Good evening and welcome to the select board meeting for Monday, June 11th, 2018 calling meeting order at 6 30 p.m We'll start as we usually do with opening remarks announcements and agenda review Are there any announcements or remarks or things on the agenda that need to be I wondered if we should just talk for a moment about the rotation of Vice Chair assignments Just so that we know From his Kruger and myself when we're coming back if we're staying with the same August-September which I think would have been our months. I think so as well What I was thinking given that mr. Walden's been away in June I believe he's back in July. So we would just swap him in to take his normal turn that would have been in June and He can be July and then we'll go back to the order we had but I'm open to Suggestion on that That would be you I would be August you would be August Yes, and that was going to be along with the Summer just kind of found finished falling into place yesterday. So mine has been something that has been true for me as well For mr. Wald of this in pending service All right So so July will be mr. Wald August Miss Kruger and then mr. Steinberg right September, right? So I think that's the order will go in As we've once again packed the house. I see there's no one here for public comment. So we'll Move on from public comment to our first agenda item Which is the open space and recreation plan review and mr. Someth is here So take us through that a little bit. So we got a there were a couple items on our desks tonight I think a cover memo by mr. Molloy It was we got that email And Then a copy of a letter which assuming our action this evening I will sign So I think those were the two things on our desk this evening. So Mr. Zomek if you'd like to take us through this Sure, thank you very much Dave Zomek assistant town manager and director of conservation and development For those watching at home. I will Throughout my brief remarks refer to a memo that you got on June 8th from senior planner Nate Molloy and I want to start off by saying I'm here tonight But really need to give Nate Molloy Beth Wilson our wetlands administrator and former Planning director Jonathan Tucker credit for the update that you saw and that is available on the website They have worked for over a year as the memo Outlines Updating this document and it is a very significant document and again for those watching at home The open space and recreation plan is a guiding document for the town it goes Hand in hand with our master plan and it really speaks to what are the town's goals relative to? protecting and managing the Protecting land in Amherst natural resources in Amherst and managing the land that we already have and also what are our goals and objectives? relative to recreation land and as I've been before you in the past couple of meetings talking about some of our projects like the North Common Like updates and and plans for community field and the high school and whatnot these plans Bring this plan brings all of those ideas together in one place It is also a plan that is required of every community in the state in order to be eligible for two grant programs That Amherst has been very fortunate to take advantage of and that are the park grants and the land grants park is for playgrounds and and Active play areas play spaces and land grants are for open space. I think mr. Molloy's Email outlines very clearly, but I just wanted to highlight a couple of things The memo outlines very clearly bisection what What's different about this? 2000 it's 2017 it's called the 2017 update We're now into 18 we need to get this into the state, but it's really an update to the 2009 plan the state either gives communities a five-year window a five-year blessing if you will or a Seven-year blessing depending on how long you've had an open space and recreation plan Etc. Etc. We've had one. We're probably one of the communities in the state that has had one the longest Ours goes back probably 30 years So the good news is we try to get seven years out of this plan and essentially once you submit it It's been approved by the state you either get five years of Essentially credit for that or seven years So our hope is to get seven if we can but we'll take the five so really quickly in terms of highlighting I'm not going to go through each section as mr. Molloy did But the two areas that I think where we spent a lot of time In this plan are really in section one and this is a theme throughout increasing recreational opportunities and diversifying recreational opportunities and Improving stewardship and maintenance of existing trails and conservation lands this plan as I've said we are really moving into a Point with our open space where we feel as though our priorities for acquisition have been met for the most part We may pick up properties here and there but the focus over the next five ten fifteen years Should really be on management and enhancement Puffer's pond Wentworth farm Mount Pollock's how do we care for those areas and how do we enhance those areas for more use and Also to take care of those areas when overuse becomes a problem Under section three some of the highlights and growth and development patterns They called out that of course we are going to have more housing We're already experiencing Growth in our village centers in terms of more housing North Amherst Village Center is a great Example with the beacon project that we will be there'll be an event for later this week That will bring hundreds of new residents to North Amherst and likewise more demands on our both our recreation areas like Mill River and the so-called cowfield and also our trails and Puffer's pond so how do we plan for that growth and Make sure that we're ready for it and those areas are not overtaxed and then the diversity of recreational Opportunities what do young families and what do young athletes? What are new families coming to Amherst? What are they used to in the communities? They're coming from and how do we? provide some of those Those opportunities and equally as important how do we provide for those people in our community already who may not have access to Recreational facilities close to where they live a great example I think it is Groff Park where we are enhancing Groff Park at the same time We're enhancing East Hadley Road with a multi-purpose path to help those residents in low and moderate income Apartment complexes on East Hadley Road to get to Groff better So those are kind of those are the real highlights that come out in the various sections I think making our amenities more accessible Accessible trails adding accessible trails in our conservation land We have four or five at this point, but perhaps adding new ones and making all of our recreational Fields and facilities accessible for those of you who might have been at the Weston and Samson presentation on community field We learned a lot from them about what we could do at community field the high school and middle school to make our facilities more accessible So I think I'll stop there and take questions What is being asked of the community right now is really that the select board? Supports our submittal of the update of the plan That you've had input and I'm happy to take any of that feedback and input tonight The conservation Commission has already voted that they have read the plan and support it The planning board has has also done that I will be with the LSSE Commission with I think Beth Wilson on June 28th With the LSSE Commission to talk to them about it and so they'll have an opportunity to give more feedback So I think I'll stop there Again, this is an update to a long-standing plan. We want to make it better each time we update it Questions or comments for mr. Zomek Mr.. Sam two things and I They're on separate topics and I'll keep them separate and the person is very focused focused on content plan and the second is focused on process The content question is and you've made a little bit of a reference to this when you describe the goals that there's a Recognition of the need for maintaining what we have and enhancing the quality and Therefore the use of what we have and there's also some identification of some additional pieces that could be added in various places to enhance what we have and How those get balanced Against each other over the time Is it going to ultimately be a matter of what we have opportunities or funding to do or is There further is there a real plan on what the significant order is? that's a question a Couple of things that are going on simultaneously and I've mentioned this before Both conservation and planning staff are embarked on a process to write land management plans LMPs for every one of our conservation areas in town There's probably 45 of these in various stages of drafts most most of them are quite a ways along those land management plans speak to the amount of use that each area gets a Compare Podic conservation area in North Amherst to Puffers pond in North Amherst to the Ritchie conservation area on Bay Road or Mount Pollux all of them experience different levels of Usership the different kinds of Activities that happen there from running to mountain biking to dog walking to yoga to bird watching to mushroom Picking I mean the list goes on and on so those land management plans are being developed out of those Will come Individual goals and objectives for the conservation areas and we'll really use those my my goal because Again my predecessor Pete Westover who I have always called the architect of Amherst conservation system Over his 30-year career with the town did most of that Without plans, I mean he was that experienced and that senior but One of my goals is is when I leave town service I would like to leave all of those plans in very good order so that future generations of managers can manage those lands We will get many of those things done and to your point of funding resources. Yes This past year was the first year that I asked for CPA funds to Do management and enhancement on conservation land? It is a it is an acceptable use of CPA funds Those dollars my understanding is can only be used on those properties that were purchased with CPA dollars So that's one of the limitations of using CPA funds. I expect to come before the council every year to be asking for Essentially CPA dollars to be used on capital improvements Parking areas picnic areas trail improvements bridges because we have no Source of those funds. I think in the future. I think we will also be coming to whatever form of joint capital planning Committee we have to also ask for capital Improvements buffers pond is a great example. How do we fund the dredging? How do we fund beach improvements things of that sort so that was a long answer? But I think it's it's a combination of those but I think we do need to enhance some of these areas to make them More user-friendly, I often ask myself Why do we not have picnic tables out at our conservation areas many places you go and you could do a carry-in carry-out System for trash, but there's no reason why some of these areas shouldn't have picnic tables where people can picnic on a Beautiful view and look out over the Hoyok range or or wherever they are in Amher, so Long answer give a follow-up. I I have no follow-up in this and I have another topic I didn't know if there's other other people have similar things on this section before I Go on to the other thing I was going to ask about The other thing I was going to ask about and I think that it's some of it It's just I think we need to build a record for ourselves The Charter is very clear that we're not supposed to be taking significant actions that Could wait for the Commission, but we have a charge to Move forward and continue to administer the town as as appropriate and So This is a plan that's been in process and It's my understanding, but I wanted to get a clear statement of the due date that is expected from the Commonwealth for the completion of this plan so that We have in our minutes something that is coincides with what our responsibility is under the new Charter and So I think that that was a major point and then as in addition Comments about it and you've already made one very important one, but how the Council on selected will be able to either continue to review and comment on the on this if at all and What it's other duties are Going forward So those are the that's the other topic on Mr. Bachman has anything to add on that either The due date is the question if I could start maybe with the last part of that Which is you know, I presume that the council will one-seated will review all Plans that are on record from the master plan economic development plan housing production plan and likewise the open space and recreation plan and They certainly will be able to have presentations from me at any point or or my staff on on Updates or or overview of that plan and what some of the goals and objectives are in terms of due date our goal is to have all of this packaged up by June 30th and the rationale and the the impetus for that is that We are closing on the Epstein property in July or August And if we don't have an approved open space or recreation plan, we are not eligible for the reimbursement So there's really a carrot and stick here. We cannot be reimbursed for any open space projects Until we have an updated plan So the timing is pretty important to get it done by June 30th. Okay, it's very helpful Just to follow up that I said the record will reflect because that is the Remember the phrase is about delay, you know, not to delay in a way that would be Thank you Just to make sure it's clear I think your point about putting that in the minutes that was our rationale to delay would be harmful So I just had a couple little things and I will confess not having read the plan because I wasn't able to so I'm I suppose I could I could catch up with that meaning of the 28th or submit comments, but To me the shift from you described Pete Westover in the acquisition years to Moving to a management and maintenance. I'm not sure it was because he was So skilled, but it was a different time and the focus was acquisition and then you get to a point Where sometimes there's exceptional things that come along like the Epstein property, whatever but that Matureing of our open space culture and looking at management and maintenance Make sense and it made me think Just some of the trails that I use a lot because they're in proximity to where I live have these wet and low areas And what happens is either they get extra worn because people are walking through You know the really wet soils or they become not Too pleasant to use and in the lens that you use for the management plans to think about that and it So made me think it's in Hadley But the Conti Reserve where they've done such a beautiful job in a wet area. I mean that's expensive because it's all structured Kind of a lot of boardwalk area And it's fully accessible Handicap accessible and it deals with being sensitive to a wet area But I'm just thinking of the couple of ones I use frequently have these like you'll be going along fine And then you get to this muddy trench kind of thing and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Mr. Slomak So just to make sure with all these other asset, you know features that we're talking about for maintenance and protecting the resource that we do have some areas that get really wet and I think it damages them and So I don't you know, that's part of your thinking Please know absolutely. That's a great example. It's a it's a small and simple example of how we can do better out there We've spent the last 30 to 40 years Acquiring land and I think we'll spend the next 20 to 30 Managing them better and of course, it's it's it's in perpetuity that we will do that But we need to improve