[Speaker 5] (0:00 - 0:15)
To jump right into an update for Kings Beach and with us this evening is Jeff Vaughn, the Health Director for the Town of Swampskate with an update as to Kings Beach.

[Speaker 1] (0:16 - 9:16)
Thank you Mr. Chairman. Yes, so specifically I want to start with combined soil overflow events. We've had two recently.

The second one most recently was over this weekend and I just want to go through the procedure of what we do. I know that was a question in town so I just want to go through that. So bear with me as I just work through this a little bit.

If you have questions you can ask afterward. Once our Health Department is notified of a combined soil overflow event onto Kings Beach from the Lynn Water and Sewer Department, the following is required from our end. Forward the advisory language and pertinent information to the town residents via the reverse call system which would be the phone and email.

I do a text but there's just not enough characters that allow it. This is such a small text availability on that, we just don't do it. We also utilize social media, Facebook, to send something out.

We prepare temporary pre-made signs with information of time and date of the beginning and the end of the event. We prepare pre-arranged signs and I can even give you an idea. Try to bring it up a little bit closer.

Warning, avoid contact with water. Illness, we have prohibitive notifications there. No swimming, no fishing off the beach, no boating off the beach, and then some other language.

And it pretty much gives us that. We have specific signs for it so I know that was one of the questions that might come up. We have absolutely specific signs that the state tells what goes on them.

We post a temporary signage at each beach, I mean at each Swampscott entrance to King's Beach. Although not required, we also use our large red flags warning of unsafe bacteria levels if they aren't already posted on the beach, which they were for these past couple events. Although not required as of 7-31-23 for specifically for CSO events, we will start putting up caution tape on the entryways where the stairs going down and the ramps going down onto Swampscott King's Beach.

And 48 hours later, we remove the signs for the CSOs. So that's basically what we do. And then afterward, we'll put something on the town banner just saying that occurred, that it's over and we can go back to doing normal things.

But keep in mind that the beach was already posted since July 6 due to one of the state regulations for beach closures, which is for a geomean. And the geomean is pretty much the last five, average of the last five tests. If that comes in above 35 colonies, then we have to close the beach.

So that's why it's been closed that long because we had so many water rain events close to when we do our testing, which is on Wednesdays, that we were just inundated with high numbers. And that's pretty much why we're doing it. Now I can tell you that that's probably the reason why Lynn has been closed so much.

They have three places where they test in that little corner of King's Beach that they consider. They talked to the state and they said, we're just going to combine. If one of them's bad, they're all going to be bad.

So if they have one bad test out of those three areas that they test on their end of King's Beach, then they're going to consider it their whole section bad. Even though I looked at their numbers and some of them could actually be open. One of them definitely could actually be open, but you're not going to do that because all of their three testing areas are probably within about 300 yards of each other, two or three blocks.

So I just want to let you know what our notifications that we send out have that if you were on the reverse call or the reverse email, you would have this information. And it is also mentioned on Facebook. So we put on, it says the receiving waters affected, which would obviously if we're doing it would be King's Beach.

The date and time of discharge and overflow, the beginning of the event and the end of the event. Information on where to find the closure advisory status of the beaches or other water sources potentially affected by the discharge of flow. That goes with that we put a, it's a link that you can find that on the state website.

A recommendation of the public avoid contact with affected water bodies for at least 48 hours after a sewer discharge or overflow and during rainstorms and for 48 hours after rainstorms end due to increased health risk from bacteria and other pollutants associated with urban stormwater runoff and discharges of untreated or partially treated wastewater. Talking with our town DPW director today, what we figure is at some point the main outfall that goes on to King's Beach comes from Western Ave. Is that the one that goes up from the beach? I get Western Ave and Eastern Ave confused.

Right by Monty's because that's what Monty's on the other side of the street in front of those apartments. That's Sanderson Ave, I believe it's called. And that's where that eventually comes down from.

And if their system cannot maintain what it normally does and we have a huge influx of rainwater, if they don't, if they don't let that release, then it goes, the sewage will back into people's homes. So that's why they have to do that. And that's why we have to deal with the repercussions of that.

And I just mentioned that the science that we do is as the warning of avoid contact with water may cause illness, the three prohibitive graphics, international signs of do not do anything, and then you get this picture underneath it, statement that there may be sewage in the water, from an event overflow from Lynn, the start and end time, and the health department contact, and a link to all beaches that are currently closed in Swampscott. So that's a sign, that's the information that goes out, and that's pretty much what we do.

Now, I know there was some concerns. I mean, we, this is really about swimming. This is what it's about.

It's not about the beach, it's not about anything else. It's about going into the water and swimming, which is considered, for the state, it's considered three feet out. That's generally enough room to swim.

