[Speaker 12] (0:25 - 2:07)
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[Speaker 11] (2:28 - 4:39)
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[Speaker 4] (4:45 - 4:47)
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[Speaker 2] (4:47 - 5:38)
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[Speaker 10] (5:41 - 6:59)
. . Brian Twist, 65 Naysen Road.

I just wanted to make a comment on the parking situation for Naysen Road. Somehow we were omitted as a whole street for the parking permits. And we have three access points that are really concerning with a middle school back entrance, a side street entrance to the back of a new school.

And also a cut through from Humphrey Street out to neighborhood and on to Naysen that many kids use and a lot of people aren't aware of. So I took it upon myself to start a petition amongst the residents of our street. And so far, I've been in touch with 24 of the 36 residences.

And each and every one of those 24 is in favor of us getting parking restrictions for Naysen Road. The other 12 just haven't been home, but I still plan on trying to meet up with them in the next week or so and just getting everybody's opinion. But in no case has anybody ever had a negative thought about parking permits being issued for our road.

So we're just hoping that you take some consideration looking into that and hopefully we can figure out something for the safety of not only the kids, but there's a lot of bicyclists. There's a lot of people walking their dogs and we know it's going to be a lot, so we just want to try to prepare ourselves. So appreciate any assistance, thank you.

[Speaker 2] (6:59 - 7:04)
Thank you, Mr. Twist. Anyone else? This is Patz.

[Speaker 9] (7:10 - 8:38)
My name is Jeannie Patz, I live at 29 Naysen Road. I didn't know Brian was coming tonight, I just wanted to make sure that I express my concern for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists on Naysen Road with the added traffic. I think because of all of the traffic that'll be obviously pick up and drop off times for both the middle school and elementary schools.

Couple that with cars parked on the streets, I think visibility will be very limited. I'm sure there are ways to work around it. If no parking or resident parking only isn't a possibility, I feel like there are ways to play with that a little bit, but I do think safety is the number one concern I'm worried about.

We've lived in our house for ten years and when Stanley was like a 400 person or a kid's school, there were issues then. It gets very congested. We live right at the intersection of Orchard Roads and Naysen, so there's crosswalks there.

And really right at that turn, both ways, there's safety issues. And then also, the end of Naysen at Neighborhood and Laurel are both kind of blind intersections when you come down the road from the busier roads that connect with Naysen. So I just think it's really important to think about how cars, drivers will not be able to see if there's tons of cars there.

So thank you for your time, I appreciate it.

[Speaker 2] (8:38 - 8:43)
Thank you, Jeannie. Is there anyone else here for public comment?

[Speaker 11] (8:44 - 8:44)
Martha?

[Speaker 8] (8:51 - 11:59)
Hi, my name is Martha Schmidt, 105 Rockland Street, Precinct 4. I'm also the chair of the Climate Action Resilience Committee and the Renewable Energy Committee, but I'm not speaking on behalf of those committees, I'm just speaking as a private citizen. So I'd like to comment on the peer project status presented at the recent meeting on August 8th of the Harbor and Waterfront Advisory Committee.

My concern was that the meeting was depicted as a community meeting, but I'm not sure it was or not. Was it a committee meeting, because I didn't see it advertised. I checked the newsletter, I checked the website, there were no push messages sent.

So perhaps it was just a committee meeting, but apparently the public was invited to comment on the status of the plan. And as for members of the general public, it would have been difficult to find out about that meeting. So I'm just wondering about the lack of transparency with respect to the peer project design process.

And kind of the assumption that it's presented as a done deal. And to understand how we got here, I went back and I reviewed the harbor and waterfront plan completed in 2020. I do appreciate that it took a great deal of effort that that committee put into it.

But as I reviewed the plan, there was pretty much a good description of the threats to our coast from flooding, storm surge events. But the only solution that was presented in that plan was to create what's called a living reef, or really a breakwater. And there was no other solution in that plan, as opposed to the Kleinfelder plan, which was a very detailed plan with multiple solutions presented.

So I'm just wondering whether that plan should be revisited or the priority should be revisited in that plan. Basically, the goals, the main goals or takeaways in that plan is that we need to build a living reef. But it was sort of conflated with, okay, that will help increase boat presence, perhaps allow bigger boats to be moored in the harbor, as opposed to really solving the coastal flooding issue.

So, you know, as I look at the harbor and waterfront committee members, they talk strongly about the living reef as being the solution. And I think that we've heard from multiple sources, including Kleinfelder. I think we heard from Office of Coastal Zone Management, Woods Hole, that that's really not a solution to coastal flooding.

So just wanted to kind of make you aware of that. So in summary, I'd just like to see if we can get more transparency, if there are public meetings to especially large projects in town. So, thank you.

Thank you.

[Speaker 2] (12:02 - 12:09)
Is there anyone else or public comment? Okay, seeing, are there any hands up?

[Speaker 4] (12:09 - 12:17)
Yeah, it just seems like the icons, I'm not sure if they're working. Are they working? If someone has their hand up, we would see, right?

Right.

[Speaker 2] (12:17 - 12:48)
Okay. Okay. Thank you.

So seeing none, we're going to move on to item B, and that is the showing of the high school documentary, Opening Minds Through Art. We have a premiere coming on Wednesday, that's tomorrow, the 21st from 11 to 12 at the, where is this going to be? At the Swampscott High School Media Department.

So, Heidi, are you presenting that?

[Speaker 7] (12:50 - 13:42)
Hi, I'm Heidi Weir, Director of Aging Services in Swampscott. And I have with me Sabrina Clopton, who is the Assistant Director at the Senior Center. And if we can just take two minutes to share our extreme gratitude for all of the work that the Swampscott High School put into this project.

This is a program that collaborates between the senior center and the students at the Swampscott High School. And those students are working directly one-on-one with our residents who are living with dementia at some certain level. And so the documentary was made by Daniel and Joe and Sammy.

They put it together. And so we have a citation, can we just give them real quick? Oh, please do.

Thank you. Joe and Daniel want to come down for a quick sec?

[Speaker 14] (13:44 - 14:06)
So, I'm just going to read this. With many thanks and much appreciation, this certificate is presented for your dedicated work on the OMA film, advocating for quality programming, education, and enrichment for our community. Joe Duet.

And Daniel Meritsky.

[Speaker 7] (14:17 - 14:37)
So as Mary Ellen just explained, that we will be doing the debut tomorrow at the senior center. It actually will be at five o'clock. So we're doing an open show, art show, from five to six.

And the video will be shown in full tomorrow afternoon at around probably 5.30. So, do you want to?

[Speaker 14] (14:37 - 15:05)
I just wanted to highlight that this summer we had 20 Swampscott High School students who volunteered their time to either, some of them had been trained during the school year. But about half of them volunteered their time to come for some pretty extensive training to be a part of this program. And participated in six weeks of programming.

So this is all voluntary. Just wanted to just express that, that these kids really took a lot away from this and did good things all summer. So, yeah.

[Speaker 11] (15:07 - 15:08)
That's great. Thank you.

[Speaker 7] (15:10 - 15:14)
This is just three minutes in the middle of the video.

[Speaker 20] (15:27 - 15:31)
It was definitely a comfort, I think, for all of us.

[Speaker 18] (15:31 - 15:55)
My favorite part was to all of my partner. And I didn't get what the art project was. But she was, it was rolling like stamps.

And she just kept doing it. And then by the end of it, she was like, wow, this looks like, like a V of some sort. So I thought, I really liked that one.

I think she titled it like insect or something. I really liked that one because she was just having fun with it. And she really was enjoying the art project.

And it turned out to be like an actual picture.

[Speaker 17] (15:55 - 16:04)
She was wonderful. We talked about a lot of things. And she was constantly getting me my different things that I needed to paint.

[Speaker 19] (16:05 - 16:08)
And she was very sweet. Chloe was absolutely wonderful.

[Speaker 22] (16:09 - 16:24)
It was a silent film. I was very much surprised at the very least. And I enjoyed working with Chloe.

She was really a joy to work with. And I enjoyed it very much.

[Speaker 19] (16:25 - 16:41)
He actually did some art. And it was good art. And one of them was made in her birthday card.

And so I think that I was very surprised that he was able to do that. That Chloe was able to help him do that.

[Speaker 16] (16:41 - 16:59)
He made one card. I think he titled it like the day after a party night. And it was cool.

I don't know. It looked like a day after party. It was just like random designs all over.

But it ended up being cool. I think that was when it was featured on the card or something. At the final reception.

[Speaker 17] (16:59 - 17:17)
Looking forward to something. With people my age. Older and younger.

I don't have that opportunity very often. And the program brought out the fact that talent doesn't depend on age.

[Speaker 20] (17:18 - 17:28)
And it was a unique experience for the rest of the people. Because it was a friendship. Both between the artists and the volunteers.

To see that kind of mesh was wonderful.

[Speaker 16] (17:28 - 17:43)
I think it did show the impact art can have on people. Who struggle with these diseases. And I think it was cool to see how social interaction in art.

And quality time can help them.

[Speaker 21] (17:47 - 18:01)
The biggest takeaway I had was just helping other people out. It was just good to talk to them. Because it might be hard for them.

Because sometimes they have nothing to do. And just helping them with art and stuff. When we can have fun.

[Speaker 23] (18:01 - 18:11)
I thought it was an opportunity to bring the learning. That I try to preach and teach everyday. Inside of the classroom.

Outside of the classroom. And give them an opportunity for real hands on experience.

[Speaker 20] (18:11 - 18:12)
Throughout the program.

[Speaker 7] (18:16 - 18:42)
I just want to say really quick. That Hadley. Who you just saw.

The teacher. Was very taken by the whole program. And so instrumental.

That now this class will be part of the high school curriculum. In the health class. And so brain health.

And gerontology. And all those things that come along with it. Is being something that Swampscott is.

As way out in the far forward thinking. So thank you. Awesome.

[Speaker 11] (18:43 - 18:43)
Great.

[Speaker 2] (18:54 - 18:59)
Heidi. Can you just stay up there. Just one second.

Does anybody have any questions or comments? Diane.

[Speaker 3] (19:00 - 19:04)
Diane. Diane.

[Speaker 6] (19:04 - 19:05)
Nothing other than thank you.

[Speaker 2] (19:06 - 19:16)
That was great. Thanks a lot. Okay.

So moving along to. The town administrators report.

[Speaker 14] (19:17 - 19:18)
Alright.

[Speaker 1] (19:20 - 26:24)
So. Just seeking. The boards.

Approval for. An application for energy and efficiency. And conservation block grant.

On the hiring of a new. Energy manager. Continue to look at opportunities.

To see where we can be more efficient. This energy manager. Position has been discussed for years.

We have a excellent. Facilities department. Certainly looking to integrate.

A energy manager. Into that function. Certainly.

You know. Something that. A lot of communities.

