop is all electric for example. Um uh uh so um uh it's certainly possible and I I looked myself too and I found other um air supported um uh structures for uh uh tennis courts that were

075heated with heat pumps. Now um I didn't go price them right. I I just found that they existed. Um and um and as as I mentioned, one of the advantages you need one system rather than two and that defays a lot of the cost. So, um, you know, what I would have expected is that they heat pump to heat the structure and, um, energy recovery is part of the, um, the the system to keep the building inflated. Um, but, um, you know, uh, you know, I it it definitely needs more more research. I suspect you could find somebody in the Boston area that that did these. Um Um, you can certainly find them other places. I I can do a little research and and see what I can find. >> I I will uh I

076will double I will double check cuz of course I I have an air supported dome. Um it's hard for me to imagine it being electrically heated because they just bleed so much energy. Um but I will certainly take a look. >> That is one one thing I' I'd like like to note also that this isn't an air air supported dome. Um this is a a a fabric structure with a metal frame. So it it's um while it it it's still a big open air facility, it doesn't have, you know, kind of forced air keeping >> Yeah. keeping it down. I I I will say that that I don't have the the resources of a stop and shop. I wish I did, >> but uh yeah, that would be a little tough, but but I will

077definitely look more into it because if I could find something um honestly, I would love to be more energy efficient and cut down on my my carbon footprint. I would, honestly. >> Um This will be be interesting because uh um uh to to see how this comes up, but correct me if I'm wrong because we talked a little bit about this last time. The the the I I thought you had said it was air supporting. So that's my mistake, but but you did say that the um um the structure was layered so that it was basically reasonably insulated. Maybe not as well as a frame structure, but um >> R19. Yeah. So, um um and remind me how many square feet under that building. >> So, the pickle ball I believe is about 25,000 square

078ft and the tennis is about 40 about 40,000 ft. >> Total it's just under 70,000 square feet between the two buildings. >> Thank you. Um uh we can we'll look into it and see what we can find. >> Sure. Thanks. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Jim. I wonder if the board would be willing at at this point to go through the the vote on the mandatory findings to make sure we're, you know, we're we're all we're all in agreement that we're in the right direction here. Um, could I take us through those? >> Please do. Yeah. >> Okay. Um, I' I'd move that we find this special per that the site plan special permit um it would be consistent is consistent with the uh compre >> point of order. Do we need to close the

079hearing first? >> Oh, good point. Um, that's right. So, that confuses me a little. So, are we going to It seems like I I heard two different paths here. One was um we we proceed to close the hearing. We have our votes on the on the mandatory findings and the remaining work goes with the staff. Um the other plan I heard was um a plan comes back to the board uh and we and we affirm that plan. Um, were there >> I I might have misspoken. My plan was my expectation was that first option that you Okay. laid out. >> Okay. Um, >> so if if we think we can be very explicit about the conditions here, I think we could vote on it tonight. If not, one of the things we've done in the

080past at the chair's uh discretion is just put it on uh consent for the next uh meeting. you know, if the chair thinks that nothing in this is controversial, it's all what we discussed, >> then but we can read the explicit list of conditions. >> Um, and so >> I the only thing is if we vote on it tonight, I would like to have someone read out what they think the list of conditions are. >> Mhm. Um and um just um >> yeah I I was I was just thinking if if the hearing is closed tonight then there there couldn't be discussion on the um the chapter a AAC of the general by bylaw waiver. Correct. >> Um the fossil fuel free. >> Yeah the fossil fuel. >> I think that's separate. I think I

081think we would have that as a as a separate hearing. >> Um, >> then would would that need um kind of new notice in its own parallel pro? >> Oh god. >> I'm I just I want to make sure that we don't step on anything by accident, >> right? Yeah. So, the last time we did this, we weren't this wasn't part of a special permit. Um, this was just an, you know, individual asking for a waiver. So, I'm not sure the best way to handle this. And so I'm going to look over to Nate. Can we What What do you think? Is this a is a is a fossil fuel-free waiver a separate >> Yeah. So I think the the applicant has already submitted something directly to the building department uh on a separate track.

082>> And I think that that's how it should be handled. And if if under the building commissioner's review, he deems it necessary to bring to the board for >> appeal or whatever it's called waiver. >> Yeah. then that would happen separately from this public hearing process. >> Great. >> Um and so your decision and the and the special permit may or may not even have to reference that. I I don't know how to handle that. >> Um it sounds like you know other other ancillary permits that are needed like you know with a conservation commission we don't need to um you know condition it because you're not allowed to go ahead until you have that permit. Um, so we could we could still go ahead and um Well, so David's question is, um, a question

083for Nate, uh, which is, um, so you've been taking notes. Um, do you do you have a clear sense now of what the special conditions are or would you prefer to take the time to draft them and then we can uh, you know, approve it formally at a future meeting perhaps just on consent? I feel comfortable either way. I think it's um you know just up to the board. I can bring a draft to the board next uh next meeting if you'd like >> or I can handle it internally. >> Okay. Uh um I I guess my instinct would be to bring because of the time uh would be to go ahead and and have that come back uh you know to a to a future meeting on consent um rather than having to you

084know hear all the conditions right now. Okay. >> Y good. Um, I just wanted to bring up one more that I didn't I don't think I heard um tonight was number 13 in the planning division memo about the legal documents for the shared parking lot and utilities and operation and maintenance. >> Um, I'm sure Nate won't forget that, but I just wanted to mention it for the board and the public and the applicant. >> So, that's something that can be handled in a special condition. Okay, great. Um, I'm happy to move that we close the hearing. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. >> Yeah. Any public comments? Okay. Hearing no public comments. Uh, any other comments from the board? All in favor of closing the public hearing, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed, abstensions.

085Okay, we're closed. >> Jim. Okay, I think I was back on the uh mandatory findings. Um, if I get my computer opened up quickly enough. Um, so let's see. Um, I'm going to try I'm going to try moving these all at once. Um, I would move that we uh make the following uh findings. Um, that the proposed use is consistent with the master plan. That it's in harmony with the purpose and intent of this bylaw. That it will not be detrimental or injurious to the neighborhood in which it is to take place. That it's appropriate for the site in question. and that it complies with all applicable requirements of this bylaw. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Melissa, >> do we need to find these for all of the permits? This site

086plan, the use special permit. Can we do that all at once or do we have to do them separately? >> Oh, good. Great question, Nate. Uh this is my first time uh dealing with all three. So >> I I would say all three. >> Okay. Well, so what my motion said was that this would be for all three permits. >> Second. >> Okay. Moved and seconded. All in favor of the mandatory. just have one quick mention um in that can we change master plan to comp you know community comprehensive plan? Um I thought we were getting away from from master plan. >> True. >> Um ye yes that should be done and um right now the um the bylaw is written with that particular phrasing. Um, so it' be a good note for the planning

087department that we should update our bylaws to start calling these things comprehensive community plans instead of master plans. And and Nate's Nate's nodding his head, so he's putting it right there on the top of his list. Seven the seven million things he has to do. Um, thank you, >> Alicia. >> Sorry. So, sorry. There is also in addition to those um mandatory findings under the uh you special permit for the reduced parking requirements there's an additional um conditions and I don't know if these also need to be read out loud 311 to 315 they're not mandatory findings but the following conditions should be considered and it's about the use being conducted at all times in accordance with the terms of the use special permit. Any change, expansion or modification should require further approval of the

088board which is what we talked about when we said maybe that office space might be occupied in the future. So, do you want to add those 311, 312, 313, 314, 315 to your motion to cover all three? Sorry, Lisa. >> Jim. >> Um, my preference would be to for now do these mandatory findings uh separately um and then give instruction to Nate that the other findings should, you know, be rolled into the into the draft permit. >> Okay. Moved and seconded. All in favor, please say I. I. >> I. I >> opposed abstensions. Okay. Approved. >> So, it's not to approve the whole thing. It's just to approve the mandatory condition and and we'll see you back when you when when when the building commissioner says, "Oh, this sort of decision should be made in

089public." And they'll they'll kick it up to us. So, we'll we'll look forward to that. >> Thank you. All right. Our uh 7:10 p.m. Notice public hearing. Actton Select Board will hold a public hearing on August 25th, 2025 at 7:10 p.m. Continued from June 16th, 2025 in the Francis Falner Hearing Room 204 at the town hall 472 Main Street, Actton and virtually act.gov/meingb. GV/meing/sb on the application of suburban glass and mirror for site plan special permit number 3/19/2025-493 under zoning bylaw section 10.4 at 60 Powdermill Road. The proposed project consists of redesigning and expanding the existing parking lot. The applicant has requested a continuence to October 6, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. I'll entertain a motion that we continue. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded to continue that public hearing for Suburban Glass

090and Mirror uh until October 6th, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. All in favor say I. >> I. Yes. >> Opposed extensions. Okay. Next, the act and select board will hold a public hearing on August 25th, 2025 at 7:15 p.m. in the Francis Faulner hearing room 204 at the town hall 472 Main Street Actton and virtually at acttonma.gov/meingb GV/meing SB on the application of Hawthorne Realy Company for a site plan special permit under zoning bylaw section 10.4 to combine the properties at 471 Great Road and 465 to 469 Great Road and construct two buildings to be used as building trade shops. No hazards, materials or waste are to be generated on site. Hi. See the applicant is here. Yep. Please proceed. >> Good to see you, too. Thank you. >> Good evening. >> All right. So, my

091name is Nathaniel. I'm with Stampin McNary and our office did the uh surveying and the engineering and the site design for uh the property at 465, 469, and 471 Great Road. Mouthful. All right. So, um assuming you all have the plans in front of you or can see them. Is that what's on the TV? I don't really I can't I don't have access to looking at it, but um so this is at um 471 and then the strip mall of 465 469 Grey Road. So 471 is a uh retail style building that's vacant. Um seems to formally be a furniture store. And then the other building is a strip mall style building which has a um office space, a convenience store and another furniture store. Um and it sits on about just over two acres

092of land, about 2 and a3 acres of land in total. So there's two separate parcels. There's the strip mall and then there's the other building at 471. And as mentioned, they're going to be combined um into one lot for this project. So um the project is to um remove the buildings that are there now and construct two buildings that are going to be building trade shops. Uh so a building trade shop is in allowed use in this zoning district which is the limited business district. Um there are going to be um sorry losing Kevin uh eight units in total. Um, and um, sorry, I losing track of where I'm saying. >> That's right. >> Um, basically just to go into the site, I'll just kind of go through like the site elements. So, um, there's

093a lot of non-conformities given that this is an existing developed lot. Um, much of it is paved or covered by other impervious surface. Uh, there's a lot of extraneous kind of bits of the parking lot that extend everywhere. As such, uh there's a non-conformity with the parking where there's more uh parking that would otherwise be allowed. Um so I don't know if you're seeing what I'm seeing, but if you go to like the existing, if that's what's in front right here. Yep. Uh so there's like a larger parking lot from the strip mall. U some uh extraneous pavement that's towards uh if you look at the plan to the left of the um 471 building. um existing there are 58 parking spaces and then uh there's no just to note there's no storm water controls

094for the site. Um the septic system for the strip mall is located to the rear. It's kind of on that large mound of earth that's in the woods back there. And then if you go to the proposed plan um thank you. So those are the two buildings. Um, so the building on the right, um, access through the garage doors is going to be on either side of the building. So, uh, when you're looking at the front, um, you'll see kind of like the side of the building where there's a couple entrances and, uh, you know, signs designate the businesses, but not the garage doors. Those will be on the side, similar to the building on the left. Uh, there'll be garage doors on the right side and then two frontfacing doors all the way to

095the left. And then much of the pavement is being cut back. So on the right, the parking is pretty close to the side lot line um around 10 15 ft. Um it's getting cut back to increase the buffer between that and the neighboring lot. And then the uh septic system for both buildings is going to be located in the front. Uh there's an existing kind of landscape island in front of the strip mall. Um that's going to be also the pavement will be cut back to give a bigger grass area. That's where the septic system is going to sit. And then um this project has been kind of carefully designed to reduce the total impervious area and also reduce the total pavement area. So there's less pavement runoff running to the street. Uh the street

096is pretty much where all the runoff goes right now. So because we're reducing impervious areas, we only need to meet storm water standards to the maximum extent that we can, which we're trying to do on the site. So there's a subsurface infiltration system that will sit behind the two buildings. And then if you're looking at the building on the left, uh right off of the parking lot, there's a little detention basin to kind of stop water that would uh come off the front of the building and the parking area right there to settle it before it runs off. So um it's meeting the drainage standards both Massachusetts and Actton to the best extent that we can. Um because if we were adding more impervious area and not reducing it um because of just the nature

097of how the site is um water retention would be pretty difficult. So like I said a lot of thought has been put into have less pavement area less impervious area overall. Um that's kind of an overview of the site. I didn't try I tried not to go into too much uh specifics but um I'll hand it back to the chair if there's any questions. So thank you. >> Thank you. U David, I believe you are the uh liaison on this. >> Uh yes, thank you. Um I so I have a a few questions based on on on my review. Um um I'd like to have a I think you're going to have to follow up on this. Have a complete understanding of how the the sidewalk in the front of the of the um uh

098along the frontage of the uh properties is going to work. Um, and specifically, I would like to see a reduction in the uh width of the curb cuts, a substantial reduction in the width of the curb cuts. The um the really wide driveway entrances make it less safe for pedestrians to walk on the street. And so I'd like to, you know, understand, you know, exactly where the sidewalks will go, um, exactly where the curb cuts will go, and to make sure, you know, striping is included for the, um, the crosswalks across the the driveways. Um uh you can interrupt me if you want a comment, but many of my comments I'm gonna like for me I I'm going to want to see you know additional uh detail provided. Um I would like to know um

099if there's going to be any storage outside the buildings and um so that's one question and and for vehicle storage outside the buildings where will those vehicles go um you know and and where will you park any b business vehicles? Um um there is um so we also have to understand um the the parking um situation. I think you're um you you meet our parking requirements, but there is um there was some question as to whether we count vehicles parked indoors, you know, indoor parking. >> I don't believe that we've ever counted vehicles in car dealer showrooms or anything like that as parking. Um but I guess we would have to discuss that as to whether they uh vehicles parked inside count and whether they and what the what the total car count the um

100the total car counts or parking space counts um are. Um and um next thing is thank you for reducing the uh uh amount of imperous surface on the site. Uh my understanding there's just one small area that you're you'd propose to pave that is not currently paved. Um and it would be better if you didn't do that. That makes it easier. It just reduces an issue if you don't expand in that area and it's a pretty small space. >> Um >> I know what you're talking about. Yeah. >> Um and um uh finally um for the board to consider, we would have to wave. So, in this area, um it's pre-existing non-conforming that the um the parking area is not set 30 feet back from the road. Um and uh it would it although there'd

101be an increase in green space along the road, it wouldn't be 30 ft back and so we would have to approve a waiver uh there as well. But it's a pre-existing uh actually as as he said there's less paving there, but it's um not quite enough to meet the the the zoning setback. Um so those are the issues that I I had. Um I if you want to make any comments on those that would be fine. >> Uh if you'd like me to. Yeah. First of all, as for the the sidewalk, um right now the intention is that we're that uh the project is staying out of the right of way, so we're not impacting the right of way, leaving it as it is. Um you know, I guess it's something that we would look