So when we sample, we go out three feet, we go down one foot, and that's what the protocol for that, if you're wondering where that's coming from. We pretty much go for Kings Beach between the two ends, entrances, we kind of go in the middle, and I kind of use, there's a hair salon on Humphrey Street right across the street, I kind of use that sign as my knocking point as to where we go. So we're always testing the same spot.

We also have to remember that there's always going to be some sort of runoff onto that beach, and other beaches that have outfalls. It's just, it rained heavy on Saturday, and we're still getting some sort of residuals that might be coming down from a totally different part of Swampscott running down onto the beach. So that's something that we have to consider.

Not to mention that when I went today to do a test, which is again on Wednesday mornings, there were approximately 80 birds along that beach where the outfall comes out all the way down to the actual water itself. Now I imagine they're all dropping waste and doing whatever they can do to be happy birds, so we have to take that into account too. Now for, I just want to let everybody know that, and I know we talked about this at a previous committee meeting for the solid waste, that we had two events in the last two weeks or so.

The first event we were not notified of. I want to make that perfectly clear because I saw some comment on Facebook that we, oh it's about time we're transparent. Well we didn't know about it, so it's hard to be transparent when we don't know about it.

So after the first event, I followed up immediately with Lynn Water and Sewer regarding that to make sure that we got on there. And I know Town Administrator specifically recently spoke to Lynn Water and Sewer regarding adding more people to that list using text, using phone calls, and things like that. So it won't be an email that comes out at some late time on Saturday.

It'll be something that we can actually see right away because everybody usually has their phones with them and it's easy to figure out that way. I don't know why the, it was actually a DEP thing, why they just mentioned email because that's a it's almost an old-fashioned way to do things these days. So our communication is going to be better.

It's not only going to go to me, it's going to go to multiple other people in town. So that's going to help with getting the getting an action done a little bit quicker, even though it was late at night on a Saturday, which probably wouldn't have been able to, anything to do at that point anyway. So that's CSOs.

Does anybody have a question, any questions on CSOs from the board?

[Speaker 3] (9:18 - 9:48)
Yeah, another concern, Jeff, that people have raised, and don't know if you have anything to say about this, is you talked about this is really about swimming. And I understand, I guess the guidance is 48 hours, you know, but really after a million gallons is discharged out of that beach, like within 48 hours, the sand, the swimming, you know, all that's really safe for people?

[Speaker 1] (9:49 - 10:49)
Well, sand, I mean, sand is one of the best filtration systems that we have on earth. And then you have at least four saltwater exchanges going in and out of there. So I'm not concerned about the sand.

You got to remember, this has been going on for at least 100 years. So it's not a new problem. We just have to, Lynn has to report it to us now.

So I don't know what to say about the sand. We're not testing the sand. There's plenty of algae on the beach, and the red algae, when it comes on the beach, it dries into a brown color.

And there's certainly a lot of plastics in the ocean that get washed up on the beach. So it's hard to accuse any type of outfall or whatever from doing, from washing that stuff onto it when it could easily be coming up during the high tide. But that being said, there's, I'm sure there's some farm matter that comes out during these overflows.

I'm sorry, was there another part of that question?

[Speaker 2] (10:50 - 12:37)
Look, I actually just want to add a little, Doug, I think that's a really important question. And I do think, you know, there are concerns about what comes out of these pipes. We've talked about this a few times, as we've discussed some of the options for the cleanup strategies for Kings Beach.

It's the reason why, you know, the outfall pipe has been really something that I have looked at very carefully, because we know that within our drainage system, we do get infiltration from household waste. That includes pharmaceuticals, it includes sometimes, you know, debris and materials that can wind up on the beach. And so there are concerns that, you know, some of the material might still be on the beach.

Our DPW director has had the rake on Kings Beach all week, will continue to rake it every day, several times, we are going to continue to monitor it. But as Jeff said, you know, this has been happening for decades. And, you know, we do look at the beach, you know, there may be, you know, a reason for us to go down there and really evaluate that much more carefully.

I think we're getting into an age where we're becoming much more knowledgeable about the waste that's in, you know, our solid waste or our waste streams. And we really should be looking at, you know, a range of tests that can help us just ensure that that beach area is going to be safe.

[Speaker 3] (12:39 - 13:34)
Yeah, and I should have started off with Jeff, thank you for, you know, everything you just mentioned. And I'm not sure if all of that doesn't really matter at this point was in place exactly for this last CSO. But I'm really glad to hear about, you know, all the steps you're taking to kind of, you know, be responsive, inevitably, this will be happening again.

But it does feel like it would be worthwhile. Certainly seems like the standard is 48 hours, you can kind of, you know, let people up back on the beach. But, you know, I don't want to be blocking the beach unnecessarily.

But, you know, if it means another 24 hours, and that makes us, you know, feel a lot better, if there's any testing that can be done. It seems like that would be worthwhile for all of us to know, instead of, you know, a couple years from now is finding out that this really wasn't a safe approach. I'm not pretending to know the answer, just it seems like it's reasonable to ask the question.