Are looking to advance. Pleased to report. That we have new police officers.

Working in Swanscot. Officer Harrell. Officer McGee and Officer Noble.

Finished their field training academy. Six months worth of rigorous training. And are out working in our community.

Anticipate that we'll have a swearing in ceremony. At one of our next board meetings. We have a number of fire promotions.

That we've had over the last few weeks. As well. That we'd like to celebrate publicly.

Library has been busy. We have an excellent. Adult reading program.

We've increased from 12 participants. To over 80. These are great ways.

To make connections. And meet folks. And really see all the wonderful programs.

We have at our library. Senior center is doing wonderful things. Really proud of the work.

With opening minds to art. These are programs that really do help. Connecting to generational groups.

It is so important. When we address issues of social isolation. Happens with our young citizens.

And our older citizens. One of the most critical health issues. That we often ignore.

And I'm glad that Swanscot. Is dialing into this. Fire department had.

A hiring exam. On August 10. We had 56 candidates turn out.

We have four vacancies. That we'll be filling. This is a significant opportunity.

For folks to engage. In public service. We have three vacancies.

But we expect another one in September. Certainly want to thank. Chief Archer.

But also a number of. Our firefighters. Working with an open house.

And really doing their best to get out there. And recruit individuals. We are rolling up to our.

New school. Starting date. Max Casper.

And a number of the department heads. Have worked closely. With the neighborhood.

To address traffic concerns. Certainly want to thank the neighbors. Who came out last week.

To attend a community meeting. Look. I've said it previously.

We need a lot of help. And support. To make this project successful.

No neighborhood has been better. At really helping us. And the individuals living around the school.

But we're at the end of it. It's 101 million dollar elementary school. Consolidated elementary school.

That will be a state of the art. School for this. And future generations.

So really proud of Swampskate. But we will have to circle back around. In four to six weeks.

With another community meeting. Traffic patterns will evolve. We'll have to think about rainy days.

And snowy days. And other changes that happen. And we'll have to have frequent meetings.

Over the next few months. To really see where the pressure points. Build up in neighborhoods.

Certainly hearing comments. About Mason road tonight. Are helpful.

And I think we can continue to flex. To see where we can be supportive. Our community development department.

Has been busy. We have a number of projects. We had a four hour planning board meeting.

Last week. We have a proposal for six townhouses. On Eastman Ave. Certainly a number of concerns. From the neighbors. With that project. We are looking to apply for a tourism grant.

We have a lot of busy things happening. Not only with the opportunity. To put a hotel on Humphrey Street.

Or on Reddington Ave. We're looking at. A number of opportunities. To really celebrate Swampskate.

Salem, Marblehead. Danvers and Beverly. In anticipation of the 250th anniversary.

Of the Revolutionary War. Lots of activity around this. Swampskate is looking to take a lead.

In helping to support. Some of these efforts. Regionally.

Jeff and me. Are the first in the region. To have a public health podcast.

The public health team. Is really looking to talk about. Opioid use.

And issues. That we face in Swampskate. Swampskate is not immune.

We have stories about opioid. Use. Challenges.

If you have any stories. That have faced Swampskate families. Please reach out to Jeff Vaughn.

Our health director. And share those stories. So we can actually help other families.

I have met with several of our. Board of health members. Over the last two weeks.

We have talked about. Really having a regional. Board of health meeting.

Talking with Salem. Marblehead. And really thinking about.

Where are we seeing. Hospitalizations. At North Shore Medical Center.

Or at hospitals in the region. We need to see more of that data. So we can actually come up with some public health.

Programs that will address. The risks that our. Residents are facing.

Veteran services. Has been busy. We have conversations happening right now.

For Veterans Day. We are thinking about. Partnerships with Military Friends Foundation.

And the Boston Food Bank. We have a number of Veterans. That have been supported.

Through the Heroes Program. And a number of Veterans. Have joined us at Cafe Avellino.

And reaching out. For breakfast. And different community programs.

Recreation has been busy. With our second annual. Humphrey Street Block Party.

I want to thank DPW. But also Danielle. And our rec department.

And Jackie. For all of the work. That went into that plan.

So Oktoberfest is busy. David has been busy. Helping to lead another big party.

Seems like it gets better. And better every year. And we have our town wide yard sale.

Coming up on September 14th. So go into your basement. And get rid of a lot of that stuff.

And make sure it doesn't wind up in our. Solid waste stream. Lots of stuff to be cleaner and greener about.

My report.

[Speaker 2] (26:25 - 26:28)
Any questions? Danielle?

[Speaker 5] (26:29 - 26:47)
I just had a couple. A couple of questions. How are we notifying people.

That attended. The entrance exam. Open house for the fire department.

How do we notify those candidates. At what point we are in the process. Or what stage they can expect to hear from us.

Or timeline.

[Speaker 1] (26:48 - 27:10)
We have a testing company. That we work with. And they send out some notifications.

I can get the specifics out to the board. I just don't have that available. But I do know that we are in communication.

Just like the police department. They do get emails. And they do get.

You know. Notifications from the fire department.

[Speaker 5] (27:11 - 27:22)
And just a question. On the energy efficiency grant. For the position that we are looking at.

So have we already submitted that grant? Or is that. What stage are we at?

[Speaker 1] (27:22 - 27:28)
We haven't submitted it. But we are looking at that. I would anticipate I will be back at the next meeting.

For a vote of the board.

[Speaker 2] (27:30 - 27:34)
It is in our packet tonight. We are looking to vote on it tonight. Okay.

[Speaker 5] (27:36 - 28:08)
I think it is a great. There is definitely a great need. I am just concerned.

If I read it correctly. So it would be grant funded for the first year. And then FY26.

Somehow will absorb it into the operating budget. I have concerns about that. Just because I really think that at some point.

We need to stop. And look at the total FTEs. At town hall.

Before we decide what can be added. What can be absorbed. I am just a little concerned about that.

I don't know if that has been worked out.

[Speaker 1] (28:08 - 29:50)
It is a great conversation. Danielle. Every year we look at the FTEs.

We do an analysis. Year to year. I can come back and present some of that data.

I am always worried about not just the impact. In the operating budget. With the salaries.

It is the soft cost. It is the retirement cost. We have to look at a number of different lines.

When I look at an energy position. As opposed to any other position. I think about the efficiencies.

That are going to be baked in. With a position like this. This position.

If we hire it right. Is going to look at every one of the line items. In our budget.

That expend money on energy. They are going to think about ways to build efficiencies. I anticipate that this position.

Will help pay for itself. Early on. And help us really identify.

Short and long range. Efficiencies. With how we use energy.

This is really a position. I think we can't afford not to look at. As opposed to looking at.

All the other FTEs. Thinking about. Where could we be more efficient?

Where could we have regional. Relationships. That would help us.

Be that much more effective. With the FTEs. If we can reduce the FTE.

From 1.0. To .6. We can reduce the soft cost. To .6 as well. We can do more.

I think there is a number of opportunities. With regional. Relationships.

That we could continue to be more efficient.

[Speaker 5] (29:51 - 30:13)
That was my only concern. I want to make sure. I know we have some open positions.

DPW assessors. At some point we have to do a deep dive. What position requires.

X number of hours. Does this job. Get the job done.

If it is a part-time position. Should this be a 32 or 34 hour.

[Speaker 1] (30:13 - 30:58)
All of those are important conversations. We typically do a vacancy review. Anytime there is a vacancy.

We look at the job description. What is the position doing? Is there a different way to do it?

Is there a different opportunity? Is there an opportunity to help. Reorganize.

See where we can make better alignments. There has been an extensive amount of that work. Over the last few years.

At town hall. Certainly happy to follow-up. And have more conversations.

About how we really look at building. More sustainable budgets. This position.

Getting back to the energy manager. Is part of that overall. Approach to building.

More efficient.

[Speaker 5] (31:00 - 31:06)
My other question. Did we have an update from the health department. On the rat situation.

The rodent situation.

[Speaker 1] (31:07 - 31:47)
I don't have an update for tonight. We are working on it. I had a meeting today.

With a resident. Working on a presentation. Working with our board of health.

Suggested that we. Combine some of the. Work that we are doing.

We need a broader. Community-wide approach. To the rodent.

Prevention. Certainly at the next meeting. We can have an agenda item.

That can update the board. And the community. On some initiatives.

That we are going to take. To address rodents.

[Speaker 5] (31:47 - 31:52)
Even if it is a one-pager. From the health department. Out to all of our residents.

[Speaker 1] (31:52 - 31:53)
At a minimum.

[Speaker 5] (31:53 - 31:55)
What they can do. Something.

[Speaker 1] (31:56 - 32:16)
We will get that posted this week. There is more. There are more steps.

We have to take. Commercially. Residentially.

And as a town. That will help us. Have a better practice.

When it comes to rodent control.

[Speaker 5] (32:17 - 32:17)
Thank you.

[Speaker 2] (32:19 - 32:19)
Doug?

[Speaker 4] (32:20 - 32:21)
Nothing. Katie?

[Speaker 2] (32:22 - 32:40)
I have a couple of questions. On the fire department. We have four vacancies.

If they have taken the test. In mid-August. The test results will be back.

In three weeks. Does that mean these positions. Will be filled by October 1?

[Speaker 1] (32:42 - 32:49)
There is every reason to believe. They could be filled by October 1. Once they get in.

[Speaker 2] (32:49 - 33:11)
They don't have to go to the academy. They can start work right away. Versus the police department.

Has to go through the academy. The next question I have. On the veterans.

We have a program. That is going on. With having banners.

We will have banners hanging out. How is that being advertised out there?

[Speaker 1] (33:13 - 34:25)
I met with the veterans. Yesterday. We are putting together a program for that.

We will reach out to veterans. And ask them to send in pictures. Of their service.

If they are a veteran. Or if they are a family. That has a veteran.

We want to get a picture. We will put them on a banner. Obviously.

We have to go out and raise some funds. To support this. We have some limited funds.

The cost associated with this program. Will be up to $15,000. I hope we can raise about $10,000.

To help defray the cost of this. We have seen this program. In Haverhill.

We have seen it in other communities. This will be banners. That will be on light poles.

And telephone poles. Throughout the town. That will celebrate the service.

Of Swampskate veterans. That is it. That is an initiative.

That Mary Ellen has asked us to advance. Certainly something we have talked about. For the last couple of years.

I'm glad this is coming to fruition.

[Speaker 2] (34:26 - 35:17)
If you are a Swampskate resident. Or you have been a Swampskate resident. And you served in the military.

Please contact Diane. At town hall. And we need your photograph.

And your story. We are going to make a banner up there. We are also going to have some serious fundraising.

So we can have this town covered with photos. Of our veterans. Okay?

All right. With that said. Nobody has any other questions.

I'm done with my questions. We can move to new and old business. Let's go right to the second reading.

