Select Board Meeting - August 10, 2026

Calling to order the meeting of the Arlington Select Board for Monday, August 10th, 2026. It is 7:15. My name is John Herd. I am the select board chair and I will confirm that all members are here signing to my right. >> Joe Solins, >> Eric Helmouth, >> Sher Diane, James Feny, town manager. >> Michael Cunningham, town council. >> Ashley Mar, board administrator. >> Thank you. And Mr. Dorsey is on route back from vacation, but unfortunately will not make it for the meeting tonight. That takes us to item number one on our agenda. Introduction, recycling, zero waste coordinator, Laura Olivia. Miss Olivia, come on up. Welcome. >> Please. >> Hello. Thank you for taking a minute to come and uh introduce yourself to us. If you could just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your uh your new employment. >> Sure. So, hi, I'm Laura Olivier. Um I just finished three weeks in the new position. Um and I'm learning quickly. Have come to meet a couple people at town hall, but not you guys. So, it's great to meet you. Um so, I come from a background in recycling. I just was served as a director for a small nonprofit in Somerville um that served commercial clients in recycling. But I'm glad to be um coming to back to Arlington where I'm from. I grew up here for my first eight years of life and then I've been here the previous eight years. Um so I'm really glad to be coming back to serve this community and learn about what the needs are. Um I know my predecessor Charlotte has done a lot of great work. So, I look forward to building on what she's done and listening to the residents about um things they'd like to see improve. >> Thank you. >> Thanks for having me. >> You're very lucky to have come in July 2026, not July 2025. It was a little bit of a stressful time in our trash and recycle period. >> That's what I've heard. >> I'll turn to the board for any questions, comments. >> Mrs. Man, >> is it Olivier? Is that how you say it? >> Yes. >> Nice to meet you. Nice to see you >> and anticipating your arrival. You may have heard my name over there on Ryder Street in the three weeks. If you haven't, you will soon. Um I'm really excited that you're here and and so are so many other people in Arlington. um that as you said you're piggybacking on um Charlotte Milan and Jackie Miller is there and and Mike Rodmacher and um one of the things that's really important to all of us and you um being in municipal government is um outreach and communication with the public. And one of the things um I I found and I I imagine you have too cuz I believe you also came from earthw world earth >> earth earthworm >> earthworm before. So you information really is power and I you know when I talk to residents to say that you know well that's waste management the town doesn't do it anymore. We really need to respond. Um, so as you're getting, you know, your your feet wet and and and learning the job, I certainly would be interested in just communicating with you what the best way is and with the manager um, in terms of uh, all things trash, recycling, yard waste that fall under there, as well as being a good neighbor on Ryder and Beck Street, continuing to be a good neighbor on Ryder and Beck Street. But one of the things that you're coming into, but I always when I started a new job and something was brand new, I thought that was exciting because I get to define it. Um, you know, we're a year in with um >> waste management. >> Waste management. I'm fogging out. I see I see win and I see Republic and I waste management went out of my um and um people are still learning um including town employees in terms of but I really am hoping perhaps within the next year your first year um in this position you really outlining yes there's a waste management policy um but you know it's 247 here in the town of Arlington and Monday through Friday 8 to 4 call only. They don't even have the website option anymore. So, we need to to work around that. So, um but also not create something so cumbersome for you and your staff because it's not like you have 5, 10, 15, 20 people under you. You know, you have to go with the labor that you have. So, I look forward to working with you. And one thing you'll learn from me, you can say anything. And if I'm doing something that's just the wrong way to go about it or something that doesn't even have to be addressed, I'm fine with that because I can move on, you know, and do something else. But I want to do whatever works best with you, which ideally the end result is probably don't really hear from me. That means yay. But thank you and welcome. I I'm really excited that you're here. Spoke to the town manager sever several times about you. He had glowing things to say. Um so I kept saying, you know, have you picked the kind? Who is it? When is she starting? and welcome and glad you're here. >> Thank you very much. >> All right. Well, welcome and we look forward to working with you. Thank you. >> Likewise. >> That brings us to item number two on our agenda 2027 senior means tested exemption application. We have Mitchell Suarez, our acting director of assessments, and Gordon Jameson, our chair of the board of assessors. >> Yes. >> I'm going to start with Mr. Feny. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. Just wanted to note uh this agenda item is part of a concerted effort to meet the uh board's override commitments to better publicize our property tax relief programs. You may have seen we recently did a buck slip mailer listing all of the tax relief programs that went out with our Q1 real estate tax bills. Thanks to assistance from the uh assessor's office and the treasurer's office for that. We also wanted to invite this presentation this evening from uh Mitch and Mr. Jameson as well uh to talk through the still somewhat new municipal senior means tested circuit breaker the applications for which are currently open. So if I could I'll turn it over to Mitch and Gordon. >> Yes. I'm Gordon Jameson. I'm the current chair of the board of assessors and my job here tonight is to introdu do the introduction. But first, I want to pause and um the board and the staff and and I were very um saddened by the the passing of our our past director Dana Man in the last month. Um Dana was um a wonderful person to work with. I've worked with him over the past six years when I was elected to the board. And um he was just very much of a gentle leader. Um thoughtful, gentle, um a family man. I I read his wonderful obituary. It was just a heart heartwarming just a really good man and a big loss to the town. Um, currently we have Mitch Suarez. He's the acting director of assessments and he's going to provide the presentation tonight. >> Evening. Uh, I'm Mitchell Suarez. I'm the current acting director for the assessor's office as Gordon stated and Jim. We're here to discuss the means tested uh senior exemption program. Um so we're just going to do a brief overview of the program uh who it's intended for, how to apply, any clarifications uh on the exemption itself. So it is intended for the seniors of Arlington that it's going to be for anyone of age 65 and up. Um, the program itself is modeled off of the state circuit breaker. The circuit breaker is essentially a tax credit that one can apply for when filing your state taxes. Um, this program's uh qualifications, specifically the income qualification are going to be based off of that, and we'll get into that later on in the presentation. Um, for the CB itself, when you apply, the maximum amount that you can receive is the $2,820 amount. Um, not everyone is guaranteed to receive the maximum. Um, but should you reach that, that is the limit of that particular program. Uh for the town's version, the means tested uh applications were available beginning July 1. Uh prior to that, uh we had been compiling a mailing list to send out to residents. Um that will initially consist of anyone who had been granted this exemption in the past and then any additions would be by request. Uh typically we get them via phone calls. Some people come into the office or just have other questions about property taxes. Uh we like to inform the residents about all available options to assist them. Uh and the means tested being the most recent of those options. Uh so anyone who would like is welcome to be put onto that mailing list and then the applications go out as soon as they are available. Um afterwards if anyone has any questions about it. We certainly got a number of questions via the buck slip that Jim had discussed. Um, should anyone be interested, you know, we'd be happy to mail out an application to them. Uh, otherwise they are available online for download. Uh, or you could stop by the assessor's office and we'd be happy to give you a copy and answer any questions. Uh, as for the process of applying, uh, first things first, it is for our seniors age 65 and up. So, we would need proof of age. Um, these are just some examples of documentation that we would look at. Your birth certificate, driver's license, if you don't have a driver's license, your state ID, passport. Um, we're essentially just looking to confirm that you are the intended audience. Uh for the income, uh we have a few examples um of how we uh look into the qualifying income for applicants. The most straightforward way for us to do that uh is if you have applied for and received the circuit breaker through your state tax filing. Um, alternatively, uh, we would look at a federal tax return or a state tax return. Um, this is going to vary depending on the applicant. Everyone handles their taxes and financial situations differently. So, for those who do file taxes, we would ask for a copy of those. Uh, for those who don't, uh, we would ask for six months of bank statements. Uh, see, uh that would be covering the months of June uh through December of calendar 25. Um again, everyone has uh different financial situations and this is just a uh method that has been devised to determine income uh for those folks. Uh alternatively, you know, 1099s, um any other various uh income statements, there's a broad range of uh types of income. Our application goes into more depth in those different types and we'd be happy to answer any questions uh one may have. These are just the most common. Uh as for assets again very common examples that we see uh checking account savings accounts um any other uh retirement type accounts you have IAS 401ks 403b etc etc um we would be looking for both statements and reports of any and all accounts you may have again everyone has a varied financial situation uh and the list of assets does go into greater detail in the application itself. And should anyone have any questions on asset types uh or income in general, they're welcome to call the assessor's office for any clarification. Uh now there are some differences between the fiscal 26 and fiscal 27 applications. Uh generally the reason for these changes is because as we become more familiar with the application process as it is still a relatively new exemption um we become more aware of the variety of financial situations that our applicants have and these changes are intended to make sure that uh we can cover all of those situations in an equitable manner. Uh so first one um in 26 we had just asked for the circuit breaker form if you had it. Um now if you have the circuit breaker form we will also ask for your state tax return. Again that's just so we can get um more full picture um of each of our applicants and ensure that the qualifications are being applied equitably. Uh as we had discussed earlier about bank statements in the prior year, he just asked for a single bank statement. Uh and in fiscal 27, the current fiscal year, uh we are looking for those six months of bank statements. Um again with the goal of uh ensuring that we are being equitable uh throughout the application process. uh some important dates. Uh the deadline is coming up, September 10th, 2026. There still is time to apply and we would hope that all who feel that they qualify do apply or at least reach out uh for any questions they may have. Uh as far as the income limit goes, we are looking at your income during calendar 25. Uh for a single person, 75,000 for