[Speaker 2] (13:37 - 14:05)
I do know there was an article in the Boston Globe today or yesterday about some concerns about some of the beaches in Boston. And some of the material that had wound up on some of the beaches is part of their overflow. And, you know, there are evolving concerns about, you know, how we really look at the impact to beaches around the Commonwealth, including Kings Beach, and other beaches in Swanscape with overflows.

[Speaker 5] (14:09 - 14:52)
Jeff? Yes. Jeff, a few questions.

So, how much rain causes, you know, a CSO event? And were there any other outfalls other than Kings Beach that potentially had an issue? You know, I was down at Phillips Beach on Sunday afternoon, and, you know, I noticed there was, you know, there was substantial, you know, runoff into the water, and there were, you know, large numbers of people down there.

So, were there, you know, is there a testing protocol in the event of, you know, these massive rain events, you know, that just to make sure that the public is as safe as possible? Can you shed some light there?

[Speaker 1] (14:53 - 17:04)
No, but I think, I mean, the message needs to be anytime we have heavy rains, it doesn't have to be a long event, doesn't have to be anything. Anytime we have heavy rains, especially in the coved beaches, Fisherman's, Eisman's, Kings Beach, it takes a while for that to filter out. So, 24 to 48 hours for the open beaches, Phillips Beach cleans out easy.

It's such a big beach, and it's wide open, it cleans out. That's one of our easiest beaches to clean out. Preston's a little, the next one that's a little bit longer, but they clean out pretty quick.

Then you go to Eisman's and Wales, that's a little bit slower, but it cleans out. But Fisherman's and King's takes longer to clean out. That's why we always say, we want to say 48 hours if it's at those two beaches.

I'd rather say 24 to 48 hours for all beaches, but King's and Fisherman's are a little bit different. I'm losing my train of thought. What we have seen is, please understand also that testing has been going on weekly since at least 30 years, at least 30 years for swamps, for any time on the North Shore really, because I was doing it in Salem 30 years ago.

So, we have a lot of information. We know we can look back and say, boy, rain event, this is really bad. Next day, well, hey, that's looking much better.

And then in certain areas, that's the way it turns out. And then definitely two days afterward, it seems if we didn't get another dose of rain after that, it seems to be fine. So, that 48 hour rule seems to be pretty good.

That's what we need to go by. That's what we need to push to educate with. I mean, you could test every day, but you're just going to get different, you know, you're going to get different numbers according to the rain.

That's kind of the problem. Anytime you get heavy rains, it's going to affect every one of our beaches because they all have some sort of water coming on to them.

[Speaker 8] (17:05 - 17:22)
I just have a quick follow-up to David's questions. If, in fact, we have all this data and the data shows that the beach is not safe after a heavy rain event, within 48 hours, why were all beaches not closed on Sunday? Um, if that's what the data shows.

[Speaker 1] (17:24 - 17:33)
Because that's, that's, because that's the message that we need to have. If we're going to have signage up, that's got to be part of the signage.

[Speaker 8] (17:34 - 17:38)
But the only place we do testing right now is Kings Beach, correct?

[Speaker 1] (17:38 - 17:40)
Yeah, we test every beach.

[Speaker 8] (17:40 - 17:45)
We test every beach. Okay, so we test every beach, but the only place there's signage is Kings Beach.

[Speaker 1] (17:46 - 17:51)
The only place that is currently closed to swimming is Kings Beach.

[Speaker 8] (17:51 - 17:52)
Right.

[Speaker 1] (17:52 - 17:53)
That's why the signage and flags.

[Speaker 8] (17:54 - 17:59)
Right, but so, so there was testing done after the rain event on Sunday?

[Speaker 9] (18:00 - 18:01)
No.

[Speaker 8] (18:01 - 18:04)
On Phillips Beach? No, that's what you just said, right?

[Speaker 9] (18:04 - 18:05)
No.

[Speaker 8] (18:06 - 18:14)
But the data shows that the most likely time to shut the beach down is after those rain events. So why are we not testing after those rain events?

[Speaker 1] (18:20 - 18:22)
I don't have an answer to that. Okay.

[Speaker 8] (18:22 - 18:30)
I feel like if the data is showing that those could be the most dangerous times for the public, that at other beaches.

[Speaker 1] (18:30 - 18:39)
I'm sorry, because we know, we know the history of it. We, we, the message just has to be out there. We don't have to test every day to know what's going to happen after, after heavy rains.

[Speaker 4] (18:42 - 18:43)
So are you saying.

[Speaker 8] (18:44 - 18:49)
So you say you know it's not safe, but we didn't do anything about it, I guess, is what, what my fear is.

[Speaker 1] (18:52 - 19:09)
Well, we put, no, we're talking about CSOs, right? Combined sewer overflows. Okay.