Of the proposed policy. Regarding new and old business. Memorial.

Memorials and monuments.

[Speaker 1] (35:19 - 36:59)
This is a policy. That is being recommended. We have a lot of.

Historic properties. And. This policy.

Is aimed at. Helping to. Ensure that.

We keep these properties. Well maintained. Sometimes.

A lot of things can pop up. Because of good intentions. But.

We really want to keep the board. In a position to. Help manage.

And approve. Certain monuments. Or public art.

For the town. As under the town charter. The town administrator.

Is responsible for all public properties. But I do think. Having a policy.

For memorials. Is appropriately before the board. And this is a responsibility.

That the town administrator. And the select board share. And this policy.

I think is a good start. I think it adds. A due process.

And it adds some. Simple standards. But certainly open to the boards.

Thoughts about. How to add more rigor to it. You can find policies.

That are 10, 20 pages. Or you can keep it. Relatively simple.

And just ensure that. We have a public process. For these types of.

Public art. And public memorials.

[Speaker 4] (37:00 - 37:05)
I have to admit. When did we first. This is the second reading.

When was the first reading? Was it recently?

[Speaker 3] (37:06 - 37:17)
It wasn't. It was a while ago. The acquisition of some art.

It came into a conversation. That we should have a policy.

[Speaker 4] (37:18 - 37:21)
It sounds like a great idea. I'm just feeling embarrassed. Was I on the board?

[Speaker 11] (37:23 - 37:25)
I don't think you were. There's no.

[Speaker 2] (37:26 - 37:43)
We have to vote on this. It was pre-dug. We should vote on this.

I think we should address any questions. Two of you. We also didn't have a presentation.

Of a policy. We just had a need for a policy.

[Speaker 5] (37:44 - 37:49)
By Stanley school site. I assume they mean. Elementary school site.

That's correct.

[Speaker 3] (37:50 - 38:33)
There's a reference. We should update. I have a couple of comments.

Yeah. So. The art.

The monuments. The donations. That become part of our community.

I see. That there. The idea is that we would create.

This sort of committee. With a different representation on it. But what I don't see.

Is a public representation. Just a normal. Joe Schmell.

Off the street. Having an opinion about. Or a public.

Anywhere for the public to have input on this.

[Speaker 2] (38:33 - 38:35)
So you want to add in.

[Speaker 3] (38:35 - 39:24)
I didn't really. Flesh out what my idea is. I sort of just wanted to bounce it around.

Since I thought this might not be the last reading. But I would like to have some sort of public input. As to location.

Appropriateness. I mean art is subjective. So I don't really need people to say.

Whether or not they like it. But more so. For example.

I know we have a beautiful piece. That was donated to us. And recently.

It's caused some issue. Regarding how the public interacts with it. Because it's in a public space.

And kids are climbing on it. And things like that. So the appropriateness of the location.

Maybe it would be great. To have some more public input. That way.

[Speaker 1] (39:24 - 39:46)
Sure. I think there's a due process. That you can build in here.

Whether it's public. Or perhaps other boards or committees. That might be jurisdictionally more helpful.

You have a number of open space. Recreation committees. That I think.

Could also. Be leaned on. To weigh in.

[Speaker 2] (39:46 - 39:48)
So you would like to have at least one public hearing.

[Speaker 3] (39:48 - 40:13)
The way I was thinking about it. That committee of representatives. From other committees.

Would sort of maybe create. Suggested locations. And then the public would have opinion.

About those suggested locations. Not that they could just. Have open reign over everything.

But that there would be specific reasons. As to the fitness of particular locations. For particular pieces.

And then people could say yes or no.

[Speaker 1] (40:13 - 40:51)
I think that makes a lot of sense. I'm thinking maybe even a form. Or an application form.

That says hey look. If you want a piece of public art. Here's the description.

Give us a location. And then maybe we have a few of the. Boards or committees.

Or departments sign off on it. Or perhaps recommend. We do that for a number of different events.

And different things. Maybe there's a reasonable. You know.

Application process. That makes the bar a little bit more. You know.

Driven by a thoughtful process.

[Speaker 5] (40:54 - 41:11)
I think that makes sense. I mean. You're talking.

Some of these are neighborhoods. And certainly neighbors are going to have. Concerns.

Maybe suggestions. Interests. You know.

So to engage the public. Absolutely. There's no reason not to.

I would agree with that. Anybody else?

[Speaker 6] (41:12 - 41:13)
No. No issues.

[Speaker 2] (41:14 - 41:20)
So let's just call this the first reading. And we'll bring this back. In case somebody has an idea.

[Speaker 3] (41:22 - 42:06)
Okay. Back to Kate. The costs related to the objects.

The objectives talk a little bit about. Like maintenance. And like.

So what is a gift. May eventually become. A taxpayer burden.

Not to be. Aggressive with that. But could end up costing a little bit of funds.

Whether to make it safe or secure. Or to upkeep it. So having.

It would be good to know that. Projection or estimate. When we're having the conversation.

To know what. To understand the cost. That may end up costing us.

To keep it in the condition it's in. Or protect it or insure it. Or things like that.

[Speaker 1] (42:07 - 42:12)
Sure. Absolutely. I think that's life cycle value.

[Speaker 4] (42:14 - 42:20)
Actually. Where did this draft come from? This is a brand new policy?

Or an update?

[Speaker 3] (42:21 - 42:22)
Brand new.

[Speaker 4] (42:22 - 42:27)
Okay. Created from whole cloth. Other communities.

[Speaker 1] (42:27 - 42:28)
I'll have to look into it.

[Speaker 2] (42:31 - 42:40)
Margie is on. If you want her to speak. That would be great.

Does Margie want to speak? Margie. You don't want to speak?

[Speaker 4] (42:46 - 43:00)
While you're getting her hooked up. The other question is. In terms of like.

The grid here. Where did. Did Margie.

Is this your first draft? Yes. Margie did.

[Speaker 15] (43:00 - 43:34)
Can I clarify? This really resonated. From the open space and planning committee.

As you know. The open space committee. Is tasked with.

Looking at open spaces. Throughout town. They definitely have some concerns.

About preserving. And having appropriated. Art or fixtures.

In any of the open spaces. That recommendation. In the draft.

Is in front of you. Was done by the open space committee.

[Speaker 4] (43:34 - 43:35)
Great. Thank you.

[Speaker 5] (43:37 - 43:51)
That's a great point. This is not a critique. On anyone at all.

Who decided. Which location would be appropriate. For what?

Is it open space. That came up with this grid? It is.

[Speaker 1] (43:52 - 44:00)
Ryan and Tanya. Were the individuals. Primarily worked on drafting this.

[Speaker 11] (44:01 - 44:01)
Okay.

[Speaker 1] (44:01 - 44:01)
Great.

[Speaker 2] (44:03 - 44:16)
The only concerns I have. Any issues we would have. With freedom of speech.

Someone wanting to donate something. And it not being approved. And then.

It coming back.

[Speaker 1] (44:19 - 44:26)
Those constitutional issues. Are always out there. And we just have to navigate.

Through those. As carefully as possible.

[Speaker 2] (44:27 - 44:55)
And then my other. Just a question. That popped up for me.

Was the last one. It shall be the policy. Of the board of selecting.

That the placement of memorials. For deceased town residents. Or to commemorate significant.

Regional or national event. Or to commemorate the history. And contributions of any group.

Within the town of Swampscott. Shall be done very sparingly. For compelling reasons.

I'm not really sure. We would even need to have that. In there.

But that's the only thing. That really caught my eye.

[Speaker 3] (44:55 - 45:30)
I think the critique was that. Monument Ave. Could become very saturated. And that maybe.

That. That. We should be thoughtful.

Going forward. About what ends up on Monument Ave. Since it may. Enhance the community.

But also deter from the significance. Of the things that are already on Monument Ave. So I think that was sort of the thought process. Of that conversation.

And I think that's sort of. The idea where this came from. If I remember the meeting correctly.

[Speaker 2] (45:31 - 45:45)
Okay. That's it. So we will move this to a further meeting.

In the near future. Margie. Do you have anything else to say?

Is that alright with you? We move it to another meeting. Because it's really our first viewing.

[Speaker 15] (45:46 - 46:00)
Absolutely. And what I'd like to do. Is bring in all the comments and recommendations.

That you have. To the open space committee. Maybe we can provide you with an updated draft.

That will include the comments. That you made this evening.

[Speaker 2] (46:00 - 46:04)
Okay. Do you have those comments? Yes.

Alright.

[Speaker 15] (46:04 - 46:04)
Thank you.

[Speaker 4] (46:10 - 47:01)
At the risk of extending this. But I know this does end up being quite an issue. For people.

I think we're going to be in a chicken and egg situation. Here. Because we have the recommendation from one committee.

Right. And then we're going to be put in a position to. Are we approving this?

Or not. This exhibit A. In particular.

It really feels like you should have the committee. That's the coordinating committee get together. And actually.

Fill this out. Because right now. You have just one perspective on this.

How to fill out exhibit A. You don't have the cultural council. You don't have this.

You don't have that. Weighing in on this. Maybe as I'm thinking out loud.

Maybe we approve the policy in general. But maybe we don't get so specific about actually. This grid.

[Speaker 2] (47:01 - 47:03)
Maybe this will just be a reference.

[Speaker 4] (47:04 - 47:07)
That's their template to fill in. Once they get together and actually work it out.

[Speaker 2] (47:07 - 47:11)
This is just like a recommendation. Whereas we're just focusing on the policy.

[Speaker 1] (47:11 - 47:47)
I think the conversation has been very helpful. I think the application process. I think would help channel everything.

Into a form that could come back to the board. And answer a lot of the questions. That the board might have.

For an action. And I do think. Some of the language in there.

I think it could get tweaked. So it's not offensive to anybody. And we can just make sure.

That we do our best job. Being careful with public properties. And making sure that we're good custodians.

And things don't get too busy.

[Speaker 2] (47:48 - 47:59)
Okay. We're all set? Okay.

Now we're moving to item number two. Discussion. Possible vote on hourly pool rentals.

[Speaker 1] (47:59 - 48:50)
Yep. This is a ministerial responsibility. Steve Cummings.

He's our building commissioner. He's here. He's our code enforcement officer.

Steve has asked me to seek the board's support. For authorizing the building commissioner. Or our code enforcement officer.

To file an action in court. Seeking some zoning enforcement. For a property located at 127.

Reddington street. This is something that is. Just a ministerial responsibility.

Of the town. And I need the board's vote for this. So could I have a motion?

Authorizing the town administrator. And the building commissioner. To file an action in court.

Seeking zoning enforcement. For a property located at 127. Reddington street.

So moved.

[Speaker 3] (48:51 - 49:04)
Katie? Second? Sure.

I just want to make sure that. Whatever we are. Enforcing.

We are enforcing across the board. To all residents.