some of those areas so that they don't kind of get love to death and erosion and Compaction and all of those things are part of that many people bring up the Conti refuge trail and Hadley to me and their numbers their visitors ship is quite impressive I Don't know exactly how they paid for it But I was told at one point that that trail was probably close to half a million dollars to build and it is just stunning We certainly would you know, we would probably not be able to forward something like that but in small places like the Kevin flood trail or this new trail we're building down at Orchard Valley Hitchcock Center has an accessible trail We need to even do better to both maintain them But also let people know that they're out there because people don't know they are and how do we publicize those trails in a more effective way? so people who Want to go out with their child in a stroller or may have a mobility Challenge can can find four or five areas throughout Amherst that they can they can recreate And enjoy a quick thought so I would I realize we might not replicate that But I think there may be a couple of hundred feet in a couple places where we could borrow those ideas just to Navigate the really Mucky parts Yes, we're looking at a couple of creative ideas right now even along the rail trail off of the rail trail Looking at getting people out in a in a wetland environment with some sort of a boardwalk and Viewing platform or blind where they can kind of get there early and then experience You know as close to nature as possible with birds and animals and Muscrats and beavers and and yeah, so I think we're always looking for those opportunities But I will make a promise that I think I will before be before the Council and CPA and Capital planning in the next couple of years saying you know modest improvements can go a long way in some of these areas So I looked at some sections and more depth than others and others. I just skipped to be perfectly blunt so One thing that occurs to me that is kind of a big picture thing that I wonder if might be addressed and perhaps I Missed it in here. That's entirely possible is as we're working on the management plans for each of those areas. I Think one of the things that confuses our community is where some of the lines are drawn as to what's public and what's private? And what's actually town-owned land and so people wonder, you know out at Kiwanis Park when the kids are playing In some sort of semi organized T-ball fashion or another sport, you know, how much of the water are people? Is it is it kind of a just? Well, we know people are going in the water But it's not really a good idea or and I'm not asking you to answer that at this point But as you're working on each of those areas, I mean, I know we're not going to draw a little boundary markers around everything But to kind of think about the impression that people have when they're using the area like maybe and maybe a little stray You know, you don't want them to stray into people's yards onto private property, etc. They're they're, you know Garden sites for example, which I know is not the focus of this but on North Pleasant Street that people wonder Who actually owns things and so while we're not going to go out and plant signs everywhere when you are looking at actively more Actively managing an area. I think that that would be something to be worth consider is that people appreciate that hey This is actually a public resource or but over there. It's not that's actually part of that neighborhoods private thing so No, I have two quick examples In exactly that vein I'm working with the Kestrel Trust with some wonderful Conway School of Design students who are looking at our trailheads along Bay Road facing and accessing the Mount Hoyok Range and These two two students are doing a wonderful studio on how do we enhance those trailheads to provide more of a An approach and and you've arrived you've arrived at you've arrived at an Amherst conservation land trail trailhead What can you do here? Where can you go? What's private property? What's public property? Is there a map there or is there an app that? There is a wonderful App and I'm gonna blank on the name of it but all trails all trails. Thank you I think I might have brought that to your attention or vice versa But all trails so doing that just that kind of thing We just had a great meeting on Puffers-Pawn the other day and one of the enhancements that somebody mentioned was We are gonna do bathymetry studies of Puffers-Pawn this summer looking at the depth of the water and the depth of the Sediment and somebody said wouldn't that be great to actually put online and on the kiosk there to give people a better Understanding of if you're with young children the area to wade is here not there How far is it from beach to beach? How deep is it under the cliffs just to give people a better understanding of the resource because you often come there and say oh I don't know where the current is. I don't you know Can we swim in other places on the Mill River or the Fort River? I think you were alluding to the area. They called jump bridge Near Kiwanis Park, so I think all of those fall right in this category of doing a better job communicating about our resources And not that we're being secretive, but people are getting information in different ways now most of it online and on their on their mobile app device So good other input or I'm gonna I'm gonna Shift a little bit here in some ways and touch on a topic that's I think in some ways related But but not is that you know one of the things I was noting was the the sort of inventory of properties of Varying kinds that's in there was free exhaustive and I was thinking about our surplus property Inventory that will need to be Taken up sooner rather than later since we've developed a policy realm around surplus property It's unlikely that any of these but maybe a few would fall into that category I was just wondering how this and potentially there was a It's also reviewing the manager's goals and one of the things on there is a building inventory that we had mr. Pahanowitz do a couple of years ago And the update to that and how those merge together to form a full sort of inventory of all properties of the town both with buildings without buildings in Restricted circumstances like conservation and not and sort of you know, how do you envision getting to? That inventory of surplus property So that's not expressly related to the open space recreation plan, but Parallel I would say or Complementary well again I have to give a lot of credit where credit is due and Nate Malloy Jonathan Tucker Beth Wilson Stephanie Ciccarello All have put in just loads and loads of time on that document Going back ten years that more than ten years that I've been here So I think we're very fortunate to have that inventory in pretty good shape of our recreation lands and our conservation lands and our APR lands which are private but have a restriction on them So those three categories are pretty clear We can still look at that list and you always find that database and find some some glitches, but by and large It's pretty good. I Think That forms the basis of of having a much easier review of those lands to say Might there be any that we are not using? I think you're you're more likely to find that in a category of Some of the the parks and fields In large part because they may or may not be protected by article 97 And so we have are they being used are they being actively used by the town and are they protected by article 97 Conservation land as we know and as we I hope support as a community is very difficult to remove from Conservation status but I do think looking at some of those parks particularly as we look at community field and The high school fields and the and the middle school fields over the next five to ten years Might more of our recreation Games and and and Energy be focused there. There might be some fields that don't need to be as actively managed There perhaps might be some surplus property there. I can't say right now. None of them jump out But I will say that we already have so we have those three categories APR, which is private land conservation recreation Parks like Kendrick Park for instance Which should be on the list and then we have a whole another category which are just town-owned properties with or without buildings So ruckston gravel pit would be on there We have a couple of properties at the end of subdivisions that we probably picked up as gifts or Something that couldn't be used so we already have that Database shall we say we already know what those are so when I was coming before you to talk about surplus property I was pretty confident that we have eight to a dozen properties Some of them might have wetlands some of they may have challenging access, but we know what they are So, you know, I feel like we had a good a good jump start on that already And as you know, I'm pretty pretty excited to get going in that process even as we Change our form of government. I think that'll be an exciting process to go through So we feel pretty good about that we can get going on surplus property tomorrow I was just curious as to you know when you do an inventory of this sort How close we are to understanding for all the properties we own sort of you subtract this from, you know, it's like all of our Own properties and subtract out conservation and etc. Etc. You know sort of What's left starts to become open for the question of whether it's surplus or not So I think that that's what I wanted to hear was just that you know You're you feeling in a good place from an inventory standpoint that you can get to a sort of a list to start working from to start Determining whether it is or is not surplus or is there a use for it that we haven't considered but because that's sometimes I think what happens is we have a piece that we've acquired and it sort of sits there quietly and we kind of forget about it and you know, it's it's not You know necessarily serving a purpose for the community in a way it could and so that's helpful to kind of review that so One of the advantages I have is you know sitting with and next to me and the town manager are You know Chris Breastrup and Nate Malloy and and Guilford mooring and Amy Rusecki and all these people who know our properties very well What they're used for what they're not used for So I feel like we're in we're in real good shape with regard to that The other piece that I think is important for the public to know and the board to know is that We certainly have those ID'd what we haven't done is some of the title work And that's really important as we found out with East Street school a little bit How did it come to the town? Did it come as a gift? Did it come as an unrestricted gift? Did it come as a restricted gift do it? Are there any restrictions on it at all? So that's where we need to do a little work as some of these properties. We've just been caretakers of for You know 50 years a hundred years and we need to do a little title research So sometimes the rules of change since we acquired them probably that is true Are there questions and comments for mr. Zomac on the open space? changes in plan If not, we do have a motion on our motion sheet relative to this that would sort of take him one step closer to actually submitting this this crew I Move to support the 2017 ton of Amherst update of the open space and recreation plan as presented Second and there's a second. Is there further discussion? Hearing none all those in favor, please say aye aye, and that's unanimous with one absent Thank you very much. Can I just add one little tidbit that I forgot and that is I Am always on the lookout for projects that have multiple purposes So in my on my radar screen are a number of properties that may For instance fit well to do a combination conservation affordable housing acquisition where say the frontage on a piece of property is Significant but not significant to the natural resource values of the backland So I have a short list a short inventory probably five to seven properties that we're looking at and again I've been in touch with one such landowner for probably ten years or more and As circumstances changes in people's lives as people get older sometimes their decisions or their their The information there they're giving us changes. So I am constantly in touch with those folks I would love to do a project where we combine affordable housing and conservation We've done some projects like that through the years But there's opportunity for more and that way we can bring state funding together on both housing and and open space So be excited to do a project such as that Now they've brought that up. I guess I can't quite resist so recently there was a Acquisition I'm not going to mention what it was where there was a potential opportunity for one or more house lots and I think some of the housing People housing committee talked about this and I think the answer was that the staff had decided that it wouldn't be a Good opportunity for affordable housing that may or may not be true But I just want to encourage the staff and yourself in the future that people Who are working on affordable housing for the town through the different committees? Be included in that decision-making that staff. I don't think should be shutting down That conversation and saying well, we don't think that's a good place for a moderate income home or around I just I've seen that happen a number of times over many years Where where there might have been a more robust conversation about what could or couldn't be done with housing on something that? More immediately presented itself as enough a conservation opportunities So I want to keep that dialogue open where the housing folks can be brought in to that before Those decisions are finalized Sure happy to do that. I'm not sure exactly which one that is but happy about the Epstein property Because you said I remember a meeting within the last six months where you said well Mr. Hornick I think asked if there were some opportunities if it had been looked at in that light and you said Yes, and staff had decided that wasn't a good place for affordable housing So I just sort of like a sensitivity of mind that those conversations be opened up a little bit more Staff has a lot of skill, but everyone comes to this with their own set of of their own lens Yeah, and in that case I may have it may have not have been the exact accurate answer in that As you know, there are many factors that play in one of them are the wishes of the seller and so If a seller is not interested in Such a proposition then But it moves off the table. Do you remember that exchange room? I do okay. I do yeah, but in that case Yeah, I think in that case There might have been something that was of interest to the seller. So if I'm thinking of that specific property There may be more to it, but I remember hearing that answer Yeah, the other challenge always is how does a committee? I think you're talking sometimes about executive session because you can't share all of your negotiating information with a Committee unless you're in an executive session And that is sometimes Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks for hearing me out on my little Thank you So next on our agenda Maybe before mr. Zomek walks out so It's not my understanding that an executive session would be appropriate to discuss Negotiations around the property except with the group that's authorized to purchase the property. So it would not be So for example, I mean the trust could do that could potentially be hearing about something if they would potentially be acquiring it But if they wouldn't be potentially acquiring it then it wouldn't be a conversation Is that what I'm understanding us to say here? I mean the