So we know that that's a problem, and we posted signs at, at that beach, because we know Kings has a serious, because the, the water emptied out on the Kings Beach. It didn't go on to any other beaches.

[Speaker 8] (19:12 - 19:34)
Okay, so on Phillips Beach that had the erosion looking like it was coming from some sort of place up top by the beach club, where all that erosion came out, it looked like there was, I mean, you said there's no outflow there, but it looked like there was all sorts of erosion coming. So we're not concerned about that being any risk to the public, correct?

[Speaker 2] (19:35 - 21:40)
So Katie, I think you're, you're raising a really good point in a conversation. As a policy, typically we close beaches when we test them, and we find that the bacteria level has risen to a threshold that exceeds a state limit. We test once a week, as a rule, consistent with a standard that we've had for a long time with many other communities on the North Shore.

We have our tests sent to a lab on a day that coincides with all the other communities in the North Shore. So it's a really, um, folks tend to think that we just test once a week because, you know, it's more convenient for us. It's not.

It's, it's, we're competing, we're working with every other beachfront, waterfront community in the Commonwealth, and there are only a few labs that actually do these types of tests. And so if we were to actually go out to Phillips, and Phillips is not, we don't have the same discharge and volume as, you know, the regional, uh, wastewater, uh, plant over in Lynn. It, we get runoff.

And so, you know, it's hard for us to, you know, just estimate where and how much concentration of stormwater runoff, um, would be on Phillips or Eismont or some of our smaller beaches. But we, we could go down there and we could try to, uh, employ a battery of tests. I think what Jeff is trying to get across is we probably need to spend more time engaging the public and just helping everybody understand the longer time you give that beach to recover after a rainfall of significant, uh, volume, the safer it's going to be.

Because we just don't have the, the data to say the beach is unsafe, but folks are going to have to kind of make some judgment calls about, you know, where, where they feel comfortable, you know, um, you know, um, with going to the beach on these days.

[Speaker 9] (21:46 - 21:47)
Any additional questions from the board?

[Speaker 4] (21:48 - 23:56)
Um, I have a couple, a couple of things. Um, it's always been my understanding that you should really not go to the beach 48 hours after a heavy rain. But we really don't have empirical data on the heavy rains because we only test them once a week.

So I think that that should be, uh, that should be, um, you know, something to discuss. The board of health should think about whether or not you should look at it or not look at it. I don't have an opinion on it right now, only because I know if it rains really hard, shouldn't be going to the beach, um, that the risk of, of a higher bacteria level is right there.

Um, as far as the CSO, I really want to make sure that the minute that notification comes out to anybody, that we have a clear plan on who the individuals are at town, that we'll be able to send out the robocall, send out the email, get it on the website and get it onto social media. And I think that will ensure the best possible communication and including maybe even put it in a, in a LHIN item. I also would like to see bigger signs for these CSOs, you know, with the same message.

I don't know if the state tells you exactly how big the sign is, but, um, I'm just guessing maybe a bigger sign. I also question whether or not we should be testing, uh, longer than just the 48 hours, um, to make sure that we, if we are opening it up, um, it has been cleared just to have some more data on there. So you're the expert Jeff, the board of health, they know the stuff.

I just want to put it out there. Um, the other thing I want to add is I, I don't want to see, uh, um, in this meeting, I really don't want to see a conversation with the public. However, I do, I'm not comfortable and I'm not happy with, um, eliminating public comment.

You know, we have rules for public comment. People can speak for a couple of minutes and there's no, um, there's no comments from us, but I, I think Mr. Chairman, I'd like to see a reconsider that and I'm finished.

[Speaker 9] (24:01 - 24:01)
Thank you.

[Speaker 7] (24:02 - 25:10)
Mr. Chairman, can I just suggest, I appreciate that we decided to have this conversation before the select board and that's maybe informational, but the board of health is the one that has the regulatory jurisdiction and we're blessed with the fact that we have a board of health with three medical professionals on it as well that can help Jeff. And so while I appreciate that, I also am concerned that just this conversation actually has confused some things inadvertently because we're asking questions to which we all don't have the answers. And, and so I just guess I would encourage, uh, the, the town administrator and the health director, please be sure the board of health is fully engaged, which I presume they are, but to, to be able to share that information.

I'm, I think we're a great place to share information, but we don't have all the resources here tonight. So I think it would be unfortunate if anybody left here now more confused or more concerned than when they arrived. And, and it's not, it's not for lack of desire to educate.

It's just that the board of health and, and the health director really are the ones that have to collaborate and come up with the regulations on testing and, and can help answer a lot of questions that people are reasonably asking here. So I would just ask us to encourage the board of health to, you know, get together shortly and, and address a lot of these things.

[Speaker 4] (25:11 - 25:24)
So Peter, I'm the liaison to the board of health. And I just want you to know, I talked to the chair this morning and they are going to be addressing this at their next meeting and they are going to be watching this recording. And so they're on it.