[Speaker 1] (49:04 - 49:20)
Absolutely. This is an action that we have already enforced. Zoning compliance for.

And at this point. We have non-conformance. And we are seeking to get conformance.

[Speaker 2] (49:20 - 49:24)
Okay. Any other questions? Good.

All in favor?

[Speaker 11] (49:24 - 49:24)
Aye.

[Speaker 2] (49:25 - 49:50)
Okay. So moved. Now we are going to item number three.

Discussion and possible vote. On creation of feasibility study committee. For community life center.

This is a. Project. That Katie.

Maybe you want to address.

[Speaker 3] (49:51 - 51:02)
Sure. I think Katie. Has been in your wheelhouse.

So basically. We are. The request.

Is. For a feasibility study committee. Which.

We would seek individuals. Who are looking to. Exert their passion about.

This community. And have a diverse background. Experiences and perspectives.

In order to develop. The idea of a. Community life center.

And. We have been. In this discussion on a community life center.

For a little bit of time now. And Heidi. And a bunch of other very passionate folks.

About. Our community. Have been engaging in this conversation.

For a while. We spoke to you all at town meeting. And we funded.

The feasibility study. So this is the next step in that. Funding process.

Now we are looking to create. The committee. And put together the documentation.

Needed to decide. If and when. We can build a community life center.

[Speaker 2] (51:04 - 51:50)
So. I am going to comment on this first. A couple things.

I don't think that the select board did have. Enough conversations about this. However it was passed.

Through the capital. Line item. This is $100,000.

That I would like. I would like to see a committee. I think we have amazing people in this town.

That can do really great work. But I would rather. I would like to see a committee formed.

And do enormous amount of work. Before any dime is spent. On a consultant.

Or. I would just like to see the spending of money. Be the very last resort.

I am sure you are going to have to spend money. That is my opinion. I would like to see that happen last.

[Speaker 1] (51:51 - 53:19)
I would like to just. Suggest. I agree with you Mary Ellen.

We need more committees. But we appropriate $100,000. At town meeting.

To help support a needs assessment. And really get a consultant on board. Similar to what we did with.

The feasibility for an elementary school. Or any kind of feasibility. For a project.

And we have waited months now. To try to kick start this. And putting.

This project forward. I think allows us. To build some excitement.

And get people excited about. Really working. We are all ages committee.

Is the biggest committee we have in town. We have literally more people. Eager to help support our seniors.

In serving on committees. To help advance. All ages responsibilities.

Than any other committee we have. In Swampskate. I would urge the board.

To move forward right now. And really use this time. To really get those dollars working.

And help us bring. A consultant on board. To identify the weaknesses.

Identify some of the strengths. And really think about. How do we move forward with the feasibility.

For a really bold vision. For helping Swampskate. All ages.

Be as successful as we need it to be.

[Speaker 3] (53:22 - 54:29)
I was just going to respond to Mary Ellen's comment. I don't disagree that more time. Should be allotted to this.

That's absolutely what will happen here. But there actually has been. Quite a bit of time and research.

Already put into. The idea. Of a community life center.

I know that we've engaged multiple communities. In what they've developed. As their community life center.

What worked. What didn't work. If people thought that need was present in town.

Collecting ideas. Of what a community life center could be. Not just what we envision it to be.

But what other communities around us have. Don't have. So that other communities would be coming in.

And enjoying the center that we have. If it's having. If it's giving something to our region.

That the region doesn't already possess. So a lot of time. Energy and effort.

Has already gone into this. And we will continue to do that. But.

We don't have all the answers. But this will certainly put us on the track. Of knowing what additional questions are out there.

And how we can go forward to answer them.

[Speaker 2] (54:31 - 55:42)
Right. So I'm just going to go back. To where my reservations are.

We're talking about a community life center. What are we talking about? Building a $10 million facility.

Or we're talking about $3 million. $6 million. What is the long-term thought process in here?

Because I don't see where the long-term thought process. Because this has not been discussed. At the select board meetings.

I have heard members. Of the high school construction. Committee come in here.

And say. That this building was actually built. For the purpose of having more community usage here.

So I'm just. I'm concerned about. What is our long-term vision.

Of what is it we really need. And what is it we're actually able to do. In our small town.

And as far as. Building something regionally. So that the region could help.

I'm looking at big ticket items. That we're looking at in the future. I'm not super concerned about our region.

I'm concerned about what we can afford. Here right now. What's feasible.

Especially with what we've got going with. The money that's got to go into our middle school next.

[Speaker 3] (55:42 - 57:02)
Well this should be right up your alley then. Because as I promised at town meeting. We would look at our existing.

Part of this RFP. Will request that the consultant look at our existing assets. And see how they could be better utilized.

Or further utilized. Or can't be utilized. For the needs.

That we will discover. During the RFP process. This is not to borrow the line from Doug.

But chicken and the egg situation. If you come out and say this is what the town needs. And then you put forth an RFP.

To show what the town needs. Then the community doesn't feel heard. Because they don't feel like they got to say what their needs were.

So the whole point of this process. Is that the consultant comes in. Looks at what we have in our infrastructure.

Looks at what we have available to us. Figures out how we can utilize what we have. To fit our needs.

What needs we have. That we don't have a way to fit in. What we have currently.

How we can manipulate it all to work together. To one. Spend an appropriate amount of funds.

To fulfill the needs that the whole community has. Not just a group who came forward. And thought a need was there.

And how we interpret that need. That's why I think it's so important. To do the feasibility study early.

Because none of us want to get into a situation. Where a lot of people spend a lot of time. And energy.

On an idea. That isn't really there.

[Speaker 4] (57:04 - 59:36)
Can I offer maybe some support. To both of you. I guess on one hand.

I have a little bit different concern. I'm not really sure. With all these volunteers that we have.

On SwampScout for all ages. Why we need a separate committee. In order to do this.

Those people already understand. Exactly what's happening. And it is all ages.

So why do we need a separate committee. To do it. Maybe there's a good reason.

That's just a question. But on the money thing. I think several of us.

I think Mary Ellen and I. Have often asked about an overall planning. For assets that we have right now.

And understanding exactly. Where things are going. Even I think.

I kind of hear about. How various assets are going to be deployed. But I'm not really sure.

So I understand. And I at first blanched. At the cost of this.

But was assured that this unfortunately. Is the going rate for doing this type of work. I'm sure we'll do an RFP.

And we'll find out. Whether or not it can be less expensive. Or whatever.

But I do wonder if. Now that Max is going to have so much time on his hands. That how much.

He can help with this. Whether or not. There's a phased approach to this.

Or it's like an all or nothing. It's soup to nuts. Or is there like a first phase.

That kind of assesses. Just big dots. Like oh you've got four other.

Kind of community life centers. Within two miles of you. And you really should.

It's a no brainer. You really should form a partnership. With this Y or whatever.

And make it. I don't know. Just like totally spitballing here.

And instead of going all the way to the end. You basically find out. $30,000 in.

That there's a plan B. I don't know. I have no idea.

But maybe just I guess. I'm up for this. You all did a presentation at town meeting.

Town meeting supported this. I feel like that question has been asked. And answered.

But doesn't hurt to continue to be scrupulous. With the way that we do this. So both in terms of people's time.

In terms of another committee. And kind of is there a way. To kind of phase this.

That really makes sense. That would be great. If that's crazy.

When you get into the details. Which I can imagine maybe it is. Then I'm all for it.

[Speaker 5] (59:38 - 59:45)
So I have. Sorry. I'm going to raise my hand.

Good job. I just opened my mouth.

[Speaker 2] (59:46 - 59:47)
It's her birthday this week.

[Speaker 5] (59:49 - 1:02:16)
Anyway. So I think what I'm hearing from Katie. And this is where my concern lies.

To echo what Doug said a little bit. I don't know if this is what you actually said. But we seem to have.

An abundance of committees in this town. And maybe a little bit too many committees. So I am concerned.

And this is. This goes back to the peer. Kind of what Mrs. Schmidt was speaking about. We seem to get. An idea in our head. We create a committee.

And then they kind of take it. And run with it. Without a lot of input from the community.

So if I'm listening to what Katie said. We wouldn't necessarily be using this money. To go ahead and build.

A new life center. Maybe we're going to look at. How we can use our high school.

Our middle school. Our new elementary school. And that would be part of it.

So by us signing off on this committee. Is not us signing off on a new community center. That we might not be able to afford.

And this money was already allocated. Through town meetings. So that's why I would be comfortable spending it.

For that purpose. But I really do think. That this is the same recurring theme.

That we have. We create committees. With an idea.

Without really checking in. To see if it's on the priority list. Of the people that live here.

And getting their feedback. And kind of measuring that. And we kind of do that at town meetings.

But that's not really representative. Of every single person in this town. This is a bigger piece.

Any time we're building a building. Or thinking about building a building. That's a big conversation with the town.

For me. Just like when we're thinking about building a pier. That's $10 million.

That's a big conversation. That's a bigger part than just people on a committee. I'm kind of concerned with how we.

Who we have on the committee. Because I think that. We need partners in different areas.

Right? I mean I think the schools. Would need some representation here.

Because if we're talking about using school buildings. We're talking about a lot of things. So I would just be kind of concerned.

With how we staff committees in general. That's a big concern for me. And making sure that it's a big cross section.

Not everyone in this town is going to think. That they want to spend money on a community life center. Right?

So we need to hear those voices too. That would be my only concern. But I think that I wouldn't be opposed to it.

And I certainly think a consultant. The way that you stated it. Would be helpful.

So we can understand what we have. That we might be able to use already.

[Speaker 2] (1:02:18 - 1:03:18)
Right. So my objection is. I don't think we need a consultant right away.

If it was phased. I don't think we need a consultant right away. I think we could have a committee.

Identify what the needs are. What the wants are. Have that really clear.

And at that point decide. Do we need to have a consultant? Then send out your RFP.

And bring in a consultant. I see that point. Just to go here.

There. And even though $100,000 was in the capital budget. That means we have to go out and borrow the $100,000.

At a later date. And it doesn't mean we have to spend $100,000. And I don't have a problem with having a committee.

Or using. I don't think an existing committee is really going to do it. I think.

I don't think. This is really more like a task force. Which should have an end date.

But putting people together. So that you do have background. I do support that.

I just don't support spending the money right away. With as many smart people we have in town.

[Speaker 6] (1:03:18 - 1:04:32)
I agree. I think we have many smart people in town. We certainly have up to 324 elected town meeting members.

Who did vote to allocate this $100,000. So I do think that it is in our purview. To really get going on this.

I think. You know. I think it's important that we look at our existing infrastructure.

And how it can be used. I think that's smart. And that gives me confidence.

To move forward with the allocation of those funds. I don't think anybody here at this table is saying. Let's go.

And let's look at building a building at any price. I think we're saying we want to allocate the funds. That were voted on by our representative town meeting members.

