We will order this meeting of the Arlington Select Board on Monday, July 17, 2023. I am Select Board Chair Eric Helmuth. Tonight's meeting is being conducted in a hybrid format consistent with Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023, signed into law on March 29, 2023, which for their extent, certain COVID-19 measures regarding remote participation in public meetings until March 31, 2025. Before we begin, please note the following. First, this meeting is being conducted in the Select Board Chambers and over Zoom. It is being recorded and simultaneously broadcast on ACMI. Second, persons wishing to join the meeting by Zoom may find information on how to do so on the town's website. Persons participating by Zoom are reminded that you may be visible to others and that if you wish to participate, we ask you to provide your full name in the interest of developing a record of the meeting. Third, all participants are advised that people may be listening who do not provide comment, and those persons are not required to identify themselves. Both Zoom participants and people watching on ACMI can follow the posted agenda materials found on the town's website. Specifically, Select Board Agendas and Minutes page. Let's see how much of the town's business we can get done tonight. Before we go further, I want to mention that our town manager was stuck out of state due to the all the flights to Boston being canceled yesterday. And I understand, sir, that your first flight available to us tomorrow. So he has to join us remotely. So thank you for doing so. Good to be here. So you're not here for the party. We will, yeah, we have all our select board members here. So we can take our, we don't have to take all the votes as a matter of course. Okay, first up on the agenda, we have the consent agenda. This is approval of the minutes of two meetings, June 21st and June 26th of this year. Request for a special one day beer and wine license on the 27th of July in Robinson Memorial Town Hall for a town manager retirement party. Request for another such license at Reservoir Beach on August the 18th for the Beach Concert Series in Beer Gardens. It's a continuation request from a prior approval. Request special one day beer and wine license on August 26th at Robinson Memorial Town Hall for a private event. And a request for another special one day beer and wine license August 26th of this year at Reservoir Beach for Reservoir Dogs. No entertaining discussion or motions. Second. Any discussion? Reservoir Dogs, that's an interesting event. So it's cool. So we're also having the event at the Jason Russell House on Saturday that week. Do we know? If we are, it's not the consent agenda, but I'm just curious. I mean, it's kind of cool that we might have two. Are we on the 26th? What was that? Are we also having a beer garden at Jason Russell on the 26th? Not that I've heard of now. Okay, all right, so just curious. We're having two on one day. That would be an interesting demand situation, so. Any kind of questions I ask early in the meeting? Indeed. Any further discussion? On a motion by Mrs. Mohan, seconded by Mr. DeCorsi. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? It is unanimous. Approval of the consent agenda. Next up, we have four approval. A Middle Eastern dance show by Said at Whittemore Park on Thursday, August 17th, 2023. And that is from Claudia Dunnett. I have been in touch with Ms. Dunnett and also the Arlington Cultural Council. She had a work conflict tonight. She's scheduled for her job, and just despite her best efforts could not be here. So I procured some information from her ahead of time, and I can inform the board. She has done two of the same events at Broadway Plaza in town previously that were successful. She was awarded a cash grant from the Arlington Cultural Council for these programs. And she would be very happy if, I suggest the board could either move approval tonight or if they want to move a conditional approval and empower the chair to approve based on any questions you might want me to bring back to her tonight. Or you can, you know, you can do whatever you want, but those, I talked with her enough and received a very nice letter from Brian McMurray, who's on the Cultural Council to kind of vouch for their being impressed with the program. Mrs. Maud. I'd like to move approval subject to all conditions here and with the understanding that the start and date time is just a housekeeping thing. Where it says 6 p.m. to 7.15, it's the board's understanding of vote because of what's below it's 5.30 to 9 p.m. Let's set up a breakdown. Thank you. Technicalities matter. Thank you very much, Mrs. Maud. In a courtroom they do. Seconds. With no questions. Any further discussion? All right. On a motion from Mrs. Maud, a seconded by Mr. Diggins. All in favor please say aye. Aye. The post is unanimously approved. Okay, item eight, we have a license under the licenses and permits. We have a for approval, common, vigilar license, turmeric house, Ananda Parkwell, 444 Massachusetts Avenue. Yes. Yeah. Come on up to the table. Welcome. Thank you, sir. Introduce yourself and summarize your application. I'm sorry? Introduce yourself and summarize your presentation, your application. Yes. So we are applying for the, we have a restaurant in turmeric house and we are applying the license for the, we are actually buying an existing business, rung laphan job and changing name to turmeric house. It will be Indian and Nepali cuisine. So I've been working in this, I'm executive say for the restaurant as well as a partner and he's my owner, manager, my head shy. We have a build, we have a team. So we've, we're looking for a lot to do business in Arlington, Massachusetts for a while. Luckily, we got the place so we are eager to do business here. I'll turn to the board for any questions, comments, emotions. Mrs. Mahan. Approval and one comment. Please. Welcome to Arlington. Thank you very much. I know because you've done this before and as your manager that you're well versed with it and you definitely have a maintenance plan as well as this is a pre-existing, did you say where one of the poon jobs were, is that where you're going in? Rung laphan job. Oh, okay. And just so you know, where we have a lot of residences that are near the businesses, there seems to be this unusual thing that happens that when a new restaurant and or manager comes in, somehow the delivery trucks, which have a routine established with the previous restaurant and manager, somehow sometimes they bump you to a more inopportune time for the neighbors. So if you could just make sure that when you're there, just say, want to keep the same time. Sure. We'll coordinate with the city hall rules, whatever it is, we'll follow it. Thank you. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Take it. For the discussion and questions. Okay. On a motion to approve by Mrs. Mahan and seconded by Mr. Hurd. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. First, unanimous. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. Good evening. Good luck. Thank you very much. Have a good evening. All right. Next up we have the continuation of the hearing for approval in all alcohol package store from NICON 232, NICON 232 Incorporated, Yeshika Pratel, owner manager 232 Mass Av, Andrew Upton, attorney. Welcome back, folks. Good evening, everyone. Andrew Upton for the applicant with me. Before you start, I just want to inform the public and the board that at the last hearing we had informal public comment during the open forum period of the portion of the meeting which followed immediately the presentation. I'm very confident that the board members were attentive to that, however I learned after the meeting that as a matter of procedural technicality, those comments would not be considered on the record for the purposes of the alcohol, the package store license hearing that we are now commencing. Therefore I contacted or asked my colleagues in the board office to contact each person who made informal comments at a previous meeting whether or not they were in favor or opposed and invited them to come tonight for a formal period of public comment either in the room here or over Zoom. So with my apologies to those of you who may be here for a second time, I wanted to make that clear and explain why you may be hearing from the same people again. So tonight we will after a presentation from the applicant, I will entertain public comment and then I'll turn to the board for questions and comments and questions. Mr. Heim, Attorney Heim. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Would you like me to just refresh everybody in terms of where we are at the posture? Yes, that would be excellent. Thank you, sir. Terrific. In the initial hearing, the applicant presented a basic presentation with respect to their applications for a package store and the board engaged in some colloquy in discussion. There were some questions about the substance of the application. However, the board expressed some concern about some updates that had been made to the application and really what was going to be before the board in terms of what it was voting on. So it requested that the applicant formally revise their application and come back for further discussions and consideration before the board. Just so we're clear in terms of the scope of the inquiry, the board has received a memo with respect to the sort of criteria for evaluating any package store license application throughout the Commonwealth. If the board has any questions about that, I'm happy to address them. If you decide to grant the license tonight, you may put certain reasonable conditions on that license.  You want to make sure that you have enough information to provide the basis for a written decision. Thank you. Thank you, Attorney Heim. That was most helpful. Any questions from my colleagues that's done a procedure for tonight's hearing? Before we begin. Okay, I turn it over to Attorney After. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good evening, everyone. I turn it over to Attorney Att horizontally. It's good morning, Mr. Chief Kopfler. I'm just wondering whether you have any questions or thoughts on whether or not we're going to haveanging questions from the board through Upton for the applicant with me is the Lesh Patel, who is the husband of the proposed manager, Yeschika Patel. She was here at the last meeting to discuss and demonstrate her qualifications. Unfortunately, she's in the hospital today due to some medical issues. Without objection and with best wishes for a speedy recovery for your partner If it pleases the board I will request that you incorporate by reference the previous testimony so we don't Do the same thing again tonight. I'll be glad to sort of summarize what we had make some new points And then we're certainly glad to answer any questions or engage in any dialogue with the board or Any community members So as we mentioned the character and fitness of this applicant is strong The proposed manager is a college graduate She is tips trained. She lives one town over in Cambridge She has five years experience in ID checking and adult use running smoke shop Where they sell higher-end products. She's a mass citizen. She has a clean record This is a family business It is owned by the Patel family. It is capitalized by the Patel family And they have been approved in both Boston and Tuxbury to hold liquor licenses just this year already the as well as tips training all the staff will be trained and They have a program at their other stores where they have up to 30 different closed circuit cameras both inside and outside and Depending on town regulations and their discussion with the police department should they be granted a license they would put in that same security system and Would be willing to share that with the police department as they do in Boston Should there be an incident inside or should there be a different kind of incident even not involving them outside? They routinely interact with the police and let them have access to those videos We also believe there's a public need for a license at this location. This is a storefront that has been empty for two years It has been retail for almost over a generation We are proposing a boutique wine store Featuring craft beers premium wines. It will be clean. It will be well lit It will have higher quality products What they want to do is have wine tasting wine education and wine pairing Which both engages the community draws a higher-end clientele and also drive sales as part of the business model Well, we have described a little bit of the higher-end products and some of them are described by name in the brochure We gave you I'd like to tell you a little bit about what we don't have We don't have single-serve bottles Formerly known as nips. We don't have kegs. We don't have malt liquor. We don't have lottery. We don't have cigarettes And we don't have candy so we don't have typical lower-end products, and we don't have products that appeal to Children or more casual users and buyers of alcohol further supplementing the public want are the 85 signatures in support On a letter that we have submitted. We also have two letters from the abutting businesses That's the Venice Italian kitchen and the Novita salon. There's Four slots in that block as you probably know one is the post office And I believe a little inwards have spoken to them and they are supportive But because they're federal employees, they wouldn't sign any letters, but the other two are in favor That also goes we believe to the timing where the post office and the salon do most of their business Between nine and four where liquor stores typically early evening or Saturday afternoons so in terms of sort of the burden of traffic both foot and Automotive we believe that's a nice balance on that block The woman that helped us Collect the signatures from the neighbors and residents I'm going to submit an affidavit from her about her process of collection, but I'll summarize When as she was out there she stayed mostly on the block where the store is just talking to people who are neighbors or nearby shoppers and Well, she was basically describing the concept and asking them to sign a letter of support a lot of them had various comments, so In order to strengthen the business and the business model, you know, we always engage the stakeholders and You know the owner learns from that process, but it was interesting that so many people had comments about it including Request for service of kombucha requests for a large variety of cocktail mixers Request for fever tree cocktail mixers request for Esme gin Requested the store be dog friendly request to carry poppy sparkling soda and Requested employees give guidance and suggestions on products This person mentioned that the store down the street isn't a place to go if you want to try something new because of the lack of consultation so those are Anecdotes from our outreach to the community, but I believe what this says is Not only is there a strong current of support There's enthusiasm and suggestions about how a high-end boutique store could operate and a level of interest and excitement From the people who are just walking down the street in that era We've been asked to address parking and traffic Parking is the same on that block as it always has been. It was formerly grocery store formerly a dry cleaner as you know Retail is typically clustered in strips on Mass Ave. And it's really no different there than anywhere else We believe that the police do a good job with traffic and parking and pedestrian safety And that in a store going into a place where there's always been a store should not have any significant impact we would also like to point out that There's been some concern about the proximity of other stores again We believe this boutique