a head of household uh that would be 94,000. If you file jointly, 112. Uh again, for the tax returns, we are looking for the calendar 25 federal and state returns. And for the list of assets that we had discussed, uh we would be asking for balances uh as of December 31, 2025 with a total asset limit of 250,000. Uh some further distinctions when we look at income, we are looking for the gross income. Uh that is prior to any deductions that you may have on your returns. Um, and as far as the asset portion goes for a additional real estate, uh, any ownership of additional real estate that would be an excessive asset, uh, that places the applicant outside of the intended recipients of this program. And again, if anyone would have any questions, please feel free to reach out uh to the SSH office. And very quickly, I want to thank the uh I want to thank Dana and Mitch and the staff of the office. Um and uh they they've put this is a a large amount of work every summer preparing this application and the board has spends um every meeting during the summer and into the fall talking about this issue. So, it's quite a quite a burden, but we're happy to do it to help the the the citizens who qualify out. And thank you, Mitch. >> Thank you. Turn to the board for any questions. Mr. Thomas, >> thank you very much. No questions, but I want to express my appreciation, Mitch, for ste stepping up to in your in your current role. I know that that's not something you expected or necessarily wanted, but I know the town manager and your colleagues and the assessors appreciate your hard work, and we do, too. Um, I appreciate the the clarity of the application. I was pleased to look it over. I think it's laid out really well, very clearly. and um also just appreciate your availability starting tonight with being uh helping to spread the word. So, good job and uh we look forward to this continuing to be a success. >> Thank you. Much appreciated, >> Mrs. M. >> Um should I move receipt of move receipt? >> I'll second. >> Um and I I do want to say Mr. Mand Dana's passing um certainly left a hole in a lot of our hearts. Um especially going through the long range planning meetings and the override. Um Dana went sort of above and beyond the board of assessor role. We threw another thing on his plate, his platter. Um and he just did it quietly, you know, kept his head down, came to the meetings, had the information, but he also spoke of you, Mr. Suarez working with you and kind of felt like um he was sort of guiding you in terms of this uh the workings of of the office um and had had really great things to say about you. And please pass to everybody in the office. I haven't had a chance to come by um to personally express the condolences because I know it's it's tough when you're in there doing such an important job, you know, with a heavy heart. Um but um I've heard from uh Mr. Jameson and one of the other assessors, Mrs. Win Stanley O' Conor. Um that the good news is business is running as usual. Um which isn't the easiest thing to say. So um I would just have one question. I I understand you said the deadline date is September 10th, >> correct? >> Um just because um and I think it's great and I thank the town manager and the uh deputy town manager, Miss Weman, and the chair, Mr. Jameson for getting that information out on the buck slip as well as um the ACMI production the tax relief program. Um but where this is a fairly new program um I know when I talked to seniors um last time was last Wednesday up at Panera in Burlington. If you want to go see the St. Agnes crowd they're up there. Um and was explaining from my memory what I thought the documentation might be and I said but I'll you know get it for you. Um, sometimes it's a little bit daunting and sometimes in different constituencies, you know, if you see four things or five things, you you kind of shut down a little. So my question would be, if I said to someone, listen, get an application and if the answer is no, tell me no. Get an application, fill out as much as you can, and make sure you get it in by September 10th. Ideally, get the other, you know, if you can only get one or two of the four or five things, get the other one. But say somebody did that. Um, do they have to have whatever the required number of documents in by September 10th, or if they get their application in by September 10th, is there some sort of grace period to say, you know, you kind of file an extension for a month or two? Do you know what I'm asking? I'm trying to get people to do that when they see all those when I talk to that constituency and they see all those things and they're like, "Ah, I don't I don't know if I can get it together in time." But so certainly um I would agree the most important thing to do is get the application in by the deadline of the application. If we don't have an application by that time, our our hands are tied. Uh as far as the documentation goes, yes, we do try to be flexible um with our applicants to both assist them prior to and post deadline. Um we have some room with, you know, assessor's discretion to be able uh to assist people in this manner. That being said, you know, we there are some limits to how long we can um extend past the deadline uh to get the required documentation, but yes, we do work um >> with our applicants. >> Yeah. So um the way that's worked in the past is if the application is lacking of some um salient pieces of information at the discretion of the board of assessors we've directed the we've um instructed director to inquire about clarification on an issue. I think that's the way it's worked in the past. But I I think um the applicants should um really focus on trying to get it in by the deadline. That's why deadlines exist. Um, and it's also important because it has to all be reviewed by the office staff and then reviewed um by the board to approve the ones that qualify and then very quickly thereafter we come before the select board again to choose the percentage number and then we have to then come with the and that gets applied as part of the tax rate report that we do in the fall. So there's