[Speaker 7] (25:25 - 25:53)
Yeah, no, I think that's great. I think ideally it would have been better to have them be talking about it first than us, because I think my concern is that we're going to leave people tonight with more questions than, than answers. And that, you know, I appreciate that we need to talk about it, but I'm more confused now than when we started this meeting.

So I look forward to the board of health and the health director kind of all getting on the same page and talking to the state and coming back with, with good information for us. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.

[Speaker 5] (25:55 - 26:12)
Thanks. I don't, I don't have any additional, additional questions. So if everybody else is, is fine.

Jeff, appreciate the update. Look forward to, to additional conversations with the, with the board of health and additional updates. So thank you.

[Speaker 1] (26:13 - 26:15)
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Yep.

[Speaker 5] (26:16 - 26:58)
All right. We'll move on to the consent agenda. Consent agenda is designed to expedite the handling of routine and miscellaneous business of the board.

Select board may adopt the entire consent agenda with one motion at the request of any board member. Any item may be removed from the consent agenda and placed on the regular agenda for discussion. I know that we are, we are going to, to table consent agenda item number one.

So that will be, that will be removed since we do not have the chief present to, to answer any, any additional questions. Anything, anything else about the remaining items two through 10 on the consent agenda?

[Speaker 4] (26:59 - 27:12)
Yeah, I have a number of questions on almost all these items. So question number two. So we're, we're being asked to vote on a block party.

Did we, do we have to vote on that?

[Speaker 9] (27:15 - 27:15)
Shawn?

[Speaker 2] (27:20 - 27:31)
Typically the board does vote on, on some of these major events and, but you do not have to vote on it.

[Speaker 4] (27:33 - 28:25)
The reason why I'm asking is I just really want to get away from what we're being, this is put in our lap. Not, I just said that wrong. This is being presented to us tonight, 10 days before an event.

And we really had, we weren't involved in it. We weren't asked anything prior to. So, you know, I just don't want to be voting on things.

I don't want to be just rubber stamping things. So I wanted to know what the rules were around that. And I'd like to, I'd like to get away from voting on things after they've already been, they've already been cooked.

I'd like, I'd rather see more participation early on, getting people's opinions, getting some clarity on, on how things are. If it, if it doesn't tail a vote. So that's my question on that.

And I, I am, I am in support and I am voting on it, but I just don't want to be in this position again.

[Speaker 2] (28:26 - 29:00)
Understood. I, Mary Ellen, I appreciate that. I, we have talked about this type of event for years and I've, I've worked with a number of board members over the last few years to really move this initiative forward.

And certainly, you know, we'll, I'll do my best to try to put these on as agenda items to get the board's input as we plan these, these type of events. But certainly, you know, there was no intention not to really engage the board and have the board's support or involvement in these, these events.

[Speaker 4] (29:01 - 29:33)
So my next question is we have three, we have requests for three licenses, Coastal Brewing, East Regiment and Granite Coast. And my understanding was that this block party was to help support businesses. And I'm wondering why we don't see a liquor license for our businesses so that they can extend their, their footprint out onto Humphrey Street so that they can increase their, their, their revenues.

[Speaker 2] (29:35 - 29:36)
It's a great point.

[Speaker 4] (29:37 - 30:04)
Does their existing liquor license allow them to do it? Because to be honest with you, I, I would rather just see existing retailers having the opportunity to maximize their sales versus some of these other establishments who I think these liquor, I think the price, the price on this, if you could correct me, actually, if somebody could tell me what the cost of a one-day liquor license is?

[Speaker 5] (30:04 - 30:04)
$50.

[Speaker 4] (30:05 - 30:22)
$50. $50. So yeah, so if you could tell me, is, is G going, is G and Cafe Avellino, are they going to be able to sell and put out tents further to extend their, their footprint?

[Speaker 2] (30:25 - 30:36)
No. They can sell food, but they're not going to be selling alcohol outside. That's like their licenses for their establishment.

[Speaker 3] (30:37 - 30:42)
Can you say just a little bit more about the thinking about that, Sean? Or Danielle, I know is here.

[Speaker 2] (30:42 - 31:57)
You know, I, I think this is the first event and, you know, we've talked about trying to find a way to, you know, engage the businesses and get a sense of, you know, how to have these, the small businesses really benefit from this type of event. But, you know, we're modeling this after, you know, events in Beverly and Peabody and Salem. And it seems as though, you know, having music outside, having areas where folks can have, you know, a few drinks outside, you know, seems to really be a preferred option.

And then, oftentimes, a number of the businesses in these communities get a group of individuals that will, you know, go into the businesses and get a meal or get a few more drinks inside. You know, it's all, it's synergistic. And so, I think, you know, there's going to be a lot of synergy by having this event on the street and bringing hundreds of people onto Humphrey Street.

I think it'll surge and really help support some of the small businesses.