102to the boards who make a decision on one way or another. Um you know, the preference would probably be to leave everything in the right of way as it is. Um, and then as far as the, um, indoor spaces go, um, part of the reason that we're, you know, relying on counting the indoor spaces like is because of the fact that we're reducing pavement areas. We're trying not to find places to pave to put more parking. So, um, you know, if that's a way that the board can choose to count them, um, it would, you know, work in favor of the nature of the project, which is, like I said, to kind of cut back the pavement. um as you know adding some we would have to we would not be able to reduce the

103pavement if we added those 13 outside. Um >> and I think that's pretty much it. And then the thing about vehicle storage did do you mean like physical vehicles? Is that what you're talking about? >> Right. If you're going to dedicate a portion of the property to uh have uh the trade vehicles parking during the day, I'd like to know that where that is >> and any other storage outside or dumpsters outside, I'd like to know where those are going on the on the site. And and just to respond to your stuff in the rightway, >> that's not I would like to see more there. Right. So, first of all, I'd like you to see your design reduce the width of the curb cuts. >> Mhm. And second, repair all the sidewalk that needs to

104be done to make the sidewalk conti contiguous on the site after that. Right. I haven't gone personally and looked at the condition of the sidewalk. Um uh but um uh sidewalk is, you know, frontish sidewalk is one of the town's requirements. Um and if you reduce the curb, you're going to have to put in some additional sidewalk to go where the um the the driveway used to be. Um, and again I what I would be looking for and my you know the other members of the board can say uh what what their interests are here uh but I would be looking for a minimum amount of curb cut >> you know and not as wide as they are today um to make it easier for people using the sidewalk. >> Okay. >> Thanks. Um, if

105I could ask the town manager or maybe Nate, um, I know there's been a pretty extensive study of, uh, the route 2A corridor. It's been done by the town and by Mass DOT. Did that study go this far west of 2A uh, on 2A or was it more down on the other side of 27? >> Yes. So the the the engineering study that we've done to make pedestrian safety improvements for for Route 2A goes all the way to um Neog Pond Mall, whatever that street is called. So it would it definitely would go here. There's a there's a planned improvement to Harris, the intersection at Harris to make it safer in several ways, which I believe is that what's right here? Yeah. So it definitely would be something that you would want to coordinate uh

106whatever you have in mind with that with those plans which I think are past 25% uh in terms of design. So uh I know I talked to the DVW director today and they're working with the state to advance those to the next phase of design. So a site change like this would definitely need to be on their radar. >> Great. Uh yeah, well advised uh to to do some checking to make sure that any conditions that you might come up with and that we might come up with do not conflict with the the state plan. Um comments from other friend I have non-technical questions just to get my bearings. I was curious what you mean by trades buildings. Um I was just curious what the buildings are going to be used for. >> Yep. Uh

107so basically it's like a uh like a contractor garage essentially. That's kind of what a building trade shop is. So um one of the reasons my understanding that there's a demand for this is that there's been kind of a a push for contractors to not operate out of their homes, which many of them do. So this type of a use gives them kind of like a business address. Um, it's a place for them to leave set vehicles like a work van or or pickup truck or things of that nature. Um, they can use it as like a business address for their business as opposed to operating out of their home. Um, and you know, leave equipment. Uh, just to random example, if you're like a plumber that works on his own, um, you could rent

108a space like this, keep your van there, keep equipment there. Um, it's a mailing address for your office. Um, you would have office space uh dedicated for yourself. Um, so things of that nature if that answers the question. >> It does. Thank you. Um, and also this is this will be behind the the mall. Is that where it's >> Yeah. So if you're looking at the mall right now, the the back wall of the mall will match the back wall of these two buildings. Yep. >> Thanks. >> Yep. Alyssa, >> thank you for the presentation. Um, I have a couple of questions or actually a few questions about things that were noted in the peer review. Um, one was a question about um the calculations for the open space. um making sure that uh we're

109calculating what can be included and not any um landscaping in the like buffers in the in the parking lot um because it was so close to 50%. I think it was 50.5%. And also I wasn't sure if the F discrepancy had been resolved cuz it was 21% and it can't be higher than 2%. >> Yeah, we resolved that. Yeah. So, you probably didn't have time to look at the new plans, but Yep. >> Awesome. That's good. >> It'll be on It'll be on an updated set of plans. >> I I concur with David about wanting um those curb cuts to be drastically reduced um because when pedestrians or cyclists are crossing those um the shorter distances is um better, more safe. And I understand that this is pre-existing, non-conforming. Um, but because it's a complete

110redevelopment, knocking down the buildings that are there and building new and making changes to the parking lot is it's a perfect opportunity to bring us into, you know, conformity compliance where wherever we can, wherever is feasible. Um, and in addition to the the access driveways exceeding the town's maximum, um, there was an, uh, also a note about the sign being in the right of way, the freestanding sign. So, if that could be addressed as well. >> Um, and I was curious about the sidewalk improvements, like what the nature of that would be. If it was just the I mean, if there's cracks and holes, great. But is there also a plan to to change the slope so that it's compliant with ADA? >> Uh well, it sounds like if um you know, bringing the sidewalk

111into compliance is a request and something that uh you want to reflect on the plans. You know, that is something that I'm assuming we would have to do uh which is make sure the slopes work. Um so, you know, we would get information on whether it does meet it now. >> Okay. Um, so that's something that, you know, we would look at. We can measure the slope that's there. I mean, um, you know, I can't say for sure, but it is a pretty flat right in front there. So, it's possible that it's already meeting it. But, um, you know, like I said, if bringing the sidewalk into compliance is a request, then that would be, you know, something we'd have to look at. >> Okay. I Yeah, I thought that I had seen in the

112peer review that it there was a question about whether it was compliant, but if it is already, that's great. Um, one of the recommendations also was to have us require assurity for the site redevelopment. Um, and also there was a note that the storm water requirements have not been met. Um, so I'm a little confused about that. Is it because the impervious surface is being reduced that those aren't required? Like we don't have to comply with Chapter X. Um, and and I was confused also about the the storm water calculation because I don't see in the storm water calculation a pre-development storm water calculation. It's just the sewage flow which is 155,895 cubic feet a year and that was labeled as the pre-development storm water infiltration. So >> that was very confusing to me. Um,

113>> are you look Can I just cut you off? Sorry. Are you looking at the >> I was looking at the whole Yeah, the whole storm water calculation report. >> The whole storm water report? >> Yeah. >> Well, not that carefully because a lot of it I couldn't understand, but I was looking at those numbers. >> Yeah, I in the report there is a there is a table. Um, so the stormwater report doesn't mention the sewage flow. So, um, that might have been it might be misleading. >> Yeah, that might have been the calculation in the packet. E either way though um I know we had there was a table provided about reducing the rates but >> um basically the the comment talks about you know actton's chapter x about the retention requirements um >>

114so that is separate from the Massachusetts stormwater standards so basically when you're reducing a purpose area you don't really have to meet retention requirements basically you do your best >> um I know in similar projects in Actton where we have reduced um impervious area. We've also provided similarly none to little um storm water infrastructure which kind of equates to none to little you know retention. So they're talking about like the amount of rainwater that's retained in a structure. So, um, obviously I don't know the exact language and the chapter off the top of my head, but if it's something that we would, you know, need a waiver for if, you know, it's not really feasible to make it by increasing the size of what we have now, it's probably something that we'd um, look into

115requesting. But >> okay, >> in general um you know that you know separate from act like chapter X um you know the storm water standards are basically when you're reducing impervious area it's it's almost assumed that it's an improvement one way or another. Um I mean in this case there's also like a lot of degraded area that's not impervious but it's still going to be taken out converted to lawn. So it is a big net improvement. um the number that they pointed out about not being appliance is like a retention requirement. So, uh the amount that's going into a structure, but overall there's an improvement across the site. So, like I said, I'll check the language one way or another. If it's something that requires a waiver, um then you we'll be sure to request

116it. But, um it's a you know, regardless like the way that the site is, there's a lot of high water table. there's a lot of um areas where there's a lot of ledge. So, it's not, you know, there's some places where it's not as feasible to put structures in to retain storm water, which is why, you know, we made a great effort to have a net reduction. Like, we could have, you know, put more pavement in to make the parking easier, but we chose not to do that because we wanted the reduction. So, you know, if a waiver is requested, like I said, when I look into it, it's it, you know, the goal would be to maintain the fact that it's a big improvement and that we don't have to have mass areas devoted

117to storm water structures. >> Okay? So we don't have to have a proving of the calculation like the reduction in the the storm water that's leaving the site pre versus postdevelopment because of the reduction in impervious surface which is actually kind of difficult for me to see um because it looks like the two new buildings are actually um larger than the two existing buildings and the parking looks pretty darn similar. So, it's it's hard for me to see that this is a reduction. Um, and also I saw a note that there was one 1 ft strip of buffer. Like the gravel is going to be pulled out and replaced with lom and seed, but GCG was recommending or saying that it needed to be a 10ft minimum and it's only 1 ft. So, >> I

118have a lot of questions about the storm water and whether or not this is um in alignment with the with chapter X and if it's not, maybe it doesn't have to be because of something. Help me understand, Nate. >> Sure. I I think you're uh I believe you're correct that under normal circumstances, you know, strict compliance um would be necessary, but um since they are reducing impervious, I believe you're correct. um you know they can ask for waiverss. I can uh confirm with GCG if you like it. >> David, I just wanted to be clear that they're doing two things in this project for storm water and you can see them on the landscape plan. Um that one is all the runoff from the roof goes into a dry well. So even if the buildings

119are bigger, that's not that's not runoff unless the except in extreme flooding conditions. And then there's a new infiltration basin added um in the front of the property. >> Yeah. So I I see the new structures. Um what I'm confused about is why no requirement for the calculations to be done. Um but it sounds like the reduction in imperous surface is the reason for that. Um, and I just have one last question. Um, it was I think in your hearing um, notice reading Dean that you said no hazardous materials would be generated, but then in your description about what a trade shop is, um, it's making me think that contractors might have um, hazardous materials on site um, depending on the kind of work that they do. And that was another thing that was mentioned

120by GCG that there could be a higher pollutant load from solvents, adhesive, etc. So, I'm wondering what mechanism we can put into place to make sure that the tenants that are here or the owners um in these trade shops are not um using hazardous materials. Okay, other comments, Jim. Um, I'm I'm comfortable with this overall plan. Um, um, I want to respond to David's questions about um, parking. Um, my instinct rather than weigh into the issue of whether indoor parking counts as parking, unless Nate has an easy answer to that, is um, I I think the parking will be sufficient the way it is. So, I wonder if what we want instead is um is is a a waiver request for reduced parking. Um because I'd be I'd be happily inclined to support a request

121for um you know, reducing the the parking requirement. Um you know, this is not like the kind of situation where there are, you know, um lots of retail customers driving in and you know, looking at a showroom. It's it's pretty predictable flow of traffic. You know, your contractor comes in with a truck, does something, and then leaves or leaves their truck there for a while. So, I think I think the parking on there is sufficient uh for the purpose even if we don't count the indoor parking. Um, but I was wondering if if either um Nate had a thought about whether indoor parking counts as parking and then whether David has a thought about whether that would be an okay way to handle this. Um, so I I did not get the chance to uh

122determine if indoor parking would count. Um, but I I can tell you um and I apologize if it wasn't clear in my memo. um they're running up against a parking maximum actually um of 30 spaces based on the developable site area. >> Um and so if the board would like to make that determination that you know they can kind of uh subtract those indoor spaces from the total amount of parking. Um section 6.2.3 grants uh relief from parking regulations. um if you determine that they do have more than 30 spaces um you could uh issue a waiver. Otherwise um they wouldn't need a waiver if you determined that the indoor spaces um really don't count. >> Got it. Okay. I had I had the logic switched. Okay. Thank you, >> David. Um Nate, please correct

123me if I'm wrong. Without the indoor spaces, I believe they have 31 spaces and they can't have 30. So, we either wave the one or disallow the one. That's my understanding. And Nate can correct me if I'm wrong. Is that that's assuming we're not counting the indoor spaces. If we're counting the indoor spaces, I think there are 39 or something somewhere in that neighborhood. So, um but I don't think we've counted indoor spaces before is to my knowledge. So if if if my assumption is correct then it's 31 or 30 and we can just use our judgment as to whether to allow the one or not. Okay. Um any other questions from Brandon? >> I just have one quick question. So, are you demolishing the retail space >> or is that staying? Sorry, I'm late

124to the party. >> Uh, yeah. I mean, the two buildings are are going away. Yeah, >> the two build which buildings? The existing buildings. >> Yeah, basically every existing building. Yep. So, when I say the two buildings, sorry. Um, I'm referring to the um the strip mall and then the white building that is 471. But all the structures that are there are going to be demolished. Yep. >> It It's sad to see the retail space go. So, >> okay. Uh, >> yes, David. So, the DRB commented that we have a lot of retail space, but we don't have a lot of trade space. I'll just throw that in. That's what that was in the the DRB memo. So, um I don't know if that weighs into your, you know, h how you think about that.

125>> It's a great innovative idea. I I like the idea. It's just sad to see retail space leave. >> Okay. Uh let's see if there are any public comments. >> There's one person online, Mr. Chair. >> Okay. Uh the uh person online like to identify yourself. Uh you've got three minutes. >> Uh yes, this is Terara Frederick's calling and I would like very much to um comment on this project. Uh it's tempting to approve small businesses. Um but I see this as devastating and I hope you take a survey of the neighbors before you approve this. Uh the DRB members, with all due respect, live in shaded spaces with open space and cars and they can access stores very easily. Uh you're proposing taking down a retail location and putting in a more car mile

126car centric car pit stop business like Back Alley of Conquered. It's against the community plan which calls for walkable small retail stores in the villages. I think it's very elitist to think that Route 2A with all of its apartment buildings and thousands of tenants aren't villages. They're villages. You have the power to say no to this expanded industrial use in the village. South Station Way is a village. The apartment complexes on Route 2A are root are villages. To think any less of them seems uh to be against your views regarding equity. Uh, further and more important, the pe the people on station way depend on the convenience store for food. The kids walk there to get food for their uh, parents. I know this for a fact. Disabled people use their mobility devices to walk

127to to roll or walk to the convenience store. They don't have cars to walk to that to to to Donalan and that convenience store is critical to um to these people. Please don't facilitate yet more removal of people centric businesses to replace with car centric businesses. You have the ability and the authority to vote no on this project. I hope you do. At least continue it so we can tell these tenants, the people on two-way about this because I don't think they know about it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Do we have any other comments online? >> No. Okay. Thank you, Alicia. >> I just want to clarify or or confirm that the total number of parking spaces is 39. 13 of those 39 are the ones inside. So, we're not actually cuz I'm counting

128on the plan and I only get to like 20. Yeah. >> So you you said David that there were 31, but >> there's uh 26 outside, >> 26 outside, >> and 13 inside. >> Okay. >> So there there's 13 like garage doors and then there's a assumed a parking space behind each garage door. >> So 13 from 39, there's 26 outside. And then like you said, if you look at it, um in front of the building on the left, there's three. Then there's two parallel spaces near that landscaped strip. And then there's 10 in front of the building on the right and then there's 11 on the side. So that gets you 26. >> All right. So, do we need a waiver for for this? No. Okay, great. Um, and I will just also point