wine store is significantly different than the Mass Ave wine store And it's also on another end of the strip that we believe can certainly support the business Much like many other businesses our cluster together on retail strips up and down as though Our store is a little more like the monotomy beer and wine store in terms of the approach the product mix and the quality than the Mass Ave liquor store and I thought it was worth noting that the in terms of the public need and the density of liquor stores that Monotomy wine store is now closed and not only is it closed it is fenced off and it appears that the building is about to be Raised and replaced with another building. So the chances that that is Even going to exist in the next year and a half. I think are relatively slim I think that contention is bolstered by the fact that they are posted with the wholesalers database the wholesalers of alcohol maintain a database of All licensees and if you don't pay They put you on the list which is called posting and it impacts your ability to get product from all of the wholesalers Not just the ones That you're posted by they are currently Posted by six different distributors to whom they own money And well, we weren't able to determine all of the exact amounts. It appears to be over $10,000 I would say at least Further a brief check of the Secretary of State's UCC lean database Indicates that they have some leans against the business. So I Have shopped there. They had some fine products. They're well regarded, but the fact that They are closed the site is fenced off the building is going to be destroyed and they appear to have some Debt on business Indicates to me that there's public need for a boutique wine store of that type Which I believe there would be even if we were competing with them, but the fact that they're not there Further supports that contention So with that I will submit the affidavit and copies of the letters from the abutting businesses and We're certainly glad to answer any questions. So the question on the affidavit is this do we have this submitted prior? Is this we're just getting it now? You're just getting it now Came to me today. Yeah, sure. Thank you as did the additional 35 letters, which I submitted Would you go to make coffee? Thank you, sir right this time I want to open the public comment portion of this hearing and So a lot since I just sent mismara on errand Let's start with people in the room and if you are attending on zoom and you want to make public comments on the record for The purposes of this hearing When I announce zoom participants be prepared to raise your hand and zoom and Then we will call on you. So let's just start though with people in the room So at this time just we have one microphone on one table if I could indulge Indulge the temporary vacating of the limited real estate there We will welcome you back after the public comment is there anyone in the in the room that wants us to make a comment sure Welcome back Thank you for your understanding of the the circumstances that we're happy to see you again Just introduce yourself for the record, please. Okay. Good evening. Thank you for listening to us tonight My name is Lisa Cronin. I am the landlord for 232 mass. Have While I feel it's really important to speak to you all tonight, I'm not a great public speaker. So I prepared just Over the last 50 years since the early 1970s A member of my family has managed the property of stores in East Ellington that spans 232 to 242 Mass Ave. I took that over Soul management in 1999 Across the units we manage there has been a post office pizza store and a dry cleaners for most of the years If we still had it our way, we would we would never have lost the dry cleaners Located that previously occupied the now vacant unit The way we did two summers ago during COVID-19 We were able to work with all the other tenants to keep them in business But despite our efforts the owners of owner of the dry cleaner made the difficult decision to close his doors Due to the unprecedented times and declining business Between my full-time job as a registered nurse and my job as a single mom to my Three sons. I've always valued positive businesses Businesses doing the right thing versus looking to make an extra dollar Charging rent since we lost the dry cleaners We have invested a large amount of money of which most was borrowed To work to replenish the vacant unit to one worthy of another business to serve the town of Ellington That being said despite two years of marketing the property close to $100,000 in lost rent and renovations We have left one potential tenant that we believe to be worthy Of the property for discussion today. That is the liquor store seeking your approval this evening Our interests have always been aligned with the community and I felt compelled To address the community this evening to reiterate This fact in which I feel to be so confident every single time I think of east Ellington I'm an Ellington Catholic alum Born and bred here. Um, I employ You to understand the opportunity we have before us this evening to replace a vacant property with potential tenants We have worked with for almost a year These are the best tenants we have found and we think we will find to fill that empty spot The opportunity being put full at this evening is one in which is truly so rare in the post-covid environment I'm going to allow We've we hired in the last two years. We hired a broker I'm going to allow her to speak if I'm not sure she can speak now or You know let other people speak She's yeah, she's the zoom time Her name is susanne a chance to address the group in a moment But I really hope that there's no misunderstanding to the sincerity and importance in which this decision Should be held for those that don't agree. I want what is best for Ellington I look forward to us continuing to thrive together and hopefully welcoming our new best Business owners to accompany us forward for the decades to come Thank you again for your time. Thank you very much Um, and I neglected to mention uh, you actually hit three minutes exactly So I'll treat everyone the same and from here on out. We'll do a three minute time Oh, I'm sorry. No, no, I didn't I didn't set one. So you you just set you set the time and it was perfect So, uh, that was we're glad to hear from you and that was my fault for not saying ahead of time But uh three minutes it is Um You mentioned was it susanne conway? Yes So, um, I'm very happy as a courtesy to to bring her on next um from zoom So, uh, miss miss mar will promote miss conway to Be able to turn off or to enable her microphone in camera desired Good evening susanne Hi How are you very well Uh, please state your name for the record and you have three minutes. Thank you. Okay. Thank you Um, miss conway. I work at cabin and company real estate on new very street in boston I represent the property on mass av um, and I've been showing the property for Um over let me turn on my camera. Sorry about that. Um, I've been showing the property for over a year now And um by far, you know, this applicant the battelle family. I think is the strongest candidate that we've had um, they've been one of the few that actually have previous business experience and They own as and or as mentioned they own several different businesses throughout the area Um, they're also a local family, you know in cambridge Um, and I think it's nice to have somebody local in that space Um, also it sounds like they you know, they've really reached out to the community and have listened to what The surrounding people would like In the store it does. It's definitely a distinguished, you know from the other liquor stores being more of a wine Someone high-end wine and doing tasting which does it's a it's kind of a nice community Event that they can they they can offer in the area as well um And also I think it's just it's nice to fill that space because it has been empty for so long And that will really help, you know uplift the property values in the area Um, so I just want to offer my experience, you know showing the space and just Different people that have come and see it and just how strong I think the Patel family is And we'll do a really nice job where they're built out in that space Thank you We'll now turn to anyone in the room who'd like to make public comment Mr. Fiori Thank you very much Thank you again for your understanding Did you say that we only have three minutes? Right Did you see a woman sit down and I stand behind me? Is that all right? Yeah, would you mind? Um, okay. I didn't know I only have three minutes and I talked fast anyway, so just Uh, give me a minute while I yeah, I won't start the clock till you begin. I uh Edit what I've already edited You know the clock yellow, do you? Yeah, but I'll give you a little heads up when we're about 30 seconds in I'd like to thank the members of the Allenton Slick Board for giving me this opportunity to speak for the record These applicants and their attorney have created a public record of inconsistencies and misrepresentations in three communities over the past six months The applicants brochure misrepresent who owns 232 mass av It's owned by the Dioria family realty trust and not the coronas The applicants so-called letters of support are a misrepresentation of a petition The applicants pages and supported their packets for a simple petition of 48 signatures on 48 separate pages of paper In contrast to the letters of concern written by residents not even one petitioner presents one original thought At the last select board meeting mr. Upton when he's comparing store hours Said that the package store hours would not conflict with the east solenton post office on saturday Because the post office was only open on saturday morning The east solenton post office has only opened monday through friday. It does not have saturday hours He's prone to misrepresentation when it isn't even necessary I was surprised by the quote on page eight in their brochure Which states they look forward to working with the community to establish a safe friendly community store without negative impacts on the neighborhood They value our relationship with the neighborhood in the community They write that but the reality is that they never met with the neighbors in the butters to attempt to address legitimate neighborhood concerns And what is an act of disrespect and contempt? They responded by gathering signatures to overwhelm and drown out contrary voices No doubt. This is the shape of things to come Why is this sister-in-law palak patel not here in ollington? I know she lives in minnial in new york state and sold me an absentee package store owner But it seemed reasonable to expect to present herself to ask for the license and ask the questions from the board and introduce herself to the community On sunday june 25th. I decided to drive out to where to see the smoke shop the brochure says it's owned by akisha patel There I found this no city smoke shop only a sign above an empty storefront City smoke shop does not exist and it's never existed and only exists on paper The applicants misrepresented in their brochure that they own a business that isn't in business Deciding I needed to go the distance I drove from where the 345 main street in toxbury There I found this Another empty storefront there is no city wine spirits in smoke shop. It doesn't exist It only exists on paper the applicants misrepresented in in their brochure that they own two businesses that aren't now in business that have never been in business I decided to watch the video recording of the toxbury select board meeting from january 10th 2023 when that board didn't fact approve a package for a license transfer for these applicants At the hearing the applicants assured the toxbury select board that they were moving to middleton They have assured the olympian select board that they live in cambridge Where do they live? Which board has been misled? In response to concerns expressed by the toxbury Sir you will be given an opportunity to respond at the conclusion of the public comment period And i'll give a little bit more time to mr. Furie He'd wrap it up in 30 seconds, sir In response to concerns expressed by the toxbury select board about problems They've had with smoke shop and its package stores in that town Yakeisha Patel assured them she would be hands-on micromanaging on a toxbury application She wrote in the box for hours That she would be on premises as 40 plus at the last meeting of the olympian select board Yakeisha Patel assured the board that she would be managing the store in allington full time On the allington application. She wrote in the box for hours should be on premises 40 plus I'm very sorry if you could summarize and wind it down, please I would be very happy for you at the conclusion of your remarks to give a copy of these To miss mar and she could photocopy those and they can be Let me have a few more seconds and i'll wrap it up Please do yeah I'm certain she cannot be in these two places hands-on micromanaging full time at the same time As well as your smoke shop in where her commercial business and their smoke shops in massachusetts new hampshire north island I'd like to leave the i'd like to leave the board with this thought east allington has a great variety of businesses shops services restaurants and experiences Within that variety there is a balance east allington has two package stores and two ice cream stores A parent could bring their child to one of two ice cream stores for ice cream Well, they can go to one or two package stores for alcohol Please don't let these applicants upset that balance Please don't let these applicants turn east allington to a neighborhood where the package stores outnumber the ice cream stores Thank you for listening. Thank you, sir. Um, and if you would if you don't if you'd like you can hand a copy of your Remarks to miss mar and All right, um, is there anybody on zoom who would like to make public comment? Please raise your hand and we see Walt fey fine Thank you, mr. Degorzi So mr. Fye It's coming in Good evening, mr. Fye. You are able now to yes, there you go. Can you hear us? Hi there Three minutes, sir ready. Yes I'm a neighbor. I've been a businessman in east allington for 20 years or more And I I am opposed to the granting of this license for liquor store basically because There's another liquor store three maybe four blocks away And I don't really see how this Adds to the neighborhood. I don't think it enhances or keeps the harmony of the businesses in the neighborhood one of the things that they Applicant stated or Was that they had a couple of local businesses nearby that were interested that were for it and I want to make a point that this is this Location is kind of in what is called the capital district Which is you know the shops around the capital theater And I didn't see anything from any support from any of the other businesses in the Neighborhood that they thought that this was a good idea And I wanted to bring that to the attention of this select board Certainly have sympathy for the landlord and trying to rent that space commercial space right now is tough all over and I just don't I don't don't see how adding another liquor store on mass app right close by to another liquor store is going to enhance the The quality of the the neighborhood here One other thing I'd like to say about wine tastings in general is that Other liquor stores and wine stores do offer them my experience of them having attended a few is that they tend to become a very They they start out Good, but they don't really seem to last and and drive traffic so much So I would look to you know Where is the revenue from this store coming from which would typically be the sales of beer and wine and alcohol and spirits and Again, we've got another place right down the street that offers all that