And really get to work. I don't know if we need another committee. To do this or not.

I think. That's just my opinion. But I do think that we need to be moving forward.

And engaging. And moving forward. With engaging a consultant.

Because again. We're not going to know what we have. And what tools are in our respective toolbox.

Until we get to work with this consultant.

[Speaker 4] (1:04:33 - 1:04:48)
So can we just. Do you have anything else? I think it would be helpful.

In my mind there's two questions on the table. One is why this separate committee. And the other is.

Now I've forgotten it. Let's start with that one.

[Speaker 1] (1:04:48 - 1:04:49)
Before Heidi.

[Speaker 4] (1:04:49 - 1:05:16)
You go. Because I think you'll have. I know the other one.

To a little bit of Mary Allen's question. About what work has already been done. And why are we at this phase now?

It's not like. And Katie mentioned this too. There's been a lot of talk.

A lot of work for many years. In certain smaller groups. And I think they feel they're at this stage.

Not at the stage of big question mark. Oh first idea. Thinking about it.

Like it's been cooking for a while.

[Speaker 1] (1:05:17 - 1:05:17)
Sure.

[Speaker 4] (1:05:17 - 1:05:19)
So just to give you a little bit of a background.

[Speaker 1] (1:05:19 - 1:08:02)
Heidi came to me years ago. And said Sean. We don't have enough for our seniors.

And I said well. Much like Mary Allen. I said well.

We got to build a new consolidated elementary school. We got to fix the. I started thinking like.

We have a lot of things to do. And so I suggested. We need a feasibility Heidi.

I need to really. I need a team of folks to actually look at. All of our existing properties.

And kind of figure out. What can we do. In the most responsible.

Feasible way. To help address. The needs that she sees.

Every single day. The sense of the committee. Is because.

We change. An all ages committee. That's really an all encompassing advocacy.

Committee that deals with. The sun, the moon, the stars. Of all ages.

It's complicated responsibility. To a brass tacks. Task force.

And this is. Instead of a committee. Think of a task force.

Where they're going to visit. Just like our school building committee. Near and far sites.

They're going to bring consultants with them. They're going to look at space needs. They're going to look at innovative.

Uses of non-profit space. And religious space. And community space.

And they're going to. Take all of that. On behalf of this board.

And on behalf of the all ages committee. And come back and say. Here's what we learned.

Here's what we have. Here's what we think we can achieve. And it's $100,000.

And that's a lot of money. And Mary Ellen is right to be wary of. Just sending everybody off with a checkbook.

And that's why I think you have a town administrator. And you have people that are in positions to negotiate. The scope of work.

For a contract. That will help us. Get a deliverable.

And a report. Probably inches thick. Just like a feasibility report.

For an elementary school. That will help you answer. The questions that you've asked.

Heidi. I wanted to just give the backdrop. But you know.

Your passion. And your energy. And Bob Powell.

And the work of our all ages. And Cheryl. You're here tonight too.

There's an army of people that are behind. These ideas. And you're here to kind of share.

Some of those. Yes.

[Speaker 7] (1:08:02 - 1:09:42)
Thank you. It honors me. That you're spending so much time talking about this.

And trying to figure out where we should go with this. I will say to start. Danielle.

We did a needs assessment back in 2019. For all ages. And it was found in that study.

That we really do need more space. For our seniors. Specifically.

Danielle Strauss has been working with us very closely. As well. And we really feel strongly that a community life center.

That is an intergenerational place. For people to come and be together. And share.

Both young. Sharing. Teaching older people who have dementia.

As well as older people. Teaching young people how to read. Et cetera.

Would be a wonderful space for us all to have. And so when we talked about this committee. Or task force.

We talked about seeing if we could find someone from the select board. That would be a liaison. Someone from the Swampscot for all ages committee.

From parks and rec. From the COA. From the PTO.

Maybe the veterans and disabilities. And a whole bunch of different. Maybe nine people on this committee.

To like Sean suggested. Go and visit other places. Around the state.

And see what's going on. And see how we can create something here in Swampscot. And I also should say.

That we also feel strongly. Someone like Mary. Who spoke strongly.

And was on the board here in the Swampscot high school. To say this was supposed to be community space. Let's invite Mary in on it.

And share and see how we can use this space more effectively. If that's the answer.

[Speaker 4] (1:09:44 - 1:10:03)
I'm sorry. That's great. Is it that the people that have already been baked into this idea.

Already just don't have the cycles. To be able to be part of this committee. It just feels like we're kind of lost.

You have all these people in Swampscot for all ages. They've been thinking about this for a long time. Why do we need another group?

[Speaker 7] (1:10:04 - 1:10:12)
I think that Swampscot for all ages. Might not have representation from Daniel Strauss. And the rep committee.

[Speaker 2] (1:10:14 - 1:10:22)
So why don't we. You're saying you need nine. You want nine people.

Or you want 11 people. The suggestion is nine.

[Speaker 3] (1:10:23 - 1:11:23)
We take 11. If you want to give us 11. We'll find 11 people passionate about community life centers.

I think the other point is. Doug. When you think about the commitment.

That you make to a committee. It's almost endless. Right.

So there's a resignation. Or something that happens for you to leave. But you're almost signing.

You know. Signing away a little bit. How long you plan to be there.

Whereas if it's a task force. Or a feasibility study committee. There's an end in sight.

So you may have people who have maybe a little less time. Or a little more interest in the specific topic. Or against the specific topic.

For that matter. Raising their hand and saying. Hey I'd like to be part of that conversation.

That they might not be part of a more broader conversation. So I don't. To me the idea of a committee.

Or a task force. It seems like that is a good direction to go. And I get your point.

Are we recreating the wheel? Not necessarily. But are you bringing more people along for the ride?

Absolutely.

[Speaker 5] (1:11:24 - 1:11:47)
It sounds to me like what you're saying. You're looking for people too. That might have opposing views.

They might not necessarily think. That this is something that we should build. Maybe it's something we look at a different avenue for.

Maybe the council on aging. Or the all ages committee. Is really comprised of people.

That think that we do need to build something.

[Speaker 7] (1:11:47 - 1:12:06)
Yes. But the other thing that the committee has. Are folks who are just interested in housing.

So their focus is on housing. Or their focus is on transportation. And how we provide more transportation for our seniors.

As we age. And not necessarily looking specifically. At creating another center.

[Speaker 5] (1:12:07 - 1:12:36)
So it makes sense to me. That we would look for different. I didn't initially think that that would make sense.

But the way that you present it. And the way that Katie was explaining it. It really makes sense.

We really do want a cross section of the community. And we want to hear people from all areas. With all opinions.

And all input. So why not see if we can assemble. And I think a task force is really a better word for it.

So that we understand that it has a finite end point. It's not a committee in perpetuity. Right.

[Speaker 3] (1:12:36 - 1:13:42)
I think this task force has the advantage of. Some. Recent reflections.

Lessons learned. That we can sort of. Okay.

We don't want to put the cart before the horse. We don't want to say what we want. Before we understand the need of the community.

The we being the community need. So I think that's really the important part. That we create a cross section of the community.

That feels like they can come forward. And have good discussion. And good information.

From consultants when necessary. And put together something that's really meaningful. So that when it comes back to the table.

That one inch thick report. For us all to look at. It will have the weight of something behind it.

And people won't feel like. What do we do with this now? Because we've already done a little bit of the community dig.

We've already done a little bit of understanding. What we have. For assets.

How the assets work and don't work. And then we could really push it. Once we've gotten that information.

On what we feel like the next step is.

[Speaker 2] (1:13:42 - 1:13:46)
So could you just read off. The people that you were recommending.

[Speaker 7] (1:13:47 - 1:14:16)
Not the people you were recommending. The committees you were. So when we talked about it.

We talked about a liaison from the select board. Someone from the swamps good for all ages committee. Someone from recreation.

Is it commission I think. The COA. Council on aging.

PTO. Veterans. Disability commission.

Maybe someone with a. Background in building. I don't know.

[Speaker 1] (1:14:17 - 1:14:23)
You'll have the technical support. From our. So you would probably want.

[Speaker 2] (1:14:23 - 1:14:26)
A representative of the finance committee. Okay.

[Speaker 5] (1:14:28 - 1:14:29)
Somebody with the schools.

[Speaker 2] (1:14:30 - 1:14:43)
School departments. You say school committee. Okay.

So that gets us nine. And then we have 10 and 11. Just.

Public. Community.

[Speaker 3] (1:14:45 - 1:14:46)
I'm not.

[Speaker 1] (1:14:47 - 1:14:54)
Maybe an architect. Somebody that has a technical. Background in.

Elders affairs.

[Speaker 2] (1:14:56 - 1:15:44)
Student. Okay. So are we looking for a motion.

To have. A task force. To have a feasibility study task force.

Well actually you could take out the select board. Member as a voting member. And just add them as a liaison.

How does that sound? And then you have three people from the public. So you'd have three members of the public.

You'd have. Swamp scout for all ages. Recreation council on aging.

PTO veterans disability. Finance committee. School committee.

And then you have the three. Wild cards. So can we have a motion on that.

So moved. All in favor. So moved.

[Speaker 1] (1:15:45 - 1:15:56)
All right so we'll post this. And we'll be back in a month. With three.

Community. Representatives for the task force. Thank you Heidi.

[Speaker 3] (1:15:57 - 1:16:05)
And it should. Mary Ellen if it's okay. I would like to throw my hand up.

For the select board liaison. Unless somebody wants to.

[Speaker 2] (1:16:05 - 1:16:12)
We might have to do a lottery. All right well. We might have to do rock paper scissors.

[Speaker 1] (1:16:13 - 1:16:16)
You're the select board. You can add another select board member to this committee.

[Speaker 2] (1:16:17 - 1:17:13)
All right so. That motion is passed. Now moving on to number four.

Discussion possible vote to reappoint. Or appoint members on the following. Boards and committees.

And what we'll do. Is we'll start with. Affordable housing.

Can I have a. Motion to appoint. Kimberly Martin Epstein.

To affordable housing trust. We can. Do the whole affordable housing trust.

So we'll just do affordable housing trust. And a motion to appoint. Kimberly Martin Epstein.

John Honig. Aaron Burdoff. And Douglas Thompson.

To the affordable housing trust. So moved. Second.

[Speaker 4] (1:17:14 - 1:17:16)
Do I have to recuse myself?

[Speaker 2] (1:17:16 - 1:17:16)
I believe you do Doug.

[Speaker 4] (1:17:19 - 1:17:22)
It's fine. I support the other three.

[Speaker 2] (1:17:22 - 1:17:24)
All right all in favor.

[Speaker 11] (1:17:25 - 1:17:25)
Aye.

[Speaker 2] (1:17:25 - 1:17:43)
Against. I am in against. I'm a no.

Andrews Chapel oversight committee. Dana Anderson. Barbara DiPietro.