conservation commission does not acquire properties. So they're not going to be Familiar with negotiating strategies. I mean, we know that staff does those strategies We get that but I was just got a little nervous because I remember a time long ago when there were committees that thought that they could have executive session about things they couldn't buy and I While the trust would be in a different position potentially Most of our committees are not in a position to purchase and so therefore most of our committees could not have those conversations in executive sessions That makes sense. I was referring to the trust. I'm sorry. I wasn't specific on that. That's great I just think we do not have executive sessions with the conservation exact Thank you very much. I really appreciate that clarification. Thank you very much. Thank you So next on our agenda is a follow-up on annual town meeting and so there were three areas that we needed it are On our agenda for review relative to actions at town meeting and subsequent work And so mr. Bachman wrote some nice memo and so if you'd like to take us through that Sure, I Think the last time I gave you a Sort of detailed memo on every action that needed follow-up from town meeting. This is Sort of encapsulates three particular things that were different That were voted at town meeting that we need to take action on or start to start the process to take action on First is the $60,000 that was added to the community services budget And I note that the discussion around this budget item was around providing additional support for youth services And if you recall last year when this happened, we had a number of things that were happening To in particular one was the hurricane in Puerto Rico And then also there was a question about funding for Craig's doors and we sort of held off on Moving forward on an RFP for this until we had clarity whether those whether these $60,000 funds would be needed for either of those Situations they weren't When those two items were cleared we went out for an RFP identifying Food security for Latino families as being the highest priority I Tend to We'll talk about it internally with staff present some options to the select board in terms of how we want to move forward again We will have to follow an RFP process I've been contacted by a number of people who feel like This seemed to be designated for them or something like that but not explicitly so but there's sort of feeling like that And I think that we will have to have that as a public discussion With the select board so everybody's clear on what we'll go out for an RFP for The second was that there was $53,000 added to the transportation budget in or two With the Reporting that there were going to be reductions in services along certain bus routes and that this would be a Sum that would allow us to restore those services There are some time constraints on this and that the PVTA has to make some decisions But we're also still waiting for this state to make some decisions about the budgets for their regional transit authorities So and as we monitor both of those things and sort of paying attention to our time frame There's some other complicating issues in that these funds can only be used for town of Amherst goals and Some of these bus routes go into other communities and there's a question whether we could support these services Even though they go outside the town limits whether that PVTA would even accept the funds in under those conditions The chair obviously is the our representative to the PVTA and there will be more discussions about that as we move forward The first item there is to it the first Issue there is to see is the state going to step up and provide full funding for the PVTA and the other regional transit authorities or not And then the third was the action that Required the requested that the select board Look into the prompt problems Created by noises emanating from the firearm range and The impacts of those noises are having on homeowners and visitors and recommend solutions to the relevant governing body And that I would assume that relevant governing body would imply that the council so that would be something that would be Up to you to take on as an agenda item that you would If you took direction from town meeting to do this in Prior to the council being seated The only other item that came out of The town meeting was for funds that were Given to the school department for specific purposes and that would be Handled by the school committee so I guess the quite there's no questions just a matter of Keeping you updated keeping these as agenda items making sure that We address them in a timely manner and as we go through a gender setting figure out when you when When the appropriate time is to have these public discussions on each of these three items There's a murder you and so I guess I'm back to the point that I think I raised at the last meeting when we discussed it And that is on the two spending items first Whether There are criteria that are being developed for the use of the funds That get into questions about the practicality of the a Single program that runs for a very finite period of time or a long-standing program That would require future funding in order to maintain the program for the program at all to make sense and the second is Back to the question that I asked one of the questions I asked Mr. Zomac. Where does the Role of the select board fit in and where does the role of the council fit in as we're now in the transition mode and We dealt with some of the transition questions with the town meeting itself but one of the things that never came up was Adding money to the budget for something entirely new Which was a subject that I had been concerned with along with Any major change in the budget though it might have a significant effect on town operations and where that bridge came in between What is ongoing? Responsibilities of government to maintain the budget and when you're changing the budget so much that it's affecting long-standing goals from long-standing commitments and the last piece and that one is that We do have to be cognizant of the fact for The future which we're responsible for at least thinking about in the amount of money that is left in the transportation fund surplus and That it was severely Diminished by the action. It is not something that gets replenished in an easy manner so I think that we have an extra responsibility For the town and the council coming forward to bear that in mind screw So I mean I understand mr. Bachman you these are kind of FY eyes for us and to some degree But I think they're also Kind of policy questions to some degree so I Wasn't assuming that spent that it was a foregone conclusion that the 60,000 would be spent necessarily that in fact it may be held the reasons Some of the reasons that mr. Steinberg articulated I Would Disagree I don't think it was presented although it did pass with adequate information that Made sense to me to act on there. There were these expectations that somehow the additional Money for community services the prior year was going to carry over and it wasn't it was added I I'm not sure I'm not sure what basis we'd be acting on this and you did say about Understanding the needs and looking into this if certain groups had an understanding it was being added so they Would have have those funds available that would be an unfortunate expectation and the transportation money I think We need a lot more clarity about what we might need it for and maybe if there is an emergency with a Root or something that comes up in the future We at least would have that authorization, but I feel no compulsion to spend that at all The third question which is about the noise. I think we could probably Maybe give you some direction that would be direction to staff which is How how we could better maybe monitor what's going on up with the noise situation? Just anecdotally. I've been told, you know, it's a lot worse than it used to be this is summer with long days So I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to do some monitoring and checking and then maybe great collecting information that Either we are more likely a future council could act on so this might be the time I don't I don't think the town has a decibel neater But I think the nature of the firearms that have been being used may have changed over the last few years There was a brief period when I lived at Hampshire Village And I could certainly hear the skeet shooting on a Sunday morning But if it's changed if it's really at a level I get the part from KP law about we can't just amend the hours Because of the previous probably would want to know what the previous permit was if we even have it Because it goes way back. I mean just grandfathered whatever but to do some of that research So we're not starting at square one When is appropriate for the council to take this up? I think there's some Some actions that we could do to be to be sort of fair and responsible to that issue Really some legitimate concerns about quality of life. I don't exactly have you know, maybe Mr. Moore and others may have some ideas about how you get at that question so So I did read this unlike the open-space plan How do you see Mr. Bachman your role associated with article 37 I think it's it's fairly clue on clear on the money issues what you've said what you've described tonight There can be some disagreement between the select board as to how we feel about those particular things We made our wishes clear at town meeting which was not successful in terms of Preventing this from being added and given that then the budget is in fact in your hands under Which ever form of government we think feel like we're operating under at any given moment While we might encourage or Discourage a particular activity as I understand that we don't really have a role There with the money except being updated so that we can continue to share with the communities telling us So we can tell you And I appreciate that you've made it quite clear that this is not an immediate and now we take the $60,000 and we give 30 to you and 30 to you and everybody's happy It's never been that simple and we tried to make that clear at town meeting and probably not everybody heard it then So thank you associated with the by-law though I'm I'm I have very mixed feelings about what's being discussed here in terms of potentially moving forward We are short staffed We know that for a fact We don't have anything that's gone away in terms of preparation for anything and you know It's not just because we're hoping we won't need any fall special town meetings But that doesn't mean that there's anything that's gone away in terms of people's tasks and we know we're short staffed at least two positions I'm an easy Asking us to go ahead and research a situation in preparation for the council to do something when it's a It's a frustrating and long-term situation for the people who live there and I get that But then I don't see what's different than the next intersection that gets brought to us and the next sidewalk that gets brought to us And you've known for a long time that the roots are heaving up on some particular sidewalk And you need to put that at the head of the line instead of something else And I know that there's this I know we're feeling our way like it's it's not entirely cut and dried. What's now versus What's in future? But starting Definitely a new project when we don't have a decibel meter and we also don't have a law that talks about what the decibels are we have neither piece of that Beyond potentially asking if you felt it was appropriate to talk to staff About talking to the range owners and saying are you aware? You know, I don't know what kind of effective communication They felt like they've been able to have between each other. Are you aware people are concerned about this? It's on the agenda for the future You know be be aware that people are going to keep talking about this This didn't just go away because we didn't do it at town meeting but at the same time I Just think of all the other things we're working on and I feel uneasy if it seems like We're giving you Encouragement to go off and deal with that as miss Kruger just so kindly suggested but I would absolutely say no Please don't do that. So how do you see? Yeah, how do you see what? We're supposed to say that one. I feel more comfortable with saying What we think about it and trying to give some direction as opposed to the money which we have strong feelings about but we also know It's not technically our budget Well, I mean the the legislative body town meeting Voted to call on the select board so it was a request to you to take some action or to investigate You can hear that and say thank you, but we've got a lot of other things on our agenda You can say you can give instruction to us To to the staff You can give instruction to the staff to do certain things But I would like it if you know it be I don't think I am empowered to take any action Independently of that because this was a directive to the select board and I don't have a real intention to take You know direct staff to do anything on it unless the board says I'd like you to do Something on this I think I mean, I think this is a helpful conversation. We don't have to start out agreeing on it But I think this is Has a compelling aspect to it partly because we were asked to consider What was going on and what some solutions might be it doesn't prescribe exactly what we do or how we do it and I think that the quality of life issues are at least from you know testimony of a number of people were significant enough that It bears Some amount of looking into but I would want mr. Bach I would encourage mr. Bachman to have that conversation With the staff and just what ideas what is doable with the limited resources that we have and maybe it's nothing because 20 other You know emergency kind of things have popped up, but I I think I would like to at least know more about the situation If we have the capacity to do that And maybe part of it is suggesting the planning board that they look into Revision in the by-law that talks about you know decibels You know that that was one of the missing pieces, so there's a bunch of things I think we could at least be talking about and considering. I don't think it's exactly the same as The list we're developing for what's the most important sidewalk and what's the most important intersection? This is a very particular Issue was brought to us And it wasn't acted on at town meeting so I Think it's I think it's important to have at least Some consideration of what we could do if it's reasonable to do it so if I could Push back a little and say we just heard a conversation where a select board member complained about staff making a decision about whether or not Affordable housing should be considered for a particular site and now we're talking about Asking staff to make a decision about whether or not they have capacity to look at a particular issue It's really not feeling that different to me. And so I feel like it was referred to us We should decide as a group what we need to do We may not be able to come to the majority opinion on that but I'm an easy what I feel is somewhat dumping it on staff to say We'll take some time to spend some time to think about this when Unless we're sure we would want them to do something I just I suppose if we talk about this long enough We could actually talk as long as they might need to talk about it to make that decision and give feedback to mr. Bachman, but I'm just really feeling uneasy because I'm not seeing a huge difference between this and having a special town meeting on Election reform in terms of finance reform when people say this is really important to me I really think this needs to