and Would be in direct competition with this with this other Existing business so for that reason i'm opposed. Thank you for listening Thank you, sir All right, is anybody we tend to bounce back and forth for public comment anybody else in the room Who would like to make public comment for this hearing? All right anybody else on zoom I'm ryan cronin. I'm lisa cronin the landlord the person who manages the block of stores right there son Um, I just wanted to emphasize some points that were said by my mom as well as susanne who we've been working with In the fact that we have been working on this for two years now We put a lot of time a lot of money into the store that we don't really have a lot of either of those right now to get someone in there and We've had the potential to put some other companies in there that we didn't really think we're good for the town of arlington And we decided to move forward and to continue taking the hit to continue to make sure we found a really solid tenant And I think that that's what we've done right now We've been working with nalesha and yashika for Almost a year right now to try to make sure that we have Everything in order to come before you to make sure that we've heard the community Um, and we think that they're the best tenants We haven't heard from anyone else in the last few months since we've been working with them There were people originally who we were like no we're working. We're moving forward with these These potential tenants and at this point, um, I think that the best The best chance of having a store in there and having a filling this vacancy is to move forward with nalesha and yashika Um, and I mean we've received letters from the town of arlington all the time about it being vacant right now And asking why it's vacant and wanting to charge us money for it and I don't like this is what we think is best for the town of arlington is to put them in there um Yes, that's it. Thank you. Thank you very much Anybody else in the room before I turn back to zoom. Thank you, mr. Diggins All right, is there anybody else in zoom who would like to contribute we have a raising hand by susanna for chara give a moment for Being the person into zoom and at this point susanna. You should be able to turn on your Camera and microphone Good evening Please hear me now. Yes All right, thank you very much I've owned a condo at 230 mass avenue for 36 years. I'm reading this this time My husband I strongly opposed to this proposal first of all already two stores selling alcohol and he's selling it And we've noticed mass wine and spirits that 137 mass avenue. That's you know within the capital square Um blocks right here and very very close And our neighborhood has a lot of shops restaurants a movie theater Walk around the stretch of mass avenue saturday sunday to lots of families the small children Number two the narrow driveway into our parking lot for our condo building directly abuts the store in question As it was when that storefront was a drive cleaner to get numerous issues for the clients walking our driveway parking their cars in our People went and out and they closed at five the pack of stores indicated closing time of 11 p.m Plus the lights mr. Roll effective residence is that like late hour as well third and more importantly More serious issues that this actress at the corner of mass avenue orchestration is known to be dangerous Not only for drivers, but even more so for pedestrians 10 years ago a woman walking across mass avenue there and in the crosswalk Was killed by a driver at that time? It was noted that this particular crosswalk was the longest in the area without traffic signals Which are still not in a place of location The petitioners indicate they have a large number of positive votes from our own to the residence If you look closer, however, it's a single short generic bias letter The people just have signed by petitioners as they walked by the store A number of those who signed the little liver significant distance away They live as far as four or more miles away from our neighborhood. They're not a butters or close neighbors Their decisions to support this establishment will have no impact on their daily lives Also, monotony closed because the building is being torn down because their um the owners want to Build a new building with apartments and retail. So they have to close. I don't know anything else about that But let me just say Those of us living next door to are very close to this place Won't have the luxury that those other people who signed that letter We don't have that luxury to be so detachment's issue It certainly will impact our way of life in starland in in a negative way. Thank you for your time Thank you Are there further members of the public attending on zoom who would like to comment? If so, please raise your hand in zoom Okay, seeing none. Um one last chance for anybody else in the room All right, this one in the uh period of public comment I'd like to invite the attorney and the applicant back up And we'll give them a moment to get settled again. Thank you for your flexibility on on our limited room logistics here Take your time Okay Uh I appreciate everyone's comments Just as a matter of a formal before I turn to the board I will give you the opportunity. I promise to to make any further comments or responses to the public Okay, yeah, we we appreciate the input from uh the neighbors and stakeholders Just a few brief clarification points. I mean It does seem a little bit unfair to Characterize 85 people who took the time to stop in front of the in front of the location Support the store discuss the store as People that don't have a right to an opinion that people are not You know Neighbors who are close enough. I mean you you can look through the addresses yourself There are some From right there from from right across the street some from nearby streets some from other parts of town You know, that's the nature of retail. You don't serve only the people on your block You you serve the whole town and maybe even people for other towns um Secondly the idea that this is going to cause light pollution shining into the building seems unlikely as the lights face the street and We have already Agreed that we will not be having the sort of plastered signs and neon beer signs of the lower end liquor stores So I I I think hopefully that should not be a concern um We do have an additional affidavit from One of our consultants who spoke to lieutenant gallo of the police department who said there have been no calls Regarding traffic or parking issues at the proposed location in the last two years Apparently there was a traffic stop outside the proposed location And a false 911 call that was reported in this place from that address At a time the store was closed So for what it's worth the police department does not seem Uh, especially concerned with the traffic issues right there um As mr. Fay he was critical that we got support from only two neighboring stores, but not any others um And I would have liked to have every store support us But I do note that zero stores opposed us and two are in favor. So on balance. I see that as a positive Uh Mr. Patel and any liquor store or anyone in the wine or liquor business that can tell you that the Wine tastings are an essential driver of wine sales You go to the wine store or at least when I go to the wine store There's a hundred kinds of red and a hundred kinds of white unless you're a big expert It's kind of hard to tell what's going on. That is why Wine tastings are so important and the idea that they sort of fade away over time I think is without foundation and apparently without expertise for mr. Fay um as to mr. Fiore and his Cherry picking of our Various businesses First of all, we have 87 signatures in support now just so the total is clear um second of all the Tewkesbury store The boston store and the warehouse store are all currently approved and in permitting So to say that those businesses don't exist Is false I mean In where he owns the building and the permits are at the building department in boston The liquor license is approved in Tewkesbury. The liquor license is approved We did not say these are stores that are up and running and selling cans of blood life We said they have been approved because those towns Deemed the character and fitness of the applicant to be strong and the public need for a license of location to be strong The fact that one of the co-owners Their sister-in-law who's providing some of the the funds lives in another state Does not make this not a family business It's not, you know, they're not owned by a corporation in another state or country This is their sister-in-law Patel So Those are our rebuttals to those points at this point Uh, and I would I would like to mention that based on the address that mr. Fiori gave His he's over a half mile away So I don't know that he'd be considered a neighbor or a butter either. Thank you. And uh, if you would just um Say the table then I think at this point i'll invite uh turn to each board member And uh invite questions my suggestion would be maybe around questions and answers And then followed by perhaps a fresh round of just of just board only discussion with any motions If that's acceptable to the board So mr. Rood I'd say comments. I don't know. That's how I have any questions We'll go for uh any members with questions Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank thank you for coming again this evening. I have a few questions um In and I I my memory of what attorney epton said at the last meeting was that the approval was granted in the other communities Not necessarily that the stores were open as well And I know tukesbury it may have been an issue with the abcc Because of the lease that you have at the tukesbury store that that got sent back to the board of selectmen in tukesbury because the Units that you'll be occupying was incorrect in the lease and it sounds like that's probably why you were delayed But I know that has been approved There is one thing from that application that I do have a question that does pertain to arlington and and mr. Fiori did bring that up is it's just your wife designation as a manager at both locations and and typically what we've seen is that if you have a manager You might have one manager at each site because of the time uh intensity that's required and and I I have the tukesbury application here with me and and uh Yeshika Patel is listed as a manager just Same way as the revised and I'm wondering is there going to be a A change to either one because it does seem unlikely that you'll be able to manage both If approved that that is an excellent question And that is one of the few technical points on which mr. Fiori may be correct the abcc Requires as part of the application That you have a manager of record And they require that manager to say that they're going to be on-premises 35 hours or more per week Typically what applicants whether they're liquor stores or restaurants or anyone else You can't hire a manager Four months before you open because no one would take the job and you wouldn't want to pay them for that So you have to have an owner as sort of the placeholder manager will oversee construction And the opening Once that happens They will very likely hire a general manager who will then Take the to eventually take the title of manager of record and we would come here and file a change of manager application Okay, and that potential conflict there Um, I want to go back and I have a few questions and I want to get into some of the factors as well But just on what we have now through the revised application. I want to actually walk through What we had at the beginning and and maybe before I do that just We had some discussions about plans and the importance of plans and and how we look at things and As part of our application process, as you know, we state that every application must include Um, certain information on a clear and accurate scale drawing But we also have in our rules and regulations that the store layout shall not be changed Without the submission of an amended floor plan to the board and the board's written approval And so I asked Ms. Maher if we go to the original application And I believe it's page 13 of that application I'm sorry for the delay, but I I might be the the initial application itself this way. I believe it's page 13 Yeah, and you may have to decide so this was the initial plan that was submitted. I believe it was produced in february and and if you increased And you go over to the right corner upper right Keep going all the way over to the right To the legend. Okay. So this is the project as a smoke shop and retail setup and Within the floor plan there's a humidor Which we had discussion about that at the last meeting. So if you don't mind going over to the left, Ms. Maher You can see the humidor there, but you also see along the left side Designated by a is a series of glass cases, which I understand is consistent with the smoke shop type setup and There's a number of other Shelving now this revised application that you submitted to us last week and correct me if I'm wrong My understanding is the only two changes to that Is that smoke shop was whited out in the far right on the legend And humidor was changed to storage Is that right? Yep. Okay, and the glass cases remain And That the setup remains and you said to us last time when you came before us That you heard from the community and you're changing the format around and if I could ask Ms. Maher, and I know this is Um asking you a lot, but you also presented A floor plan different floor plan Last time it seems now you're back To the original smoke shop retail setup floor plan and bear in mind Once you ask us to approve something If you want to change it, you've got to come back to us and so that's that's the revised If you go to the package, I'll hold it up because it's it's This that was a jew one. Yeah page seven and eight We can do this And this was the basis for coming back we said we have a different floor plan we want to consider other things now This is online in spirits and beer sales And i'm just wondering What the thought process was going back to the initial smoke shop retail setup plan When you came to us and and said we heard from the From the board of health we're not going to do a smoke shop. Here's what we have this seems to be consistent with just a package store as opposed to um future use as a smoke shop I'm just asking why not this one in the revised application Why go back to the one? I don't see much of a use for glass cases in the in the wine and in beer type sales situation Um, well The uh, we discussed this with the architect and the designer and the build out Should the board grant license is estimated to cost between three and four hundred thousand dollars So before We engage in architect and their outrageous fees and order materials and Fit it out and design it We want to show you what our plan is Should the architect say you can't have four of these rows. You can't have the glass cases Refrigeration can't connect to this side. We would have to work with you and the building department to make a change um Mr. Patel told me that the glass cases could be repurposed for the better quality wines So we left them in they feel like wine cellars They they'll be displayed as wine cellars instead of just glass shelving And the the storage obviously now will be likely possibly refrigerated But no longer dehumidified Um And just for what was brought before us in june and you don't have to go back before I can hold it up I I don't know if that was your own drawing or if you went to This is a non architect drawing that was just hand sketched This is an nfp scanned based off the exact measurement of the space So what we actually put it in here is the actual measurements now We can't go in front