Can I have a motion to. For Dana Anderson and Barbara DiPietro. So moved.

Second. All in favor.

[Speaker 6] (1:17:43 - 1:17:44)
Aye.

[Speaker 2] (1:17:45 - 1:17:53)
Commission on disability. Jill Sussery. Dick Baker has gone to a different committee.

So it's just Jill Sussery.

[Speaker 6] (1:17:53 - 1:17:56)
Motion to approve Jill Sussery for the commission on disability.

[Speaker 2] (1:17:56 - 1:17:59)
Second. All in favor.

[Speaker 6] (1:17:59 - 1:17:59)
Aye.

[Speaker 2] (1:17:59 - 1:18:02)
So moved. Council on aging Barbara DiPietro.

[Speaker 6] (1:18:04 - 1:18:06)
Motion to approve Barbara DiPietro.

[Speaker 2] (1:18:06 - 1:18:08)
Second. All in favor.

[Speaker 6] (1:18:09 - 1:18:09)
Aye.

[Speaker 2] (1:18:10 - 1:18:12)
Cultural council Laura Lynn.

[Speaker 6] (1:18:13 - 1:18:15)
Motion to approve Laura Lynn for cultural council.

[Speaker 2] (1:18:16 - 1:18:17)
Second. All in favor.

[Speaker 6] (1:18:18 - 1:18:18)
Aye.

[Speaker 2] (1:18:18 - 1:18:22)
Historic district commission Anthony Sanchez. Stacey Reiling.

[Speaker 4] (1:18:23 - 1:18:23)
So moved.

[Speaker 2] (1:18:24 - 1:18:37)
Second. All in favor. Aye.

Historic commission Kimberry Nancy Schultz. Mary Shapiro. So moved.

Second. All in favor.

[Speaker 4] (1:18:37 - 1:18:37)
Aye.

[Speaker 2] (1:18:37 - 1:18:53)
So moved. Open space and recreation committee Tony Bandowitz. All in favor.

So moved. All in favor. Aye.

Renewable energy commission Joe Roman. George Allen.

[Speaker 4] (1:18:54 - 1:18:57)
So moved. George is in front of us. Say hi.

[Speaker 2] (1:18:57 - 1:19:00)
Hi George. George did you want to say anything?

[Speaker 4] (1:19:03 - 1:19:07)
Make sure people can see your shirt when you're talking.

[Speaker 13] (1:19:08 - 1:20:08)
I'm living this commission. George Allen. 27.

40 year resident of Swampscott. My day job. I'm the chief scientist at a small nonprofit company in Boston.

I've been working in the environmental science field for 48 years. That's a long time. And no.

I don't know. I don't know. My goal here is to basically it's all here.

Building and vehicle electrification. That's probably the most effective way to get to lower emissions. So that's what I hope to do some work on.

And there is some news on the funding. I just told Martha this yesterday. There is $100 million for heat bumps.

Money on the street that just got awarded on the IRA program. That's $100 million for the state of Massachusetts. There's $100 million for the state of Massachusetts.

And there's five other New England states that also got money under the same grant. So there is some work to be done. And I hope to be able to do some of it.

[Speaker 2] (1:20:08 - 1:20:10)
What does that mean? There's $100 million?

[Speaker 13] (1:20:11 - 1:20:11)
I'm sorry.

[Speaker 2] (1:20:11 - 1:20:14)
What does that mean? Does that mean there's going to be grants?

[Speaker 13] (1:20:15 - 1:20:23)
It's a grant. That's correct. We need to figure out how we can get some of that here in Swampscott.

[Speaker 2] (1:20:23 - 1:20:24)
Great. Excellent.

[Speaker 5] (1:20:24 - 1:20:31)
Thank you. Thanks, George. George, if I could vote for you twice, I would.

[Speaker 3] (1:20:32 - 1:20:33)
100 million times.

[Speaker 2] (1:20:34 - 1:21:17)
Thank you, George. All right. So did we have a motion?

Second. All in favor? Solid waste advisory committee.

We have Jason Hagen, Stephanie Neumann, and Matthew Peelan. He's going to be staying with the infrastructure committee. Two committees.

This serious committee. Two committees at this level. He wants to focus just on one.

So we are going to have an opening for a solid waste advisory committee, Diane. All right. So motion?

Motion. Motion. Second.

All in favor? Aye.

[Speaker 4] (1:21:18 - 1:21:37)
So I have a follow-up question. I don't know if this requires even a vote of this committee, but when people want to swap on a committee between being a member and an alternate, does that require a vote of this board? It does.

Okay. Then I would like to add something.

[Speaker 2] (1:21:38 - 1:21:41)
I'm not sure if we can add it if it wasn't on the agenda.

[Speaker 4] (1:21:41 - 1:21:49)
Okay. Well, I mean, it's this level. I mean, basically there's two people on the historic commission that want to switch roles.

[Speaker 2] (1:21:51 - 1:21:54)
Why don't we do it and then just if the lawyers call us in the morning.

[Speaker 4] (1:21:54 - 1:22:12)
Okay. That would be fantastic. I appreciate that.

So I got their first names. Let me get you their full names for the record. Diane, do we have their full names?

Yes, I have them. So we want to swap Ryan Judkins.

[Speaker 2] (1:22:13 - 1:22:14)
Hold on. Is this historic district commission?

[Speaker 4] (1:22:14 - 1:22:15)
No, just historic commission.

[Speaker 2] (1:22:16 - 1:22:19)
Historic commission. Historical commission.

[Speaker 4] (1:22:23 - 1:22:34)
Ryan Judkins and Brendan Bradley are, Brendan is the, would become the alternate and Ryan would become the full member.

[Speaker 5] (1:22:37 - 1:22:37)
Okay.

[Speaker 4] (1:22:38 - 1:22:48)
Wait a second. That's how it is already. Yep.

Switch that. Brendan would be the full member and Ryan would be the alternate.

[Speaker 2] (1:22:50 - 1:22:51)
Diane, you have that?

[Speaker 4] (1:22:54 - 1:22:58)
And then at the risk of, Oh, Oh, do we need to vote on that? Sorry.

[Speaker 2] (1:22:58 - 1:23:00)
Right. So we do, but I have a question.

[Speaker 4] (1:23:00 - 1:23:02)
Okay. I'd like to make that motion.

[Speaker 2] (1:23:03 - 1:23:03)
Second.

[Speaker 4] (1:23:03 - 1:23:04)
Okay.

[Speaker 3] (1:23:04 - 1:23:17)
No question. Yeah. So when they switch like that, we don't review other applicants.

Well, I don't think we reviewed other applicants in any of these.

[Speaker 2] (1:23:17 - 1:23:17)
Have we?

[Speaker 4] (1:23:18 - 1:23:23)
I did for historic commission. That's yes. I did fully review everyone that was available.

[Speaker 5] (1:23:23 - 1:23:28)
Doug is a liaison. Didn't we agree to that last time? That's how we were doing it.

[Speaker 3] (1:23:28 - 1:23:39)
But this whole, this list came before that process was put in place. Right. So it's okay that you did that.

Right. But this list has been lingering for a while now.

[Speaker 4] (1:23:39 - 1:23:40)
These specific people.

[Speaker 3] (1:23:40 - 1:23:46)
Yeah. I mean, we, this was on an agenda and was taken off the agenda to talk about that process. Right.

[Speaker 5] (1:23:47 - 1:23:47)
Yeah. Yeah.

[Speaker 3] (1:23:47 - 1:24:06)
You're right before the, I just want to make sure, because I don't think any of my boards or committees have alternate. So I don't really know how to handle the idea of switching. Like, does it make sense that that they could just switch roles or should we be looking at people who also applied for the.

Current role.

[Speaker 4] (1:24:06 - 1:24:12)
Well, it's the opinion of the chair and the liaison that these are appropriate people to switch these roles.

[Speaker 2] (1:24:13 - 1:24:21)
What you're saying is in the future. Yes. Maybe in the future you want to, I mean, I would think that if somebody is an alternate.

That.

[Speaker 4] (1:24:22 - 1:24:24)
That's situated to become the member.

[Speaker 3] (1:24:24 - 1:24:28)
Okay. That's what I'm asking. That's the intention, right?

That would be the intention.

[Speaker 2] (1:24:28 - 1:24:32)
However, if there is somebody with more experience, I would think that person.

[Speaker 4] (1:24:33 - 1:24:34)
That could be a possibility.

[Speaker 2] (1:24:34 - 1:24:40)
Yeah, there would be a possibility, but it seems like it's the recommendation of the liaison. Excellent. Okay.

[Speaker 4] (1:24:41 - 1:24:42)
And then I have another question.

[Speaker 2] (1:24:42 - 1:24:48)
Oh, hold on a minute. Okay. So we did have a motion.

We had a second discussion now. All in favor.

[Speaker 4] (1:24:48 - 1:25:17)
Aye. Okay. One other question.

And I almost, I almost don't really want to engender a conversation right here, but I do feel like we need to be clear about whether or not people who do not live in town can still be on committees. And I think we need a consistent policy about that, or if there's room for exceptions or whatever. So I don't want to open a can of worms about there's no one specific here, but there are people on the legal issues.

[Speaker 2] (1:25:17 - 1:25:24)
We're not going to discuss this tonight, but I'm going to, I'm going to put it on my to do list. Okay.

[Speaker 1] (1:25:24 - 1:25:24)
All right.

[Speaker 5] (1:25:24 - 1:25:25)
I second that.

[Speaker 1] (1:25:26 - 1:25:34)
I'll put it on my to do list too. I have, I have talked about it years before and I have legal opinions that I can share. Oh, okay.

Great.

[Speaker 4] (1:25:35 - 1:25:37)
Just want to be kosher about it. Cool. Thanks.

[Speaker 2] (1:25:38 - 1:25:53)
All right. Okay. So we're all set with our, we're all set, right?

We can, Katie, did you have another comment? No. Okay.

You just throw them at the last minute. I want to make sure.

[Speaker 3] (1:25:53 - 1:25:56)
Oh, you're right. I do love the last minute comment, but I don't have it right now. Sorry.

[Speaker 2] (1:25:56 - 1:27:34)
So now we will move to a vote to the board. We're a crew. The consent agenda.

Um, Danielle, before you went on vacation, you had asked me to take off item number one. Are we good to leave item one in there? You can leave it in.

Okay. So, uh, our consent agenda, we have discussion, a possible vote on the energy grant on the a hundred thousand dollars on the mass tourism, the one day liquor license for the VFW. And, uh, the vote on our minutes.

I just have one question on the VFW. The, um, application that we have here, it didn't have the checklist off. Uh, it didn't have the little checks.

Where is it? I'll double check with Matt. I get that from Matt.

Oh, the application checklist was not all checked off. The application checklist wasn't checked off at all. Okay.