happen in a timely fashion and we say no it doesn't I hear that this is really important to people But I'm not seeing the need to do it this minute although I can appreciate the seasonality issue Just like when we do traffic studies. We want to make sure we're reflecting seasonality So I'm feeling a little theory Mr. Steinberg any comments on the topic I Think that How are we to ultimately come out on it depends upon? Answers to questions that you don't get if you don't at least start asking a few of them Because If it turns out that it is very onerous very costly to obtain the equipment use the equipment to Get Any measurable Noise level readings then It would it's not feasible to do it and I think we should start and know it if it turns out that There's somebody on staff who says oh, yeah, I'm familiar with this and you can buy This piece of equipment and set it up and it'll In the amount is relatively Small in comparison to things and the it's useful for other purposes in the future and it's not Terribly time-consuming to do that piece of the study It is worth going forward in part because town meeting asked and if town meeting asked and it was Not an unreasonable request. I still it is proud It is worth at least paying some attention But more so because I think we heard from a lot of citizens who are very concerned about it And if we just heard about it in direct context to us outside of town meeting I think we would probably have the same reaction I mean what I could do is we'd have a we have not had a preliminary discussion about this among staff We could have that conversation see what? What approach we would take what kind of equipment we would need what kind of time commitment would be and come back to you and say Here's the here's what we would need or expect in terms of resources both staff time and Equipment-wise is this something you want us to move forward on because again It was a request to the select board so into the you know that part of the executive So I just if you if you said I don't want you to do anything on it I would take that as the direction, but I would look to you for the direction on this But we could take that first step without much Commitment one other thing I would suggest is it might be able to might be able to borrow the equipment if there are other communities that have that type of Equipment so they might loan it to us for a short period of time if they're not busy with it I don't know how often they use that sort of stuff I think the other thing and I think this is still what I would say is part of that initial conversation And I think I would agree that just at least having that Kind of scoping meeting or or conversation the other not explicitly related to the gun range, but the noise you know sort of regulation around noise is Fully judgment-based currently in our in our bylaw is that okay, is it better to have particular decibel levels? So you've got measurables You know, I think that's also a piece of the conversation is independent of whether it's gunfire or any other kind of noise What is You know sort of common practice in regard to that so I think that was one of the questions raised, you know just in general is that The way our current bylaw around noise and nuisance bylaw was is is Maybe needing some additional bull string that just may be potentially independent of this So I think it just poses that question. It's like what would it take to sort of find out about that piece? And that's I think independent of the gun range in particular, but you know, certainly a part of that but Mr. Semer and one other Thing is that those of us who read the cassette know that Granby has had similar issues and Maybe somebody in at Granby town government who's given some thought to that or has taken some steps That might be helpful for us to know about. It's another avenue to take I think if Mr. Buchman initiates that Conversationalist stuff comes back. We have you know some more Information and we have a discussion whichever way it goes will have fulfilled the request of the town meeting article By having given it if we even if after that second conversation we decide You know, that's enough and Or if it or it could go and with continued action steps I think just having that additional conversation with some more information Would fulfill what we've been asked to do I'll buy that as long as we continue to recognize just as I think we can count on Mr. Steinberg to bring up associated with every single thing we do the charter transition provisions I'm gonna bring up the fact that we're understaffed Specifically now and we already had extra work because of the transition and to be really Cognizant of the fact that of course people want to work on these exciting things and they want to help people Have a better quality of life. There's no question realistically We can't do everything and so we can do potentially the scoping issue, but I Just am Low to continue to add to the and here is your priority number 27 be When we have so many other things going on, but as long as you're comfortable with doing this Maybe scoping conversation is the way that I'm then that makes sense to me As a way of addressing Steinberg both have your one note. I want to look for one for me You did affordable housing. Oh, right So thank you for the follow-up on those and we'll we'll continue to monitor those and bring those back to the board as as As we know more, I mean certainly, you know budget related state budget related things and and We'll certainly influence our conversation about the the transportation question. So So next on our agenda is the town manager performance evaluation timeline and forms review one thing I realized that in looking at my packet is that What we have is the goals and then the tool that we've traditionally used to to rate the goals But the thing that wasn't in here But which I have a copy of not with me, but I got electronically where the other pieces which are We request town staff Committees etc to sort of provide feedback to us We usually, you know, we change who is on the recipient list of the select board email during that time frame We also have traditionally reached out to town meeting members and so Those aren't with us tonight I don't expect to change them other than largely the dates on them And I will get those out soon to you all to look over and then I think at our next meeting will probably You know sort of firm up the the The timeline and the and the context of those but we can certainly Because we've all been through this before Remember that we reach out so we reach out to all town staff And we set a deadline for them to reply to us relative to Providing feedback regarding managers performance Town meeting members believe all the committees and boards And the general public as well And we announced that and set what the deadlines are and and that sort of thing and usually the deadlines I'll be interesting this year. I think we'll have to push it. We meet on the night They'll probably have to be later that week or the following week just because of the holiday the first week in July and given That the 25th is our next meeting, but I'm open to hearing from people about their opinions on that and whether we should take a different approach or what Yes, which is a lovely segue to what I believe we discussed last time along these lines is that One I think we need to make a decision as to whether or not we're doing the same process and I Think I argued that it would be a lot easier to just keep doing it the same way this next time But that if we were plant rather than if this luckboard had been continuing on We would have probably looked at a somewhat different instrument for staff feedback because it has been frustrating for both staff and for us in terms of how much Value they're feeling like they're getting from it given the time put in to fill out the form And for us to review them At the same time I'm also really frustrated that we don't have the other packet of material here that had not only the dates But also all those things you talked about because that's usually what we update at this point in the process is we say now we don't need to say that anymore and make sure it says this on the website because Actually pretty much by the time we meet next time. We should have already sent everything out right, so I guess if if everybody agrees that We're fine with just continuing on with the usual process and all that's changing It's like a June day was changing by two days to reflect the 2018 calendar But we don't remember because we're not looking at it that we're making it then you know There's substantive changes. I guess we can just say just do it because I'm if we wait until the 20th It's too late We need to give Pete. We need to get the information out staff We need to get the information out to committees because the problem is you send it to a committee chair Who may or may not have updated their address with? Staff and then they forget to send it for a couple days and then other people are out of town And then it turns out nobody ever sought much less that they ever discussed it at a committee meeting, so Obviously if people believe that we should not if we should do something different this year Because we'd like to try something new and exciting here at the last minute You can pretty well guess how I feel about that, but we can certainly just I'm not averse to discussing it But what I am saying is if we don't decide that if we decide to just continue with the normal process then just going ahead and doing it and Executing the normal steps and then making sure that when you're working with staff to get that out because Obviously Ms. Puppel isn't here and obviously Ms. Moisten is doing a million other things now as well as her normal job If they can get if that's the decision we make tonight that they can get everything out And then you can get it to us, you know as soon as it's done So I have to I have to apologize because I didn't look at the packet closely for sure But really an earnest until much later in the in the weekend And I didn't realize that we didn't have those additional materials in here even in the old version of them so I'm sorry about that and And so I think what was probably likely is that I had said oh, I'll update the timeline which I didn't get to but There are the other documents that also updates on them that I think was assumed to be part of that timeline as opposed to part of This material which is sort of how I view it and that's a poor bit of communication on my part So I'll have to You know beg forgiveness for that but in and so feedback from from Miss Gruger and and and mr. Steinberg about you know the process moving forward. I'm happy to update those Rather standard forms now soliciting feedback from the various groups to include the dates For 2018 and I'm happy to sort of take that action if people are comfortable with that. I can certainly share the existing Before I update them but try to get them turned around the next day or so But I'm curious if people want to take a different approach or have Does anyone even recall perhaps? Maybe it's the first question what they look like so, mr. Steinberg I Agree with Miss Brewer's point that at this stage in the calendar and Where we are in the process of the transition that Making a major change Doesn't make sense the only thing that I was particularly dissatisfied for all of the years that I've been doing this is the nature of the feedback that we're getting from town employees and You know, I guess my Suggestion then would be Mr. Slaughter's chair if he feels that he has time and is comfortable doing so to This to have a brief conversation with Ms. Radway as to whether she has any suggestions on how that is Devised and presented and whether there's Anything that she might suggest based upon her expertise that might be helpful in but I think that that's a what I would put into the Possible minor improvement Slash tweak, but I don't think we should do anything significantly different and If she doesn't have the time where you don't have the time then we should just go on Screwed so I I also agree about not make you know not revamping the whole system Just a couple of things Maybe I'll take them you don't want to forget them, but building up what mr. Steinberg said I also have found some of the Staff feedback forms the anonymous ones frustrating because and we only get a few of these but people will do the checkboxes But they won't write any comments and I and maybe it's the instruction document that goes out with that that could encourage people to write Some narrative because it's really hard to interpret what it means when it's just You know I even forget the you know scoring as such but to just get it checked off Sometimes it's it's negative, but it's like but why or what are you trying to tell me that I can You know take an action on so I'm agreeing with mr. Steinberg. That was the part that Didn't work as well. So people if there's a way to get That feedback and it's more meaningful to us You said we I know we sent it to committees did we actually send it in the past to town meeting? Yes, okay I just couldn't remember. I know you'd remember yeah, okay And then in terms of the timeline since we don't have one to look at you know I there's I don't know how it's gonna fall out for like when we're gonna have to do things And I know there's there's two select board meetings over the summer Actually, just one where I won't I won't be here and so Really doesn't affect the calendar of getting this out I agree it should go out and I would be happy to authorize you to work with mr. Backelman and staff to make that happen, but just Some of the things that fall on our calendar to do I would want a chance to look at that and see how It dovetails with you know when when we're you know in fact you need to know when you have quorum or not, right? No, exactly, and I think that's that's in in updating them there's a broader timeline that sort of speaks to all the factors that are involved and some of that is you know getting these things out for solicitation from from Tell meeting and staff and that sort of thing but the other sort of the back half of that is about our own work And so I've got to ask all of you for you know dates that you won't be available over the summer and and not that those need to be made public, but they will potentially sort of Alter the calendar a little bit and and then we may have to come back and have a conversation about do we need to schedule another date or do we need to Push off the final completion of the project process and you know by a meeting or whatever So I will as part of this get that done Yeah, so just a couple of notes associated with the process and since I felt such ownership of it some years ago is That one of the things with the dates obviously is that we work backwards And so if we're working backwards then that tells us how long staff has and how long committees have and how long the public has because we need to have their stuff obviously for a couple of weeks ideally before we do hours because Even though we are probably not going to work on it for two hours a day for two weeks straight Realistically speaking things will come up in people's lives And so they need plenty of time rather than assuming everybody can work on it at the weekend of the 18th We need to have a big window and so The as I recall and I will not pretend that in this particular case My memory is infallible But one of the things that we changed a couple of years back is that when we sent out the notice We said here are the select board's goals for the town manager We hope you find them useful as you're making these comments to us as opposed to people saying well, what should I write and So that they would look to that and if they choose not to that's their choice