129out that um all of the butters were received a notice um about this project and there are cuz I'm also sensitive to thinking about the um housing developments on Sichum Way, the two um housing authority developments. There are two other similar retail malls um a little bit further west. So um maybe if you know where the convenience store might be relocating to, you can let us know at at whatever point you you find out cuz maybe they'll move into an empty space uh a mall or two down the road. >> Okay. Thank you. Um I'll ask my colleagues how you'd wish to proceed at this point. Um do you feel that the points that have been raised uh need to come back for um reconsideration and look at any changes to the plans or do

130you feel that we can vote on this tonight and leave it to staff to develop the uh an approval? David. >> Um for me, Mr. chair. I would definitely like to see it come back at least on consent and maybe for discussion of the board at that time. I think there are more substantial things here for this application. Um specifically um the the for me the curb cuts and the sidewalk uh area um uh so uh I would like to see that come back. It may be just a quick discussion and vote on our part. I don't think we need more. We could close the as far as I'm concerned close the public hearing today and then just come back for discussion and a vote. Thoughts from others? Um in that case um I would

131be willing to consider closing the public hearing if someone would so move. >> So moved. Second >> moved and seconded to close the public hearing. Any last thoughts? All in favor of closing public hearing, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Abstensions. Okay, public hearing is closed. Um, >> Nate, I'll look to you to see what you think you're going to need in order to move this forward. uh working with the applicant. I know specifically the conditions that have been expressed here a lot revolve around uh curb cuts and uh sidewalks and how that will imp interact with mass DOT and the town's plans. Um do you think you've got enough information to proceed? >> Yep. And I can also get clarification um from GCG about um strict compliance with chapter X. >> Okay. Thank

132you, >> Jim. The other thing I heard David mention was um um sort of you know dumpster management on site, you know, where how's trash being handled and you know what and in terms of how it where how that affects you know objects sitting on the site. Um that'd be good to be clear on that on the plan. That's that's also one of the conditions we need to verify is that you know w the the waste is being handled in a you know responsible way. I think just to reiterate um there's been interest expressed in making sure that it be somewhat memorialized in the decision that uh we know hazardous waste or if they do need to deal with hazardous waste they've got to get permits through the board of health. Um, >> Alissa, >>

133I just wanted to note that GCG is also going to be reviewing compliance with um the landscaping, the both the parking lot and the general landscaping. And I also note that there is a recommendation from planning to have us um continue this hearing which we've already closed um to review the storm water issues, but it sounds like we're going to get that report regardless. So, is it a possibility if we need to to reopen the hearing next time? Yeah. Okay. The town manager has a very quizzical look on his face. If it's going to be continued >> to a date certain that we'll announce, then that's fine to reopen it. But otherwise, we'd have to revertise if you're going to reopen it. >> Would someone care to uh withdraw their motion? Um, so, uh, if

134if someone has a date, um, that we would continue to, I'll, uh, make a superseding motion. >> We looking at 106. That's 6:30. >> Okay. I I I move that we leave the public hearing open and continue it until October 6th at 6:30. >> October 7th at 6:30. >> October 6 at 7 p.m. >> Sorry. October 6th at at 7 o'clock. Do >> you have to retract your >> at this? >> So before we make another motion. >> So I said in this motion to um leave it open and continue it. >> So we don't have to retract and null and void the previous vote. >> We could do that in in um >> We don't have to. Let's not take the time. >> Okay. So, just just to clarify, I move that we leave

135the public hearing open and continue it until October 6th at 7 p.m. in this place. >> Did I second? >> Yes. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Any other comments? All in favor of continuing until October 6th at 7 p.m. in this room? I >> I I >> I >> extensions. Okay, we'll see you on uh October 6th. >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. Next up, we have the folks from the housing authority to come in to talk about McManus Manor. Uh, housing authority Sit on. Good evening. Um, I'm Nancy Cole. I'm the chairperson of the Actton Housing Authority. And next to me is Melissa Bible. She's our director of the Actton Housing Authority. And um we wanted to give you a short update on the very large construction that's going on across from

136the police department. That's our McManus Manor. Um there people in in town have had questions about it and we wanted to let you know how it's going. Um Kelly Cronin will be um on the screen. She is the our point person who works with the construction team. Melissa and I attend uh weekly, bi-weekly meetings with the construction team and they're fabulous. They're really we're very lucky that we have such a great team working over there. Uh do you want to I also um I don't know if you received handouts in advance, but Kelly also has the information because some of it is really tiny, at least in my versions, um that she can put up the screen and she can probably expand if we need to. Um, but I wanted to say thank you for

137your time tonight. Um, I've completed my first year as an executive director with the Actton Housing Authority. Um, so some of you are meeting for the first time. Thank you, um, for having us. Um, I've been at the housing authority for nine years though, prior to my role as the executive director. Um, our goal for tonight is to give you a brief update on the status of our work at McManus Manor, especially as we all drive by the site and see it changing on a daily basis. Um, we're very excited. We're incredibly thankful to the town for their partnership in this project. Currently the project timeline is um on pace which is truly amazing given the amount of um work that's been done and money that's been spent on ledge removal. And um unfortunately the

138previous owner had also been um using the property for um disposal of personal garbage. Um, so there were buckets and barrels and trees um and all kinds of other debris that had to be removed um in order for us to be able to start construction um and has eaten a good portion of our contingency unfortunately. Um this um removal also required additional testing removal offsite and then because the soil wasn't suitable for use required the additional purchase of soil to be brought in um for the construction. Um Deli has been working very hard to keep us on timeline despite these challenges. Our end construction goal is to have solar, passive house certification, EV chargers, and this is in addition to having a safe, beautiful place and accessible for people to live. This is a costly

139process and we're very aware of it. prevailing wage a requirement for us working with lowincome public construction funding um is not a requirement for the general public um and general construction although it is for us. This project is being built with monies from the town of Actton, state credits, private construction loans, ARPA money and federal tax credits. There are significant implications to the funding if this program is not completed and people are not leased up on time. There have been concerns about the completion of the sewer timeline and I know John has been working on that um for us because that would certainly impact final construction date and when we would be able to lease people. Um, but we want to thank you again for your partnership and, you know, let you know that we're

140we are available for questions at any time, either Nancy, Kelly, or myself. And certainly if you have questions tonight. >> John, did John did you want to do an update on um the piece of equipment that is supposed to arrive between January and March and if that will affect our sewer hookup? Uh, I think that I don't have the specific update about the piece of equipment, but I do know that they're working to try to meet the original schedule and I believe to have everything done by the end of this year was the goal calendar year. Um, so that should work for for the project. So I think we were concerned that it was going to be delayed extensively. It's just delayed >> minimally. So >> that's music to our ears. >> Yes. >> Yeah.

141I don't know if there are sorry I don't know if there are questions um from the committee or the board at all but we're here for them whether it's tonight or whether it's moving forward and there's Kelly >> making herself available. >> Okay any questions from the board? Frank, >> I had a constituent reach out at the bank and ask me if that was the elevator shaft and I could not answer that. >> It is. >> Thank you. >> So, that will certainly not be visible when construction for their banner. It's on note. I think it's great. So >> yeah, >> um I was just curious of the um extra testing that you had to do. What was the relative? Did you have to do extra soil testing or >> We did um there was

142nothing um of significant chemical, you know, exposure or anything like that found. It just wasn't suitable for construction to be done on because it had been airrated and processed and moved around. Did you have a cushion for that in your I just was curious if you have a cushion or >> We have a contingency in total and Kelly can speak to that but we have been eating away at that faster than we really wanted to. >> Cushion Fran, but unfortunately the amount of trash that was in the soil um was was a lot. So literally they they took out trucks and it wasn't um it wasn't the type of soil like we looked at. can you screen it and save the soil to reuse? And it just it would have been too costly to do

143that. So that was kind of a shock to see that the um former owner had used it as a dump. Um so that has been a cost that we didn't expect. And we also we tested it because we were taking it off site and you know you have to make sure there's nothing in there. Um and there wasn't. >> Thank you. And and then the other um uh another cost that has eaten up some of our contingency fund is the um although we had the site checked um for ledge. I think they Kelly thinks maybe they mostly checked where the building is, but we also but where we ran into more ledge was where we would need to um uh build some of the parking lot and roads and things like that. Is that correct,

144Kelly? >> Yeah. And plumbing lines and things like that. >> Oh yeah, that's right. >> The good news The good news is the project is on schedule. Um we're we are expected to have our certificate of um substantial completion in May. Um John and uh Chin, who was uh the former engineer, changed the schedule to do the connection part first um up at our area because they couldn't do work at 27 for a while. So instead of delaying that, they laid the um sewer pipes there. Um we are uh expecting to be passive house certified. We're working with airtight who's doing all the testing, the Fiestas testing for us. Um the uh solar panel partner is from Conquered. Um and we're going to have EV chargers. Um and we're the whole thing is going to

145be electric. So it's all um meeting the goals that uh the town set for the property. Um so we're looking forward to it. We're just disappointed in some of the um unforeseen costs, but we're expecting to be able to finish in May. Okay. Thank you, David. >> So, if you get if you uh the uh the uh the schedule that you was in our packet anyway shows the substantial completion in early June. But assuming that that happens in in June, um uh when uh would be ready for new ten tenants? Uh does that take? Ideally, it it would be immediately after occupancy. Um, we anticipate that applications for lottery will be available shortly after the new year so that people can start applying for the lottery process. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you.

146Um, yeah, it's a uh it's a huge project and it's certainly high visibility. Uh, but it's going to be very exciting. I mean the the former use on that site frankly was uh a disgrace to the town and this is going to be such an improvement um for the town as a whole and certainly to improve the lives of uh of your tenants. So it's a great project. >> Thank you. the land slopes upward and you're you're not aware of that if you're driving on 27 and that's one of the reasons that the tower or um the elevator tower looks so high and the buildings um are stairst step as they move up so it'll all come together. We're very proud of it. >> Thank you. John and Ellie, budget. Okay, so uh the summer

147is over. Sorry. And the budget season has begun. Um so I'm very pleased to uh kick it off as we did last year with a budget preview. So, I prepared uh we prepared. Ellie's going to participate in part of this, too, our budget uh director, and we're going to talk a little bit about what we're looking at for the upcoming budget season. So, let's just um go through some slides here um as soon as it's on the screen, which is now. Um, I like to try to incorporate some pictures and, you know, a lot. We do a lot throughout the year and three slides aren't going to capture all the fun and important and exciting things that we do. Uh, but I tried to mix we tried to mix in a few photos here just

148to so people remember all the cool things that happened. Uh, Actton 250 committee, all the volunteers that were uh, making some really important and uh, impactful events happen last year. Uh that's a big part of what happened. So we wanted to make sure some of that was shown. Um we uh had some ribbon cutings, ribbon cutings all over the place. Here's a few photos of Stop and Shop and the Silver Girl restaurant in West Actton. We had a ribbon cutting for a new o open space that we purchased uh off Weatherbe Street. So that's shown there as well. Uh we we built we're building some buildings. Uh this 17 Woodbury Lane is a project that we continue to work on and we made some major progress this year when we broke ground on the historic

149rehabilitation and renovation. This is a project that I think is going to be finished um in the next 6 to 8 weeks which is exciting and um we are excited to get that going this year with all almost entirely largely funded from federal funds including and additionally there's some CPA funds as well. Uh we had a few murals installed. Uh this is one of them in West Actton where there's a pretty good turnout of the community and and the select board to uh launch to open that thing up and and people have been enjoying that. The train commuters see it as they fly by. Um I'm sure they like that. Um we were recognized as one of a few climate leaders in Massachusetts. Uh we had a ceremony in Watertown with the lieutenant governor and

150other uh state officials and it's a big honor. It we were a green acting was a green community when it first started and we've been out in front the whole time and when they created this new program we were the first ones to jump in uh and we were able to uh get recognized for that. We also continue our excellence in financial reporting being recognized by the government financer officers association both for our comprehensive financial report and also for our popular financial report. Um other we also were recognized at the annual conference of the Mass Municipal Association for our an innovation award uh where our energy coaching program. Many of uh some of the members of the board are also energy coaches and uh we got statewide recognition for that really interesting and and important

151program. our police department. Uh Chief Kogan was recognized as a 2025 visionary award uh for his work in crisis intervention team training and how he's brought that into the Actton Police Department. We uh had a nice ceremony next door uh for our volunteers of the year. This is a a a process that was created I think in 19 and um it's a tradition that the board each board member selects one member of the community to recognize as their exempl volunteer of the ward and so we did that in in May and that's a was a really nice day. We also recognize employees for service. We have an event that we recognize milestone years 10, 20 and 30 and sometimes 40year employees and uh we had the two employees of the year that we recognize at

152the annual town meeting. Uh so we try to continue to to do these things and and help people understand all the great work that's happening. Uh shifting more towards dollars. Um, one of the things that I I think we've done really well here is use other people's money uh to accomplish things that we want to do locally. Uh, we know that budgets are tight. We know resources are are constrained. So, everything that we can do with a state and a federal grant is is uh is a huge benefit to the community. We've I think we did a Ellie did a mun report and we spent $3.9 million of grant funds in 20 in fiscal year 25. That that's several of them 53 different grants we were hitting in FY25 for different projects that we're working

153on. We've received more than 15 million in competitive grants in the last 5 years. That's a that's a substantial amount of capital mostly capital uh projects that we would have to fund otherwise. A few examples are McManus Manor. We have a $2.3 million state grant to do that sewer extension that we were just talking about. Um the building behind the town hall federal earmark of $750,000. Weatherbe Land half a million. We just we just got the other day, we haven't really announced it that well. So this is our announcement that we got a green communities grant for $500,000 for rooftop units for the school buildings. Uh the cemetery chapel is nearly completed. We got a quart of a million dollars for that project. The Stanton Foundation, that's the photo right there where we show the

154the check that we received for 250,000 uh to do that project. It goes on and on and on. Things that are priorities we find ways to do with grants and it's an important slide that I wanted to make sure that we show. The next one is also a very important one. And I'm going to take a minute and fix this view so you can see what I think is pretty interesting is that we provide pe people will say that if you compare our taxes to other communities, they don't like the comparison. But this is a chart that people haven't really seen. We provide much more tax relief than most of the communities around us. And that bar chart may be difficult to see, but we provided $668,000 in tax relief through exemptions to over 250

155households last year. Most of the communities that are immediately surrounding us uh were closer to to 40,000 and and 50,000. uh some of the two the two towns that are up above us on the chart there Newton and Lexington that accounts most of that most of that exemp most of that is actually deferments so it's not it's not the same as as what we're doing deferments are a very small amount of what we provide uh for relief so I think our board of assessors and our principal assessor and and by and the select board and everyone that's involved I think we do a lot work to try to help people u find ways to get relief from from taxes here in town. So, I wanted to make sure that this was on there as well.

156So, I'm going to kick this over to Ellie Anderson to talk about revenues. >> Thank you. Um, so these slides provide preliminary FY2025 revenue results. I will just make a note that all of the financials that you'll see for FY2025 have not been audited yet and they are subject to change. Um the audit will be kicking off soon. Actually has kicked off. Um so this slide shows an overview of our revenue collections in fiscal year 2025. As you can see by the pie chart on the right hand side, the predominant funding sources for our operating budget come from property taxes. So 89% there is the tax levy and an additional 5% is excluded debt. Those two things added together represent the 115 million or almost 115 million that we build in property taxes in 2025.