I'll, I'll double check. I'll talk to Matt about that tomorrow. Okay.

I just don't really want these presented to the select board without all that information. So actually let's just, um, pull that out of the consent. And then, uh, let's pull that out on consent and just vote on that separate saying, uh, if we want to approve this, just approve it based on all the subject, subject, subject to all the things that have to be checked.

Okay. All right. So can we have a motion to pull that one out and vote on that?

[Speaker 6] (1:27:34 - 1:27:35)
So move.

[Speaker 2] (1:27:35 - 1:27:37)
Second. Second. All in favor.

[Speaker 6] (1:27:38 - 1:27:38)
Aye.

[Speaker 2] (1:27:39 - 1:27:48)
Okay. And then, and then for the rest of the consent agenda, I have a question, Katie, I have a question on item number one.

[Speaker 3] (1:27:48 - 1:27:51)
I don't want to remove it. I just want the question answered before I, okay.

[Speaker 4] (1:27:51 - 1:27:53)
Oh, I thought we just voted on the consent.

[Speaker 2] (1:27:53 - 1:27:58)
No, we just voted on item number three and voted on number three.

[Speaker 11] (1:27:58 - 1:28:00)
Oh, that's weird.

[Speaker 2] (1:28:00 - 1:28:04)
Okay. So now we're back into the consent agenda on one, two, and four.

[Speaker 3] (1:28:05 - 1:28:27)
Um, so I just want to understand, cause I know this, um, energy manager, the way that it's listed, it's going to be like a 10 month period of time that this manager would be employed. And the grant is for $50,000. So that's enough money.

Uh, it may not feel like enough.

[Speaker 1] (1:28:27 - 1:29:13)
Yeah. It may not be enough money, but it's, it will help, uh, support a portion of a year. Or if we can budget for that and make that work, you know, we'll use that to help, um, offset $50,000 of, of that opinion.

I, I believe it will be worth it to hire a full-time energy manager. I think it'll pay for itself, but I, we will come back when we put the budget together and we can have that debate. If, if we get a $50,000 subsidy for this position, these positions, typically they run in the 125 to $150,000 range.

So, you know, a good energy manager, you know, it's, it can be, I don't, I don't see the 10 months.

[Speaker 4] (1:29:13 - 1:29:14)
I see six months.

[Speaker 3] (1:29:14 - 1:29:15)
Is it six months?

[Speaker 4] (1:29:16 - 1:29:22)
It's the task started in January and only goes through June. Yeah.

[Speaker 2] (1:29:22 - 1:29:25)
Do you need Marsy to weigh in?

[Speaker 4] (1:29:27 - 1:29:35)
But regardless, I, I think it's enough to cover 25 and I don't, this doesn't commit us to keeping that person on. Right.

[Speaker 1] (1:29:35 - 1:29:47)
I mean, no, but you know, certainly helps incentivize, you know, moving forward all for doing that, but you know, yep. There's going to be a, you know, it's a grant. They're going to be on a grant.

[Speaker 3] (1:29:50 - 1:29:57)
Oh yeah. It's January to June. You're correct.

But no, it says to staff a position from October 24 to June 25. That's where I saw it.

[Speaker 4] (1:29:58 - 1:30:00)
That doesn't seem to comport with the task. Right.

[Speaker 3] (1:30:00 - 1:30:00)
Okay.

[Speaker 4] (1:30:01 - 1:30:01)
I agree.

[Speaker 3] (1:30:01 - 1:30:26)
So I just didn't feel like $50,000 was enough money to cover, but in my, just be a part-time part-time position. Okay. So the idea is, I just want to be like very transparent about what we're doing here.

Cause I want to get a grant and I want to hire an energy manager, but I also don't want to say that the grant is going to cover the cost of an energy manager. If we're actually going to have to fund it additionally, some other way.

[Speaker 1] (1:30:26 - 1:30:42)
I fully anticipate we're going to have to, we're going to have to find some efficiencies within the existing operating budget to ensure that this position is fully funded. And then when we hire somebody, we're going to, we're going to use this money to help offset the cost of a full-time position.

[Speaker 2] (1:30:43 - 1:30:50)
Is this, is it energy? Cause we did approve some money from ARPA funds for, but does that have a different title?

[Speaker 4] (1:30:51 - 1:30:52)
There's a different title.

[Speaker 2] (1:30:52 - 1:30:54)
That's resiliency, right?

[Speaker 4] (1:30:54 - 1:31:11)
Well, it was a climate and resiliency, which, but we can't hire someone with those dollars because they're ARPA. First of all, so we're using it for very targeted consulting. So this puts us more on the road.

I think we're generally want to go.

[Speaker 1] (1:31:11 - 1:31:19)
This is going to build out your facilities department. Add a really big, important piece to that facility function.

[Speaker 3] (1:31:20 - 1:31:42)
Yes. So I want to say I'm supportive of it, but I just like Danielle was saying earlier about FTEs and making sure that we're just being very conscious about the language we're using. This will not fund a full position for this timeframe that we will, hopefully we will be using this to subsidize a position and we will find efficiencies to pay for the other.

[Speaker 5] (1:31:42 - 1:31:43)
It's not a benefit level position.

[Speaker 1] (1:31:43 - 1:32:09)
We also share the facilities director position with the school department. So, you know, there's a shared cost. So 60, 40, 60 on the school, 40 on the town.

So if this position is going to help the school with energy and efficiencies, the largest energy user in the town is the school. Then they can also help share some of those. We would need to engage in a conversation.

[Speaker 2] (1:32:09 - 1:32:11)
Oh, no, they're going to call in the morning. Right.

[Speaker 1] (1:32:12 - 1:32:18)
Look, we're not going to have that conversation unless we're fortunate enough to get the grant.

[Speaker 11] (1:32:18 - 1:32:19)
Right.

[Speaker 1] (1:32:19 - 1:32:44)
Your action tonight will trigger the phone call that we'll say, Hey, we're going to apply and we'd like to be a partner. I think if we look at what has been truly successful, the facilities department has been an absolute huge success in terms of the shared town and school functions. This will only continue to advance some of those successes.

[Speaker 2] (1:32:47 - 1:32:57)
Okay. So can I have a motion to a motion to support the rest of the consent items? Second, all in favor.

I so moved. Okay. Select board time, Danielle.

[Speaker 5] (1:32:59 - 1:33:11)
So great block party. It was an absolute smashing success. I was able to attend.

Um, Jackie and Danielle fabulous, Sean, your idea really like for the past couple of years. Great idea.

[Speaker 1] (1:33:11 - 1:33:21)
It's their hard work. I appreciate you recognizing, um, they're a small group, but they, they're a mighty group. Yeah.

They're doing great things and it's so great to hear.

[Speaker 5] (1:33:21 - 1:33:24)
Um, it was, it was awesome. So nice idea.

[Speaker 1] (1:33:24 - 1:33:48)
And it was really, this is really great. It is an impact to the number of the small businesses. It's worth us recognizing this, you know, there they've been so helpful.

And supportive. I think this will get better and better every year. And I think, um, we have to think about ways to help our small businesses.

Mary Ellen, you've, you've talked about that. Maybe we can have a small business weekend, uh, in the fall.

[Speaker 2] (1:33:48 - 1:34:00)
So I, I hate being the skunk at this party, but the fact is you have a number of businesses on that day, on a Saturday that at the close down, and you're not going to make that business back up.

[Speaker 5] (1:34:00 - 1:34:13)
That was my next comment, Mrs. Fletcher. Okay. I was going to say maybe in the future, we could have it on a Sunday.

So that's the businesses that are, you know, affected negatively by having it on a Saturday. We'll not have to do that.

[Speaker 1] (1:34:13 - 1:34:23)
So I think, I think we can pick Sunday. I think, um, you know, there's, there's opportunities for us to flex on that schedule, but all the same was, it's a great event and, and nicely done.

[Speaker 5] (1:34:23 - 1:35:02)
Um, the forum for the neighborhood residents for the new school was really well done. Big thanks to Max Casper. He handled it beautifully.

Um, thanks to Pam Angelakis for coming in and sitting and giving people reassurance. And really, I think making the neighbors feel comfortable, um, chief Cassata, chief Archer, everybody. Um, it was a stark comparison.

It was a, it was a stark difference from the first meeting. So, you know, great job because we're, we're getting there to that point. I do think we need to look at Mason road, um, for resident parking.

It's obviously the residents are here saying it. People were saying it that night. I don't know why it was not included.

[Speaker 1] (1:35:03 - 1:35:16)
Um, I'll ask, I'll ask our public safety team to head down there and take a look at it and come back at our next meeting for a recommendation. I think, I think they've already done that because it was brought up at, yeah, I, I, I think we can come back and I think that would be a good idea.

[Speaker 5] (1:35:17 - 1:36:09)
My other point was the, um, Harbor waterfront meeting last week that Katie and I and Mary Ellen were able to go to, um, was very eyeopening. And I really think that the conversation we had tonight about committees and direction and all of it is really something we need to revisit in, in a, in a bigger forum. Um, you know, I, I appreciate the work done on that committee.

They've done a lot of work and a lot of hard work. Um, but I do think we need to make sure that our committees are representative of various viewpoints and the community in general. And we heard a lot of that, that they, people don't feel that that is the case.

So that's something I know for my committees. I will look to see that we can address. Um, but I think that that was very eyeopening last week.

That's all I have. Doug.

[Speaker 4] (1:36:10 - 1:36:30)
Um, a couple of things. One, um, we were going to talk about select board handbook, but I think we thought Danielle wasn't going to be here, but may surprise appearance. I did.

Okay. Um, so she doesn't want to be on our next agenda.

[Speaker 2] (1:36:31 - 1:36:31)
Okay.

[Speaker 4] (1:36:31 - 1:38:40)
Great. Um, and then, uh, I do think, um, I don't have the answer to this. Um, but given, you know, our last select board meeting and then the Harbor waterfront.

Committee meeting slash community meeting. Where, you know, We're unbalanced in terms of exactly kind of where we're going. I think, um, I think a lot of people have various impressions.

Uh, so. I don't know if that means we need to kind of bring all parties back to a meeting here. If we need to have Harbor and water, uh, give, you know, The biggest, uh, Notice meeting with stuff on the road and, you know, uh, you know, uh, notifications to everybody, you know, like a wholesale community meeting to make sure we got everybody.

And no one has really much of an excuse to say, I didn't know about it or whatever. I don't know exactly, but somehow, um, And it's not just Harbor and water, because I do think that a big missing piece for people is that people keep grabbing one part of the elephant. Um, and they're not necessarily kind of putting it all together.

I know Danielle and I had a little exchange about, you know, trying to think about what the big picture is here between Harbor and water and, you know, the fishermen and climate and all these different pieces. And I think, I think a lot of people are working in good faith from their perspective, but not seeing the whole picture. And I was pointing together a whole plan about the order of things.