But that's the kind of tweak we have done in the past to these things But I mean largely the script stays the same and in fact when Miss Pupple put the materials to the other for us last year She used the 2015 versions just because and then you know just marked out the couple of things that needed to be changed but it just it just tries to be very clear, you know when the written comments are due and Obviously these dates are from 2015 so I'm not going to pretend they work for us talks about if you have questions Right to the select board. We encourage you to review the goals and here's the town manager's progress report Just so that again, they have they have basically the same materials We have to work from so they understand why we're doing what we're doing and then if they choose to Consider that when they write their feedback or not and we made sure that one of the the letter to the committee chairs says We realize that you probably aren't going to have a meeting and then have like a group evaluation of the town manager So you are responsible for getting this out to your individual members who then send it directly into the slipper So we've just tried to clarify what those little piece parts are for people. So, you know, if after you You work with I see miss moisture. Ms. Radway to get that information You know updated for 18. I mean, I just don't know what else might occur to us as new and different or The one the other thing that Ms. Radway Had worked on for us. Helpfully more recently was also somewhat shocking to those of us who had been doing it for a while Which was that it was allowing for electronic submissions, which is something we had not allowed for in terms of the forms Because we were trying to ensure that staff filled out one and that was one each one staff one vote and Her suggestion to simplify the process by making it available electronically was not Proved up by the select board because it wasn't run by the select board and so I would just Encourage that if there's any kind of change like that that you bring it back to us but in terms of, you know, redoing some of the questions is one of the advantages to Not doing a numeric score is that you're not trying to compare the same rubric from from one year to the next And so it would be okay We've changed the gender references for example, Ms. Krueger's past Ms. Krueger is well aware In some of the questions. So if there's minor updating like that, I'm just not sure again being cognizant of everyone's time That this is probably the year to do it and instead it goes on our list of we've been doing it this way for a while to the council and Any shortcomings we identify we could tell them about So is the way we did it last year up to speed we talked about 2015 and 16th, but can we sort of assume that Whatever we did last year. We can just replicate this year It once the chair looks through everything and says, yeah, this looks up to date And once we get the time frame that we put the plug those times in and then The issue that Mr. Steinberg and I were talking about if there's some part in the direction that might help To encourage people. Yeah, I got that Don't just check boxes your verbal your written comments are very violent. Maybe just add a sentence like yeah Yeah, that makes it yeah Yeah, it just as I've found well An email with the other documents that I thought we're gonna include anyway We had public comments due by July 14th last year, which was I Guess the second Friday of the month. So this year it would be either The 13th probably or we push back a week So I'll have to look at how that plays out between where we are now time-wise and and Our end points are working backwards, of course, you know in sort of the time We need to sort of do the the work we do on on this because it does You know the the good and bad thing about having a large number of things itemized on the goal sheet is then we have to Provide comment to you on all of those so it takes a while for us to go through our process and then synthesize those into a single outcome and But we also want to give people enough time to to have an opportunity to respond which was to your point a little bit as well So I will yes mr. Steinberg Yeah, just to remind all of you who have electronic devices in front of you that if you go up to the town website To our to the government select board page the Fy 17 town manager performance review timeline is actually opposed to document that is readily available so that You know it is there and You know the timeline really begins from last year it began on Tuesday, June 20th the select board meeting on that day And then the next day the staff questionnaires were provided In the PDF fillable format to staff and it gives the whole time frame going forward so there's If we're going to be using a similar timeline, and we're not going to revisit it as a group And I think we can still move forward and be relatively close to where we were I think we'll be fine if we Thank You mr. Slatter make that I Will never to turn that over Probably not this evening because I think we'll be here late enough that that won't happen, but My homework has been defined Yes, well to clarify. I mean, I'm actually not expecting to see anything from you I'm expecting it to just proceed a pace and then we'll get the updated timeline in our packet on the 20 whatever Right, and it will have already, you know you can base it will basically be able to check off the first three things We'll already have it right. Okay. Good. Yeah, I think you think you do tonight if I do any changes to text that that I Want to make you aware of so that you're just if you hear from those that would be receiving it I'll send you those changes That would be the entirety of it All right anything else on the review evaluation Okay, so let's move on to the next time on our agenda, which is the charter transition We have two areas here Update and future topics for future council consideration And so if you had some things you want to share with us on that so I think last time we reported on that the There's testimony before the joint committee on election law that committee reported the Special legislation out of their committee and with the positive recommendation that went to the floor of the house It's now in the third. It's It's been reported on the third reading at the house from here and that's that's good news because they have to do three readings into all the rain that it's in the third reading and Then it will go over to the Senate once the house disposes of it So it seems to be making its way. They're not holding everything in a bands while they'd work on the budget. So They continue to work it and we had correspondence from representatives of solemn Goldstein Rose who and he is continuing to monitor the situation So I think that's good news in terms of where the legislation is for the the election So does anyone else have anything else regarding that or So we put on our agenda the sort of topics for virtual council consideration I think is we think of things and it's an opportunity for us to sort of bring them up so we can start making a list of those types of things and and potentially discuss them a little bit, but I'm happy to entertain a topic if someone has one miss Grover just just so it doesn't get lost last time at our last meeting we talked about a Kind of written response from this body about Sort of related to the KP law guidance document on Additional town meetings and how we were reviewing that it does fit under charter transition I don't believe it's happened yet, but I having read some stuff in the media about That topic I would want to encourage us to have something that we can look at and review and Put out as our own Articulate our own position about that If I could just follow up since I was kind of pushing around as to how we did these charter transition topics to make sure that we started Carrying these things forward But specifically on that one is are you looking for mr. Slaughter to bring back the cover memo that goes with the KP law I Had kind of thought he was just writing that and so I just want to be clear on what our expectation is This would like to see it But it hasn't happened yet So that you need to create that memo that then I would share out and off and then you can offer Suggestion to me at an individual basis It's an expression of opinion, so it would need to be issued at our meeting Right and it didn't happen for tonight. Well, I just thought he was gonna do it So that that explains my I thought we would see it either. That's having been cash. It's important, right? Okay, so 625 so now add it to the 625 agenda And maybe I thought I heard something like well, I'll do it and you'll get a chance to look at it But maybe not maybe you were just but it doesn't matter That was my intention was that you would get a chance to see it in advance of it going out It hasn't gone out so We're not meeting next week So it's probably maybe more important that it go out Okay, that just I would like to see it so that I know what So if I might ask then if Since I since I do like to beat us with the open meeting law stuck on a regular basis because we're really good at complying Rather than given given the timeline you just indicated Would mr. Steinberg would I would all of us feel comfortable if just you and mr. Slaughter just worked on this and got it out the door so that he works on it And then you could give him some feedback so that it went out because we did discuss it last time I mean, it's not like we're just saying make something up out of your head. I mean we did talk in general terms Yes I'm sure mr. Backelman, too can we'll chime in so yeah, and I see it as like two paragraphs. I mean, it's not right I'm okay with that And then we wouldn't have to put it on the agenda That's right, so this is then you'll review it and then it'll go out we won't wait till the 25th So chair signs off on it's good to go right, right? So the chair will check in with second to the issue that we talked about five minutes ago, right? Right So are there other things that people wanted to bring up relative to Charter transition and future topics or anything. Yes, this might fit I I mean it could if we didn't have these wonderful topics we've added to the agenda It arguably it's a town manager update But I wonder if although I didn't speak to the town manager directly about including it under this section We did speak about for example the fact that he's working with staff on things like Helping people figure out what their district and precinct are because it's surprising how many town meeting members weren't actually sure what the precinct was Much less what district they're in now and there's not a one-size-fits-all chart or there wasn't at least at the last time I talked to mr. Bachman so maybe if you could just plan as As these things unfold because you're doing so many different things with staff associated with the transition to say oh in this week We added this thing because it just gives it more you know people who've been looking for the information now We'll get to here. Hey, this one was able to be updated or we're working on sending galvin the information at the Commonwealth So he knows what district we're in etc Yes, so yeah, so we did have a meeting with the town clerk and it represented us to Make sure the information got to the state and that our website gets updated with current election information There is a really nice map that's posted outside the town clerk's office that shows Precincts and districts so people can easily identify what district they're in because that's the determining factor We'll get that up online as well It's I think that the IT did a terrific job on the map. It's very clear and color-coded in a nice way But there are a number of things like That will serve us going forward Things such as you know, we'll incorporate you know already on our website We have a number of things like how do I register to vote and things like that But we don't have our time frames the town clerk was kind of waiting to see what happened with the legislation But we have an election process moving forward. So Given the positive reaction from the joint committee on election law. I felt like it was firm enough that we could move forward with publicizing the dates on When things are due from everything from campaign finance reform to or to fit reform campaign finance Deadlines to when you would submit your papers when you need to withdraw your papers Things like that. So I'm appreciative of IT working with the town clerk to get that up electronically So it's a in the sort of an FAQ. How do I? Section all on one sheet right now the web pages is dated because it reflects a prior election So it's not up to date. So we'll hopefully get that done this week. That sounds good. It reminded me Because we're not meeting next week. I'm pretty confident. We're gonna get our special act approved soon And I'm hoping if that happens between meetings, I would I would trust that mr. Bachman would do a news release ASAP so that then the community knows the public knows that those are the approved election dates as well as you know on the website and the bulletin board and everything else but It probably would happen anyway, but I just want to I think that that was as soon as we hear That that would go out so everyone the whole community would know that Trumpets will be sounded I just wanted to make super clear to my colleagues and to the community at large that when I was talking about those Specific things mr. Bachman, of course had been very receptive was already planning to do those things And it was just a matter of finding the people to find the time to do it because we do an amazing job on our website I mean people yes, okay, so it's about the last election But I mean we have so much more information on our website than many many many other places And so we are rightfully very proud of that It's just that we need to go ahead and add the next set of data to it But it isn't like we haven't been doing an amazing job So thank you to staff for that and that map is beautiful if you haven't seen it down by the town clerks That don't really help people out Anything else on that topic? If not we'll move on to our committee boards appointments and reappointments section of our agenda, which Starts out with our bylaw review committee vacancy, and it's partly to See if there's any news from any of the members about finding another person to replace as Moran silence So we do have a charge in our in our packet tonight Just as a reminder for folks if they're interested they can certainly reach out to any one of us as select board members or select board I don't think on the CAF that choosing the by route by law review committee is probably a choice of the committee So it would be best to reach out to select board at emerson a gov To to offer your Services if that were the case But we do need to fairly soon find that third member We asked the currently serving members if they have ideas as well because sometimes they have a network of people I have not I can ask them Yes, just that it anyone listening at home I hope you will read the charge itself because it is quite explicit in terms of what we need the person to do and Enthusiasm is important, but enthusiasm won't be sufficient. It will be it's a rather Dedicated specialized type of task and we really appreciate the three people who were doing it the two people who continue doing it and Hoping to find a third that can fit in with that And there are also already minutes posted online for people who are curious about the the conversations They've been having so far. So it's again excellent job with staff support and getting materials up so that people have an idea of How that's actually working? This bro since you brought it up in my mind