157Of that billing we collected 113,350,954. What this comes out to is just about a 99% collection rate. Um, we're very happy to have a strong history of strong collection rates for property taxes here in town. Um, it's important for a number of reasons, but especially because it's a pro a large contributing factor to our AAA bond rating, which is huge. Um, the other primary funding sources is outlined below the property taxes, and that's local receipts. This comes out to around 5% of our um revenues that work to fund the budget. So, a grand total local receipt estimate is planned as part of the budget process. Um and it's finalized around this time of year with a tax rate recap. In FY2025, we estimated that we would collect 6,185,872 in local receipts, but we ended up

158collecting just over 7.4 4 million. This equates to collections of $1.2 million above that estimate or $119% if we're looking at it as a collection rate. Um the revenue that's collected in excess of that original local receipt estimate will positively contribute to our free cash calculation which the finance team will be um beginning this fall. So this next graph um shows how local receipt collections have compared to estimates since fiscal year 2018. Um, so as you can see, the estimates in fiscal year 2022 and 2024 or fiscal 22 through 2024 tended to be more conservative because as shown in the graph, the town did not reach its revenue estimates in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Um but as economic conditions have improved the gap between those estimates and then the actual collections have

159um have grown. So in fiscal year 2025 and then also in 2026 we've been incrementally increasing our local receipt estimates to make them more in line or consistent with our actual collections. However, um I will note that an appropriate level of balance and conservatism is important because it provides contingency for any unknown economic conditions since we're typically making these estimates as part of the budget process and we're not collecting that revenue for at least another year later. Additionally, as I noted, anytime we collect revenue above that estimate, it is positively contributing towards free cash and helping to replenish it. Um, so this next slide shows a few graphs which depict the main contributors um or the driving forces towards why we've been collecting more revenue above our estimates. So the graph on the left um

160depicts investment income. Investment income equates to bank interest. So the yield on the town's money that we get from bank accounts. This has grown in recent years due to increases in interest rates, but also due to the work of our treasur collector's office making sure that we're getting the best yield for the town's money. In FY2025, we estimated that we would collect $350,000 in investment income, but actually collected $459,000. So, this accounts um to $109,000 above our estimate. Um the graph on the bottom right is building permit revenue. And as you can see in the graph, since fiscal year 2023, um, we've been seeing growth in building permit revenue. In FY2025, we estimated that revenues from building permits would be $900,000, but we ended up collecting around $1.1 million. Um, so this actually ended up

161being $261,000 above our estimate. And then finally, sorry, um the largest contributor to this is motor vehicle excise tax. It's by far the largest chunk of local receipt revenue. So the trend in actual excise tax collections, you might notice as shown in this graph, um mirrors the trend or the growth in total local receipt revenue collections. In fiscal year 2025, we estimated we would collect just over $3.6 million in excise tax, but actually collected around $4.1 million. So, this was a little over $500,000 above our revenue estimates. >> Thank you. So, um that was revenues. Um but this and so we're going to go back to expenses and our preliminary results from FY25 again unodudited but we're just trying to show uh where we ended up and what combined with what Ellie presented with those

162revenues combined with the net turnback will make up a replenishment to free cash. But just to walk you through this uh chart, we had several vacancies in fiscal year 25, which was widely announced. And uh as a result, there was $1.1 million in surplus salaries. Uh as a going along with that is about $700,000 in insurance and other benefits because without the employees, you don't need the insurance and the other benefits. So significant um savings in those areas. However, if you remember, uh if you take us back two years or so when we were doing the A and B budgets and we were cutting things and we ended up cutting, uh pretty significantly from what we were calling level services uh in in the FY25 budget. Even though it was an increase, even though an

163override occurred to support that increase, it still was less than than what we said was level services. As a result of some of the surplus in salaries, we were able to um spend more and do some of the things that were cut given that one-time availability uh from the surplus. Um, we also had things that came up that we needed to cover like snow and ice was almost uh, you know, $150,000 over postage. We did a lot of postage in FY25. Uh, the the federal government increased the cost of stamps, but we also had a special town meeting. We had a bunch of other things that we had an election. We had a lot of other things that required our postage go to skyrocket. Legal services. We thought we were winding that budget down. turns

164it turns up we actually over spent that budget uh due to um extensive contract negotiations from five contracts and some other things that were going on. So um we in a in a normal year uh we would stop spending immediately and make sure that every every line item was appro you know we didn't have anything over but we knew we had the room uh to restore some of those cuts and and complete some of those projects. um vehicle repairs, facility repairs, what was some of the other examples? Um project overruns, all those things contributed. So in that total uh we're we're returning $760,000 uh at the end of the year, which is about 2% almost 2% of the budget is is being um turned back. When you combine that with um so every year there's

165purchase orders that carry over and are encumbered and those all get spent. If for some reason they don't, we close those out as well. So there's $178,000 worth of closeouts from those projects. So the total turnback is 941. When you combine that with what was previously presented on revenues, it's a pretty healthy um amount of funds that will be put into the calculations for for free cash. It of course is not an exact amount because we have to go through the several other things that the state looks at when they certify free cash like grants and other things. So, it's not going to be a complete uh $2 million increase, but it's going to be uh substantial. Uh so the next slide we're going to get into 2026. So we just started this. We're a

166month and a half in or so. Uh and what we brought to town meeting, what we put on what we published on the warrant is shown here. Um and as as you know, that changed slightly uh the week before town meeting. And so we'll just w and we'll walk through what happened at town meeting just so we're all on the same page. Uh there were several capital projects approved under um the capital article and 1 million of those were from sales proceeds. So all these projects were just sort of getting started in the planning phase. Uh but they were all approved. So we're moving forward on that. Um the next page would be um one thing that changed at town meeting was the town meeting did not approve the town hall HVAC project. And so

167that is something that's different. And also, if you recall, uh, the board met the week before town meeting or a few days before town meeting and changed what was proposed for article 7. Instead of borrowing, um, several million dollars, it decided, the board decided to move forward on article to appropriate 150,000 in free cash. And so that, if you look on the next page, reconciles all of that. um capital free cash articles it was increased by 150,000. So that actually increased the total municipal spending by 4.18%. Two to 4.18% year-over-year. Um so that's where we that's where we ended up. And I think let's go to 27. That's what we're here to talk about. FY27 preview. Um, every year the budget process begins uh with a select board goal setting. The board you held your

168goal setting your goal setting retreat in June, published the final goals shortly thereafter and departments have been thinking about these ever since. We are going to plan to address these to the extent that we can in our budget and capital requests going forward. These are the short-term goals. Uh the next page shows the long-term goals. We of course take both into consideration but we focus more on the short-term goals uh in the throughout the annual budget process. And if we go to the next slide um so we have the goals um and with those goals we try to uh address them as best we can but we also have challenges that we know we have to work through. There are five challenges health insurance, pension, debt, school assessment and infrastructure needs. There are more challenges

169but these are the five that we're going to talk about uh during this budget preview. So the first one would be health insurance. Uh as reported out at the beginning of this meeting uh we had some news from hit that we are seeing we're expecting a pretty big spike in retirey health insurance. Uh in terms of active employee insurance, we haven't received anything new other than the 15% that we think that they said we should plan for. Uh this chart shows what we budgeted for health insurance and what we actually spent. And it it it's interesting to look at because in FI25 we supplemented the budget if you remember at special town meeting and so we had more available and then um with all those vacancies we didn't end up spending it. So, as we

170look to 27, we're going to need to look at, okay, if it goes up 15% and retirees are going to go up 40%, which I can't believe that's even a concept that we're thinking about, but if it goes up 40%. How much do we need to add to our budget knowing that it didn't get fully utilized this year? So, that's work that we'll do as part of the budget process. But, I just wanted to raise that as a challenge. Um, and it could there could be some good news in there that we have some capacity to absorb part of the increase that we're expecting, but with with some of these variables, it's too early to tell. And the next thing we're going to talk about is pension. This continues to go up. Uh, pension assessment.

171We every year we pay the annual cost for our employees. And what you know, every every employee that we have, they're assigned a value and we have to incrementally pay an assessment on that value to this to the Middle Sex County Retirement System. In addition to that, we're paying a unfunded liability for all the pensions for all the employees that worked here many, many years ago before they contributed to their own pensions. The good news is is that we're actually scheduled to finish paying off that unfunded liability in 2036, which that's 10 years from now. So, that's that's that's not as close as it as I thought it was going to be when I said it first, but uh anyways, it's still good news that there's an end in sight. Uh and once that happens,

172we'll only be responsible for the annual cost. And so, you should see a sign a significant step down. And when that does happen, that'll allow us to even more aggressively attack our oped liability and potenti potentially address any other needs that come up in the meantime. Um debt debt is something that we're looking closely at. We have a new treasurer collector, Patrick McIntyre, and he's taking a very aggressive look at all the different uh debt management strategies that we have and helping us do some planning going forward. Um, we often budget for, for example, this year in the budget process, we budgeted for four and a quarter%. And and we budgeted to borrow and spend for some short-term borrowing. And when it comes when it's all said and done, we we do things differently. So,

173you have to constantly recalibrate the debt budget. The next slide, well, this is an example. So the debt service for the DPW fueling station, the complete streets projects, storm water infrastructure improvements that we approved in 2024 don't actually hit the finance director's budget until FY27. So we have to track that um forward looking and project out and make sure we're carrying enough. So the next um slide would show just illustrate that point further that we're we're planning for things three or four years out and we need to make sure that um we estimate conservatively and maintain capacity in that debt service line item so that we never and that's why we always appropriate the first year debt service with the article to give us room to uh work into um the debt service when it

174comes down the line. The fourth thing that we are I see as a challenge is school assessments. Uh we just lived through a period where the Minute Man School District was doing 20 and 30% increases. Last year they actually had a a negative uh increase. So who knows that may continue. I think I do think that that has stabilized and so it'll be hopefully just more uh stable going forward. uh acts rural school district they reported during the last year's ALG process that they'll need between a five and 6% increase for the foreseeable future that of course will be further sorted out once we start the ALG process but if that's the case that's a significant increase year-over-year uh and would would leave little room for increases um in town town budgets. The fifth thing

175that we are concerned with is infrastructure. Uh infrastructure is ever present. It's something that uh we've been here for a few hundred years and it we're going to be here and our infrastructure needs to be here to to support our residents uh roads, bridges, but also buildings, municipal buildings. Uh this shows the generator downstairs that blew up during the micro burst a few years ago that we were planning to replace with the HVAC project. So we still have the temporary generator outside town hall. Uh and hopefully that project will will get approved uh if when we bring it back to the next town meeting. But in the meantime, that that's another thing that we need. Sidewalks uh and street repairs. That's a culvert that's failed. It's hard to see there. And we have fire stations

176that were built in the 50s and 60s that in the next 10 years we're going to need to determine what what we do with those. They either need to be renovated or something else. Um not not immediately, not not next year, but we need to have that on our radar that those and there's one that's not even shown here that we all know about which is a DPW building. Um I didn't think I needed to show that but just wanted to make sure I mentioned it. So, as we plan, um Tom actually just sent out notice today to departments to get ready for capital requests and the capital request process. But, uh we wanted to float with the board, uh recommended draft budget priorities. Um this is both we we would like you to consider

177those and and also what we would would pass on to uh the departments. The first is OPED. We've we changed how we did the OPE appropriation by creating an offset in the ALG plan and appropriating that at town meeting as a separate motion. And it's it's a little confusing I think for the public uh and for others. And so I think there's other ways that we can do that uh but still achieve um the goal of of using that trust fund to pay for the retiree health care cost. So we want to look at that and share some ideas with you this year. The other thing we we think that might be a good approach for this fiscal year is to focus on existing capital. We just went through slides of millions of dollars of

178projects that have been approved and as I mentioned um we haven't started them yet. So uh eventually even though we have an excellent staff uh there's only so much capacity we have to do all these projects. So if there was a year to sort of maybe focus on the ones that we've already been working on, this might be it. um replenish and stabilization. I think that we used that during the pandemic to pay for some minor capital items. And I think it's an I think it's a good idea to try to uh replenish our stabilization fund and start building that for major capital repairs in the future. Uh the next set of recommendations would be more for the departments would be and this is similar to what we say every year but it's it would

179be good to have the board say you agree uh continue to identify efficiencies through through reorganizations. You know that there's a list of staffing requests that we we had the last few years that we'll we'll see again. Um there's all of our services the residents are are always looking for u improvements to our services and and that requires uh in some cases staffing but we're encouraging people to look at reorganizations and other ways to be efficient instead of just adding staffing. Uh leveraging external funds that you know we we want to continue to aggressively pursue grants and partnerships. Um and that's that's a priority and then limit supply and service increases. There certainly are increases in things like postage that are unavoidable. Uh but we want to try to find ways to limit others that

180that are that could be avoided or could be deferred. So those are some of the ideas that we had. And then this is just to lay out the schedule. Tonight is the budget preview. In October, we have two meetings in October. and one of those will be the tax classification hearing. And then um in the first week of November, we'll provide a budget update. And at that point, we'll give you a sense of some of the early returns on the on the budget um departmental submitts to see if there's anything that we need to bring to your attention as as as it relates to level services or otherwise. And then we'll do the capital plan on the 17th of November and we will have the select board budget workshop for you to talk to us

181about what you've seen the preliminary budget estimates that we provided and for you to give you know I think the last few years the board has looked at some of the things that we were making decisions on and you were more actively involved in saying we like this we don't like that you should prioritize that more. Whereas in the past, we would just show up at the budget book. So, I think the budget workshop is is a chance for for us to have a discussion with you about some of the things that we're struggling with potentially in terms of um prioritization with with the funds available. And then on the first week of January, we would present the recommended budget. we would plan to publish it and distribute it to both the select board and

182the finance committee um before the new year uh maybe even in mid December depending how how quickly we can work on it uh but definitely at least a more than a week advance before the joint budget workshops which we'll have in January and then we have to by general bylaw transmit the budget to the finance committee by March 5th. So that's that's the next 6 months and I'm looking forward to it. I think every year it gets better, the budget gets better, we refine it, we find ways to do things better and we find ways to be more transparent and more inclusive and I think we'll we'll do that again this year. So I look forward to it. And if you have any feedback on those budget priorities or if you have any other priorities

183that you want to discuss early on, uh that would be helpful. Otherwise, we'll focus on your goals. >> Okay. Thank you, John and Ellie. Um, questions from my colleagues. Alyssa, >> thank you so much for that. I love the pictures. Um, I have a question about our collection rate at 98.6%. Has that gone down a tiny bit? Because I'm thinking that 0.1 point 2% doesn't sound like a lot, but maybe in dollars it might be impactful. >> I'd have to look at the history, but I know we've always been around 99%. >> Or 99%, not 90. >> Um, but what impact like a tenth of a percent or two ten of a percent has, I don't have right in front of me, but I think that would be something that's interesting to look into. the

184the impact of any what seemingly minute changes. >> Yeah. And I guess I'm thinking that um if it has changed, it'd be nice to know like explore what might be the reason behind that. Um so interesting thing to answer. Um, and John, you said that the legal services was over spent due to contract negotiations, but that's something that was that something unexpected because of health insurance. I would think that we have the schedule, so we know that we're going to have those expenses. >> We do uh legal services a pretty um it depends on what what's happening. So, we had collective bargaining agreements. We also had several other personnel things related to collective bargaining that you can't, you know, we try not to anticipate because we hope they don't happen, but they did happen. Um,