Um, people have various good criticisms, um, but somehow we need to kind of, whether it's a select board meeting or a different community meeting, we need to find the right path so that people don't feel like we're just lurching or not listening or whatever it is. So that's just an expression of desire without a clear plan.

[Speaker 2] (1:38:40 - 1:38:41)
David.

[Speaker 6] (1:38:42 - 1:42:49)
Uh, yeah, a few things. Um, I just want to add my voice, uh, to support the, uh, the parking controls on, uh, on nascent road. Um, I think it, uh, I think, I think certainly some residents and Ms. Pat's this evening and Mr. Twist made some, uh, some very, uh, salient points. So I think, uh, I would be, I would be supportive of a residential parking control for safety purposes. Uh, there, um, I'm really excited about, uh, swamp Toberfest, uh, September, Saturday, September 7th, four to 8 PM. Um, we tried a few years ago to get Barry Godreau, uh, to play, uh, in 2021.

Uh, it was in Boston. It was, it was, it was really my dream to have him play long time and the fireworks show go off. So we didn't get fireworks this year, but maybe next year we can, uh, for, uh, for a swamp Toberfest and just, and just one more thing.

Um, you know, I've discussed the board of assessors previously. I'm going to do so again this evening, especially in light of the article published in the item on the 14th of, uh, of August. Uh, there's certainly good things happening in town, but my view, not around the board of assessors and per the article, you know, our director of assessment, Cheryl, Cheryl, Michelle, her interpretation of the board of assessors approval of abatements didn't align with mass general law.

Typically abatements are provided at the actual value of real estate can be shown to be less than the assessed value. However, as her memo indicated home prices in the Stanley school, new elementary school area had actually risen in line with the increase in market value for the town. If the values have risen along with the values around the entire town, why are abatements necessary?

It's been widely alleged that the chair of the board of assessors, Ms. Facilio solicited nuisance related abatement applications from those in the Stanley school, new elementary school neighborhood, her neighborhood. This is extremely unusual and highly irregular for a sitting member of the board of assessors to solicit abatement applications to our neighbors in precinct five. Additionally, a former board of assessors member filed for and was granted an abatement on her personal residence.

Again, highly irregular and highly unusual. Indeed. Today, the board of assessors met at 11, am on their posted agenda.

The second agenda item. Number two, singled out my primary residence at 55 Samson Avenue of all the 6,500 properties in town. There was a focus to increase my valuation after two directors of assessing and Patriot properties felt otherwise.

However, the board of assessors knows best. My family and I have been targeted by the chair of the board of assessors because I dared speak out against her and her increasingly corrupt and politically motivated actions. The corruption and politically motivated actions of the chair needs to stop for residents in my neighborhood in precinct one who were not provided the same level of service that Miss facility whose neighbors were.

I look forward to many abatement applications from residents of precinct one and the area surrounding the quarry who deal with 50 quarry blasts per year and have done so for decades. These residents live with a permanent impairment, a permanent impairment of their land valuation, not a temporary nuisance. I want to thank Cheryl Michelle for her work with the town, especially under these incredibly difficult circumstances.

I also want to highlight the last three directors of assessing Ben straight, Dick Simmons and Cheryl Michelle had issues working with the current chair of the board of assessors. So I strongly believe this is not a specific town staff issue. I believe Miss Michelle was retaliated against for bringing what I believe was a whistleblower complaint against the board of assessors for granting abatements.

When abatements were unsubstantiated, I also believe I was retaliated against by Miss facility and the board of assessors. Assessing is an incredibly important fiduciary function of this town. There has never been a more pressing need to make the board of assessors more professional and less political failure to act and absent significant changes.

These actions will undermine the financial cornerstone of this town. This function is broken and needs to be addressed and needs to be addressed immediately. Thank you.

[Speaker 2] (1:42:54 - 1:42:54)
Katie.

[Speaker 3] (1:42:59 - 1:43:11)
Well, I had a couple of things to say, but now I can't remember any of them. Um, can you come back to me?

[Speaker 2] (1:43:12 - 1:46:33)
You bet. Okay. So first, um, I want to thank Nate by shine Daniel, rescue and Joe dulet for bringing the select board meeting to the masses.

Um, next I want to point out that, um, having that meeting for the residents over, um, by the new school is really important and I'm glad that we took care of that and just want to reiterate what, um, Daniel has said and it looks like we'll have our next meeting in October. Um, um, I also want to point out that we had, um, a little bit of a hiccup last week, uh, when it came to the new school, we needed some help on Sunday to get some contractors in there. And, um, they're not allowed to work on Sundays, but we received a phone call at the last minute and said, Hey, could we help out?

And we said, sure we can help out. However, they can't start before nine and they have to be really quiet. And, um, someone from town hall needs to be there.

So I want to point out that Margie Golaska was there at six 45 on Sunday morning. And, um, I told her I would be there a little after, which I was, but Margie was there at six 45 and she worked with a number of the contractors to help them understand they couldn't start until nine, but luckily the weather was bad and they left anyway. But I just want to point out and really thank Margie for her hard work.

She is just an exceptional, exceptional hardworking person. So thank you, Margie. I think you're still on, but thanks for getting up that early and, and, um, covering for us.

Um, the second thing I want to say is I don't, I don't even know how to say how incredibly disappointed I am with Mr. Grishman's comments. I am the liaison to the board of assessors, and I think they are one of the best boards in this town. And I am not going to discuss personnel issues of town employees, but I do not think that Mr. Grishman has given actual facts. And I think this should not be aired in public, but it's going to be aired now. Um, I'm just very disappointed. I'm really, really disappointed.

Um, it was also brought to my attention that information was sent to the Lynn item from select board members trying to show that things, um, were a little amiss with the, with the board of assessors, the board of assessors meetings are televised. They are recorded. Anyone can pull them.

They are constantly being charged with, um, trying to target a select board member. I did look into this myself and I found that those charges were false. So Mr. Grishman and I completely are in completely opposite ends of the planet with those accusations. And that's all I have to say. And I, I I'm very sorry that, uh, we're even just, we're talking like this at a meeting. Um, this just is really disturbing to me.

[Speaker 3] (1:46:35 - 1:47:06)
Katie. Yes. Um, I wanted to visit one of the comments that was made during, um, the new elementary school, um, conversation, which was, um, sort of the elementary school culture of the kids coming out of school and getting to play in the playground.

And, um, at Hadley, that was a very big deal, right? The boys would run out and play soccer and the girls would run off and that'd be all at the playground and there would be kids from all age groups coming together to play throwing together a kickball team or whatever it was.

[Speaker 1] (1:47:06 - 1:47:08)
That's one of the best parts of school.

[Speaker 3] (1:47:08 - 1:48:36)
Amazing. It, I mean, grandparents and parents chatting in the, on the school grounds, kids running away for playdates afterwards altogether. It's one of the things that a rolling drop off sort of prevents.

And one of the comments that came up was if we still want to see that exist, how can we make it happen? So I have sort of been sitting thinking about that for a long time, because one of the things that my kids really love to do after school, and I know if we could figure out a way, whether it's, we encourage people to park at that, um, extra lot across from Chirac, because I know they have offered us usage there. But if, if that's sort of the plan that we want to see happen, parents park there and walk to pick up and then grab their kids and then they play and then walk back and have, um, come out of that parking lot.

If that's possible, if, um, the partnership works that way, that way they're not parking on the surrounding areas and it's not a time constraint for them to get out. They won't be affecting the middle school traffic once they do leave, or they'll be affecting it less, I should say. Um, maybe that is one of the ideas that I was sort of thinking about, but perfectly open to other ideas.

Cause I think that piece of community that we see at the elementary school level is so important for parents and caregivers, um, and kids and even teachers coming out of school, you know, saying goodbye to their kids, they get to run into parents and caregivers. It's wonderful.

[Speaker 1] (1:48:36 - 1:48:47)
And we should, so we'll reach out, work, I'll work with the superintendent. I do think, you know, we've already had a few conversations about, you know, where can we have some overflow parking so that it doesn't impact the neighborhood.

[Speaker 3] (1:48:48 - 1:49:10)
And so, and then if we could just then discuss how as parents and caregivers, we go about doing that because rolling drop off is set up a specific way and there, um, specific instructions on how to grab your kids. And so now it will be a little bit different if you want to do it this way, it would just be great if we could flush it out before or in the early, um, days of school. So we don't lose that sort of fall window of being outside.

[Speaker 2] (1:49:12 - 1:49:32)
Sean, at the next select board meeting, um, you, we have to have on the agenda, the approval of changing, not the traffic pattern, but I think resident parking over by the school, that's going to be on there. So can you just make sure that Mason road is covered on there so that we don't have to make a motion to make a change?

[Speaker 1] (1:49:33 - 1:49:34)
Absolutely.

[Speaker 2] (1:49:34 - 1:49:34)
Thank you.

[Speaker 5] (1:49:36 - 1:50:18)
And one other thing I forgot to say, very excited for the new school opening next week, kids going back to school. I'm excited that the kids are going back to school. I'm very excited, but I'm very excited as a community member to see this brand new, beautiful school and it looks phenomenal.

So kudos to the school building committee, Max Casper, Pam Angelakis, Suzanne, right. Everybody that brought this here. It's just, it's long overdue and it was fabulous.

Well, I think especially that neighborhood and of course that neighborhood, that's been a convenience for a good year. I mean, it's been, um, it's been a real effort, but I'm very excited. I'm excited for Lori Sanborn.

She's going to kill it. She's fabulous professional. I've heard that.

So.

[Speaker 2] (1:50:20 - 1:50:23)
Oh, well, I just have to get, I got stolen.

[Speaker 3] (1:50:23 - 1:50:54)
Jack, they're still on. Are they not? Yes, still is on.

Um, the second comment I wanted to make was a word I've used many times before here, which is grace. And I asked for that. The residents of that neighborhood have been extremely graceful in allowing this process to live and breathe and, uh, sort of evolve.

And it was promised at that meeting. And I just want to echo the evolution will continue. There's another meeting in October and if things don't work, we'll pivot.

[Speaker 11] (1:50:54 - 1:50:55)
Yes.

[Speaker 3] (1:50:55 - 1:51:13)
I mean, Hadley had rolling drop-off for three weeks and then it didn't work. And we just threw it all out and scrapped it and started over. And that's the flexibility we will need during these first weeks of opening.

So it will be stressful and there will be instances where, you know, you're at your wit's end email us.

[Speaker 5] (1:51:13 - 1:51:13)
Yes.

[Speaker 3] (1:51:13 - 1:51:24)
We'll do the best we can to fix it, but don't take it out on our teachers or our kids. Let's just, you know, work together to get a solution that works for everyone.

[Speaker 2] (1:51:26 - 1:51:30)
Okay. Motion to adjourn. So moved.

Second. All in favor.