lots of other things that are going on in the assessor's office beyond this as they compile the all the different um property values for the to setting the tax rate. So this and the tax rate and other things are constantly um on on their their uh list of activities. So be very helpful if things could be um complete and in by the 10th of September. But the the the staff is has always been there um to help people file the application to the best of their ability. >> Great. Thank you. >> That good? >> Yes. >> Um >> Yes. Um it's good to meet you a few weeks ago and thank you for stepping up unexpectedly. Um I had a couple maybe more technical questions so it's easier to email that's fine. Um, somebody successfully applies gets a a a credit here. How do they see that come to them? >> Are we talking about the means tested? >> Yeah. >> The means tested is applied uh any relief would be applied to the third quarter bill. >> Okay. So, on their property tax bill for the third quarter. >> Correct. >> Okay. And do we have a sense of over the last few years how how many people have applied? How many people have have achieved this? Uh I have the numbers from last year. Um we had granted uh 29 applications with uh an average exemption as it does the amount varies from application to application as is the nature of the program. >> Okay. >> But on average it's a bit over a thousand $1,000. >> Yes. Okay. >> For last year specifically. And do you have a sense of how many people in theory are eligible for this? Like to follow on Miss Mahan's point, we're trying to help as many people as we can. 29 out of 2,000. 29 out of 30. >> Well, the applicant numbers is in the 30s. >> Okay. and and the um the office and the board uh and the the manager's office and um the the um Joan Roman have all worked um to publicize this heavily over the last two years and we have not seen a large increase in the number of applicants beyond the mid30s so far. So that's why we're here again. >> Okay. >> And um um Mitch will be giving a presentation to the senior center. We hope to have some other outreaches um as well in in the interim. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you for the presentation. We have a motion to receive by Mrs. Mahan, seconded by Mr. Elmouth. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Unanimous vote. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Item number three, vote approval of $1 million bond authorization for lead service line replacement program, MWR, interestf free loan. We have Lynn Gallagher, our town treasurer. >> Good evening, Lynn Gallagher, treasur collector. Nice to see you all again. Um, thank you to the select board and chair for having me tonight. Um, I'm here uh for you to consider and vote on the approval of the MWR local water systems. It's a long one. Assistance project LRP27-068. This is part of the community lead service line replacement. Um if you want a little context to it, it's um represents phase three of the town of Arlington's comprehensive lead service line replacement program. So this loan uh is for $1 million from the MWR. The funding is going to be in the form of an interestfree loan for the town. It will be repaid to the MWR in 10 equal installments over 10 years. The installments are $100,000 each. And the initial loan repayment, it will commence uh on August 15, 2027. So that's sort of the basic outline for this loan, and I present it respectfully for you to consider and hopefully vote approval of. Mrs. Mahan. >> Thank you, Madam Treasur. Nice to welcome you. And please don't take my lack of any comments or questions to mean anything, but you've done such a great job and your staff has has done that I don't have any. So, I'd like to make a motion to approve the >> sale of a $1 million water bond with the distributions of funds planned for August 27th, 2026. >> Correct. Second. All right, we have a motion to approve by Mrs. Mahan, seconded by Mrs. Solomon. All those in favor say I. I. >> All those opposed. Unanimous vote. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. >> Right. Next, we have a proclamation. Item number four, Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness 2.0 program community liaison. Mr. Morgan. >> Good evening. >> David Morgan, environmental planner. Thank you for having me. I didn't prepare any remarks because I sing this group's praises wherever I go. I have been in regional settings where other municipalities have looked to this group's leadership to identify the needs of priority communities, folks who are immigrants, might not speak English as their first language, elderly, lowincome, etc. Um that the state has selected and sort of designated as the focus populations for the new version of the municipal vulnerability preparedness program. So we had a set of half a dozen or so community liaison in Arlington working to reach those communities and they open doors for us. I mean the planning department has new connections, deepened connections with those communities and the town in general and I have to say they're just fabulous people. They became friends with one another through this process and it was a delight to see them come together and you know bring their communities together in support of the project that we pursued. In the end the project we pursued was cooling centers at a couple locations throughout town. They identified the need. They basically put the program together in conversation with our consultants and the town and we are off and running. We've had several successive heat waves this summer and they are being used I'm happy to say. Um they are doing their job and so it's a total success and it really owes to the community liaison and residents of our community who who made it happen. >> Thank you. And we do have a proclamation here and it says whereas by 2080 Arlington's climate could closely resemble that of Baltimore in 2026 if emissions are sharply reduced or Memphis if not making summer days in Arlington potentially 4 to 11° Fahrenheit hotter and winters 5 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit warmer. And whereas climate projections predict