of the building department until we actually have stamped drawings in front of you guys as well as the building department So I needed more accuracy on on just overall for layout That will get adjusted once we actually submit the building permit an application They'll say this cannot be here or that cannot be here Or sprinkler head abuts this or the fire alarm system doesn't have a narrative or the sprinkler system All these little adjustments happen before they give us a building permit And that building permit gives us the the power to go ahead and do a build out So the adjustments on the plan will continuously happen until The building permit decides to give building department decides to give us a permit based off narrative from the fire department narrative for the fire System narrative for the sprinkler system narrative for the walking cooler the framework the insulation Lighting and the equipment that goes in all these things will be part of the build out process Before we get issued a permit. So this is again, it's a preliminary drawing It can't be finalized even if we want because we have to go in front of the building department before they can issue us a permit Yeah, and actually and we can get into this when we have comments and you know, there's been a whole discussion here Within not a discussion, but but just From the memos that we've gotten from town department heads a building inspector in particular talking about the timing Did you go to the building department first and then come to us afterwards? So I'll I'll reserve comments on on on the differences here. So just Oh one thing And I've never seen A business go in front of a building department without having a permit ready to be Applied to so for instance You wouldn't build a business without having a permit So therefore we wouldn't be able to go to a building permit building department to get a building permit If we don't have a physical permit to operate that business So the idea of this is to for us to be able to get a permit approved Under the containment under the condition conditions of Getting building department approval once you get the building department approval, then we'll be able to move forward and do a build To be clear We're happy to work with any of the board's concerns about the layout. We're happy with with the public safety with the building department, but We were directed to apply With the clear and accurate scale drawings as the net floor area the rooms the storage rooms The entrances and the doors and windows I mean there's we added actually more detail and we're certainly glad to discuss it But the requirements of the application only asked for those things they don't ask for the shelving and the glass and that stuff and You know typically that does change based on availability or Building department issues and sometimes cost Okay And and on this drawing here and again this may be down the road, but where's the cashier? Or where would you in this setup? Where would the cash register be located on the left side where the glass shelving is? considered to usually Your your id scanning system has to be at the entrance of where the customers can have an egress in and out So right at the entrance But again all these things will be determined when we go in front of a building department because they'll say no you need a Another exit because of egress being an issue or you need more space to less furniture because handicap accessibility So all these things will determine once we actually go into our building department. Okay If I if I may I'm sorry In the time here, but I got a couple of other questions and turning up to you mentioned the various factors and The baller in case if I'm pronouncing that properly Talked about the factors that you look at with a liquor license. Yeah, I was actually going off Attorney Himes memo. Yeah, which was very excited the baller very well. Yeah And as I look at that I mean the two that that really concerned me and want to ask you about is traffic And and the number of the number of other stores in in in the area But as far as traffic is concerned and that goes to and one other thing as well, which within our regulations We do talk about The issuance of a package store license Will contribute to the town's development in the following respects providing convenient and attractive parking options And I think you can see that there there really aren't convenient and attractive parking options in this area And and you hope that things change based on what what's in the memo here, but part of traffic is Our considerations will be what happens when you get deliveries and how that's going to impact traffic And I'm just wondering how how would deliveries be made to the store? After after it's open and we would we would deliver the delivery Company liquor industry as a whole majority of the delivery companies deliver before or or during Before or during around the noon hours. So 9 a.m. To noon. That's usually your delivery time frame During the time that time frame Uh Again, based off the egress. It could be decided where the delivery companies can actually deliver Also part of you know, uh, land of discretion as well as the city's discretion of where and how we can do delivery systems, but Um, that's never been the case for a majority of the companies. They never actually had issues Community stores get the same companies hl aj polyp use the same trucking systems Ligger companies same thing. They have the chain same trucking system usually is a Brave liner that does deliveries for majority of the company. So liquor companies typically use box trucks As opposed to perhaps when the supermarket was there and they used semi trucks. I mean a liquor store will have probably 20 to 25 of the skus that a a small supermarket would have so the deliveries would actually be Fewer than they had been historically And usually again wine companies Uh, you don't really often need to buy wine on a weekly basis The the products that you buy on a weekly basis more is beer because of expiration dates You can't store again. The space is not that large. So you're not storing huge amounts, but Wine and liquor you buy Every two weeks, maybe every three weeks. So it's not a lot of traffic again. Community items You need a weekly refurbishment because of You know short expiration dates the only expiration dates here are more on the beer side Okay, um, just one more question. Mr. Chairman. This has to do on the on the revised application I see the notice of lease that is um That was attached that was signed back in february. Has there been any amendment to that? It's uh, the signed lease proposal the lease proposal from conway real estate And it was signed by mr. Patel but That was signed back in february and it contemplated some things is is that still What's in effect or do you actually have a lease agreement now? And and one of the things in there maybe for both of you and and again, we're not the zoning board of appeals We don't deal with zoning, but there are definitely zoning issues with this property being in the r6 zone Within the liquor license application. It was contemplated that you Um Submit an application for a special permit and then once you've got the special permit You'd come to the board here for a liquor license and to my understanding talking to the building inspector Uh, I don't think there's been any contact with the building inspector or with the zba or anything filed with them today. Is that right? Maybe a question for you mr. Patel and further no, that's correct. Okay. All right. I don't have any further right now And i'm sorry for that It was all productive Mrs. Mahon, thank you. Thank you. Mr. Ducor see Before we start may I just point one thing out Sure, the the building department said they have no objection to the issues of this license provisions of the zoning bylaw may apply so I mean our our approach is to If we get the license Obviously, it would be conditioned Either by you or automatically On any zoning belief so it wouldn't nothing can happen until they sign off one way or another Mrs. Mahon Thank you. Mr. Ducor say I've been I've been trying to Sit and not keep asking all the questions all the time. So you've cleared about 50 percent of time On deck questions. Um, so I guess I'll sort of piggyback from where um, you left off there, which is that um I I don't know if this is a appropriate To the applicant necessarily or to the chair through the chair, um to attorney heim I just want to make sure my procedural mind Is is running correct as Mr. Ducor see pointed out that This applicant will have to appear before the zoning board of appeals because I believe it's in our six and The residential and minimal business use Allowed by our six Proposed business does not comply with that and I know you're not zba, but am I close to correct on that? Of course Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Mahon I think there would have to be a zoning determination made by the building inspector in his capacity as a zoning enforcement officer As to what exactly would be required whether it should be treated as a prior non-conforming use or whether it would require a special permit um, the board has discretion to grant a license contingent upon obtaining that kind of relief The board has discretion to consider that as part of its overall decision-making process Is that restriction? Then am I correct that I'm just trying to This is just a little bit different than some of the other all of the other alcohol package to a request that I've heard um, and I've been here forever God bless you all um Also in concert with that am I correct that the applicant also has to because of um, environmental Environmental concerns environmental design review concerns also has to Go before the ollington redevelopment board Mr. Chairman mayor. Yes, please Ms. Ma, it's a good question typically if a special permit is required on Massachusetts av that would go before your ollington redevelopment board instead of the zoning board of appeals Uh, it's important to note that there are some Um special permits that were historically granted by the zoning board of appeals And so they continue to hear permits that they sort of own historically If it is a a matter of a prior non-conformance according to the zoning enforcement officer, and I'm not Offering that opinion. I'm just saying that it's up to the zoning enforcement officer Um, that wouldn't necessarily Go to the ARB itself. Those certain aspects might have to go to the ARB with respect to for example signage Based on the environmental design review criteria. Just to be clear for everybody involved Environmental design review is more or less a more thorough version of the zoning analysis for any special permit Than the zoning board of appeals, which typically handles more residential Zoning matters. So some of the things that we're talking about are Receive a little bit more attention from the ARB than they do with the ZPA And um In the reason one of the reasons I raise this is um our building commissioner has provided us that If this board issues this license handle when It does say directly in there that this our approval cannot be used for Intended use for approval before both the zoning board of appeals and the redevelopment board So to me that indicates those are two other boxes that need to be checked and the only reason I raise this and I could I could be Concerned about something I shouldn't be concerned about but especially around Um, I know there's environmental design review, but then there's also environmental concerns. I know uh previously where there was a dry cleaning establishment that when another business went in there there was um Something when they went through a review process not a design review, but it may have come up Just the nature of the dry cleaning business really kicked in some environmental costs that that weren't included. So um, that's not anything that this board can Um necessarily weigh in on um And I'm not going to ask attorney haim who he thinks would have to bear those costs whether it's the uh Did you want to add something to that? If I may thank you miss mona, I think that there might be one thing that would be helped just the board in its consideration Uh, because as miss mohan's pointed out, this isn't a typical situation. Most of our Package stores to my recollection have gone into Spaces that were already zoned For commercial explicitly into the bylaw The way I would look at it is similar to the way your host community agreements work You know, you were responsible for essentially deciding who was going to get a host community agreement under the Criteria of that process Well that didn't entitle them to the release that was necessary to open They still had to go through a process to get a special permit under the zoning bylaw So it's it's very much similar to that and I'm glad that you raised it It's a good way of thinking about that With the one perhaps difference being that there's a little bit more allowance for some zoning consideration in The criteria that I've Sort of alluded to here Thank you In one last procedural question, um, just if this comes up in the future um So I'm of the opinion that when we're Receiving applications like this and unfortunately for the applicant and or the owner it's a two or three board commission involvement To me the natural course seems like in light of the fact that We need to see as close as we can get to Our final floor plans and if there is any environmental design changes things like that that We should sort of be the last stop on The train that you all have to go through and you have to go to three different stops So what this is making me think is um Is it Is this something we need to redefine more going forward? That if License like licenses like this That involve the zoning board of appeals and or redevelopment board As well as the building department Do we need to work on something that sets up an order for the applicant? Where the select board if not the last stop is is closer to the end And and I guess my question would be It seems to me it's really ambiguous So it's really unfortunately for the applicant to decide where they want to go first Which is usually the building department and then they go from there So I guess my question would be to attorney hind through the chair is Because I feel the pain of the applicant for this or any other like application I imagine I'll just speak for myself I think the select board should kind of be The last if not the second to last stop or does the does the law say that's totally up to the purview of the applicant if they have to deal with two three Boards commissions, etc. They can choose where they want to start and go from there Well, in my opinion, thank you, mr. Chair. Thank you, mr. Mahan in my opinion It's There's not going to be a perfect process that you can outline that's going to cover every circumstance in This particular circumstance. We know that we consider a location in and zoning compliance as a factor In the calculus that the board engages in considering something But I'm responsive to some of the things that the applicants are saying which is that there's a little bit of a chicken and an egg problem here and and and if they had gone to building and the ARB first and sort of gotten a special permit approval for something that you ultimately Didn't want to grant them or you didn't like a certain facet of the layout That then be going back to amend that special permit instead of trying to amend their alcohol license here So I don't know that I have a perfect answer that I do think that our process generally speaking has worked very well for us As you've alluded to I'm not sure that we've had A prior issue with respect to a pectoral applicant Not sort of having a clear pathway In terms of zoning that doesn't mean I'm saying these folks