[Speaker 5] (31:58 - 32:13)
We have our Recreation Director, Danielle Strauss, here as well. I'd just like to hear her thoughts and comments. I know she's spoken to a lot of the business owners along Humphrey Street, and I think she has some insight for us.

[Speaker 6] (32:15 - 33:49)
Sean's right. This is a very new event for us. It's a new event for me to plan.

And certainly next year, we're going to learn things this year that we'll do differently next year. The idea behind the beer gardens is that beer gardens bring more people to an event, and they bring the people that follow them, and it just, it gives a buzz to the area. The same as having, we're going to have a band with concert with a couple of bands and a stage, and we're also going to have a whole kids area down at, near where Zest Friends is.

There'll be a whole kids area to pull people down to that end of the street, and then the concert or the bands will be at the other end of the street that will pull people down to that area. I certainly hope that if the businesses want to get a liquor license next year, that they can. But in the meantime, they can, they all have sidewalks that they serve on, and I'm hoping that people will say, hey, listen, let's go sit down and have a drink, or sit down and have some lunch, instead of keep walking and moving around.

We have no dedicated seating areas, so, I mean, if I wanted to sit down and have a drink, I would definitely go to one of those businesses.

[Speaker 4] (33:50 - 34:00)
Are these beer gardens, are they set up, is the parameter the entire thing, or are they all separate beer gardens? What happens here?

[Speaker 6] (34:01 - 34:14)
I walked it today, and we definitely are not putting a beer garden in front of G or Cafe Adelina.

[Speaker 4] (34:16 - 34:30)
How does it work? So, does somebody walk in and they just go and buy a beer? Or how do you know how old people are?

Are they going to have bracelets? Is each beer garden contained? I mean, how does, can you just walk us through the protocol?

[Speaker 6] (34:30 - 35:20)
No, they don't need to be contained, because the street is contained. Okay. And there'll be signs on all the different outlets that people can leave saying, no alcohol beyond this point.

There'll be police officers walking up and down the street. They will be carded and need to wear a wristband. The reason for that, and they'll have to be carded at each beer garden anyway, but the reason for the wristband is so if the police department is walking through the crowd, they can see if someone has a beer in their hand, that they have a bracelet on, so that somebody doesn't buy a beer for somebody else and give it to them, and they're not 21 and they haven't been carded.

Did I answer all of your questions?

[Speaker 4] (35:20 - 35:21)
Yeah, it does.

[Speaker 5] (35:25 - 35:27)
Anything additional from the board?

[Speaker 3] (35:28 - 35:54)
That was all very helpful. Thank you for the questions, Mary Allen, and for the responses, Danielle, that really kind of paints the picture out better and makes it seem like it really will be beneficial to all the existing businesses and bring a lot more people. I get that idea about the beer garden being a kind of a new feature or something different that attracts people, and that can also be beneficial to the existing businesses as well, so I kind of get that kind of spillover effect idea.

[Speaker 6] (35:55 - 36:25)
And I'm sure that once we do this, the businesses will have questions, comments, you could have done this, or we should have done that, and that's going to happen. I expect that, and I welcome that from the businesses. We were just trying to get this done and out there.

I think it's going to be awesome. I hope it's going to be, and I'm looking forward to it. I hope all of you are too.

Hope to see everyone.

[Speaker 5] (36:25 - 37:08)
Certainly, certainly am, Danielle, and thank you to you and Jackie and the rec commission and all volunteers who are going to put this on. I mean, and for our local businesses, it's really about bringing that foot traffic to Humphrey Street, and I'm incredibly excited about it. And with every event that we do, you know, we learn something new and we make those modifications and adjustments and take the criticisms and feedback in stride so we can have better, more successful community-driven events.

So I think that's all going to be a positive, but we need to get the first one under our belt so we can figure out how we can improve to make the next that much bigger, that much better.

[Speaker 2] (37:10 - 37:13)
Still not sure if we're going to be able to get the dunk tank, but we're trying.

[Speaker 6] (37:15 - 37:18)
Swamptoberfest. We're saving it for Swamptoberfest.

[Speaker 5] (37:18 - 37:24)
But Sean wants to go in the dunk tank in two weeks, so if we can make that happen, that would be fantastic.

[Speaker 7] (37:25 - 37:26)
Can I chime in, please?

[Speaker 5] (37:26 - 37:27)
Yes, sir.

[Speaker 7] (37:28 - 38:05)
When we last talked about liquor licenses, and I believe it was when we had the meeting at the chapel, I had asked for and we had discussed creating a set of rules that all vendors needed to comply with, and I would appreciate those rules being forwarded to us tomorrow so that we can see what those rules were, just because I just want to make sure that those rules were put in place. We talked about limiting, for example, rules about how many beers any one person can buy, whether or not the beers have to be opened, or whether or not they're closed containers, things of that nature, just things that are pretty standard things. We haven't heard any follow-up on that, so I assume it's in place, so you could just send it off to us tomorrow, that'd be great.