as many as 64 days of temperatures over 90 degrees Fahrenheit by 2080, worsened by urban conditions that could elevate local temperatures a further 15°. And whereas extreme heat often results in the highest annual number of deaths among all weather related disasters. And whereas Arlington residents are not affected by climate change equally with older adults, people with disabilities, youth, immigrants, and people who speak English as a second language rendered more vulnerable. And whereas municipal action on climate change has often lacked the perspectives of priority communities like those named above, a trend the Commonwealth seeks to rectify through the municipal vulnerability preparedness 2.0 program. And whereas the town of Arlington received the support of the MVP 2.0 program to develop a social resilience initiative responding to extreme heat. now launched at three cooling centers under the cool and connected program. And whereas cool and connected was initiated, researched, planned, coordinated, and successfully executed with exemplary talent by a team of six community members serving as liaison to the priority populations of which they are members. And now therefore be it resolved that we the members of the select board do hereby recognize Blanca Allen, Anna Andred, Graciiela Koreah, Ellen Lee, Timothy Olirri, and Snanu for their yearslong effort to protect all those affected by extreme heat resulting from climate change. We honor and thank them for their service on behalf of all of the town's community members. And with that, I'll turn to the board for any questions, comments, or motions. Mr. Hen, >> thank you. I would like to enthusiastically move approval. Um, thank these wonderful volunteers and their leader, Mr. Morgan, for everything you do for the town. The MVP program is little known and it really is really important for exactly the reasons that you and the and the proclamation um mentioned. So, I appreciate the opportunity to spread the word about that, but especially about their work. So, thank you. >> No. >> Um, I will second it and say thank you to Mr. Morgan in the planning department for coordinating with um Hington Eats, Calvary Church, and St. John's Episcopal Church um for for getting this together. And I want to say at least since August 4th on my different social media pages, I've gotten um over 30 hits um from seniors alone >> um not only thanking for this but reaching out to get information um about these centers. Um and I know there's also something under our consent um >> agenda regarding uh is it wayfairing wayfairing um >> uh wayfinding? Yeah. in order to more publicize the locations so that if you're not on Dian Mahans, not that you have to be social media, but you can go to the town's website page, um you can click on health and human services. I believe you can click on the planning department as well as I'm sure they have information at St. John's um Calvary Church with a V and um Arlington Eats. And one of the things that um you and I were talking about in the stairway one of these days that I finagangled you to the side is that um not only is it a cooling center for people to get cool um it really is turning into sort of a neighbor social um opportunity. Um, and it's really been part of what people, you know, in light of everything in terms of day-to-day struggles and we have the override, but then I hear from people, but this is one of the things that I do love about Arlington and why I do want to stay here is because of programs like this. Um, so it is um already pretty well known. Um and I'm also amazed by the different number of people who are also um most all nonprofits that are also on the heat in the midst of heatweights are also getting this information out. So um you've built a great foundation um along with the names that Mr. Her just read and and those three entities and I look forward to um continue to grow that program and getting the word out. Thank you. >> So we have a motion approved by Miss Talmouth, second by Mrs. Mahan. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Unanimous vote. >> Thank you very much. >> That brings us to our consent agenda. It's items number five through item 14 on our posted agenda. Any of the items can be viewed there on the town agendas website. I'll turn to the board. Action on the consent agenda. Move approval. Second. So we have a motion approved by Mr. Helmet, seconded by Mrs. Solomon. All those in favor say I. I. >> I. All those opposed. Unanimous vote. Item number 15. We have a public hearing. We have the sharply dressed Mr. Mer presenting on behalf of the cable advisory committee. >> Uh good evening members of the board. Uh I have with me tonight Joseph Weise who's a member long-standing member of the cable advisory committee. Uh tonight's uh is phase three of the ascertainment process which precedes the negotiation uh for the three cable licenses in town. Two of the phases have been accomplished already. Those interviews with stakeholders has been uh accomplished as well as a townwide survey ablely handled by Ashley and her staff. Uh we are convened a third phase tonight which is the ascertainment hearing. The ascertainment hearing is uh is pursued preser pursuant to chapter 168A of the general laws 207 CMR 300 at SEC and 47 United States code section 546. Uh, I'd like the public record to reflect that by that by default the cable companies and the town have elected the informal procedure to date, but we reserve the right, the town reserves the right to revert to the formal procedure in the case to already contentious issues during the negotiations. There are two purposes of the ascertainment hearing tonight. One is for you as the licensing board to hear from the community as to what the community's cable needs are. And secondly, uh to hear from the community what are the cable company how are the cable companies addressing these needs. Uh the report after of the cable advisory committee will be made available to you at your next meeting which I think is on September 14th. It will be available for the public to look at uh and comment on and we'll have a short hearing