can't get the zoning relief that they that they would need I'm just saying that I don't recall previous instances where Either a special permit or confirmation of cryonautical warming zoning status was necessary in order to proceed so Long and short of it. I don't think that there is an easy way for us to sort of solve this specific problem And I I think it's a very fair and Well stated perspective that you know you understand the bind that they're in As well as the bind that you're all in because we have a finite number of package store licenses It'd be difficult to issue a package store license on one hand When you're not sure that they're going to get the zoning relief the other hand If they get the zoning relief and then they come in front of you and it's not Um, so you're liking and they get denied on the basis of what's been approved by The arb or what the arb would like to do that would present a different kind of difficulty So again, I think the best way to think about it is very similar to the way that your host community agreement process Um unfolded these things are relevant. You're allowed to consider traffic. You're allowed to consider The other businesses you're allowed to consider proximity The applicant there's a lot of criteria that are still pretty much present here But I I think we're going to live with a little bit of ambiguity with respect to Having all those ducts lined in a rail for zoning relief Thank you, Mr. Ryan. Okay, and then last two questions um to uh I'm turning up and so so from what you uh stayed I just want to make sure I heard it correctly that um and I understand uh What you have to do sort of procedurally so so the intention is is not to have Ms. Patel ultimately be The manager general manager of the store. It's to get the construction going And then after that it'll be a different individual. Did I hear that correctly or did I hear that incorrectly? And I think you heard it correctly I mean depending on how long it takes to build how long it takes to open how long it takes to get up and running I would say I mean It's her money. It's her life. It's what she wants to do to get these things going Um, but if ultimately she's in charge of one or two or three We're going to hire a person who's full time And change them to the manager probably in the first or second quarter of opening And I only say that because I was very impressed with her When I had the opportunity to speak with her I'm Keeping good prayers for good speedy health and recovery So part of my decision is also based on uh the representation of her I mean she's a proposed 50% owner her sister-in-law is the other 50% owner Who's more of a silent partner because she lives in another state So the buck stops with her No, no, I mean in terms of who's going to be in there day to day Definitely had me sold on her being there, but it sounds like she's not going to Um after the store opens and gets right I wouldn't be too quick to draw that conclusion She's not going to be there 40 40 hours a week if we get another manager in the future But to get it up and running and ultimately to supervise all aspects She currently supervises all aspects of the cash flow the bookkeeping the personnel the hiring and compliance For for their other stores um So that will undoubtedly continue and As you probably know in a retail business if you're not there watching what's going on it typically doesn't go that well So she's going to be very very hands-on since you say that um In my family It's restaurant, but it also deals with the alcohol and some people know of the the chateaus Um, which are pretty Prevalent throughout massachusetts. I've been to the chateaus You have about 12 choices and you can also go to the sarahs in ducksburg, but we won't get there um, yeah, I I know in that family structure that Pretty much all the different Restaurants have a dedicated Manager they have a general manager, but then Similar to the people who are putting the money out and have to see it They really concentrate on one two maps And it sounds here You're talking up to four So that's yours and a business decision But that does weigh on me in terms of because you know, I take representations from the microphone And then just last thing just because attorney often Raise the point in terms of your closed circuit camera Is that a continuous 24 7 how long are the tapes retained and if for some reason as you spoke about the police fire or any other Department in ollington are in need of that video Footage, which is that something that the person on site can Provide or is it something again where the manager? Isn't there and there's a 1 2 3 Does it tape over how long do you retain that? So two things For the it department we own the it company that manages All our database we own the server and the server holds one year worth of database For all our camera systems and all our establishments Second point We are a family owned business and we micromanage our business And that's one of the reasons why we have zero violations or any of any of our businesses across the board Trust me when I tell you We watch and see and control our business to the t as best as our ability Even if my wife is not there she's there In terms of controlling pricing structure controlling The the compliance with ID checking controlling the business operations ordering receiving Counter receivables payables the list goes on Our managers are basically the forefront of operation of running the business But the general manager of overseeing the business is always going to be my wife Anyone that any any business that she's operating? so In terms of having a physical body and she's a mother she's going to take care of her child She's not going to be there 24 7 but that doesn't mean that she can't own an operator business And I will tell you We have had great success because every one of my businesses ran family owned family operated And we are very much in control of our business from the point of sale to it to marketing to Accounts receivables and payables and processing all the orders and the list goes on hiring and firing We don't have a general manager. We manage our managers On a day-to-day basis Even in our house we have in our office. We have cameras that's watching our businesses We have an it team that's watching our businesses. I mentioned last last time we were here That we hired a team of guys that basically operate our cameras and watch our establishments So that way we control the liabilities and best of our abilities. We were going above and beyond into this operation. So Couldn't operate better I know I appreciate that answer only because Years previous a different establishment that we had Sort of fell into the model that you're not speaking about but a different model where There wasn't that oversight and continuity and dedication to it and we had quite a few violations out of that And it really affected the neighborhood. So that's why I asked those questions. I'm not asking them No, no, no, it's like I said We focus on the security Because we know the most important factor of the business is security if we have theft We need security if we have liabilities. We need security that portion And the management as a general manager to manage the people that are operating the business Is prime to to any retail business If you can't have that you don't have a success for retail business no matter how much money you put in You'll get rob left and right and you have issues left and right and we know the liquor industry and we know the adult industry and in in in both categories It's full control system. So Um, there's no, you know, we have no record of having any issues because we operate very much in control Okay, thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman Should I get you have any questions? I have no real questions for the applicant. I may have a question for mr. Heim later on based on I mean sequencing I just have one piece of Advice maybe for for the applicant if things go through, you know, I'm based on the parking concern that we heard earlier I mean, I think what the person who uh, susanna Um, or susanna was referring to was when they had the the dry clean of business there I mean, that's when they were having parking issues. You know, not since it's been Um, so I'll just suggest me, you know, if it works out Me that when you do get customers that you try to just emphasize to them me that they Don't block. You know that driveway. It'll just make for the happier Neighbors, I know it's a little more to do, you know, but but it'll help because he's having little, you know, close to I guess it was giles and giles at the time, you know You know, I would see the parking issues to meet. Um, I think your delivery Situation might be a little easier than it was and on the other side of Mass Ave Where there's just one lane, you know going in bomb, but you know the freight delivery parking is just a problem Period, you know for just about everything. You know, it's just something that we have to work on Because it's out and and as a region, you know, and so so Yeah, it's just it's something we have to work on maybe micro deliveries or whatever, you know, so that's it, you know so Answer to your concern Sorry, uh, we completely understand and one of the biggest things I've had In all the numerous businesses that I that we have that are based on predictions on and traffic issues Signage is the biggest thing And it solved a lot of problems and providing strategic signage for parking and Restricted areas to not park It solves huge problems. So that's one of the things we'll be working on Thank you This point I think we've we've finished the public comment period. So I think we'll he limit this limit the discussion of the board and the applicant at this point All right, so now I want to give the applicant and their attorney a final chance to raise any new points Before we sort of close this portion of hearing and then just move to the board for its own internal But yet public Discussion and motions Is there anything else that you wanted to briefly say to us? Well, first I'd just like to thank the board for listening to this extensive application and process The applicants put a lot of time and thought into this and resources and Runs a good job is highly qualified and A boutique wine store here ought to have a positive impact, especially with monotomy now gone Um one minor point to make is I think there was some criticism of the Name of the landlord it's the cronin family, but it's the deoria trust Um, I believe that's uh, this is cronin's maiden name. So Hopefully that criticism can be struck from the record Um But that being said we appreciate your time. Thank you. I just realized I shorted myself and forgot to ask my questions Nice thing about being chair is I can fix that um I recall in your opening remarks the attorney up to and that Most of the things you don't have are single single what would form a called nips. What was it a single single? Singles are in bottles. No lottery. No kegs. No malt like or no candy Right, uh, given that would you be comfortable? Should the board issue a license with a license that that would Restrict those uses, you know the approval that would restrict those uses A condition mr. A condition. Thank you. Yes, absolutely. I mean we don't we don't make those premises promises In an idle fashion and frankly One of the things That goes to public need and distinguishes us From giles for example is that they focus on single service alcohol on cheap beers not sure if they self cage or not Uh, but that's not part of our customer base and and when you walk into that store and see the lottery tobacco and single service bottles That's the impression As a matter of fact I did walk into that store today. This was the first thing I saw was the nip of fireball Which is the most popular single serve alcohol in massachusetts Which you can confirm independently because you see empty ones on the street all day long Um But yes, we're glad to accept that as a condition Thank you. My other question is about the signature gathering. I appreciate the affidavit affidavit. Now when this was signed um Sarah said that that she did uh, about 35 signatures So, you know now submitted around 80 because my question is Did you collect uh signatures from any other locations than other the immediate neighborhood Of the store? No, so so like did did you did somebody go other parts of town and and uh, nope. Nope. It was mostly In front of the store on the block across the street down the street, you know, probably Less than a third of a mile half mile radius at most So all the signatures were in what you would reasonably consider the neighborhood of the store Right. I mean I thought I understand that the dwelling they might have been visiting from another part of town But but where the signatures were gathered all right there. Yeah. No, we figured if we went to You know, pensies or Jimmy's steer house or something. No one would know what we're talking about. Okay. Thank you All right, those are all my questions. So um, thank you very much. Thank you for your your closing remarks that preceded my final questions and I think I think we can sort that out. So at this point, uh, Certainly staying in the room and be available for any final questions the board may have but I think I would turn now To my colleagues for for our own discussion only Any comments motions? And actually to start with Mr. Wiggins, yeah, I have a question for Chris Naheim Could you just compare this to the HCA process that we went through? But my impression with that was if we said no, that was end of game, you know He, uh, he meaning that if we said no to a license that didn't have a chance to go any further, you know he, uh Is that the case here? So there's a Thank you. Mr. Schumer. Yes. Sorry. Yes, Mr. Diggins. So in any alcohol license, um hearing If there's a denial the applicant would have the right to appeal to the abcc Based on uh, the law that I've sort of summarized, you know, you sort of have to demonstrate that it's arbitrary or capricious decision. It's not grounded in evidence before the select board, but um So there is an appeal mechanism in these cases the HCA process is a lot more Untested Is it possible? I I didn't think so at the time and I still think it would be a very tough road to hoe To try to force your way in to an HCA. So that is a little bit distinct. Yes Yeah, I'm sorry to It's because I think what we were getting at is this mohan is getting at it It's a matter of sequencing.  