Just so people understand just to unpack that a little bit We're looking for people who have municipal government experience knowledge or municipal law Municipal finance so It requires some amount of Worker life experience with local government to be able to help with the thorough by law reviewed And that's I think why you were saying thank you Expressing that much better than So I'll move on to the to the next topic under that Area of our agenda, which is the status of extended extended committee of board terms or extending I should perhaps say So there's the downtown parking working group The Amherst Center recreation working group both of which had explicit in dates originally in their charges And I think we sort of tacitly took this conversation up when we were thinking about appointments But we didn't I think expressly Extend them with a formal alteration of the charge which has a specific Date on the end of them, I believe so Those charges are in our In our packet of materials and then the third one that's Make sure we're the way we are but is the dog park task force Which has a belief it Just said 18 months yeah, but didn't say So Pick the 18 months you prefer the ones they didn't meet didn't count I don't know if that's the case, but but I think all three of those we may need to take a more explicit What a view on relative to those and relative to our conversation about maintaining quorum and in our existing committee structure during the transition period So Having sort of phrased that I think for the dog park task force They're nearing the end of their work, but at the same time they're not quite finished and and so they're in the process of Working on securing some funding so the town itself doesn't have to come up with Some of the funding so they're doing grant applications etc. Etc. I think for the Amherst Center recreation working group In a similar circumstance, they've currently engaged with a consultant We got some funding for a master plan of recreation space in the center of town that process is ongoing And should be largely completed. I think this fall if I recall a timeline on it, but Some of the dates have changed a little bit, but I think this fall is the expectation given the capacity of More of the town to take on the meetings and presentations than it is for the consultant And then the third one is the the downtown parking working group which which had an explicit end date and and so There's differing opinions about where that one is and whether it is time to let that one go or not go and so I think some Some conversation about that may be Appropriate So as part of agenda setting one of the things we discussed was making sure that these committees were all advised that we were Going to be talking about this tonight and not that they were compelled to attend But just so that they didn't feel blindsided to hear that it was going to happen So I believe that that happened based on our discussion agenda setting So that would be one point If that actually happened I've also made a note on our list that we don't have yet. That's topics for future council consideration I'm thinking like clipboards or something. I don't know what we're doing with our iPads or whatever to keep track of those items For our parking lot so to speak Not that we're talking about parking that We really need to encourage the council to have a template because here We are looking at three things that are kind of three things and kind of two things and there are just all kinds of things and It it's fine It's really totally fine that things like working groups are established by staff and are not subject to in this case It's select board vote the same way downtown parking working group was it's just you know Date some little things like that would be really helpful like when they start did meeting how they got appointed who was on them Etc. So, you know, that's just a future reference thing something we never quite got around to but it gave us a perfect set of Examples associated with that downtown parking working group I struggled with in terms of trying to track down the old information without digging too far through my file cabinet and It was it was strange because it drug out for a long time Before we got the charge finalized then it drug out for a long time before it actually was called together to meet for the first time It took months after we approved the charge for staff to have the time to bring together the first meeting and so it Where that that first year went When mr. Bag was still here with us It's a little hard to track exactly how that worked and then went as you indicated when we talked about Extending the committee appointments and we came to agreement on that It was not my enders. I consider those two separate things one is for example downtown parking working group Even though we thought the charge was expiring on June 30th 2018, although it doesn't explicitly say that here on the charge That doesn't mean that the people couldn't still be asked, you know Are you good with continuing because you may or may not actually have your charge be over on June 30th And so I it's not a bad thing that they ended up getting the same email that everybody else got Associated with that one of the things that I had pushed for which is not necessarily what we're talking about today But in terms of history associate with downtown parking working group is I wanted it to be a short time frame so that we could make some concrete steps You know, this is how much we could get done. This is how much we're gonna do in future and then eventually we developed tack and No matter how we feel about how tack mire may not be functioning in exactly the way we expected it to at this point One of our goals at the time had been that it would become under that umbrella. We may not be Exactly in the place. We wanted to be associated with that But nonetheless, I was thinking and I felt like we were thinking as a group that downtown parking working group was going to stop At a point and not be an ongoing thing But what I what what I mean by that is not just they just stop meeting one day It's that I know that they have some recommendations coming to us because we talked about hearing That we were scheduling we talked about that at a pre-town meeting session We talked about what the topics would be and it has been legally noticed and we were gonna get a copy of that in our Packet after it went to the newspaper. So we'll want to make a note of that too for the 25th because I know it's It was indicated that the first time was gonna be this past Saturday that that public hearing was noticed and we were trying to figure out the easiest most efficient way of Putting that out there that it was in the newspaper because despite with the newspaper publishers tell us No one actually reads the really good notices, but a lot of people in the community care about these things So we're having that hearing on the 25th Correct, and so it would make sense to me that we have recommendations That inform that hearing on the 25th ideally that we read before we show up on the 25th and Then there might be after that a period where downtown parking working group meets in response to however The hearing went and then also says and here are the other five things. We really wanted to work on and Here you go. We're done rather than saying we're going to continue meeting until some Infinite time period or the town council decides because I this is one that I felt like we were trying to finish And then with future recommendations that may or may not be taken up by a different group So in response I get that was a grand concept and I'll tell you what is actually happening with the downtown parking working group And it is always we've been meeting pretty much twice a month for the two-year period and always with the awareness that this was a working group with a finite kind of If not a date not an ongoing forever group that's always been clear with the parking working group The main pieces of work we've done is there have been two sets of recommendations to the select board One that was acted on and implemented last fall And then one that you got the first look on with the hearing date for June 25th the other kind of Fork in the road is that mr. Bachman has come a couple times recently and met with the parking working group and Spent the last couple meetings fashioning a very detailed memo. It's already gone out Which is more administrative things that's not subject doesn't need a hearing doesn't come to this board So that's been the main work, but part of that and part of the work over the last year is the request for capital funds for Parking consultant to help with a parking management plan and to do a Parking count update which we had always intended to do what the parking working group would like is to use the time over the summer to work with staff and developing the scope of services and what will be the RFP that will go out and be included to some degree as the manager sees fit in the selection process For that parking consultant at that point There the next round of things that are going to happen. I'm guessing timeways will come to the council So the reason to extend is to see this through to getting that expertise on board to help with a set of tasks that I've been laid out and talked about for a while so Right eyeballing it it's more likely that that person would come on board in the early fall not in the summer because Part of it's the timeline for the RFP, which we don't have exactly yet staffs working on it and then just When would consultants reply probably not the third, you know, there's August and so early September and getting through that process. So That's what the downtown parking working group would like to stay on to be involved with this sort of completion of a set of work We've sketched out a couple of meetings this summer, I think there's two more meetings and then We don't have a fall or a September date But assuming that there'd be it may be a couple of dates to do that finishing up So that's where I think that committee would find it useful to be extended and we did get the same holdover Letter for our appointments as the other committees. I realize the charge doesn't jive with that, but I Was informed by mr. Bachman was going to come up for discussion tonight. I did not know that that was to be communicated Nor did I actually think it was necessary given that we had the holdover memo about our appointments. So To me, this is a discussion about adjusting the charge So would you suggest that sort of those particular tasks that are remaining be Sort of made explicit within the charge and that be no I just think we're under the existing charge So if we have to adjust the date because it said two years It was an arbitrary date and trying to match that up with how long things actually take that we just move that out You come at mr. Steinberg You're not required No thinking heavily though, you know, I'm just trying to attach it to the next item to talk about which is dog park Figure out how to do that Parking because I'm no one talking about that. Yeah. No, I think we should stay with parking. I'm sorry I did I was just trying to connect it to my head, but I think we should stay with where we're at and Really, I think I So I don't think I understand a couple of things and so maybe once I understand them that I can agree or disagree with them So one I believed based on agenda setting that all these committees were being told that we were talking about this and that they Were not required to come but they needed to know about it and it sounds like that didn't get communicated So that's unfortunate. Well, I just I did inform miss Krueger Yes, that we would be talking about. Yeah, no, you did and you're very clear. I didn't thus know What that expect what that if there was that expectation then maybe I didn't understand Okay, so there was not it but I wasn't understanding that there was some there was some miscommunication there in terms of what At least what I thought was happening associated with the gender setting. So there's that so fine The other part of it is I'm not understanding if you're asking that the downtown parking working group which is in fact missing members is Needing to work Specifically beyond the hearing that's coming up Which you know is right is coming right up is needing to work on The scope of service is the RFP with staff to do to create the best possible RFP for the consultant or if you're asking that you will work with that consultant once they actually start because My opinion will change a lot depending on where we're what we're talking about Unless something changes and then I guess they would have somebody represented We'd come back and talk about that but to get through the selection Process for the consultant because they're going to be a couple months when the consultant comes on board of data gathering And I mean, yeah, they they they should be working with the committee, but there's there's going to be a point Where we're going to be there's going to be a point we're going to be be done I don't know what that point is not like oh now we have a consultant and there's you know a ten-month period when they're working with us I guess it would be up to this group or a future Council to decide if they wanted that particular group of people to continue to work with the consultant There's a lot of knowledge in that group or if they would want to change the membership I would argue that we do the holdover until I'm going to say December We don't know for sure as we've done with the rest of the committees I think there's enough to do and I think then there's a decision-making point of whether it's that group or a different group that continues Because I don't know who would work with the consultant if not a group immersed in parking issues, but I don't really Haven't really I just assumed we're on till December. So that gets us through the bulk of the work I would assume I will not be on the committee after I'm no longer on the select board because they That's a lot the it's a seven-member group. There are six members Right now there's one vacancy so Perhaps what I was referring to is that the original Designation of members is not currently filled in exactly the same configuration, but that's one of that happened changed over time So while we're obviously arguing about this I am I'm actually Not assuming thing I don't remember the exact wording of the email continuing people But it's not like the new council is going to be making all these decisions on December 3rd so To say I assume that we're continuing to function actually you're continuing to function Indefinitely until the town council decides that they're doing something differently And so that's one of my levels of I did you if you had something particularly on that Happy to only defer to you mr. Steinberg. Yeah, nice since I was one who wrote that recommendation and therefore the wording is in my mind Thank you What we said was that we would continue terms that were with the were coming up for expiration until replaced by the council or resignation and And The and I actually did talk to several members of the Reformer Charter Commission, and they were comfortable with that It is being consistent with their intent But what we have is an additional problem is what do you do when the charge to a committee itself is Ending and that's what we're really struggling with here And that is why I'm arguing those are two separate issues because one is if the charge no longer exists Then it's not really relevant that you got the continuation letter because the continuation letter getting a continuation letter that Truly no one thought through before they sent out in terms of it going to time-limited committees Does not mean that it's the compelling document it to me