on the 14th of September which presumably your board will accept with any amendments you choose to have uh the formal ascertainment report. Then it will be communicated to the cable companies. It'll tell the cable companies what the town is looking for in the renegotiations. Uh Comcast license has is in a holdover status. Their license expired in June. Um Verizon expires next March and uh a down RCN expires in September or vice versa, one of those. Um the uh if all goes according to plan on October 5th, you will adopt the report and negotiations led by the town manager or any member of the board who would like to participate will proceed. Uh I could I just ask before uh the public gets up and whether or not any members of the cable companies are present. Would you be kind? No. Cable companies. No, I I don't think that they didn't come last time either. Uh that's all uh Mr. Chairman and uh look forward to hearing from the community at this time. >> Why don't I just say can we check >> Zoom if any members of the cable companies are here if they could use the raise hand function on their Zoom application attorney Cing. >> Thank you Mr. Chair. I just want to know I I reached out to the different representatives from each of the three companies and notified them of the the process that was beginning tonight and it was you know to opportunity to be here but it was not my understanding that they intended to present formally tonight but they thank you for the thank the board for the opportunity. All right and before we open this up for public comment do any members of the board have any questions specifically for Mr. Mah attorney Mah. All right. So, this is a public hearing. If any me persons in the chamber would like to speak, you can line up behind the microphone here. If you are in Zoom and would like to speak on this item, you can use the raise hand function in your Zoom app right now. Attorney Leone. >> So, there'll be a threeminut time limit on public comments. >> Good evening. I'm John Leone, president of ACMI. Uh we've been the president since we got our first license and the first ascertainment so many years ago. Um this is the third time we've gone through it and we're hoping that the town of Arlington is just as diligent in pursuing um everything that ACMI needs in order to keep fulfilling our duties and our services that we've been providing to the town. Norman and his staff here. I'm here with Nor Mloud, our executive director, who's been there as long as I have. Um they have done a ascertainment report, which you all have, which um both electronically and in paper that details out everything that ACMI does for the town and why the town needs us. Um there was just a couple things that I wanted to bring up before Norm starts to talk. ACMI, as you know, desperately is in need of funds. This is where we get our money. Um, federal government allows the 5% of the cable bills. We're to go towards our operation that we get that. We've always got that. We're going to ask that the town continue to negotiate and demand that we get that full 5% operating funds. What I'm further interested in is two items. The first is the capital as part of the contract negotiations with the um cable companies. They all want to be on a level playing field. They currently aren't. Um they have different capital funding that they give us. We would like to see that they all do get on a leveler playing field. However, um for example, Verizon has been paying us 50. Now, Comcast has been giving us $50,000 a year for the last 10 years. In that time, the cumulative inflation has been 40%. So, our $50,000 in today's dollars would be 70,000. So, when you're negotiating, please get us more money for capital because our equipment, these cameras, those TVs, they cost us more money and we can't continue to buy them. and the the equipment in our studio itself, our switching equipment, our computers, our gear is all in need of replacement on a current basis. And the last thing I want to bring up is HD channels. Comcast is not broadcasting in HD. I mean, really, in 2026, they're not giving us HD. Verizon is giving us one HD station. Um, RCA Sound is all on all three of the stations are HD. So, the other two should also be giving us HD. I mean, who has standard anymore? Can you even buy a TV that's not standard? It It's It's ridiculous. So, I'm With that said, unless you have questions, I'm going to turn it over to Norm and let him give his spiel. >> 2 minutes and 57 seconds. Very impressive. Okay, thanks very much for Norm Mloud, executive director for ACMI. Just first of all, I want to thank the supporters who are here tonight. Number one, and also those who sent in letters of support which we have included in the ascertainment report and I trust that you all have you all have the ascertainment report. Um, also one sidebar here, ACMI was created in 2006 when I was first hired. It's now 26. We're going to have a 20-y year birthday coming up in October. So stay tuned. All right. But anyway, this the staff and I really have been astonished and in all honesty, we've been very humbled by the words of praise for ACMI that you can read in the ascertainment report. It's staff. They're they're praising the staff and for its coverage of places and events in Arlington and we try and cover as you know everything. So check out the full letters if you go to the website um on our website and it would be under documents on our website as part of its mission to remain focused on Arlington. ACMI see ACMI tries to support democracy obviously coverage of meetings like this and community involvement with it coverage of government meetings, elections, school events, concerts, sports and of course graduations and town day. Those Arlingtonians who cannot attend these events because of distance time or disability can attend in fact because of our coverage. Additionally, with local journalism rapidly vanishing, ACMI provides hyper local news coverage every week. In fact, we just received a national award for our coverage uh for stations within our budget range. We're very pleased about that. First time in 20 years, quite frankly, we keep trying. 