Me and so I mean what I'm trying to understand is that other than the appeal process I mean me if we were to say no me they didn't have a chance to say well Me it wasn't really clear who we should go to first me. So now we'll go to the ARB or ZDA, you know, I mean that's not that's not a possibility in the situation, right? If we say no No, so so I'm sorry. Mr. Schumer. Yes, 29. Let me just be clear In both circumstances, this is the body that decides Substantively whether you think it's essentially a suitable business. I don't want the analogy to get to go too far I'm just trying in terms of the sequencing piece of things and how some things are conditioned on zoning relief that later ends up vetting Issues either at a different depth or in a slightly different way This process is really oriented towards is this, uh, you know, ultimately a suitable business in the criteria Here are wanting appropriateness. They're getting at the same thing and this board is supposed to be the arbiter of that You have a little bit more control in this situation than you have in an hca I just meant to illustrate that in the hca situation zoning relief is independent Predicate to opening and that would probably be the case here as well you know I am positively inclined, you know towards me letting the Give me approval, you know, I mean, certainly in light of me the The owners, you know, the history with the college, you know, and their efforts, you know, I think they've made a really good effort Me to define me a good, you know Losing the word for a good company Better words to occupy the space, you know I mean, as I said, I mean traffic and deliveries, you know, just issues mean and we just need to get better Mean as a town and as a region and shambling them, but where there's a will There's a way mean and and we can work on that, you know, and Yeah, I mean, I I think Competitions good, you know, so so I mean and I mean, you know, they are on opposite parts Areas of the capital district mean and so so it's not like you have two in one block, you know, but I think having to in in the area in which I live Would be fine, you know And and I guess I'll just add to that, you know, I live in the area But you probably won't see me in the store at all because me I like I do not have the enzyme that breaks down alcohol Me so I just can't, you know drink the stuff without getting really sick So I'm not saying that because I really want another business that I'm gonna Support, you know, but with my own money, but but I can certainly support you as I think, you know I think you'll be I think there's a A company, you know, that would be good for the town, you know, so Thank you, mr. Chairman. Um Yeah, just a few comments and I appreciate The presentation you coming back here and I appreciate the dilemma that the landlord is in in terms of finding a tenant unfortunately With our rules and regulations and and one of the goals to provide Convenient and attractive parking and and to take into traffic considerations Um, this is nothing to do with the business or the the reputation of the applicant or anything It's just a site and and so I I remain very concerned About the appropriateness of a liquor license at this location And um, I'm leaning towards a no vote at this point, but I would like to hear from my From my colleagues, uh as well and while it's not this positive The zoning Of this parcel it makes it very challenging. I think it's probably what's made it so challenging for you In terms of whether you come to us first whether you go to the zba first It's a unique situation, but um, I've been involved in two other licenses Both of the locations had parking On-site whether it was just for employees or whether it was for the public and and for me that's an important consideration The corner of orvis and mass av It is a big concern with traffic and and um Safety there for me Thank you Well, I was going to say my first comment sometimes these hearings are very difficult when you're raring and getting the conversation Wait your turn. Um I should I show you I do have the enzyme that breaks down alcohol You may see me For me, this is this comes down a simple analysis of if the applicant appropriate is the location appropriate um I think I've been involved in two new liquor licenses. It's all packaged liquor stores And I don't think either that to my recollection neither had prior liquor store experience. They're both existing convenience store owners in arlington Which is a great business and they had good reputations, but um, I think the applicant in of the the applications that we've had before I don't think that any of them have been sophisticated as this applicant and with the video cameras and A knowledge of id systems and where our cash register should be in relation to the entrance When you're iding I think um I am comfortable That the this applicant could run a very successful liquor store business in town I am not necessarily swayed either way by the fact that Mr. Patel is on two applications because I think We hear from applicants from time to time that everyone's going to be on site all the time And we've seen that in other stores and in restaurants and we don't go in with a clock to see Exactly how much time each applicant puts in if someone wants to operate a business The stores whether it's restaurants or liquor stores that have failed in our allington have been the one that's the ones that haven't had Good oversight and have had violations and that's led to the failure of some of these locations and I think it's on the applicant to Make sure that systems are in place So you don't have violations and I don't want to prejudge somebody um Before they have the opportunity to run a successful business So again, and As far as timing, I think you know, generally we have a process, but I think it's a strategy decision for the applicant when you have to get multiple approvals to say, you know, which one Do we go through that might require the least amount of initial capital To and decide this is the one that we need that we want to go first because then this is a difficult one or whatnot So I think that's just a decision on the applicant's front. I don't think there's anything Any reason to deny this just based on the fact that they came here before the zv. I think The applicant knows you have a tough road ahead as far as zoning But for us again, it's just Does the application Is the applicant appropriate is the location appropriate So I am Fine with the applicant and what the applicant has put before us as far as security controls and experience um location I think mr. Of course we'd love to have Businesses all around town that had parking, but I mean it's not necessarily true um, and that's a Take away from this very the point I It almost some of the objections seem to be that this business might be too successful We have a storefront it's empty. We want to put a business in there I want to have a business that's successful um You know no matter who the business is a lot of the traffic concerns I think would be present with Other businesses and there are some that might not have deliveries, but up and down mass out We have a lot of stores to get through deliveries. We have Restaurants that get deliveries convenience stores that get deliveries Loading zones have been difficult in Arlington, but um to mr. Diggins point as opposed to the store across the street where it's one lane this does have two lanes um I think in that business they figure it out downtown boston gets deliveries There's not necessarily a lot of space for trucks there. I know one of the biggest issues we've had in Arlington senator the starbucks semi truck starbucks Materials get dropped off in a semi truck. There's parks in front of the capital theater We figure it out As far as proximity When these liquor licenses came out and mr. Mahan can correct me, but I think initially there were three And the plan was to have one enough divided the town to Arlington east Arlington the center and the heights So now we have seven With if we still divide into those three zones that would put two and one two and one and three in the other town meeting Gave us three licenses to fill So i'm not necessarily swayed that there's two other liquor stores around. I know You know monomy beer and wine is up in the air. Whether you say it's coming back or not um I think The proximity to the other liquor starting on mass av Has been a little bit overstated. I mean it is three or four blocks down is across the street So I don't necessarily think that that Being you know that that far away It's really on the outskirts to call them both in the capital square district, but I again I don't think that that is prohibitive for this store um I think the layout is fine. I think the layout will get reworked like I mentioned If the changes then they have to come back to us to approve the changes. So um for me I'm okay with the application like Mercedes. I'm inclined to Support it. I mean, I think the liquor license exists We created the liquor license hasn't been a demand for it every time we put the license out I think we get one Max when we advertise that we're going to be putting a little license out so and we do have a family owned Property that's been in family for a long time and it is a struggle for commercial landlords to This has been a separate discussion for years empty storefronts and as Mr. Cronin mentioned we're in a process of finding Storefronts that don't have that don't fill their spaces And I think we've realized that that's it's not so simple as to Just go to a landlord and say they drop somebody in your business or else. We're going to find an x dollars a month um I would like to see as many businesses as we can in in town as many storefronts as we can field And so I don't think I mean if you have a business and a landlord that feel like they have A relationship that will mesh I don't think that again is prohibitive of why we should approve the license so to me I am fine with this Application the applicant um And I would be happy to support a motion to approve it Mr. Chair um I don't know if I can take advantage of you in this way, but um one of the things one of the things that uh I see as a big positive is you had uh noted when attorney opton said in the beginning about three or four things single use They would agree to certain conditions. Do you still have that less or no? Yep single use other Otherwise known as nips lottery kegs malt liquor and candy And I think I heard from attorney opton that that in Mr. Patel that that would be agreeable acceptable and agreeable conditions on the License and I I understand the dilemma right now of the six Um liquor stores that we have in town four of them have a parking lot what i'll call it um Two of them don't one's the one in east allington on mass av and one in the heights by foot of the rocks They mostly depend on although the one in the heights may have employee parking in the back, but I'm in terms of Public parking but summer street mystic wine convenience store As well as the one on broadway Those two have a dedicated parking area and that's always something that we have to sort of Go back and forth on um in terms of Uh applicants who have to appear before us and possibly one or two other boards. That's not something And I understand for the applicant to bear that um issue and Further define it. So maybe as we have conversations in a different form moving forward and maybe there's nothing we can do about that It just has to be Sometimes we're first second or third But I think for me I am concerned about the parking But that would apply to a lot Uh businesses here in allington and I I do understand that We're moving forward Trying to encourage Not just vehicular Not just pedestrian other modes of transportation Hopefully to help Make the sound safer as well as revitalize some of our businesses So for me with the the listed conditions there, um, I would be comfortable approving this license Thank you Thank you. Um, and I'll speak to my own views. I think I'm with mr. DeCorsi on I'm probably I know on this but um, but appreciative of emotion Because I think I'm counting the votes correctly that we that there's enough to to afford this Would certainly um appreciate that motion that would have the conditions You know, my concerns are are really just nothing at all about the applicant Pursuitability to the neighborhood and to the location. I think the the the best use of this property, I think with regard to Resonant input, I don't discount the input that and the form letters that were gathered By by the applicants, but I think that there's you know, there's quantity and in this quality and I I think I'm very Moved by the quality of the individually expressed Um Views of people from the neighborhood Um, I'm sure mr. DeCorsi's concerns Along the other things I won't repeat those so, um But but that said, I think we've all sort of declared ourselves and I would welcome a motion at this point I'll make the motion to uh, approve the application subject to the conditions being of no single serve You know, no, um candy made of no lottery sales. Um, it's back though, but else How do you think about pigs and milk liquor? Pigs and milk liquor Okay, that's it Okay, that's fine. Yeah, I don't I don't I'm not inclined to add anything else to that Mr. Attorney. Hi. Did you have any advice? I would be curious that mr. Chair if I may. Yes, please if the applicants have Some sense of an agreed-upon time frame to try to get that zoning relief so that we're not sitting in limbo for a long time and their interests and our interests, you know A sort of obviously alcohol licenses are subject to renewal every year. So Maybe that's the way that they would propose to deal with it But I think it'd be helpful for the board to have some sense of when are you gonna Apply for the zoning relief or sort that out and you know, how long do you think you need to Try to Arrange for that. Yeah, I'll use my prerogative to invite the answer turning up if if the board is Willing to grant this license today Then the town has to send it to the abcc which typically takes Anywhere between four and 12 weeks for them to do their process and send it back But we would commit to engaging we we have engaged zoning in real estate council and we will Direct and activate him And her it's a team tomorrow morning Is there a time frame that you folks might agree upon that you know to try to get a decision out of I mean I understand that the zba or the a or b shouldn't be locked into a specific time frame, but do you have right? I mean, we're glad to Complete the application and send it in and will appear as soon as they'll hear us I'm not familiar with their calendar, but we're we're ready to go I'm turning them. I think you're you're suggesting that the board may want to contemplate Putting into the into the approval a time frame for the completion of the of the curing the zoning potential zoning issues I guess I would say at least Putting in an application for the zoning relief. Should that be necessary? I'm sorry putting in putting in an application for the zoning relief necessary If it's as a condition four to 12 weeks from the for the abcc It's a longer time frame, but maybe within six months of this Decision if that sounds reasonable for you to put in your application Yeah, no, I mean that that's fine. I mean as I said, we'll we'll activate the zoning council tomorrow and I mean, I don't know how complex it is to file for this But I mean it should be it shouldn't be six months by any stretch. We'll we'll start now So, um, mr. Diggins, would you be open to expanding your motion to to put the six months Applying for the zoning relief, of course. Yes So we have an amendment from yes So I believe I still need a second second Any further comments or discussions from the board? On a motion by mr. Diggins seconded by mr. Herd all in favor, please say aye. Aye opposed. No, no That is a three two vote in favor Congratulations. Thank you for your patience. We appreciate it Thank you, miss Cronin Doria Cronin formally. Thanks. Thanks to all who came a second time to it to appear due to my procedural Blitches, uh, I'm gonna check in with the board. You wouldn't need a brief recess All right Let's move on to open forum. So, um It's it's there. So we'll do it except in unusual circumstances any member presented for consideration of the board Should either be acted on nor decision-making presentation According to the policy under which the open forum was established Should be noted that there is a time limit to present a can be a concern request Of three minutes. So, um, do we have any people in zoom? Please raise your hand or in the room? Please raise your hand if you want to comment under open forum this evening. All right Seeing none move on to item 10 approval Signed a traffic rules and orders amendment for electric bus and vehicle charging stations at oddison middle school And I am delighted to welcome to uh in succession here Long suffering and and I have to say star employees of our of our planning department here who have been patient But also done in my view some really excellent preparatory work for this evening. So I will turn it over