185so those those were expensive and I think we had an extra town meeting which increases additional costs um that we don't always budget for. Um, so we actually reduced the budget again in FY26. So, I'm a little bit concerned. Um, but we'll figure it out. >> Okay. Thanks. Um, I guess I just want to comment that I 100% agree with these recommended draft budget priorities, especially focusing on existing and ongoing projects. I think that makes a lot of sense. Um, maybe there's less burden on staff. Um, maybe less disruption for residents. And I think you're right that if there's a year to do it, this is the year. Um, actually, this isn't really a comment, but a question. Um, I'm sure that we're always in communication with the school district, but are there things that

186we can be doing to better coordinate our capital planning so that maybe really expensive capital projects for the town and really expensive capital projects for the school happen not in the same year. I I don't know if that already happens. Um, but something that I I've heard from the finance committee um during budget workshops, during their meetings, and I'm wondering if anybody has any ideas about how we can not just coordinate, but improve on that coordination to offset um those capital expenses. >> Yeah, thank you. That that's something that uh we strive to do. Um, we do communic I I talk to the superintendent on a regular basis, weekly basis if not more. And you know, the bigger venue that we do that coordination is ALG. And I think that if there are major capital

187projects, we're not talking about a million dollars. We're talking about tens of million dollars, I assume. So, those should be surfaced, uh, I would think, in that process. And I think that's how we've done it in the last few years. Um but we'll we'll continue to try and find ways to improve that. >> I think um looking at really big capital projects between the town and the schools. I mean the obvious ones are DPW building for the town and whatever is going to happen with Conan school and we really won't know where the schools are going on Conan until probably December or January. Um, and you know, it's a multi-year project for either entity, but I think, you know, my expectation would be that we would try to move ahead as quickly as possible with

188the DPW project because uh, you know, if the schools did decide to do something expensive with Conan, it's going to take a couple of years. are going to apply to, you know, get in line with uh MSBA. Um so hopefully we'll we'll get ours done before them. But yeah, it's a good point. Um we don't want to have two huge debt exclusion overrides hit the same year. >> David. Yeah, John, I wanted I was wondering why you had the increased use of capital capital stabilization funds on this on your list. Um, is did something push you to put that on here or >> uh not sorry not use of capital stabilization replenish >> contributing. Yeah. >> Yeah. I just think that it's if we have a free, you know, we we just presented that will

189replenish free cash to a level that will put us above the floor that we try to keep of 3%. And I think a good place to put that is capital stabilization cuz as we know our capital needs are never going away. And when that was originally created, it was to set aside funding for big projects. And it's so hard to put money away like that. But I think if we have an opportunity to, it's something that I'd like to try to do. Not not, you know, not millions of dollars, but chipping away at it uh a little bit I think would be a good idea. >> Yeah, I I I agree with that that approach. and um you know when pre-cash is high or something to you know uh to contribute to the capital stabilization

190fund. I have um I think maybe the same concerns as you is large amounts, right? To do that. Um taxing people and then squirreling it away in there doesn't make a lot of sense where because we haven't done anything with that money except to invest it somewhere. Um and borrowing money means the the infrastructure gets built first before we pay for it. We we pay for it over time, right? So if we're building whether it's an intersection or renovating one of the town buildings or whatever we're investing in um you know we get that up front and then we pay back the loan over time. So it's kind of where as opposed to stabilization where we invest upfront and we get the benefit later. Um but I think you're right if we in certain circumstances

191for for um you know moderate amounts of money it does makes make sense. Um finally I think if the capitalization capital stabilization gets too big you know um people will notice and rightly so that you know we have this money on the side why are we saving this money on the side >> I just I just want to quickly follow up on that um I think that there was some criticism last year um from folks who saw us zeroing out the stabilization fund for the DPW. Um, so I think that being upfront and that we have a plan to replenish it is is a good idea and and help will help build boost confidence. So not by a lot, but definitely having a plan for it. >> David, so I don't disagree as long as

192the the amount, but just take for example right now there's $1.2 $2 million in there that's doing nothing, right? It's not >> earning interest. >> Well, it's earning interest, but you know, people have been taxed for it, >> right? And we don't have, you know, we have this, you know, I think John said $17 million worth of things to do over the next decade. Um um 1 million of those could be could be done here. So, I I I just have concern about, you know, uh you know, squirreing away too much money. Um uh uh you know I again I think that you know it may be a little bit counterintuitive but I think it works well in municipal finance where you you borrow and then you you get the benefit of the thing up

193front and you pay for it over time. But I I I don't disagree with you and I don't disagree with the with John's approach either as long as we're talking moderate amounts of money. Jim, >> um to the extent that I understand these budget priorities, I agree with them. Um I feel like I'm not the most uh deeply enshed in municipal finance of the entire select board, but um to the extent that I understand them, I I definitely agree with them. Uh, one question I had was, um, I know that we've, um, uh, adjusted the overlay for tax relief over the last couple of years, um, you know, up and down. Um and you know since we are justifiably proud of the amount of you know tax adjustment that we can supply to people. I

194was just wondering about where the whether you had any preliminary sense of of where that um overlay sits the the money that we sort of set aside for you know what if we if we give people tax relief that reduces the amount of you know income we're getting from taxes. So we have to you know calculate that up up ahead of time. So I was just wondering about trends in in the overlay. >> Excuse me. So in the ALG process, we we've the last few years we've been trying to use trends to um in for projections instead of just carrying over year. So I think last year we did a few I think this year we'll do overlay. Uh we're in the 850,000 range and I believe that's about where we ended up last year.

195Uh so we'll we'll double check to make sure that makes sense going forward and we'll also look at the four or fiveyear average but it should go up a little bit because of everything else that goes up. So >> and I guess I mean we do have that that longer term goal about you know looking at additional strategies for tax assistance and if any of those actually you know come to life then there will be a need for a higher overlay. Until that until we figure out where that authority could come from, we don't have to worry about it. >> Fred, so I'm I'm impressed by the turnback money. And was it as high last year? I don't really remember. Refresh my memory. Uh, so last year the turn back was around $70,000. I know.

196So, it's this is impressive. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, yeah, looking at your um your draft budget priorities, I I agree with all of those. I think it is a good opportunity to take a a breather if we've got some a lot of uncompleted projects. Um, and uh, you know, take a little bit of a pause. I think that's a a reasonable point of view. Um I know historically the town has done that from time to time. It seems like every 10 or 12 years you've developed a backlog of uncompleted things on the shelf that need to get done. So I I think this is a good time to do it. Um and the stabilization I think uh you know obviously uh you know if we can add some money in stabilization and

197use it for some larger projects you know I'm thinking of you know major electrification projects for instance for this building or that sort of thing um that if we can do it without having to do a lot of borrowing that would be great. Uh the only the other concern I've got um or question I've got that I'd like you to consider is there's been some mention made about uh in in other venues as well about u potential increases in in health insurance costs and specifically u retiree costs. Now I'll acknowledge that I am a retiree and I benefit from this. Uh however, I'm one of hundreds of retirees. Um so I I think I can speak for the group. Um I think it's very concerning uh that there are problems with retirey healthcare and I

198I'm certainly there's certainly been some current concerns raised um about our present carrier of Etna uh for the retiree healthcare. So, I hope you can uh delve into that a little bit more. Um, my colleagues probably don't realize this, but the the unionized employees who are still active duty kind of get a seat at the table to negotiate through the union collective bargaining process about things like insurance, health insurance. um retirees basically have no seat at the table whatsoever and just end up getting whatever is considered fair by the administration and the select board in the town. But they don't really get to participate in that um and never have and it has to do it's not anything unique to act and it's just the way the world works. Um but you know I'd hate

199to see the feeling growing amongst retirees that um after putting many many years of dedicated service the town, the town isn't going to uh give them as good a plan as what they got when they were active duty. They already are paying a larger portion than they did when they were active duty. and now they're on their pensions, so they have reduced earning capabilities. Anyway, so I I hope that in the process working with Meer and whatever that you don't forget the retirees. Thank you. Any other questions or comments about the budget and guidance you might like to offer to the town manager? It's uh it's great. and thank you for the early presentation. >> Can I respond to you? >> Yes. >> Um just to provide a little bit more um information. So John

200mentioned our new treasurer collector and he was at the hit meeting last week and he asked um what the factors are for those increases um that Gallagher has has seen. Um and they noted that it's all of the Medicare changes that are happening now. We're also coming out of a rate cap with with Etna. Um, but the folks at HILB, which is the I don't know, insurance agency consultant that like works with Gallagher to to try and get the best deal for us. They are actively um exploring options to to try and get a good deal. So, they they're the retirees are definitely not forgotten. And actually retirees are the only public members who show up to the hit meetings. >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh let's move on to item nine. Discuss memorandum

201of agreement for Primrose School. This is an agreement that was first discussed a few months ago uh when it was presented. Nice job, Ellie. It was presented from the Primrose School that they'd like to build a a a business on Massav and they need but they need sewer. So the board asked us to look at some type of M MOA that would allow them to connect to the sewer and what um what consideration would be paid and they are the terms and conditions that would be part of it. Uh we met with them several times over the last few months. I believe we brought a draft to the last meeting in July and we got some feedback from the board, came back, talked to the applicant again, and we had something in the packet over

202the weekend, but then about 4:00 this afternoon, we had a different version. So, I don't know if you've had a chance to review it, but there are a few changes that were made, which I can go through, uh, or Tom, maybe Tom can go through. Oh yeah, we have it on the screen. So, um, and we thought that the party would be here, but I don't see anybody in the virtual room that looks like they're from that project, unless they want to raise their hand. The other option we could do is since we just got it this afternoon is if you have any comments on it, you could let me know. Otherwise, we can just have them come back when and have them come and be here uh at your next meeting, which I think

203is the 8th or so of September. >> That's good. >> Okay. No, no, no feed no other feedback by what was in the packet or otherwise to to carry this forward. any non-starters that you saw, Jim? >> Um, I was, um, confused but pleased to see the, uh, offer of some, um, subsidized slots, uh, to come back into the contract. We, yeah, we' assumed that was going to get yanked in response to the, um, to our non-acceptance of the notion of supporting a, you know, demolition delay. uh you know to to push the HDC to change the uh the HC to change the demolition delay. Um so I'm curious to hear them talk about why that's there, but I it's it's great to see it there. Uh you know, I've my comments mirror exactly Jim's

204comments. Um, you know, I thought that those scholarship slots were gone and uh I was very pleased to see a couple of hours ago they came back in again. Um, you know, I saddened that, uh, it appears that there's no way to preserve the existing house. U, but I understand it. There's limits to our authority uh, under the demolition delay bylaw. So I I think on balance I this seems like a fairly acceptable agreement to me. The uh I've heard repeatedly that it's very hard and very expensive to get child care in this area. Um so this will provide um an additional quantity of daycare slots available to the public. So I think that's important. Um I think from an economic development point of view it's it's great that people have got this uh this

205option. the uh I think it seems to be fairly consistent with the concept of Kelly's Corner. Um we have sort of all educational uses all in that area and point out there is a similar private daycare center at the other end of the school complex um at the corner of Haywood and Charter. Um, one of the points that was raised a couple of times during our discussion was people saying, why don't we direct during the site plan process that primaros should negotiate with schools and get access from the junior high school driveway to get into their facility. And I I suspect some people might have thought that that was similar to what is happening at the other end of the complex. um at Hayward and Charter. Um I will point out though that that short

206section of Charter Road that goes by the uh by the auditorium was never discontinued. That's actually a public way um which provides frontage um for the daycare and and provides access to them. Um, so it's not quite the same as having them actually operate off a driveway. It that section of Charter Road indeed looks like a driveway, but it's not. So, um I I know we certainly want to eliminate the number of curb cuts available, but this section of uh Massachusetts Avenue is under state control and the the applicant is going to have to go through their own process with mass DOT as far as getting the curb cuts approved. Um and whatever process they go through, it's it's not really up to us. So I'd say on balance um I think it's a say

207sorry to see a historic building going down. You folks all know that you know I have a historic connection with that building but um so goes it and uh I'd be okay with the agreement the way it exists and certainly respect uh any other comments anyone else might have. So Dean, can I just clarify? Are we talking about this this evening or are we uh carrying this over? >> Well, I think the town manager asked to see if there was any specific comments that >> we might want to uh have him factor into any further negotiations. So that's my comments. >> I I'll just I guess state my comment tonight. And um I don't agree with this MOA. Um I think that you know referring to the act in 2020 comprehensive community plan. Um I

208I'm going to read because I um the following vision statement describes a desired future as articulated by the hundreds of Actton residents who participated in the planning process. Um it it states, "Let us plan so that in the future Actton has retained its uniqueness by preserving its rural and his historic characteristics with ample open fields, meadows, treelined roads with meandering sidewalks, ponds, farms, wooded areas, stone walls, and beautiful, beautiful renovated historic buildings." I think I can stop there. Um it goes on if you refer to the act in 2020 plan. Um I feel like this primrose center is not the ideal project for the site. Um and I want to invite my colleagues on the select board to not move forward with the MOA and wait for another project to be proposed. If we get

209a developer that is not a cookie cutter and can be creative with the site, it will be a win-win. Um, just referring to the old Walker Land that was a proposed site for a daycare center. We said no and and now look at the site. It's going to be this incredible site used by many town members. Um, the last project that was proposed for this particular space uh incorporated a renovation for the existing building. So, it can be done. It's just that this particular developer has no interest in doing that and wants to stick to their own e their own plan. So that's why I don't think they're a great fit for this site. Well, I uh I'll respond to that and I'm not under the employee of Primo Schools, but you know, the 2020

210plan was very bravely spoken. But since then, there if people really wanted to preserve historic buildings, there would have been changes made to the demolition delay bylaw, and there were not. nothing ever came forward. So, it's all very well to say you got to preserve all these buildings, but if there's no legal teeth to do it, um I think that's that shows you where the overall priorities of the town are. Yeah, the 2020 plan sounds great, but if people never move forward with it, um it it really has no impact. Um, you know, I think the, uh, specifically about the Walker property, um, some of the history of that, a lot of the opposition to that had nothing to do with the site, with the design, with the traffic impact. It was strictly brought about

211by a group of people that wereo trying to guarantee market share for existing daycare centers here in town and that market share which was very small gets very expensive. So I don't think and then so we moved ahead we basically lost on every account with the walker property. The town ended up buying it. Yes. It's going to be a great new building. We lost a huge amount of money and we had a site that frankly was disaster for about eight years. So I don't think that the Walker property and what finally happened is a glowing example of what we should do because what happens as with all these other things when people don't want progress um look at how long things have stood at top dead center in South Actton because It's got to be

212the perfect project, not just the good enough project. So, and I'm not frankly sure, especially where this particular use is protected under the Dover Amendment, I'm not really sure how much latitude we have in slamming the door on this particular project. And I think we might want to have some town council advisories on this. I know she has weighed in on it in the past about the protections under the do amendment. So I would be very cautious about quoting and coming up with ration for something that happened eight years ago or 10 years ago at the Walker property that is based on an incomplete understanding of what happened. And I'd be very very cautious about getting involved in situation where we might be violating some of the precepts of the Dover amendment. Thank you, David.