20 years came up. We also connect with people in with with local organizations such as the Robbins Library, Council on Aging, the Arlington Center for the Arts, and of course, local businesses. And whether you're a resident, a student, intern, or volunteer, ACMI teaches invaluable skills that cannot be learned in a classroom. In fact, some of our ACMI students have have gone on to professional careers in broadcasting based on what they've learned at ACMI and they come back and volunteer just to help out. Certainly, ACMI has grown over the last 10 years since the last ascertainment report and our programming and coverage has increased. The request for our services has increased. uh footprint in town has increased. And of course, the cost of professional staff and the cost of keeping equipment up to date has increased dramatically. With inflation increasing, the cost of equipment coupled with decreasing capital funding. The cost of updating just one of our video servers would be the entire year's capital budget. One server, that's our what we've got for capital budgeting right now. It too has decreased. capital budgeting has decreased in the same way the operational funding of 5%. It is 5% it's 5% of those cable subscribers who are cutting the cable. So unfortunately cable cutting continues as most people decide to view their programs through streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix and Disney instead of cable. As a result, ACMI's funding has dramatically decreased since we received 5% of the three cable operators income, which is derived from cable subscriptions, which are declining. I repeat myself purposely. However, we do not receive any funding from any streaming service at all. Even though we program, we stream all of our programming, we do not get any money from the other streaming services. In fact, a lot of folks when we looked at the survey, a lot of folks didn't even know that we were on YouTube. That we they didn't know that we were streaming. They don't know how to contact us. What we have to correct that we're planning to correct that certainly. So, considering the increased increasing cost but the decreasing revenues, it's crucial that the three cable providers maintain the 5% funding that they currently provide and increase the capital equipment funding to allow us to stay up to date. Now, as John mentioned before, in addition, 10 years ago, we asked for our programs to be distributed uh on HD channel, but only RCA again RCN agreed to have all three channels go HD. Verizon again only agreed to one. Comcast natada, nothing. Didn't agree to any and it currently only is in standard definition. What their claim was, it was basically too difficult technically. That was 10 years ago. >> Mr. ML I I stopped your clock, but if you could just wrap up. >> Okay, we're wrapping up right now. >> 10 years ago, we asked the cable provided for electronic channel guide for ACMI programming. They didn't agree to it, saying it was too difficult. It should be easy now. Let's put it that way. So in conclusion, over the last 10 years, we feel the ACMI has more than satisfied the contractual requirements with the town and we wish to continue serving the town of Arlington with highquality programming. We hope that the town and the cable providers will agree to our requests in order for our ACMI to quote remain focused on you. >> Thank you. >> Have any questions? >> Nope. Is there any other members of the in the chamber that would like to speak on this public hearing? Going once, going twice, with no hands. >> Yep. Can you just introduce yourself for the record? >> Sure. Hi there. I'm Tommy Shennfield. I'm a member of Arlington Community Media. I have been for the past 10 years and I'm a lifelong resident of Arlington as well. So, I've been here for 25 years since I was born. And I just wanted to to come here today to talk about how immensely impactful Arlington Community Media has been on my life. I first started volunteering in 9th grade and I, you know, met so many friends and, you know, fellow volunteer staff members there. And now 10 years later, I work at Boston Neighborhood Network teaching radio production, media production to a new generation of people. And I think it's just hard to quantify the impact of spaces like Arlington Community Media where I didn't only learn again media production skills. I learned to be civically involved. I w I've never honestly set room I've never set foot in this room before today. And I'm here because I care so much about ACMI. I've been to the state house to talk about supporting community media in our commonwealth. And I've gotten, you know, to talk to to Sean Garbbley and different people about the importance of what we do. And I just think we we should think about, you know, as we look at this 10-year review, who are the people right now who are in high school at Arlington High who might becoming members at ACMI right now who 10 years from now could be out there spreading the message of, you know, the the support that Arlington has provided for them and creating, you know, model citizens that will go out there to to talk about important issues. And I I think I'm rambling a little bit, but I I just really want to emphasize that the the services the Arlington Community Media provide go so much beyond only providing cable. It's providing, you know, educational services and really community feeling involved in Arlington and feeling a part of something. And I think it goes to show the number of people that have turned out today. Can can are the people who are here for AC? Am I allowed to stand up or something to to show the to show how many people are here? >> Can't stop someone from standing up. Yeah. >> Yeah. And again, not not one person from the cable companies are here and we have, you know, most of the audience is filled with people from ACMI. And I just hope that, you know, beyond the the numbers and statistics, you can see how many people care so deeply about this. And yeah, thank you. And if you can just introduce yourself for the record. >> Oh, wrong courtroom. Sterling Smith. >> Go