[Speaker 6] (38:06 - 38:25)
Peter, after that meeting, I came back to Town Hall for that concert, and Granite Coast was here, and I was talking to him about that and some of the things that were brought up. He said those are all the rules they have to follow from the ABCC, that those are all written out.

[Speaker 7] (38:26 - 39:33)
So can you share those with us, because as I mentioned before, when we had the Strawberry Festival and it wasn't a brewer, but it was a local non-profit doing it, there were no rules, and so if there are rules, I would just appreciate us knowing what everybody has to abide by, because I have been, and again, I love these events tremendously, but these rules help us make sure we don't minimize any issues, so that these events can continue and continue and continue, and I've never seen a restriction on number of beers someone's buying at one of these events. I've never seen whether or not it should be open container or closed container when sold to you, and so I don't know what the rule is, because I don't think I have perceived anyways a consistency at these events, so I think it would be really helpful for us to know if there are established rules, and in addition, if there aren't established rules or enough rules, what is town administration recommending is the appropriate thing.

Again, these are just safeguards, these just make sure that we minimize issues and help us minimize issues, so that these can continue, because it only takes one issue, an unfortunate issue, that makes it harder for these to continue. So thanks, I appreciate it, thank you.

[Speaker 6] (39:33 - 39:35)
I'll work with Angelica and we'll get that to you.

[Speaker 8] (39:35 - 40:15)
Oh, I wanted to piggyback on what Peter had said, just because I think, and I am happy to be wrong, that this is the first event where we're having multiple breweries come and serve at the same time, and in which case I would hate to have somebody be like, oh well, they're doing this at that brewery and this at that brewery, and not have a uniformity amongst how we are either limiting service or serving, so that everybody is, you know, following the same set of rules. I think that that's important now that there are multiple providers at one event.

And then I had another comment about the concert series licenses. Is it okay to move on to that, David?

[Speaker 9] (40:16 - 40:16)
Sure.

[Speaker 8] (40:17 - 40:40)
So I looked online, because the last time we had this conversation, I had requested that maybe one of the other adult concerts not serve alcohol, and it looks like online on the 23rd that there was not going to be alcohol served, because it says none under beer vendor, but I see that you're requesting a license, so will there not be an adult concert that does not serve alcohol this year?

[Speaker 6] (40:41 - 40:44)
Yes, tonight. Tonight.

[Speaker 8] (40:44 - 40:49)
Oh, because it says TBD online, so you did not get anybody for tonight.

[Speaker 6] (40:49 - 40:50)
There is nobody tonight.

[Speaker 8] (40:50 - 40:51)
Perfect, thank you, Danielle.

[Speaker 9] (40:52 - 40:52)
You're welcome.

[Speaker 5] (40:55 - 41:03)
Okay, any additional questions or comments on the consent agenda? Hearing none, I'd entertain a motion.

[Speaker 4] (41:04 - 41:13)
Oh, hold on, I do have one question. I'm not going to be voting in favor of 6, 7, and 8, but I am voting yes on the rest of them, so how do you want to do that?

[Speaker 5] (41:17 - 41:22)
Let's make a motion to approve the consent agenda items 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10.

[Speaker 4] (41:23 - 41:24)
So moved.

[Speaker 5] (41:26 - 41:30)
Second. Mary Ellen.

[Speaker 4] (41:31 - 41:32)
Yes, aye.

[Speaker 5] (41:32 - 41:33)
Katie.

[Speaker 4] (41:34 - 41:34)
Aye.

[Speaker 5] (41:34 - 41:57)
Doug. Aye. Peter.

Aye. And I'm an aye. All right, as for items 6, 7, and 8, we can take these together for the consent agenda, so do I have a motion to approve items 6, 7, and 8?

So moved.

[Speaker 9] (41:59 - 42:00)
Second.

[Speaker 5] (42:01 - 42:03)
All right, all in favor? Katie.

[Speaker 8] (42:03 - 42:04)
Aye.

[Speaker 5] (42:04 - 42:07)
Peter. Aye. Mary Ellen.

[Speaker 8] (42:08 - 42:08)
No.

[Speaker 5] (42:09 - 42:24)
Doug. Aye. And I am an aye.

Thank you. Moving on, select board time. Anybody have anything?

[Speaker 3] (42:25 - 45:11)
I have a couple of things, but I'm happy to have other people go first if anyone else has anything. You're talking, Doug, go ahead. All right.

Yeah, not to confuse the issue, but I want to circle back a little bit to Kings Beach, not about CSOs, but Kings Beach in general. I think all of us are aware there's been a lot of discussion, a lot of concern, even coming after the meeting two weeks ago or so, and just kind of want to continue to raise that up. I know there's other discussions that are happening about what we should do and work with Kleinfelder and all the other meetings we've talked about.