213Um, uh, Fran, could I ask you you said there was a a a project for use of the property previously. Can you say what that was and why that didn't happen? It was I don't know why it didn't happen, but if you go to our uh the historical commission's July of last year meeting, uh Carl Junkis proposed um Steve, sorry, Steve, uh proposed a housing development, but incorporating the building, the the historic building. Um and I don't know why it never moved forward. So he just he came to the HC and then later on decided not to move forward >> I guess. Yes. Yeah. Um yeah. >> So I I I understand that it's it's difficult but we can't you know in my mind it's difficult to protect every historic building in town if we

214don't have a use for it. And it's very difficult to find uses for some of the older structures with their rooms and stuff. Sometimes you can gut them. Um, but they're they're more expensive to do than uh I mean much more, you know, an order of magnitude more in some cases. And so I I think that's very tough. And I think in this case the we have um a distinct need for daycare in town there. you know, you know, you can see all over social media and uh in interactions with residents in town that people can't find daycare in town. And I'm I'm sensitive to that. And also, I'm sensitive to to be accepting of of business that wants to locate in town, right? Uh we get criticized a lot for not, you know, having

215a low amount of business in town. And we now have a business that would like to move here and it's a it's a good business for right for that spot right right next to you know uh people can uh parents can drop two kids at the same time um and things. So I I think it's a good a good situation and you know I have no problem with the the MOA as written. Alissa, >> I also um am fine with the MOA. Um I appreciate Jim that you want to hear from the folks um or at least the representative for Primrose why those two subsidized spots are back on the table. Um I I would be okay approving it tonight, but I'm also fine waiting until September 8th. I think that um it is absolutely

216not accurate that the building cannot be saved or that um the applicant is um not financially able to make the necessary investment in renovating it. Um, so I think that we should focus on pushing on that during the the site plan review um because there was an indication from the attorney that the two subsidized spots were non-negotiable and here they are again. So I think that perhaps sharing the plan from common ground um for the 30 or 40 apartment building that was going to be behind this house um to show that it is possible to to save that that home um and build a daycare center. Uh I think we should focus on it there. But as far as the additional SBUS six, I I don't have an issue with um with the investment that

217they're making in the INI work and the fact that part of it is non-refundable, part of it is refundable if the project doesn't get built. And Fran, um the the common ground project didn't move forward because it was like 40 apartments and there wasn't sufficient sewer capacity. Um, but as far as the site goes, it's definitely possible to to save and renovate that house and and use it for offices and incorporate the the classroom space in the back. So maybe we'll share that that um diagram with with the applicant. >> I have one more. So, just to um also add another project um the West Actton um area that Matias renovated that is a glowing example of waiting for the right developer and those although those um houses were in the historic district and couldn't

218be demolished, there is no reason why we can't respect a house down Massav who's iconic with the same respect. >> Thank you. Um, let's see if there's any uh public. >> Sorry, I just wanted to clarify. I The reason that they reinstated the scholarship is because we asked them to. Um, and they and they the thing that they changed that would be seen as a concession for us is that they split the payments up and and the 20,000 right out of the gate secures the um capacity right away instead of waiting until they get their um site plan approval. So that's the change that they asked for and that and so that just wanted to clarify that that was why um if that helps. >> Thank thank you for asking again for those scholarship slots.

219Um let's see if there's any public comment. >> Hi. Yes, it's Tara again and I agree with Fran that it's not progress to tear down a historic asset for a factory-sized daycare and I hope you will not support the idea of reducing a wonderful building to rubble landfill effectively. The Walker site was not a sewer request. It was a fight about a permit application and the judge decided it was too big and ordered the walker to to to slim down the project. So, let's be careful about that. That was a total win. Uh, we could have done it a lot cheaper if when Chris Gonzalez and his family offered the site to the town for $250,000. If we had more sensitive land use planning, uh, the town would have jumped at that. Uh, instead we

220spent what, millions or something like that. Um, I feel like demo delay is irrelevant. It it sort of suggests or suggests that um the historical commission is to blame because they didn't do a better demo delay. This isn't about a demo delay. This is whether we're going to give precious sewer capacity to a factory size daycare that we already don't want. Plenty of they you guys say that you can't find daycarees, but let's hear from the daycare. Let's hear where are these folks? you you you you voted to effectively demolish a um convenience store serving hundreds of people, many of most of which probably don't have um the ability to drive to a supermarket saying that, oh well, you gave them notice with the with the document. Well, I feel like there needs to be

221a better or more um uh community outreach. I would like to hear from the DRB. You've got free architects. Let's hear if they think it's possible to save. Um, so anyways, I hope that you um put this off at least another time and uh let's I I'd like to see a carbon footprint analysis. You know, we talk about what is it called the uh the climate plan and it's supposed all decisions are supposed to be looking at the carbon impact and yet I haven't heard a carbon impact about this. Um and uh anyway, thank you. >> Thank you. Um you know, just following up on uh on Alyssa's comment as well. If this, you know, if we get through this jump, the next piece is going to be site plan process. And I think at

222that point DRB will be able to weigh in and I think we might be able to have a a a better discussion and uh we might be able to come up with something that that is more acceptable to the to the entire board. Um, but I frankly would, my preference is if someone would make a motion, I would like to be able to move ahead on this memorandum of agreement tonight. >> Alyssa, >> I will move to authorize the town manager to sign the MOA that was updated at 4:00 today with Primrose. >> Second. Okay, moved and seconded. Any other comments, Jim? >> Um, I' I'd continue to prefer to have the applicant here um rather than respond blind to a proposal that just showed up a couple hours ago. >> Thank you, Alissa. >>

223So, um, my question, um, was answered by the town manager that they agreed to it because we asked. So, I think that that's a sign of good faith. I also wanted to to add before we um vote that I would like to retract my statement that I made um the very first time that we discussed this calling act in a daycare desert. Um because since that time I have learned from you know other folks that are uh adjacent to child care centers in Actton um that the Great Brook School just opened up last year and so there are several centers that do have spots. So I just want that to be clear. Um however even given that um I don't think it's the board's role to to limit you know market competition among you know

224similar businesses in town. Um so I I think that we definitely have some leverage that we can and some and some um arguments to present during the site plan review. that this this MOA is um sit sits well with me as it as it is written and changed. >> Thank you, David. I I will say I I agree that the the site plan offers us some uh possibility. We're able we were able to in the uh process uh for the um McGovern Auto dealership to uh make significant uh changes to that project from what it was originally proposed as part of the site plan process such that most people were satisfied with it at the at the end. There were very significant objections in the beginning and we were able to address quite a number

225of them. >> Thank you. All in favor of the motion, please indicate by saying I. I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> Nay. >> Abstensions. Approved by 3 to two. Thank you. >> Page two. The uh item 11, project updates. Mr. Manager, >> assistant town manager Tom Bean will um share some updates and I'll chime in as needed. All right, good evening everybody. Uh going through seven projects very quickly. uh Kelly's corner reconstruction, as I'm sure you've noticed, um there's some movement there. Uh most notably in this photo, you'll see the traffic lights are up. Um the project is continuing towards final paving and road work. Uh recently, drainage installation, milling, concrete and granite curb installation, sidewalk forms, and ADA approaches were installed, and utility work completed. Um paving is scheduled to begin this Thursday after

226school drop off in a portion of the area, mainly um the Route 27 Main Street area. Uh additional paving will occur next week. Over the next 3 weeks, you'll see additional paving, back fill of curbs, and grading of sidewalks, continue cur uh granite curb installation, and installation of temporary pavement markings. Um, a fun part about this project is that Brad Spinny, who's a grandson of Carol Spinny, uh, has been tasked with creating some benches that pay tribute to Carol Spinny, a big bird, and and Oscar the Grouch and the Sesame Street contributions, utilizing some of the wood from the trees that were removed. And he recently shared these photos of the bench um, showing that they're finished and they're ready for the installation over at Kelly's Corner. So, uh, you'll see the top left two

227of those benches and on the bottom the, um, Minute Man Tech team and Brad on the left hand side who helped build these. So, a fun little um, twist to this project. The next project is a powder mo powder mill road construction. As you know, there's a detour in place and that has helped expedite work within the roadway. The contractor and economic development director have been in contact with local businesses to ensure continued access and communication throughout the project. Uh you can see from the photos on the bottom right hand side. Current work in the roadway is focused on utility and trench work right now. Um the current detour and alternative routes are anticipated to last at least the next two weeks. Um the upper left-hand photo highlights some on-site sewer work at the Powder

228Mill development site and construction continues on that site on the buildings as well. The next project is a prospect street and main street reconstruction and late last week the site contractor and DPW highway staff completed traffic signage installation and site improvements. The recon this reconfiguration creates one dedicated area for safe travel from Prospect I'm sorry from Main Street to Prospect and then another one from Prospect to Maine. Uh each area includes two turn lanes to help improve traffic flow and reduce congestion. And as you can see from these photos, I think the top right hand one uh you'll see motorists have quickly um adjusted to this new traffic flow. If you drive by, it's a it's a great change in that area to what it once was and uh much safer than what it was

229before. Actton food pantry. Uh all town storage has been removed from the facility allowing the food pantry to begin interior renovations. You'll see the two photos highlight a few things. On the left hand side, it highlights interior renovations that allow for um proper usage of the building by the food pantry. On the right you'll see to upper right you'll see um the elevator shaft construction has begun uh anticipation of having accessible access to that second floor. Uh the bottom picture stretched out a little bit but this was a proposed um 75% design that went in front of the conservation commission recently for the site uh work and that was approved. Um, as you can see, it includes new configuration of the parking and traffic flow on site to preserve the uh commuter rail parking spots

230on the left and then additional accessible spaces and traffic full improvements on the right hand side of the food pantry. >> Jim, I don't want to turn it on you if you have a question with that. >> No, I got it. Thanks. >> Perfect. The next project is River Street Park and um unfortunate news, we had applied for additional grant funding to the MVP program um and unfortunately we were denied. But the good news is is that we have $21,000 from the CPC program that we're able to utilize for this next and final phase. Uh we received pricing from a contractor. They've gone through uh some personnel changes that slowed down updated pricing. Um but the pricing that we received is within budget preliminary. We need to do some more reviews. But the exciting part

231is that this phase will include installation of walkways throughout the park, paving of a parking area and installation of storm water management basin at the base of that parking area. Additionally, we have a CPC grant that we received for historical signage uh that'll be placed in a few different areas throughout the park that satisfy the MOA for um historical um preservation of the site. And we're going to be working with the historic commission and the historic district commission on those signs. Um sustainability has supported us in applying for another grant. This is a cool communities grant. This would be to cover the cost of 20 shade trees throughout the site that once this project's done, we'd be able to go back in and implant the trees and create this um cooling center for the neighborhood

232as well. Uh once this phase is complete, we anticipate on removing all the fences and opening up the park for usage. Uh we're confident that this next phase will get us to that point. And a couple things you'll see in the photos on the bottom left hand side, you'll see snow on the side. This is the best photo I was able to grab of the water running. Um, and unfortunately it was taken the April time frame where there was still ice and snow on the ground. Uh, this shows the restoration of farm of Fort Pond Brook that's um running continuously. Uh, the top left you'll see the foundation walls. They're reduced. before there were the full foundations, but with um uh cost uh value engineering of the project, we're able to highlight certain areas to

233show that there was a building there. And that's highlighted a little bit better on the right hand side photo that's looking down into the tail race. And then you'll see a little bit further in the middle of that photo. Um amphitheater benches seating there for um for people to enjoy. And the final project Oh, sorry. Can't forget about 17 Woodbury Lane. So, um the siding as you drive by, you'll see that the building's much different than what it was a few months ago. Siding installations um underway. Uh the uh new pavilion has been constructed. They're just waiting for siding and painting. Uh it's a metal roof on that side. um inside the building you see in these two photos on the left and right uh upper hand sides um you see a lot of renovations

234inside and on the one on the right hand side is what you'll see when you walk into it of course I mean the open part into the roof everything else will be finished um but what you what you're seeing there is an open area to the new um preserved roof you'll see there is old beams with new beams we're able to salvage a good amount of those to support the structural needs of the roof. Um, and on the left hand side, the upper left hand side, that's a bathroom uh with ventilation um fan ducted in. That's a bathroom that's approachable or accessible from the outside. Uh, on the bottom left, you'll see the new siding of the building. Uh, those five six windows there are original to the building and those have been preserved. There's

235additional windows that will match those existing windows, but because they're specialized um because of the historic nature, there's a bit of a lead time. So, we're looking about beginning of October and taking those in and then they'll install those. Uh but that doesn't mean the project's going to stop. Um site work will be picking up soon with septic uh installation and excavation. Um interior work continues. Um, one of the fun photos that we have in site is the bottom right hand side shows the uh, beam construction from the original construction that'll remain. So when you go to visit the site, you'll be able to see a little bit of the the original construction through that um, through the beam. The last photo here or the last slide is a bellows farm mill dam breach design.

236Uh topographical in um I wrote this down because I did not want to mispronounce it. Baometric um survey are complete. What that is it's it's measuring the depth of the water in that area. Um wetlands flagging is complete. Geomorphic assessment and sediment gradation sampling is completed as well. Uh currently the project team is wrapping up the conceptual design then updating the hydraulic modeling with a new bridge. Um from there the team will set up the geotechnical borings to evaluate the foundation substrate and when the project progresses into preliminary design the team will begin public outreach efforts. But what you see in the right hand side is um a timeline and a tracking sheet. the left upper left you'll see the um issues with the Bellowos Farm Mill dam. And that is it for the project

237updates for tonight. If you have any questions I'm happy to answer them. >> So Tom, what have you been doing in your spare time? >> What spare time? >> Uh one question I've got is uh a resident from the area reached out to me the other day. Um, do you have any kind of a projected timeline of when the River Street Park uh might be accessible by the public even in an un incomplete form? >> Sure. That's uh that's a popular question. So, because it's an active construction site, we of course have to keep the construction fencing up and it depends on how much projects progress will be made this fall. Uh we intend on issuing um a change order for this next phase in the next few weeks with mobilization either late September or

238early October. Um depending on how fast they can go through the park and how quickly they can pave the areas they need to be paved before the mill um the um sites closed down to pull in the um the mix. We could potentially be looking at the end of this year of pulling the fences. Uh the grass will not be established by then. Um, of course, we're not going to plant the seed or drop the seed down until we're uh completely finished. So, while it may be slightly accessible, um, potentially at the end of the year, it won't be a completed park until the spring when everything can establish. So, a long way of answering um, we're hoping at the end of the year, but realistically maybe the spring. >> Thank you. >> Questions from

239my colleagues? Nicely done, John. >> Thank you. Uh, yes, nice work. I just wanted to add for the Kelly's Corner project because school starts this week and I've already started hearing from folks that found out that they're going to be paving uh on the first day of school. And I tried I tried very hard to get them to change it and there's a lot of reasons that they went through that I won't go through here tonight, but they weren't able to change it. But they did agree to start after the morning drop off. So hopefully that helps a little bit. But in terms of timing, probably the worst time to do it, but um they are paving it, which is the good news. And um every week it's going to look better. >> Thank you.