to you miss foxy Please introduce yourself. Thank you. Hi. I'm talia fox. I'm the sustainability manager for the town Thanks to the members of the select board for the opportunity to present to you this evening I believe I do have a slide presentation I'm here to share some updates on arlington's electric school bus project and present requests for parking restrictions and modifications to the traffic rules and orders I want to note that previous versions of the presentation that you may have seen incorrectly stated that the request was for a bylaw modification I'm aware that that is incorrect and want to affirm that it is indeed for modifications to the traffic rules and orders before I proceed So first just for some project background As you know, we have a net zero action plan that plan commits the town to purchasing only zero emission vehicles by 2030 As a priority action in pursuit of our goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 We are getting a head start on this priority action and focusing on school buses for two key reasons One is that they directly support student health by improving air quality for students on and around the bus Which certainly is welcome in these smoky times There is also ample funding for electric school buses right now And in 2021 the town did secure both federal and state funds for two electric school buses and two Direct current fast charging stations to charge those buses. I'll just note that this was before my time with the town I started in january of 2022 So there are some details of this project that I I will try to speak to based on my conversations with my predecessor And deputy town manager jim feney, but oh there may be some things that I have to check on as well For a bit more detail Next slide please In addition to the two electric school buses to replace two diesel buses in the fleet and two fast fast chargers The project includes two level two chargers Which are for school personnel use during the day and public use outside of school hours The chargers will be cited at oddison middle school in the lower parking lot Which was decided after consideration of a few other sites as I understand it Most notably the project team considered the lot of the st. Phamilis parish where the town currently rents land to store the buses But there was a concern around investing in infrastructure on rented land The next slide shows a diagram of where in the oddison lower parking lot the chargers will sit The fast charging dispensers have actually already been installed and the lever level two dispensers will be built and installed in the coming months The first request To the select board is for approval of parking restrictions for these spots and corresponding signage For the fast chargers our seven series signage from the manual on uniform traffic control devices or mutcd Would be adopted to limit parking to the buses and indicate that all other vehicles parked in these spots are at risk of being towed For the public level two chargers R7 and mutcd signage would be used to indicate the vehicles parked in these spots should be actively charging and indicate that all other vehicles Are at risk of being towed As the next slide shows this type of signage is used for other level two town owned chargers The signage for the chargers at oddison will in fact look identical to the signage Just recently installed for the stations at shuler court by the high school Which is pictured here on the right The second request to the board is for the modification of the town's traffic rules and orders section 15 d to enable enforcement of these restrictions The purpose of proposed section 15 d paragraph g is to enable Arlington police to ticket or tow members of the public who are not school personnel who park in the designated charging station spaces during school hours This amendment would apply to the new level two stations at the oddison middle school And it would also apply to the stations that are already located at the high school and shuler court and at the gibbs school Currently for these stations the policy is that only school personnel are permitted to use the stations during school hours Access during school hours is controlled with a code provided to school personnel only But that code is not a sufficient way to ensure that the stations remain available for staff This amendment makes violations enforceable to preserve this charging benefit for school personnel And i'll note that this was introduced in consultation with officer cori rato with the arlington police department The purpose of paragraph h is to enable the arlington police to ticket or tow members of the public who park in the spots designated for the electric school buses at oddison middle school This would ensure that the spots are available at all times for the buses to charge so they can safely and quickly get students where they need to go Should signage and amendments be approved An immediate next step next slide, please We'll be manufacturing the signs ideally in the next few weeks We are waiting for a final piece of electrical infrastructure to be delivered Which should enable the utility to energize the charging stations ideally in august I'll note that this part of the project just so the board is aware has been delayed unfortunately for approximately nine months Due to supply chain issues So we're hopeful that by september we will be able to start using the electric school buses and have a ribbon cutting event On town day, we will alert the board once plans for the ribbon cutting are finalized Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the board this evening, and i'm happy to answer any questions you may have Thank you. Thank you very much This is uh, this is my This is my third time's a charm That's okay Uh, first I'd like to move approval Second, uh, it's okay if you don't know the answer to these questions It's more for my edification and I live I can see When I speak with mr. Um, let's see the other day. I told them exactly where I lived Which is right behind the oddison Approximately, how long does it take for the um dc chargers for the buses? Do you know how long that takes to charge? Yes And my follow-up question is what if those two dc Chargers for the buses not for um the other two Inexplicably more usable I assume the backup plan is I guess it's dependent on how long it takes to charge these buses and the backup plan is if those two buses can't charge up at The oddison they'll go down to the high school or down to the yard public yard If I could mr. Chair, yes, please So the time to charge the the buses and I actually have a slide on this for reference With some other bus statistics if you want to take a look at this in the deck, but it's about two to four hours As for if they're unable to charge We do have a partnership with other charging stations in town. So we actually were trying to use the buses a few months back Because we actually have had the buses for about a year now the the chargers have delayed the whole project Which has been really unfortunate So we were actually able to charge a nearby car dealership. Unfortunately the towns level two chargers are not compatible with The bus engines which is an unfortunate discovery that I think in retrospect We would have liked to put in the bid to ensure that compatibility We do have you know a warranty And we have service available for the chargers should anything go awry but I think if a backup planet beyond that is something that is Something that the the board wants us to have I can speak with The school department about that and then um Level two chargers Oh, yes during school hours school personnel school vehicles But am I correct that outside of that? So non-school hours after whatever the time is five seven nine and or weekends On the level two not that the bus Um, those are available to the public. That's correct And is it the same in terms of how long it takes to charge an electric car? Approximately one to two hours So, um the distinction here is between. I'm sorry. I Yeah This distinction here is between a level two charger and a level three charger or a direct current fast charger The bus chargers are this direct current level three fast charger And so they have a quicker charge because they provide more current A more power to to the engine or to the battery rather The level two chargers have less power going to the batteries So the charge time will vary based on the size of the battery of the vehicle Um, if you had about a 40 kilowatt hour capacity battery, um, which is the Roughly what sort of a typical passenger vehicle would be I believe the charge time is somewhere between five and eight hours. Um, But again, it sort of varies. Um, I believe our level two chargers are a charge point brand and they have About a seven kilowatt Capacity so it's about five and five point eight or something like that Thank you. Now honest to goodness wanted to know that because I can definitely see Um, not on the dc charger, but on the level two level two chargers Residents on those non-school hours availing them of the opportunity to use that and As far as if for some reason that happens and it goes into school hours I'm assuming a toe is a toe is a toe, but you have to unplug the power But I'll leave that to if for some reason we need to tow one of those. Thank you, mr. Chairman And if I if I may add, um, of course, mr. Fox, um That often when folks are charging they're not at zero, right? So it might the time for both the buses I'll say and also for a passenger vehicle Might be slightly less than that because you're you're not necessarily getting down to a fully empty tank Tank, so have you met me? No Mr Thank you. I'll second the motion. Um Just a quick question on this If you can see it Instead of pulling it back up. Isn't it two entrances to this parking lot? There are currently two entrances to the park. Is that to scale? Uh As far as how big a bus would be in that space So that is it is not to scale. I I created it and it's not to scale, but um, I guess my my only I do um, sorry No, no good You can probably anticipate my question. Um, it looks like if there was a two bus a bus there in a car there We're essentially blocking the entrance. I guess My question is is it necessary to take that spot space out too? or When a bus is parked in there would I guess It would just be silly to create a situation where a bus Kind of blocks the way if the car And again, I'm happy to support it. My only question is would it be necessary to take this space out to allow People to get in and out of the parking lot My understanding is that it would block the two buses would block the entrance to the parking lot that's As I understood the project as conceptualized was always the intent is that when the buses are parked there um You know one would be able to enter through that through that entrance As for whether it would My understanding is it wouldn't block that space. It wouldn't prevent someone from parking in that space on the side But it would block the entrance to that that closer or it would block that closer entrance and I'm happy to go back and create a To scale diagram of of how large the the buses that the size of the buses would you know take out in that space Yeah, I don't want you to make you have to do more work than than Then uh, is that sorry I'm just looking if Again, I'm not contemplating not allowing the bus Um charging stations just whether or not that parking space is going to cause a problem is Even if you say, all right Can't use that entrance there because the bus is blocking it I wonder if a car could back out of that Closest charging space Or back out of I just don't know if there's enough swing there So I mean, I guess that's an engineering problem that they'll deal with Once it's put into place, but it just seems to me that if there's two buses there There's going to be some issues with Cards getting in and out of the spaces that are both right next to the buses and Those two spaces at the bottom Just to swing a car in and out Get a little awesome powers action Any other comments Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank you miss fox for the Presentation and it's a question that the charges The buses are only going to be there when they're charging, right? They're not going to be parked there overnight there That will be I don't know if they're up at st. Camillas or if they're They'll be down at the at the high school when they're fully charged if you if you know My understanding is that they would only be there when charging, but I I would like to confirm with Steve angelo the fleet manager. So I'm happy. I'm happy to do that. Okay. Thank you Yeah, and I certainly support the charges I missed our herd makes a good point on Where the buses are and I will say in the winter Of course, we can't see it from the overhead That's a pretty good incline into that lot and it's it's that can get really icy And I don't know You know when the buses are going at a slow speed whether that's going to be a problem in terms of moving them a lot because having Um been involved in a lot of programming up at the odyssey on weekends in the winters I've seen cards slide all over the place in that lot So it's it's I know there was this was the best location that was selected And I think there was others that were rejected and as I said, I'm happy to support it, but I almost feel like Is there a way to check Go back and see or any other locations I don't know why others were weren't deemed feasible But clearly we need a couple charges But once you do the drawings to scale if you see this is going to be a little bit more difficult Maybe maybe we need to select someplace else, but for now, I'm happy to support it I just have a curiosity question is what it's 924. So I'm not I have I'm in a channel mrs. Mahon here and ask a couple of technical questions that may may be moot and an attorney Hi, mrs. Your heads up On the recommended changes to the to the parking regulations There's two statements to say violation of this regulation could result in the vehicle being ticketed or towed Would it be better if it said may result Instead of could result in what I'm thinking of is to make it clear that the town is the authority to do that or if it doesn't matter That's fine Thank you, mr. Chairman. I I think that If you feel it's clear to say may then Let's say may It's a very diplomatic response. Let's turn your hand Would um, let's see, mrs. Mahon, would you be comfortable with Making the pretty much okay All right, any other discussion so on a motion By mrs. Mahon and seconded by mr. Herd all in favor. Please say aye. All right opposed five nothing in favor Thank you very much Thank you so much It does sound like All right Blue bike station expansion number 11 mr. Olesi you're up Also, thank you for saying thank you Thank you, mr. Chairman. It's hour 13 in this building right now And thank you members of the select board for having me this evening My name is John Olesi senior transportation planner in the department of planning community development I'm here tonight to request the approval to install two new blue bike stations here in Arlington The first on bill street at the minimum bikeway crossing the second at Arlington high school on massive So these locations were determined based on a resident survey released by my office in spring 2022 These were the top two locations requested by residents The first on bill street will be on street There'd be no impact to parking regulations because there's currently no parking allowed in that area And the second location at Arlington high school Would involve would require the removal of two on street parking spaces However, the location is directly adjacent to the CVS parking lot, which has 70 spaces So our office felt that there would be minimal impact to parking availability in the vicinity I have consulted with