It's for as long as which could potentially go all the way as you indicated with your writing associated with the council or resignation I am wondering About the line more specifically associated with if the only if the main task to be done other than Getting through the hearing and Deciding which of those things we are actually going to do based on the recommendations and the public input, etc That beyond that the other thing is working on an RFP and scope of services That's not normally something committees do committees don't have any shouldn't generally By practice do not have any say in the selection of consultants occasionally a member or two isn't occasionally included in that process and I'm feeling uncomfortable that while I sense this great deal of ownership of the downtown parking working group with all their amazing work at the same time The consultant doesn't belong to the downtown parking working group. It belongs to the town manager and while the town manager may well wish to include some members of the downtown parking working group in Working on the scope of services, etc. I feel like it's straying from The initial thought and it's not something we do with other committees And so I try and explain it to me in a way that doesn't make it seem like it conflicts with everything else we do So if I might I think in terms of ownership I sense that you have ownership over the charge and that you had it in your mind that this would be two years and damn it It was going to end in two years I don't I don't think that makes sense and I can name other groups in people have referenced other groups Where they were very involved in selection including fire? DPW with their consultants so that's really up to the manager to decide right how much involved or not involved I would move actually that this committee be continued into that the charge be continued into July 1st 2019 but as mr. Steinberg explained Were the council or resignations to happen prior to that that the membership could change But I think it would be appropriate to extend this through the period of time when the consultant would be doing their work and I'm guessing at a date, but we usually and Our appointments on July 1st of the year So I think it would be appropriate to extend the charge to July 1st 2019 that's not that much longer than a lot of things we thought we're going to wrap up and be short-term and the amount of work and Getting momentum on this committee and yeah, I do have some ownership having suffered through the parking committee It's really hard work and to just say thank you very much You're done everything that you've learned about parking and your investment is just over because we only wanted you to do two years And that's over. So thank you very much. Here's your hat. What's your hurry? I? Think it warrants an extension Just I'm Close to being there, but I think that what I would be more comfortable with is Something that's a little bit more complete extended until What do we said June 30th? Whatever July 1st or whatever it is unless Amended by the council Faking it very explicit that the council has had can amend that date terminate the Committee in the charge Without waiting until the date that we put forward Is I don't want to take anything away from their authority that helps me make progress with this because That's exactly true I mean on the on the one hand we just kind of all accept that the council is going to do what the council does when it Comes to committees and boards because they have that authority under the charter to do that But to make it explicit so that members of committees know that going in because I am concerned about all of the process that led us to the point of having this charter pass and then still having Parking work in somewhat isolation, which is what we traditionally did for decades prior to downtown parking working group Where an internal working group with occasional members of the public that was not subject to open meeting law just did stuff and Then it eventually came to the select board We were really trying to avoid that happening again And so as long as you know It's still part of the committee process as long as it is clear that the council has this choice and explicitly clear in addition to what authority is already in the charter and that the intention of The downtown parking working group and and I totally disagree with the characterization that you would leave as the select board Designee because there's obviously not a town council designee until we rewrite the charge And so I would think that actually you would stay is Yeah, it's nice try though That it needs to be clear that Just as we received regular reports here that until the council figures out how they're doing that with committees that this is one That's really actively working that needs to be in concert with The town manager in particular but also with the councils where it's just because everybody loves to talk about parking And so it just it needs to not be off on its own somewhere and so as long as we feel like that won't happen Moving forward we we're not letting it happen now But that it's not likely to dribble off that way off to the side and then have people come back surprised If we put the explicit part in there about unless amended or whatever wording you'd like by the council Maybe we're developing a template for how do we want to amend the other two charges because I think By repeating the language that's in the sort of holdover letter and the memo that mr Yes, pulling out that exactly we can we can do I mean the dates may be different But I think we basically have not created a rationale and a template that we can use so that we're kind of Thinking about all three similarly So I'm going to offer the following that we had Raising offered and someone can make it into a motion, but it's moved to Extend the term of the downtown parking working grouping until 6 30 2019 unless amended by the council was at the sort of phrasing I guess someone like to move that Did you say June 30th, 2019 June 30 2019 unless amended by the council so moved. I'll second. There's a second. Is there further discussion? Hearing none all those in favor, please say aye So that's unanimous with one absent Yes, so I'm done on the dog park Yeah, I'm gonna take a breath on the dog park It was an 18 month charge their first meeting. I checked the minutes the stack of minutes and their first meeting was on June 12th 17 so I think we could recognize if we wanted to that it was an 18 month charge and that it began with its First meeting and that it's therefore we don't have to do anything and it goes till 12 12 17 which either means That it's not our property or that the task force itself could come back to us and asked to have it extended because they Wanted to have a little bit more comfort zone if they need it But I'm not Tirely convinced we need to do anything Yeah, so I would agree if you found that their first meeting was June of 2017 That was April I think it was June because we since mr. Pistering is on this committee and he was kind of busy with town meeting Probably took up most of me. They didn't they didn't begin their work But I'm not sure so it depends upon if we decide that the 18 months ended Based upon the date of when we adapted the charge or when they began their work I guess I'd feel a little better if we came up with a date Because no one knows where to count the 18 months from since there's no date on the charge So and as often happens we establish a charge then a couple months later We established members and a couple months later. They actually start to meet and so It doesn't really seem fair to hold 18 months against them from the day we signed we voted on the charge so Maybe what makes sense is to fill in is to come up with a date that we think makes sense and Use the same language that we just used for working group in terms of unless the council decides otherwise because we have no reason to believe at this point Based on the information we've been given quite recently that the dog park task force is going to have suddenly This whole different thing happened and so they're really just getting through this process And so if we say if we pick a December date because that makes people feel better about the 18 months Unless the council but then that way the idea is it's over Or do we want to say July how about June 30th again knowing that if they feel if in fact the works wrapped up It can end sooner. Yeah, it doesn't have to continue giving them another month because they want to Pick the doggy play structures over there, right? Could live with that so one like to make that motion Which I have is moved to extend the term of the dog park task force until June 30th 2019 unless amended by the council So moved There's a second second make my notes here Is there further discussion all those in favor, please say aye So that's also you can have someone have some so Where does that leave the working group? So it's my understanding Just feel free to just talk a listen. It's okay. So thank you. So it's my understanding recollection vague remembrance that the Amherst Center Recreation Working Group was never intended to be a Charge that was owned by us That it was it was staff just explaining to us. This is this wonderful idea We have these are the people we're gonna put on it This is what we're gonna do isn't this great And this was a great way to do it rather than to just you know, tell it to us to let us look at it in writing But it was not subject to our approval and it was not our decision as to how long it would last because it's simply Something that staff is doing except they are subjecting themselves to open meeting law as I recollect so Where are we with this? What is this thing? What is this? body So in looking at the charge, it's you know, the first sentence as the working group will meet for a period of up to one year You know other than that though if you go to the bottom We're optimistic At the end it says may engage a design consultant conduct the assessment whole meetings with the consultants develop schematic design plan and plenary cost estimates That's and the design so it would help to prepare the report recommendations. So that part is still in process and so I Think we were optimistic. I mean, I think in a perfect sort of Circumstance a year would have been an appropriate amount of time But I think given the membership of the group as well as you know, the other competing interests for time of the staff and and membership You know, it's just taken a little longer So I think that that So is there and and I guess I'm looking to the town manager as well for this is there any Reason given that they are subjecting themselves to open meeting law, which of course is a wonderful law that we all love ever so much but That we'd go ahead and just treat them this treat them as though they are one of these things just so it's Less confusing Just treat them all the same way and say June 30th 2019 and again if they say hey, we're done good on them Yeah Maybe we add this to you know note note to Future Council, I think the intent of making these appointments or these charges short was Don't drag this on This should be able to happen in a year, but it often just isn't the way Things happen and we know them the municipal work takes a long time It's complicated doing the appropriate amount of outreach and then we have citizens who get really involved in this stuff and there's and they put extra time and energy and so You know, it's great to encourage it to get finished sure like if we give them a three year Then they maybe the assumption was then they take three years to plan it and if we made it short they do it really fast, but It's just not realistic Angry it's one of those well the the old saw is that you know working spans to fill time allotted and so that can happen I think that the other intent here, and I think this may be the More practical thing to do is to articulate for these sort of things where we want it to be time-limited is to articulate the As best as possible the sort of Deliverables yeah with the product is that means you know and maybe hint at an expected timeline But not forcibly require a timeline may be the way to go but So just to offer Some suggested language that someone can move Move to extend the term of the Amherst Center Recreation Working Group until 6 30 2019 unless amended By the by the council Want to make that as a motion is that so moved There is all right. So motion the second is there for the discussion. Yes, so the further discussion includes the fact that as Completely different from each other as all of these different charges are I feel like it's really important that we update the charge documents themselves To where next to where it says time-limited on the two that say time-limited to give the date and the vote date of today Because otherwise expecting people to go guess which select board meeting at which we did this seems like a lot to ask and So we can say on these that we voted and We could do it three different ways and then we can try out which template we like the best So that in future when we piece somebody looks back at the same Oh, yeah, so they voted on June 11 to extend it to June 30th And that'll be great and a little side note associated with parking working group as if I didn't make it clear enough during all these Conversations. Yes, the idea was it was not to expand to fill the time allowed because we were in fact not getting going on it and so that was one of the reasons that I pushed for the time limit to Give it a little more to make it happen And you know and it did start happening in lots of meetings and lots of actions took place But if we could actually make sure that the committee charges themselves get updated to show these things and I Obviously miss Pupple's not here to do that for us, but if they could if staff could pull that out and do that I think that would be helpful Just for clarification the only thing I mean we can do it We can do is what you're saying is add that the action taken tonight to say what the termination We're not going to redo all the charges or anything Just add them and update it as of June 11 So, you know whether you squeeze it down here or you type it with an asterisk over there It'll be in three different places because there's three different models on these charges 2015 2016 2017 that everybody can decide what they like the book of for future So if you could remind me about the responses outstanding in effect on quorum topic So I don't have any update on you what the idea on that was if there were any Committees that needed appointees pointed to them Oh, right, so there are no committees in that case, but I don't have it like a list of who's responded. Yes Anything like that? We sent out letters to everybody Most people have said yes, I want to continue But a lot of people haven't but that doesn't mean they you know some people are saying oh, I just found that I got one today I just found this in my inbox I meant to tell you that we're going to continue But we're sort of assuming that they're continuing until let's they say otherwise My recollection is in the past it took a couple of reminders as well Thanks Yeah, and the critical question for us is our is any group below quorum no And that's that we know of at this point right and that's that's the ongoing questions You know once you actually get responses are right because the staff liaisons would inform us if there was a situation like that The only group that that might come into play is the board of registrars Where and that's a little bit of unique situation in that there's It's it's quorum plus one so We will have me have a change of town clerk obviously we will have an acting town clerk during the month of July And then there's a designee from the