240Item 12, discuss no trespassing signs on Bay Circuit Trail easement at Robinsbrook. Uh Jim, do you want to handle this? >> Sure. I did a little research on this because I remembered it from um my days on the land stewardship committee. Um so um this is because of a um was brought to our attention by a town resident that um um there are some maps that show the Bay Circuit Trail uh which is like this you know coast to coast trail walking trail that'll get you from the northshore to the southshore. Beautiful uh um ambitious project. Uh there are some maps that show uh an uh the access from Route 27 to the rail trail uh going right down the driveway that goes to the Nishoba Sportsman's Club. Um and there are now signs there

241um that say, you know, private drive um you know, the members only. Um so I looked into this. I also uh contacted the land stewardship committee to see, you know, what sort of recent discussions had there had been. And luckily um I heard back from Bruce Rockman, who is not only a member of the land stewardship committee, but is also um a member of the the uh the tennis club and the Nshoba sportsman's club and um knew the recent history of why those signs were there. So we discussed it. Um what we agreed was that we did have the same understanding that there was a pedestrian easement going right down that driveway uh to the um to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. Um it's for pedestrians and bicycles. Um the purpose of the signs was

242that um people were driving down there and just sort of parking informally on the side of the road to get access to the rail trail. And that's not okay. It is it is a private road for cars. Cars can't go down there unless they're, you know, going to uh one of those facilities. Um so, uh what we agreed was that those two goals were compatible. Um you know, the intent of not allowing non-member cars to go down there and the intent of allowing uh pedestrians and bike bicycles uh can coexist, but it does mean that the signs need to change. Uh we um he gave me the number of um the uh the manager there. Um and um I suggested that I would have um I would hope to rec recruit via the town manager

243uh some some staff member who could work with Mike the manager to come up with some wording that would uh cover both intents that would explain to cars they can't go drive down there and explain that you can walk or bicycle as far as the rail Well, um, that seems doable. It's more words than the current signs are there. There might be need to be a second sign. I don't know. That's the kind of level of detail that I don't think we need to work out as a select board. Um, but it's it's it was certainly clear that there is an easement there. Um, it may or may not be a Bay Circuit Trail easement, but that doesn't matter. There's still an easement there. Um the Bay Circuit Trail itself being a large and ambitious

244project has changed uh from time to time where they intend people to go if they're on the the Actton wing of the Bay Circuit Trail. And currently the Bay Circuit Trail is shown on uh land stewardship committee maps is going right down that driveway, but on the Bay Circuit Trail maps it's it's shown through a different route. So, but um that's that's an interesting point, but it doesn't really impact the fact that uh people are allowed to uh walk and bike down there to get access to the rail trail. So, I would recommend that we uh direct the um town manager to find someone, you know, maybe in planning or somewhere to work with the uh the the manager on um coming up with acceptable signage that meets their needs and meets the town's needs.

245Thank you, Jim. Uh, John, you think you can recruit somebody from staff to follow this through? >> And we have authorization to put any signs up we want. >> Pardon me. >> We have authorizations to put any signs up that we want that meet your requirements. >> Yes. >> Okay, we're on it. >> All right. Thank you and thank you Jim for following up on that. >> I was very lucky to have um contact found Bruce Rockman but yeah it was all easy after that. >> Item 13 discuss tri board meeting with the select board finance committee and act and box pro school committee. Um I think I mentioned this to folks um a few weeks ago. uh Tory Campbell, the chair of the school committee, reached out to me and proposed having some sort

246of a meeting in early September uh to get all of the parties together. So that would be select board and finance committees from both Actton and Boxboro and the school committee to sort of set the stage for budgeting and just a general understanding. Uh we did have a a planning meeting on Zoom about this uh couple of weeks ago. Um the only reps were Tori herself, myself representing act and select board and one member of the box pro finance committee and one other member of the school committee. So I'm not sure if those other entities are going to participate in this or not. Um in the course of the discussion it sort of morphed at one point it was going to be some you know fairly major presentation by everyone and um upon reflection I

247suggested that it sort of premature for the act and select board to come in and talk about our budget priorities and what have you considering that they just were handed them to you um 45 minutes ago. Um, but I said that I was sure that uh some of my colleagues anyway would would be happy to attend. So it might be more of a uh school committee presentation about where they see their future going. And uh I hope that folks would be willing to attend. And what I would propose is that we would post it uh legally as a select board meeting so that if a quorum of us show up and if we engage in a conversation um we don't run a file of the open meeting law. Um the meeting will be on uh

248Wednesday, September 3rd at 700 p.m. and I believe it's going to be at the administration building. I haven't had a chance to check back with Tori. Um, but I will after this. Um, I'd like to hear anybody has any particular opinions um that they'd like to express um about the approach to this um or any other interested comments. Jim, >> um I'm remembering back to having a similar meeting uh at the uh Boardwalk campus. Um maybe even while it was still under construction or just open, we did have all five boards there. Um reflecting on it, I agree with your approach, Dean. uh the the the pre the the meeting last time was was dragged down by being a series of presentations. Um you know we need this, we need that and there was no

249real time for the subtleties and the communications and the um you know the relationship building and the conversations and and surfacing issues and ideas. So I I think keeping it um you know to a you know an update from the schools and then lots of different you know possibly structured ways of having a conversation about it all would be uh would be great. I would love to attend such a thing. >> Thank you. friend. >> I just I love the idea of collaboration and I this is sort of where does this fall with ALG? a completely different vibe, I guess. And but um I just was curious >> and that was actually one of the other points that I I raised with Tori is that you know it's this is we have ALG has not

250met yet. We haven't really had a chance to you know even set the table with them. So that kind of pushed it more into more of a a group discussion and you know certainly listen to what I' I'm anxious to hear what progress the schools have made with their reorganization plan. I know that it's early days yet. Um but I think that would be um that would be useful. I think also just getting folks together um in a cordial setting um cuz things things aren't going to be cordial later on, let's face it. Uh so I I think I'm quite hopeful that this will be a a a good session. I don't think there's going to be any tremendous progress or breakthroughs made on it. It's more of a relationship building activity, I think. Um,

251Alyssa, >> so I'm I'm hearing a couple of different things. I'm hearing collaboration, workshop, discussion, and then I'm also hearing school committee giving a presentation. Um, I like the former. I don't I'm not thrilled with the latter. Um, so if this is going to be five boards from two towns getting together to meet, I'd rather it be more of a roundt discussion. Maybe we run it like a community circle where there are questions um because we all need to understand challenges from each board um concerns from each town. Um, so maybe having a discussion where all the committees and boards answer those prompts to get the information out on the table. Um, I don't love the idea of the school committee as one entity even though they represent both towns. Um, being the driver of

252the conversation, starting off with a presentation. Um, and I can tell you from the from the welcome assembly that happened this morning at the high school, the timeline for AB Forward is, you know, what they've been doing so far is collecting data. So, there isn't really a lot to to report on that process for for this soon, September 3rd. So I don't know exactly what those questions would be um for a roundt discussion where each entity answers but something about um you know sort of similar to what uh the town manager presented tonight where we have you know where what are our goals what are our budget recommendations what are we going to do differently this year oh we're going to you know focus on projects that are already started and and ongoing instead of

253pursuing new projects. Information like that. Um because I've heard little bits and pieces from Boxboro about what their challenges are with zoning changes and need for a new fire station and we talked last year about them not needing an override because they had enough excess capacity in their levy, but maybe this year. So, I I want that information to be brought out into the open. So, I would say, especially given what Jim just said about being bogged down with presentations, especially not have only one of those entities do a presentation because then it's like they're meeting and we're just guests and we need to be partners. >> Thank you, David. So, um, you know, I'll try to adapt to whatever h happens. You know, I'd prefer a discussion to a presentation as as as well.

254May maybe um not like presentation after presentation, but just um someone kicks off topics. Um I I happened to run into the chair of the Boxboro uh select board on a on a walk and was briefed in a similar way to to Alyssa on their on their uh challenges. So um uh you know, I'm here interested in hearing everybody's uh points of view there. Um I will um as if there are are a majority of us that attend um as clerk I'll take I'll take minutes on um what we say. I'm not going to take minutes on the whole meeting but I will take minutes on what we say um and uh and and submit them if there's a quorum of us. >> Thank you Jim. One thought would be uh give the option for

255groups to send out information before the meeting. So if the school committee has something they want to communicate to all of us, you know, put it on some pieces of paper on a PDF and email it out and that that way it doesn't take up a bunch of time at the meeting and we can go right to the, you know, questions and conversations. >> Okay. Um, in my follow-up conversation with Tori, um, which was by email, um, she did ask if I would be available to make some informal comments. Um, so I think I would probably focus on that. Um, and I will follow up with her to come up bring in your input um, in planning this. um she was about to take off for backpacking in the Canadian Rockies. So, I think she's

256not not answering her email right now, but um I will pursue that and uh we'll certainly follow up with updates as far as if things have changed or change of venue or whatever, I'll certainly let you all know. Thank you. Um update on DPW project. So um just took a few notes here. As you recall and as the town manager pointed out during his budget presentation, we did get $150,000 allocated u for additional design studies for the DPW building at town meeting. Uh John and Tom and Corey and a number of other folks were moving ahead with that. They hired Arrow Street architects to do sort of a third party review and uh they jumped right in. Arrow Street actually was the uh architects for the Boardwalk campus. And so they've reviewed the feasibility study.

257They've looked at the Western Samson plans. They've met extensively with staff. Um they've walked around the site. um they've taken the benefit of all the measured drawings and that sort of thing that West and Samson put together and uh they'd come up with a list of possible alternates which um we had a Zoom meeting on the 8th of August going over what some of the options were. Um there's about five options that they are studying including renovating the existing building. Um renovating the existing building and building a new uh fleet storage building beside it. Um taking the existing building, renovating it and making that into fleet storage and building a new office shop building beside it. um making the existing Weston Samson plan a little bit smaller and trying to make it a little more

258efficient. Even a a plan to demolish half of the existing building and then adding an addition onto it. So there's a whole list of possible options, pluses and minuses for all of them. One of the problems we had is that, you know, to save money, you got to make it smaller. And one of the alternates they showed provided inside storage for the winter fleet of 18 vehicles. Um, unfortunately, our winter fleet is 30 vehicles. Oops. Um, and then you know that having the situation with making the building smaller, not having enough vehicles, then well, you could stack them in the travel lanes. Well, what you've got is you've been stacking in the travel lanes all along and doesn't work very well. So, um, so we've teased these sorts of things out. Um, we meaning myself

259and Tom and Corey and everyone else who was available for this authorized them to to go ahead with those conceptual plans and they're really sketches. They're sending them to their preliminary estimators and they're going to be coming up with a list of costs to see, you know, are do any of these things make any sense? Um, do they make financial sense? Do make sense from point of view of timing? um they had some questions about what would be the the timeline that the estimator have to look for based on construction costs. Now, if we decide that there's a we don't want to if we drop the West and Samson plan and go with one of these new plans, we would have to go to town meeting at some point um this winter or early spring

260to get another million dollars or so for design, design the building, and then be another year beyond that. So now we're looking at, you know, starting construction potentially in uh fiscal in in calendar 2027. Um construction costs are going up by anywhere's from 4 to 6%. So if they come up with one of these plans and they say and you know you can save 6% but it's going to be two years before you can do it then the cost of projects gone up by 12%. So you haven't done anything. So all of these things all have to be factored in. So we will be getting an update from Arrow Street on the 27th of August. Um this is the working group and then on um September 11th we have a building committee meeting where we

261hope to have full details that we can work with react the building committee can react to from uh Arrow Street and then our next select board meeting would be the 15th. So all of this is tremendously vague, but that's sort of the time frame we're looking at that we can give you another update as to where we are with it. Certainly, if people would like to attend the uh the meeting on September 11th, it'll be in here. It's going to be an open meeting. Um so we'll have the architects here. We'll be able to have some some better discussion. But that's kind of the progress we've made. Um, now we knew with what happened at town meeting that this project was going to be delayed a period of time. It's just a question of how

262long that period is. Um, there we have it. Unless anybody has any questions. Fran, >> are you soliciting feelings or just questions? I've been visiting DPWs and I'm I haven't figured out a way to fit it into a whole display for everyone. What I have been hearing from everyone that met with me is never go smaller because it makes no sense. Um, and I don't think that the idea of using our existing buildings is going to work. I mean, we need cars and every all vehicles are stored inside. It I invite anyone to go visit um Burlington, go visit Bedford and Tukesberry. That's where I've been so far. Tukesberry is a great example because they're kind of working in tandem with their old building and it their old building looks very similar to ours and

263um I I just think that that would be a great eyeopening um example and I think that personally it's great that we can explore other options but I'm I think we should steer the vote steady. So those are >> Thank you. It's Yeah. Um we want to make uh do as honest an attempt as this as we can and uh so we we kind of left the door open for Arrow Street to come up with whatever they'd like. I will get question please come up Scott. Scott Sullivan, a Patriots Road. Um, I totally agree with the scenario as I think I've talked to you all about scenarios. There's one scenario that I feel is missing. And when they're doing all this work, even though it may not be a scenario that ends up being correct,

264it would be great if they're doing all these scenarios, if they just added one more, which is to uh leave the structure the same and away from the structure, building the structure for the staffing, meeting all the staffing needs and like a wash bay and like things. Um, and I know there's sketches and like, but if I would hate to have a scenario be left off the table and have four scenarios and then have a scenario that may or may not be a a viable one be not even put through the process. Um, and not saying that's what the solution is, but I would love to see that one last one cuz I can't think of another scenario that would be missing if you add that because you have four cuz I read through I

265watched the presentation. I read through everything and and that's like the one that's missing. So that would be my uh request if it's possible. Thank you. >> Thank you. I think and Tom can probably correct me but I think what you've envisioned was in the building committee meeting that or the small staff meeting that we had um we did end up with a an option 4 A and 4B. So, I think we've probably captured the essence of what you have in mind. >> And correct me if I'm wrong, but I I think that the essence of of I think the options were all kind of connected either directly or slightly indirectly to the main building. And I agree with Fran that like like you should build the building the right size if you're building it.