the Arlington police department and the department of public works to ensure that there wouldn't be any negative impacts to traffic operations public safety they don't foresee any potential negative impacts and um If implemented, this will increase the number of stations in Arlington from six to eight Which will help fulfill first last mile transit solutions and increase Availability of access to recreation open spaces. So with that being said, I'd be happy to answer any questions and thank you very much Thank you, Mr. Wilson. I'll turn to the board Mr. Liggins, so I'm happy to make a motion to approve this and then I have a couple questions Sure. So, um, on at the CVS Station, you know, I see that there's a space for one compact vehicle and I'm I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to put bike racks there instead of the Who compacts parking space because we I think probably will find is that you know cars that aren't so compact Look in the trying to park there. There's good. Probably those problems For that nearby Also, I mean, I just hear me a lot of people asking for more bike racks, you know So I just put that out there as a suggestion, you know, and then my my other question might be my only question actually So, um, these are mobile stations Could be taken out during wintertime. So in this case me, um, what would happen to a space They would be made available again for the uh to our parking Thank you Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll second mr. Diggins motion and uh, thank you, mr. Lassi for the presentation tonight, but also the information you provided to to uh, to me prior to the meeting Uh, just one comment and this may be a comment to Directed towards attorney heim for future for the future I I'm happy to support the blue bike station on mill street as I look at the aerial and as we discussed Last week to me the the better spot there is is along the bikeway And I know that's within the mbta right of way and since I've been on the board and since I've been in town I've been told over and over again. It's hard to deal with the mbta with the right of way And I think this is the type of thing where you know, I'd like to work through the attorney heim and and And perhaps mr. Diggins too with the mbta and say This makes perfect sense. There's plenty of room on either side of that bikeway to move the blue bikes Um, can we cut through the red tape and do it because it's as you're coming down The bikeway and I walked down there over the weekend. There's a lot of room there And um, it just would eliminate some concerns on mill street, but for now Happy to approve it, but maybe I could ask attorney heim What can we do when About right of way issues with the mbta because it seems to be a constant obstacle attorney heim just Thank you mr. Chairman. Mr. Corsi I couldn't agree more While the mbta is a wonderful partner in many many ways Um, their sort of management of real estate is sort of half Exported or farmed out and half sort of maintained in house Um, I'll try to maybe see if I can mine some contacts for ways to approach it in a different way but their My understanding of their position Understand I don't represent them because this is very reticent to grant any property rights within their Right of way and that their overall perspective is that they've granted this license for the bike path and we sort of administer it But um, we've seen in a few interesting instances some real reticence And even some aggressiveness in terms of asserting their rights relatives and private property owners Who have tried to make what is otherwise pretty sensible uses of some of this So I I welcome that uh that direction and that challenge and These folks can help me make some headway that I haven't made before Thank you Mr. Diggins. It was just in response to oh sure. Yeah so, um, so the I'll have to work with you on that and mr. Heim and I did talk um, I made a little progress About six months ago, and it was going through the advisory board And there's a reason for why he was dull. I didn't push You know, but this is another You know vehicle For making that push to me so if mr. Of course, he gave me my plus one on this I mean, you know, we can work with Mr. Heim and then report that Three musketeers watch out Mr. Herd Thank you for the presentation and also taking the time to walk me through this before I'm happy to support it I think this is definitely need for more A demand and for mobile by stations Has similar comments about the location at mill street. My only concern about the location is You know visibility of Cyclists and pedestrians coming out of the bike path But I think that's minor and can be handled But long term that is certainly a better location. So Happy sport Thank you, mr. Chair. Um, definitely happy to support this As well as the opportunity to meet with mr. Lassi and I just want to sort of codify I memorialize the conversation you and I had on the Blue bike In front of the high school, which is very close to and or a buts the very used crosswalk By student staffs staff and other people residents One of the things I was concerned about that I raised with you and you actually had a very good retort back to it Sometimes with the blue bikes And either end of both end They put up really tall Sort of advertisements or just the structure of it and where that is especially We all know high school students Earbuds cell phones They see a crosswalk. I'm safe. I go and I was I was concerned about that in terms of being a visual impediment But I think you had a Proper response to that if I may mr. Chair, please Um, thank you. Um I forgot to mention that earlier. So thank you for bringing that up. Yes So the stations usually come with an advertising panel that pretty tall It can obstruct the visibility of those using the crosswalks at both locations Um, so yes, I'm going to request that when blue bikes if approved if blue bikes installs locations that they do not include The advertising panel so that there are no Um obstructions to those crossing at the crosswalks And I was also concerned about mill street, but definitely the one with the high school Thank you, mr. Chair. Thank you, mr. Wesson. Thank you. I'm also delighted to support this For the discussion, we have a motion for mr. Diggins second by measure to course the all in favor. Please say I Opposed is five zero vote in favor. Thank you Moving on to item 12 We will now recall that we have a town manager joining us remotely and thank you for serve for your patients This is the update on the upper budget budget and we have mr. Sandy puller town manager And uh, miss miss maher is preparing to uh put the budget table up on the Up on the screen Well, you were Thank you, mr. Chair. Thank you board members. Um, so what you have in front of you is a Compilation of our upper spending through fiscal year 23 After fy 23 we have about another year and a half of spending that's on the table But I thought tonight what we wanted to do was to just show you what we've actually expended today Some of the progress that we've made And give you some sense of How much money is then left from from this? I had thought that originally I might make a presentation tonight making future recommendations about spending, but As we've gone through putting this together And various other things that have been going on in the office I think it's probably best that the next town manager make those recommendations to you So tonight, um, I just want to go through this list And just give you a sense of the The totals here and answer any specific questions you have about some of these allocations So i'm just going to highlight Particularly some of the big items here As you see in the sheet for revenue loss we have so far actually spent Five million dollars of our 35 million dollar of our allocations On the fy 23 budget during the Town meeting this spring town meeting voted another five million dollars to be used for the fy 24 budget So all in all we will have used up Ten million dollars, but uh with the sheet show is just to date five million has actually been spent For various things on public health We We have spent 370 of the 536 so there will be some money left over there Equity and inclusion Well, I guess I would say for all of these things we've made progress on all of these items And the department heads we've asked to come back to us with recommendations for how to reallocate their unspent money Going forward I did want to point out the the premium pay as I mentioned to you about a month ago I did decide to authorize payment to our retirees who had worked during COVID They will get their payments in this week's Payroll We were waiting for the first of the year payrolls to go through so that the payroll office could take on That spending but those will now be processed Uh this thursday, so um you should hear from Some of our former employees about that Behavioral health support, um We have spent most of the money on crisis intervention and aycc We haven't not spent much of the baby health reserve and so at some point we will we will reallocate that Small business assistance We originally allocated 1.5 million dollars and we've spent nearly all of that so that's right on track the same thing for support for the chamber of commerce tenant assistance We have spent about 60 percent of that And we are thinking about whether there is still room for that or not and we're in discussions with the Planning department on that Few food security. We spent all but a hundred thousand and again. There's a reserve of a hundred thousand there HVAC improvements Um We have not spent much of that to date but that's because The uh rfps for the design for various hvc improvements in town and school buildings Are out on the street now We expect those back by the end of the summer and we will then be doing the design work So it's taken a little longer to get that stuff out on the street and to get it moving But we do intend to really spend all of that eventually Parts and open spaces that preceded a pace Water and sewer spending is actually a little bit of a head of space. There's more money in 24 and 25 for that And I have been looking to try to allocate more money for that because there is a huge need Under affordable housing, I just want to mention that Uh, we've spent three million out of the 4.4 that we've allocated Some of that is just because of sort of ongoing conversations, particularly with non-profits about Supporting affordable housing in town Uh, I do think this money will be spent. It's just It's taken a little longer to do it than we thought Um Homelessness is an area where we had some initial Allocation of $50,000 Still trying to figure out What the best way to spend that those funds are And I think mr. Pini will have some recommendations on that going forward Remote meeting infrastructure We've just spent a little bit of that Although I think we have very good infrastructure set up around town from various sources for this So we may be able to reallocate some of that And just administration and oversight again, um, we'll be able to reallocate some of that So overall This is the program that was laid out to you In may I think it was of 2021 or 2022. I frankly don't remember It was the last budget you voted on Um, and it was in may And, um I think I will say in the next iteration of this I think we will present it somewhat differently because uh, the way that the federal government wants us to Show our spending the categories are somewhat different. So I would anticipate a slightly different presentation But I wanted to put these numbers in the same way that you've seen them before Uh, so that you can see the continuation of what had previously been set out With that, um So we have spent, um, we're obligated to date of the f y 22 and 23 Um 20 million dollars of the 24 and a half Plus, um Going forward for f y 24. There's another five million that we will spend for the f y 24 budget um, so If you take that five off the 14.8 that has uh, is remaining that leaves, um, about nine almost 10 million dollars Still to be spent or reallocated and as I said, uh New incoming tenants you're feeding will talk to you about that With that, I hope I've made clear what our spending is today and I'd be happy to answer any questions Thank you, sir. And at this point I think we can take the the chart down so we can See our town manager on video and I'll turn to the board any questions Mrs. Mon, uh, first I'd like to move receipt. Um Second my first question, uh, the town manager already answered which is instead of 14.9. It's 9.9 um With the second allocation of five million dollars for general fund and then, um I guess I'll just ask the question one more time. Although I have had conversations with the town manager, mr. Pooler about this It Is it still the case that I'm overthinking and over worrying? talk coming out of washington regarding opera spending auditing and possibly Losing unspent funds. Is there anything you can add to that again just to Mr. Charmi or re-educate me if I may mr. Chair. Yes, please mr. Pooler Uh, thank you, uh Mahan I know there was a lot of talk about that uh in the public But I have seen publications coming out of national organizations and out of the mma Making clear that those issues are now off the table Uh, I will say in washington anything can change but right now I don't see that as a threat to us Uh, I think it's important that we continue to allocate our funds and make plans to spend them and Spend them in a timely basis But i'm not worried that they're going to be taken back by the congress Thank you. And then my second point would be um, perhaps, uh, mr. Pooler along with mr. Feeney could Carry over on this one When appropriate possibly the next reporting period And I understand mr. The town manager said the document may look different, which I understand If the board could be provided along with that documentation Sort of a twofold what i'm going to call a twofold heads up the first part of the heads up is I would be interested in if There were any positions And into a program. So that's what the twofold of it is um If we could receive a document when appropriate that sort of gives us a heads up or highlights any positions or programs that Have been funded by opera And that there should be a serious discussion That when opera funding no longer is there A we at least get notified that these positions or programs aren't continuing And or if the current or future town manager has any Thoughts on either of those two Did i might Somewhat clear through the chair mr. Chairman to mr. Pooler. Do you understand what i'm sort of asking for mr. Blu? Mr. Chair thank you. Yes, I believe I do understand that And we will provide further information to the board Thank you, and I don't mean to be sarcastic with that. I just know when i'm trying to pouch my question I sometimes get convoluted. Thank you, mr. Chair Mr. Herd Yep, just a quick question. Um So and I apologize that this has been explained Let's get late For categories such as homelessness where today we've budgeted 500 000 in the initial budget that was presented and only 50 000 has been spent Is it the intention that We're going to find a way to spend 450 000 or When miss feney takes this over and provides us with a new framework It could be that He You know a fair amount of that gets reduced to what's actually needed or I know in general budgets if you don't spend it you lose it whereas, you know, we have You know a fair amount that was in the fiscal year 2022 budget for opera that wasn't spent I guess are we still shooting to hit these numbers that are sitting here that are in our budget Or are these going to be reworked once mr. Feney puts his hands on it? if I may be to chair That call ultimately will be mr. Feney's I would say generally though I think with the conversations I've had with the department has t