And just, you know, in my kind of getting further educated about this, I want to just voice that there's big decisions obviously to be made and that my understanding that there's really important information that's coming, the draft report that was talked about at the select board meeting a couple of weeks ago, and other reports I think that have to be submitted to the EPA by September 1st. I think there's a lot of information that's coming to us over the next 30-45 days or so that weighs a lot in my mind on, you know, the decisions that have to be made about, you know, source elimination versus UV versus the outfall. And I just wanted to, you know, kind of express that, you know, hearing a lot from the community about that.

And I didn't come away 100%, you know, clear a couple weeks ago. I'm still probably not 100% clear, but I, you know, I see more clearly now that there is important information coming over the next month. And so, I hope that that will figure prominently into, you know, what our next steps are there.

I was also kind of shared with the data that Jeff referenced earlier that's, you know, a link off the town website. It's a little bit clunky to get there. And, you know, if you look under Swampscot, you see some data because it's our weekly testing.

You look under Lynn for Kings Beach, you see some very different numbers, some very alarming numbers. It's so alarming. I actually want to like do a quick screen share here for people to kind of understand what that really amounts to.

And so, I don't know if people can see this, but these are the results. Can people see this?

[Speaker 4] (45:14 - 45:15)
Yeah, but can you just explain what it is?

[Speaker 3] (45:15 - 47:30)
Yeah, absolutely. So, this is off the state, you know, Department of Public Health website that Jeff referenced. And this is the data for the outfall at Stacey Brook.

And what's disorienting about this is that this very, very little red line all the way down at the bottom, which of course now this is going to time out on me just as I want to show it to you, is, you know, a very minimal metric of where the beach is supposed to be at. And the data just is incredibly striking about the status of that outfall. And, you know, this supposed to be at a threshold of 61, it's sometimes 104.

I won't get into the nuances of that, but you can see kind of the levels of bacteria that are coming out of that outfall. So, it just makes it very, very clear as if it weren't already just how dramatic it is. You know, it disperses even further down the beach.

The numbers are very different. So, I'm not trying to be kind of alarmist, but I mean, it is really, really striking just how much bacteria is coming out of there at various points and very frequently. So, just to add the urgency about what we need to do there and to doing it correctly with all the data and just wanted to kind of share that and kind of channel the a lot of discussion that's happening in that regard.

So, thanks for giving me a moment to share that. There's a lot of other great work happening through the Renewable Energy Committee and the Climate Action Committee, I can tell as well. A lot of great discussions with people and Sean in the town.

A lot of support for a lot of initiatives moving forward in that regard per the Climate Action Plan. Really appreciate. I know the committees really appreciate the engagement of, you know, people like Gino and Max and Marcy and a lot of people that have a zillion other things to do and really kind of embracing some exciting opportunities to move things forward there.

I won't get into all the details about it, but just conveying the appreciation and the enthusiasm and the energy that's going into it.

[Speaker 5] (47:33 - 47:37)
Thanks, Doug. Anybody else?

[Speaker 4] (47:38 - 48:56)
So, I just want to give you the update from the Solid Waste Committee. Solid Waste Committee is working on their recommendations for the bylaw that we want to present, that the town wants to present at special town meeting. And so, they're going to need some time on the agenda for that.

And they're also finishing up their summary of the survey that they did. So, that's a work in progress. The Board of Health, like I said earlier, is going to be addressing some of these issues that we just talked about.

And the Senior Center is just hard at work doing what they do. Carol Schutzer still wants to know what's happening with the town planner. And I would like to have an answer for her at the next meeting.

So, really appreciate some help on that. I want to say thank you to Liz Smith for contacting us about the CSO. I was able to get through to Mary Ann, the Chair of the Board of Health, and Jeff came through and took care of everything real quick.

So, that's really appreciative. And that's pretty much it. That is definitely it for tonight.

[Speaker 9] (48:57 - 48:58)
Great. Thank you, Mary Ellen.

[Speaker 8] (48:59 - 49:06)
You're welcome, David. Katie? I'm good.

I'm ready to go see some jazz.

[Speaker 5] (49:07 - 49:21)
Yeah. My only thing is Stan Strickland is starting in five minutes at Town Hall lawn. So, hopefully, I see everybody down there.

Six to eight should be an awesome night. And with that, I'd entertain a motion to adjourn.

[Speaker 4] (49:22 - 49:23)
So moved. Second.

[Speaker 5] (49:25 - 49:28)
All in favor? Doug? Aye.

Katie?

[Speaker 8] (49:28 - 49:29)
Aye.

[Speaker 5] (49:29 - 49:34)
Mary Ellen? Aye. And I'm also an aye.

Have a great night, everybody. Thanks, Ethan.

[Speaker 9] (49:35 - 49:37)
Thanks, Sean. Thanks, Dee.