266But I just I feel like that um I don't think that there was an option that had the staffing building separate um from everything. It was like touching it or I I I could be mistaken but David May I No, no, please state. May I ask a question? Uh, can I ask why um you're concerned about um I think that the one that Dean mentioned third today was the one that w was discussed maybe after the um uh the the last DPW building committee meeting, but I can I understand uh more your concern as to why that the space between the staffing building and the existing building matters whether it touches is connected by a breezeway or not connected at all. Why does that matter in your in your mind? >> I am all I

267I guess I'm primarily concerned about having an interruption to service and having that interruption to service or uh having when the building and the construction is done having them moving around people that are trying to get their jobs done. I and I'm not an expert at this, but very simplistically I'm thinking that if if the if the building for the staff was built where they're parking, not that that's the right spot for it, but like hypothetically, uh then they could not interrupt their dayto-day work. Build the building as quickly as you can build it to whatever specifications it could be built to. And then when it's done, then you could address the vehicle storage separately. Um, that's I I just see see it as an option that I didn't think was in the scenarios that

268they're modeling out. That's so there and that's why I'm asking that to be included if it's possible. >> Okay. Thank you, Tom. Sorry, not to belver, but Scott, that was an additional proposal that was asked of um Arrow Street to look at and that'll be um call it option 4B, but that was something that was recommended, I believe, by David. It was a separate building for the staff, renovate the current building for garage storage, and then uh have it connected either through a breezeway or a connected corridor. But, but that exact scenario is one that will be included. >> All right. Thank you. I just want to make sure that's up. Thank you. >> Thank you, David. >> Interestingly, that's like the um proposed the two-phase proposal before we had this uh what we have

269the current proposal, but it's the second phase is not tearing down the old building and building the second part. The second B part is renovating the old building, right? So that's it's building the new part and then renovating the old part, right? And and both A and B work a little differently, but both both of those are good. And I I think Scott's, you know, points are important. Um the one of the reasons we went to to drop that phasing was to lessen the time frame over which DPW operations were impacted, right? Um, and this is another thing to watch, another kind of scenario to watch out for to make sure we're not interrupting uh DBW operations. I also wanted to say that I agree wi-i with all the stuff Fran said, but also from

270another point of view, um, I think the worst possible outcome here is to build an inadequate building. Right? I can't imagine going back to town meeting in five years and saying, you know, we save we saved you 20% off the building, but you know, it doesn't work and we need to build more. That would be the worst possible outcome for me. what whatever we build. I mean, we want to be value engineered. We want to be have an effective design. We want to spend the least amount of money possible, of course. Um, but we also want an an uh a reasonable result uh at least in my mind. And I I like a number of these um scenarios that are are proposed. And I think it's a uh uh Aeros did a good job in

271saying, you know, what could we do? and and I'm anxious to hear more. >> Thank you, Fred. >> I just have a quick quick comments, but most of the the three DPWs I did actually visit, they house the water department, um you know, public works, some recreation. So, there's that was the common thread like our water department's separate, which I thought was interesting. Um, and what else was I going to say? I I can't remember, but I I'm um I'm all for the original design. Yeah, our our neighbors in Maynard were looking at a new DPW and I we all know Maynard is a much smaller town, but they do include the sewer department and the water department as part of the DPW and they were looking at a potentially a $60 million building not

272including real estate cost. David. So, I I kind of wanted to say that, you know, I think one of the things people talked about at town meeting, it's something we have to explain better is comparing trying to compare apples to apples to other towns, even if they're the same size as Actton doesn't work. Um, well, or you have to be careful, I should say. I mean, it certainly makes sense to to use to make other references to make sure we're doing a a good job, but um some towns they have a completely separate facility for their grounds crews, right? Uh we have our ground crews along with highway and and other towns like uh Maynard and Tukesberry, they incorporate yet other departments in them that we don't have. So, um, uh, we have to be

273careful that, you know, the people will say, "Oh, this this town has the same amount of roads as we do and their their DPW is 20% smaller." Okay, that doesn't that's not always a fair comparison. >> Thank you, Alicia. Um, I think another thing that we need to be careful with, I agree with that, is um, I appreciate that Scott mentioned staff space, um, rather than office staff space. Um, because in my mind, staff space includes the mechanic bays and workshops where there are staff working. Um so we need to address and that was something that the finance committee was um unanimous in in their agreement on that the most pressing issue here is to have a safe healthy working environment for staff and the fleet storage the garage is separate. Um so we just

274need to be careful about being clear that it's only where the vehicles are sitting without people in them. But if they're being worked on by staff in the mechanic bay or if there are um jobs projects being done in the um workshops that that's also a staff space. Um Fran, I would love um I think we talked about you doing a market analysis. Um something Yeah. So, I know that you haven't put that together yet, but maybe that can be on a future agenda looking at other DPW um facilities um with your with your real estate background. Um and yeah, that's it. Thank you, Dean, for the update. >> Thank you, Jim. Um, I had a question or I had an assumption that I wanted to test which was that um, some of these twofphase

275scenarios mean that this there could be uh, two separate um, you know, budgets, capital overrides, etc. um you know so that even if we end up with a project that's more expensive than the current one it may be that it creates a situation where the individual shock is smaller uh and thus you know may be more acceptable to the to the towns to the voters even even knowing that you know both it doesn't it probably doesn't make sense unless you do both phases but um because of the they're a couple years apart it seems like uh they they would be separately funded. Am I am I that was my assumption but I wanted to test that out. Understand >> the uh I think most all the scenarios we're looking at really because you're working on

276the same site. >> Mhm. >> I mean it's really going to be one project. Oh, I think it's and the uh you know what happens if you've built half the project and then you don't get the override approved for the second half of the project and then you >> So I think every scenario that we looked at would be it would be one project. It's just a question whether you're building >> one big building, two small buildings, something like that. But I think it's all >> it's going to be one shot. Okay, got it. Thanks, >> Alicia. >> Um, so I heard from many people just that that it might be easier um for people to get on board um with even if it costs more in the long run, doing a renovation or or

277an a new building and and then a few years later a renovation. um whatever it separated by a few years. Um so beyond your point Dean that it's the same site, I think that what I mentioned earlier when we had the budget overview is that we need to be in alignment with big capital projects from the school district. So having a DPW new building just for staff um and then expecting in four or 5 years to tackle the garage whether it's a new building or a renovation of the existing garage an expansion whatever that situation bumps us into potentially likely actually um a big school capital need. So that's that's where you know I did hear it a lot from voters um and also from finance committee members had you know individual conversations heard comments

278made at public meetings emails like wouldn't it make sense to do it in stages in you know smaller amounts that you're asking the the voters to approve sure but but what happens if it doesn't get approved or we face some other um financial challenge? which I'm sure we will >> David doing it in multiple authorizations would make me really nervous if the whole project didn't work. Um if if each piece didn't work as a whole project even just for a few years. Um I will say that the borrowing or authorization and stuff doesn't mean we have to borrow it all up front. In fact, we typically would not if it was spread over a long period of time, unless the borrowing rates up front were really favorable. Um, I also want to say that last

279year, um, we had no competing projects. We had no other overrides or debt exclusions or anything and the voters chose not to approve it. A few years before that, we had three debt exclusions in one year. the voters chose to approve all three. So it is really difficult to completely understand that. Um uh so uh uh anyway I I I just want the biggest thing is I I'd be nervous about approving half the project and then getting ourselves into a situation where we're stuck. Okay, let's move on. Item 15, discuss select board goal related to town meeting participation. Uh the moderator reached out to us, noted that we had put that as one of our potential goals and wanted to know if there was any particular individual on the select board that she could liaz

280with um and pursue this. So, is there anyone that feels particularly passionate about taking on the lead on this goal? >> David, I I don't mind. I mean, I would either way. Um, I just wanted to understand the scope of this. I think when we made this goal, and please everybody correct me if I'm wrong. We were talking about things like remote site participation, right? That that kind of thing. Is the scope different than that? Um um I think that would be for you and her to work out. >> Should I read this? >> Yes. So the exact wording of the goal is advanced town meeting participation slashac slasheducation improvements including early communication of warrant items to the public. So sort of a little bit of process and timing in addition to exploring um remote

281sites which was a goal last year. Well, I'm happy to do that. If there are multiple people, we can decide, you know, um I I don't want to take it away from somebody. Um >> I'd be happy to do >> David. Thank you. Were you volunteering? >> I I I've actually I've actually had some discussions with uh Joanne informally about, you know, how to make it work better. And so, I mean, just like between during long votes at the town meeting, you know, that kind of Alicia, >> I have a a question for you, David. Have you attended any of the webinars about the remote town meeting home petition that I cannot remember the name of the towns? Yes, W something. >> No, I have not attended any of those. >> They have, I'm sure,

282recorded those as well. And I know that they also did a um presentation for legislators. >> I I will definitely >> So our our local delegation might have some information for you as well. >> I I definitely will review those. Um um there was a lot of I did read about those and there was a lot of ambiguity about what the mechanism would be to verify a voter. Um, and so there were some proposals, but it was uh also not completely well defined, but I'm happy to review that. >> So, I would recommend watching the video because they actually had a little demonstration of of using the iPad and what the screen would look like and how how voters would would um make a choice, raise their hand to speak in person, remote, etc. So,

283it's a it's I think it was like an hour long. Well, I I I that is very doable in my mind. How do you verify that the person typing on the iPad is the registered voter? >> Uh self-verification, but I won't get into it. Just watch the >> I'll I'll do I'll do >> I think it's Wayland maybe. >> I think it is Wayland. Thank you. >> Okay. Um item 16, discuss 15% threshold rule on non-conforming lots. I don't know how many people have been reading the emails going back and forth about this. Um, but the question is um whether the select board are interested in asking the town manager to see if planning staff and planning board would like to take this up and investigate um this issue. the the problem you run into

284with a house on a non-conforming lot, you can't increase by more than 15% without uh going through zoning board of appeals. You might get it approved, you might not get it approved. And as housing choices change and we start thinking about people putting additions on houses for, you know, in-laws or um uh the uh granny flats or whatever you want to call them. Um, you know, you there's there's something to be said for more intensely developing existing sites than building on a new site. So, this kind of slaps up against there's a prohibition on some of these non-conforming lots of which there are a surprisingly large number. So, um, that's sort of an in very shorthand form. That's that's the question is would you like to ask the town manager to reach out to staff

285and the planning board to see if this is something they want to consider? Uh, perhaps there's some changes that might end up coming back to town meeting in May. Jim If the board does decide they're interested in doing it, I'd be happy to follow the issue for the board, meet with staff, talk things through. Um, yeah. >> Thank you, David. >> Yeah, I think if this is going to be done, it needs to be done right. um you know I think a slap dash thing to that handles a couple of use cases um without considering all the possible ramifications would be a really bad outcome um you know I I uh or potentially bad outcome right um I I so I think if we're if there's interested in this I'd much rather have the um

286the planning department uh work on it so that I mean I I think uh probably Nate has extra time. So um uh the u uh but no I think it just should be professionally done and considered all the ramifications so that they can report back to us and to the public what this change means. Um, you know, are are is it really adding allowing people to add uh granny flats, which a lot of people may agree with, or are they is this turning 2,000 square foot houses into 5,000 foot houses, or is it um and going along with this, does it under what circumstances do you have to meet other zoning regulations as far as setbacks and stuff like that? Really complicated. I don't think it can be done with a one paragraph amendment u

287to the zoning bylaw. Uh I think it needs to be carefully considered. >> Yeah, I I agree with you Jim. >> Yeah. Um I I agree as well. I mean I think the specific case that brought this letter this issue to our attention was about you know whether you count basement space in this calculation because it's counted in this particular calculation. it's not counted in most of our other ways of thinking about square feet in houses. So, um, you know, there may be a simple technical fix, but I agree if you're going to dip into this into this particular law, you have to make sure you're understanding what you're enabling and not enabling because I agree a major a major purpose for this change potentially would be to allow for things like ADUs. Um, and

288you know, and maybe it's good to focus on that as a, you know, as a goal. >> Felicia, >> um, I'm definitely in favor of having staff explore it. Um, one of the things that I'm interested in learning is how, um, the 15% could be increased and still have the intent of the original limit, um, be in effect. Um but also even more interesting to me is the fact that commercial buildings um it's not even a possibility. So if we can if we can incorporate allowing small businesses to expand, I think that that would be good for for economic development. But maybe once we have a replacement um for our planning director who's left. Thank you, >> John. >> Um, the reason why I believe it's a good investment in staff resources, even though they're

289currently limited, is that this is a staff issue. um the volume of these requests that come in and the the ultimate value to the community is something that we think needs to be reviewed because I think yes having a limit for non-conforming lots makes sense but we found that there are so many that are being triggered with the 15% and a lot of them are approved and it's not really changing the way things work. It's just creating more work for us. So, I don't know if the right number is 16% or 20%. I don't know what it is, but we think that at least the staff that I've talked to, even though it's going to be some work, it might end up saving us some work um down the line and not have a negative

290impact in doing so. Well, I think I think the consensus of the board is that this is something worthwhile for staff to tackle and uh make it so. >> We're on it. >> Thank you. Item 17, Alyssa, this one's yours. >> Thank you for that Star Trek reference. Um, I didn't expect to get that from you, Dean. So item 17 is a letter of support for an act to modernize funding for community media programming. It's um House 91, Senate 41, and it was voted favorably out of committee, so it's now before the Ways and Means Committee. Um our entire local delegation has endorsed this legislation. Um but I have heard from Senator Eldridge that it is important for municipal officials to also support it for his colleagues um not just the cable access folks. Um

291so we know that um cable access uh in organizations have seen declining revenues as people drop cable and switch to streaming services. So, this legislation is modeled off of um the federal 5% um fee that's charged um for use of infrastructure, but it would be um imposed on streaming entertainment companies which use the public infrastructure but don't pay anything. So, it's the same 5%. It's the profit that they make in Massachusetts only. Um, and I think it's important to note that the revenue that would be gained from this um, 5% fee would be distributed not just to the cable access providers, but also to the state general fund and municipalities. So 40% to cable access providers, 40% to municipalities, and 20% to the um, state general fund. And I'm sorry it's so long, but I

292wanted to tell a story. um about how valuable acting TV is to the acting community and I had a lot of details to include >> comments friend. >> Thank you for doing this. >> I appreciate it. >> Definitely in favor. Would anyone care to uh move that we uh sign this letter? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Final discussion. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed extensions. Thank you Alyssa. T taking that on. All right. It's that time of night. Consent agenda. Approve meeting minutes for July 21st, 2025. >> Hold. Approve executive session minutes for July 21st, 2025. Approve request for use of town roads, bikes, not bombs on September 7th, 2025. Live for Live, an approved request for temporary placement of a yard sign announcing event and race directions

293at Route 27 and 2A on September 14th, 2025. Notification of filming permit for Apple Studios LLC for working title Cheeseest for October 15 through 18, 2025. accept a donation for a purchase and installation of a memorial bench from Bevon Palmer at Narrow Park. Item 23, approve one-day malt and wine license applications. Boston Events at Narrow Park on September 4th, 2025. >> Hold the first one. >> I'd like to hold just the first one under that. >> Okay. Ironwork Farm in Actton Incorporated 8 High Street on October 4th, 2025. Velasa Sports Inc. at Narrow Park on September 11th, 2025. West Actton Village Merchants Association at Gardenerfield on September 27th, 2025 with a rain date of October 4th, 2025. Approved appointments. Cinnamon Blair is a full member of the Actton Boxboro Cultural Council with a term to

294expire on June 30th, 2028. David Bokudi from associate to full member of the Water Resources Advisory Committee with a current term expiration of June 30th, 2027. Move to approve consent items 19 through and uh item 23, the last three uh sub items and item 24 in its entirety. >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed extensions. Okay. Uh item 18. So, um I submitted a few minor typo nonsubstantive um edits to Lisa already. Um but on page four when we were discussing the primrose um MOA, it says that Miss Arsenal feels the um historical commission is not interested in preserving the building. Um but what she said was at the historical commission meeting um it she got she heard that there was no interest in preserving the historical building but she

295meant the applicant. So I suggest we change historical commission to actually it says district I think. Um nope sorry never mind. Historical commission to applicant. Um, and then on page five it says work with historic commission. It says work with historic district, but it should say commission instead of district. So, do you concur that's what you said? >> On your toes, Alyssa. I make I move to make those two edits changing his uh historic commission to applicant and district to commission and approve the meeting minutes for July 1st, 2025. >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> David, >> there is an a small error in this liquor license application. It says uh the time is 5 to 10. It should be 4 to 9. So, um, just changed >> changing the

296time from 4:00 to 9:00. >> Thank you. >> Uh, and and so I I move to make that change to the application and approve the Boston events at Narrow Park event at uh September 4th, 2025. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Abstensions. Okay, one more. >> I move to adjourn. Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Extensions. Thank you. We're done.