Democratic Party. I believe each party gets to designate someone whose term expired And because it sits in a different Category from all the other ones where you get to this is an activity form. This is somebody who gets nominated that That's a slot. We might need to Solicit someone for or leave vacant or that's a question. We'll have to talk about Yeah associated with that particular one that's a concern because although for all we know they got the same letter everybody else Got the reality is that we don't get to just pick that person as you just indicated Democratic Republican parties get to nominate a certain number for each side and so then and then Frequently they didn't actually do the task They were assigned to do and so then Ms. Burgess would give us a list of potential people Just from her knowledge of over the years and people who'd worked at voting booths, etc But that's why we can't just extend that one because we need to know back from Democratic Party and also But it's not a typical CAF thing because of the Democratic and Republican thing and I do think Quorum plus one is particularly an issue in that case because with the summer and with It being us, you know only having the small number on it to begin with We may well have signature challenges, etc associated with the elections because it's just such a much bigger election And they have to draw the names for the ballot order and there's actual they staff to do stuff this summer It's a particular time of year that they haven't traditionally had to act during In comparison because now the whole calendar has changed associated with Review of signatures, etc And yeah, I do think it's important that as people get back to us that we know that because you'd given us the report before But the other thing is that I traditionally found when I was working on committee appointments Is that where there were many many people who had no idea when their terms expired And so there were people who thought they were done in June and stopped coming to meetings whose term hadn't actually expired yet So and I appreciate that staff does a lot of this but not all the committees have staff so We may run into some glitchy things just because there is no Control over all this particular situation But I appreciate you letting us know as as it becomes obvious that we're having issues in some particular body So with the Board of Registers, it's a four-member committee. So quorum plus one is a four-member committee So it needs to be fully it's fully staffed so I mean fully Populated yeah Mr. Simon, I do think that it's worth just taking a step back and reminding ourselves what the Charter actually says about multi-member body appointments and It is a real different process after there's Council because it's actually except for the planning board and the zoning board of appeals the town manager makes the appointments in after having received Input from a resident advisory committee then submits them The names to the council and the council doesn't act within 30 days then it's confirmed so it's going to be a very different process going forward and Managers gonna have to Have a plan of how to go forward. So we're really trying doing for committee members is saying they continue And But it's really up to the council to because council hasn't confirmed anybody So what we're essentially saying is that they have the opportunity to kind of go back on it all but it's Not an entirely clear process and it's gonna have to really be one of many issues that Has to be thought through as far as how the transition is going to occur Yes, I mean this is one of the things that the council is going to struggle with they don't we don't know what committees They're going to want they may want to create of their own body a subcommittee on dog park or on parking And and they and some councils have had a subcommittee on parking because it's a contentious issue So they want they want to take ownership of it So we don't know which of these committees they want to there are some designated in the Charter But there are all the other committees Are at their will basically So I just Since you said that I mean beyond the general educational effort that we are continuing to do here I want to just be sure that what you're of what you're not telling me Which is that you're not telling me that this is anything to do with the board of registrars because it doesn't have anything to do with the board of registrars and That has nothing to do with the town manager's appointment the board of registrars is a separate animal but then the other item is For people who are continuing whether because we've continued them We've extended their term or their term wasn't up until 2019 or 2020 anyway It's my understanding That I from I don't have it right in front of me But it's my understanding from the Charter that We tell the council here's all the people you got Which by them will have a real list because we'll know who's continued or not But it isn't that Each of those people that's currently on the conservation commission has to be brought forward by the town manager to say Can they really stay until 2019? I mean the council might the commission's perhaps not a good example because they're legal authority But the council can decide like you said about having a parking committee and whether they choose from this group Or they choose from that group or whatever they choose from but it's not as though at their first meeting in December They're gonna sit down and approve all the current committee members because they don't know what they're gonna want to do And so it's only new people That the town manager is gonna need to take to them in the short term until they figure out what I think that's right because what we said was It had to do with people whose terms would have were to expire on June 30 This year right that we were holding them over under those Circumstances, and that we're assuming the others are held over anyway the way we worded the motion Council could say we don't want those holdovers to continue to serve or they could say nothing or The manager could reappoint them It says whole series of options steps that really are never got outlined and I think need to be outlined I think yet. I think that's a transition issue Manager needs to Work with In a way that is functional going forward Along the lines of you know, no to future or letter to future council It might be worthwhile if a subset of this group Offered when the council was ready to come in and just talk about committee appointments how we did it We looked at how we dealt with the transition and what? Lies ahead. I mean some other than I think mr. Bachman can do but I think people have been you know Which could be pretty much anyone on the select board, but to offer To have that as an item when they're ready to talk about because there's a lot there and a lot of experience and knowledge and Also, it's just you know to be for clarification. This is where we left it for you But this is how we ran the committee appointment process and you'll have to Figure some of this out yourselves. I don't know quite how to break to you But that's chapter six and it's at least five pages long What we are writing to them in addition to being available to talk to them because I think it's really important that we Give them at least something to start with in writing because we have all this institutional knowledge of how we've been doing this for a While so in addition to volunteering showing up at one of their meetings I think it's really important. We write some of this down. I mean some things we may not get to but I Don't know might that be chapter six, but I'm talking a couple of pages here because I think that that's really Something the whole council needs to see in writing in addition to like what we did as opposed to just here's a great verbal report And they're gonna be going wow, there's like a lot there After you write We'll sort that out Is there anything else on that on the topic of committees and boards appointments and roof points right now? That we I'm just planning to carry that forward. Yeah, we'll have to I think we'll be you know continuing conversations in that area I mean, I just think that there'll be topics that come up or we'll want to articulate points of view or you know pertaining to how we inform the council, I think there's lots of ways that that We can visit that and appropriately so Right Because Because that's certainly one of those functional aspects of town government that needs to function fairly quickly and well And so the more we can help the council to do that. I think the better for everybody It's also less visible Yes, we bring them forward in a public meeting and we do the appointment, but the process of the interviews and how we do it and how we Application and there's a lot of moving parts that happen at a staff level or behind The public part of the action, right, no, absolutely, and I think that it's not well-known outside of sort of Right unless you worked on All right, so let's move on to our licenses public way and mirrored parking reservation section. We have a consent calendar which has a few Licenses on it so Unless there's any corrections to that I would take a motion Just one item and I move to approve the Item listed on the consent calendar for the June 11 2018 agenda as presented Is there a second second? Is there further discussion? Hearing none all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. I did save you And so that has passed So next up in our agenda is The town manager report things to share with us Two things to report We had representatives from Penn State University and State College Pennsylvania visit UMass and the town officials were invited to share Our experiences on a number of things and they shared their experiences in state college state college is a larger community The town state college itself The borough is about the same size as Amherst, but there are surrounding communities that create a larger metropolitan area And but many of the same issues that we're facing they are facing minus the marijuana issue But the one interesting note they flew the Penn State jet To visit us and then they were going to go fly the Penn State jet to University of Vermont to visit them And I guess that's what you get when you have a great football team Generates a lot of revenue And so they were very efficient about their time But it was pretty interesting the To compare notes with the borough manager there who had been Working and I had previous conversations with him prior during the charter Conversations as well. So he was aware of our charter change and the situation there interestingly they have a Seven member Council and they meet twice a month They have no subcommittees, but they meet a third time a month as a body of the whole to do as a working session So they've decided not to not to have subcommittees of any sort or any kinds of committee structure But they talk about everything among everybody and it's a very efficient way of doing the work But you know basically shared a lot of the information, you know the police were there and economic development issues and lot of things Community engagement things that that that UMass has been gotten really good at and so that was a very good session I want to mention that I did have a Coffee on Friday at the Amherst coffee with Jeff Kravitz And we had a really good turnout about a dozen people one thing that's starting to happen Which is kind of new is that we had three candidates for the council who've taken out papers But not returned who've showed up and I think we'll start to see more and more activity like that as people start to educate themselves and want to know what the issues are and Many people come often people show up because they just want to hear what other people are saying They're just they think it's an opportunity to have informal conversations about things and I always can prompt them About what their concerns are and to generate some just even if they come without an agenda to talk about they usually have something on their mind There's something that They wanted to come to talk about We're working we have a meeting tomorrow with the town of Hadley to talk about the transition on the ambulance services which is a a lot of steps that have to be taken and a lot of people have to be notified because Emergency services the state police everybody needs to know that as of July 1 and at 12 o'clock 1 a.m That those all those calls get shifted over to the town of Hadley So we have a major meeting tomorrow with representatives from Action ambulance company and the town of Hadley plus our dispatch people and our fire people are all gonna go through Make sure everybody's doing everything and We are anticipating that it won't Happen automatically that there'll be something and so we're gonna be prepared on our end in case that doesn't seem you know flow seamlessly But it's really our intention to make sure that it it does happen successfully The We've received another sheet of signatures from Ms. Gage for a special town meeting these have not been certified yet It's the same campaign finance reform the town clerk is will be certifying I don't think there are enough signatures there to Bring it to your level by what to give you a heads up that that activity is still happening There the school committee will soon be taken in action on this South Amherst school which they are relocating people their their school Activities from the South Amherst school that just on the South Common to the high school and they will relinquish The use of that school that will then come into our public disposition a property disposition Procedure as we're sort we're talking about what happens in the meantime will probably just sort of mothball the school So there's no activity. We don't need any we don't need the building We'd like to drain the pipes and you know sort of secure it that way Versus maintain the heat on it because That's an expense for that building that we had not anticipated taking on and the schools This has no interest in maintaining that building in any way shape or form. So we will be looking at that The There's a just a you may note these but I'll just say them just in case that people don't there is the Groundbreaking for the North Square at the mill district on Thursday at 2 p.m. Governor Weld is expected to be here well.  It started back in Weld. Maybe that would be something if he came Thank her. I mixed those two guys up so the governor Baker will be here and Mr. Slaughter will be speaking on behalf of the town should be a relatively short program if people are interested. It's an open Groundbreaking but people are asked to park at the mill recreation complex a Note that on June 20th, we will have a town employee picnic That's a day that we closed town hall early in the in the afternoon. So employees all employees in the town can gather and for for an afternoon of Picnicking that they that employees chip in money and everybody pays for it themselves We give them the opportunity for that afternoon to be with each other And it's a really important Morale building opportunity for everybody There is a the affordable housing units that the Land Trust has been working on along with others is scheduled for on North Pleasant Street is scheduled for June 24th Which is a Sunday at 3 p.m. If you I think you may have gotten the invitation, but you will if you don't another Sort of initiative is the valley bike Initiative which is going to have a ground or a ribbon-cutting on June 28th in North Hampton And we're talking about having something on an Amherst to sort of Chris and our bike station. We're ready for it when they when they bring the equipment in so that's We haven't firm that up yet, but we're looking for The chair has very ambitious plans