ahead. >> Uh, uh, 20 years resident of Arlington. Longtime Massachusetts resident. Uh, I've met more people since I joined ACMI than I've met in Arlington at all. If id known how to do this when I was in, I don't know, 10th grade, I'd be a star by now. These people are amazing. They're open-minded. I've met more variety of people than I have anywhere else. I've been on a couple of talk shows. I tried to produce a show, but the stars left me. Um Jeff and company and even before that, um were more than willing to help me do anything. They answered all my email questions. Um, and it's a very important access. Oh, visibility. That's what I wanted to say. I wouldn't have known. I didn't even know about Arlington community seven years ago, and I don't even know how I met. Oh, I know how I met you. But, um, I think it's a wonderful resource. I think every town should have one. I've gone to Cambridge, uh, CCTV in Cambridge, Somerville, Medford. They're all having the same issues, but I think the ACMI one is probably doing the best. They've got a great production production team and they're open-minded and they let me talk. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Hi, I'm Rajie Kartian. Um 31-year resident of Arlington. I learned about ACMI about 10 years ago but really started volunteering. I don't work for ECMI. I'm a volunteer parent started during co because that was the best best way to get in front of and watch my kids play soccer when no parents were allowed. I still volunteer and with the support of Jeff and everyone I've cover most of the sports and volunteer all my time on sports. um educating the kids who come there for training thanks to a lot of great youth coordinators at the back there. Um for those who uh want some statistics, the Arlington uh boys hockey team who has gone twice to the semi-finals, we had about 3,000 simultaneous viewers on YouTube watching the game globally. So that just gives you an idea and that's all Arlington community. I'm going to continue my volunteer work across the variety of sports that are there in the high school. My kids are out of school. The last one just left. So continue the support as much as the town can give. I always give my time as much as I can give and some donations whenever I can. Thank you. >> Yep. Is there anybody else in the chamber that would like to speak? All right. And seeing no hands in Zoom, that will close the public portion of this hearing. I'll turn to the board for any questions, comments, or motions. Mrs. Mahan. >> Um, it do we need a motion right now or no? Not until October. Okay. Um, >> thank you, Mr. Attorney Cunningham. Just to close the public hearing. >> Okay. I I just want to say before we do that, um, I want to thank everybody who's here. And yes, we did get, um, a copy, somebody colorcoordinated their shirt. >> Job well done. Um, and we all are very appreciative of of ACMI, including way back to when it was on Mystic Street and it was Continental Cable. And I remember working with Jim Clemens. Um, some of you may know that you youngans who don't um ask ask other people about that when uh Jim Clemens was really a pioneer. And I'm always so appreciative of all the volunteers. As a testament to that, my very first photo on my camera roll is Jeff Monroe and was it S? Not Sarah. Um, it because I was down coaching cheerleaders down at the high school and I left my phone there and ACMI was down there volunteering, covering the game and they took the best picture ever. So whenever I do any of those things that says send your first picture on the camera roll. Um, so I I can't thank you all volunteering enough and I know you don't do it for the thanks. You certainly don't do it for the pay. Um but uh I know the town appreciates different facets of what's offered and a lot of it is sharing in community events and for some people whether it's sporting events whether it's local government whether it's town day which that's an amazing production every year that ACMI and volunteers you know you don't get to sleep for two days solid easy um and and just what goes into that um so many people experience erience some of the best of Arlington by not even actually being at the event but feeling like they are. Um, and it's because of what all the volunteers with ACMI have done and will continue to do because town day is coming up real soon. And thank you Sean down in the uh booth downstairs for taking care of this meeting tonight. So, and thank you all for being here. Sorry, >> Mr. Chairman. Could I just ask the supporters to raise their hand so I can get a count for the public record? >> Sure. You're here to support ACMI. >> ACMI. >> It's like an old school town meeting. >> That's what I was trying to remember. I'm like, what is this reminding me of? >> 20. >> Thank you. >> 21. >> Oh, sorry. Did we raise our hand? >> I think I think we're the hearing. So, >> all right. >> You need a motion to close the hearing. >> We need a motion to close the hearing. >> So, moved. >> Second. Motion to close the public hearing by Ms. Helmet, second by Mrs. Mahan. All those in favor say I. >> All those opposed. Public hearing is closed. Any additional comments. Thank everyone for coming. We due to ACMI, we get to broadcast to the millions and millions of viewers who watch our meetings a week. So you are a star now. So, we certainly appreciate everything that ACMI does for us, for the town, for the sports teams. I I love to watch the Sometimes I don't feel like going down to Ed Burns and the production quality of the coverage of the Arlington High hockey game is just as good as watching Bruins on Netson. So, thank you for everyone that does that. So, thank you all. And, uh, that will take us to our next agenda item. If you're going to file out, please do so relatively quietly. That will take us to item number 16. Under appointments, we have permanent town building committee, David Last and Su Jin Suyu. If I can have you both come up if they're here or if you're in the in Zoomland, we can promote you. >> I've promoted um Mr. the last. >> Okay. >> Good evening, Mr. Lass. >> Good evening. >> Welcome. If you could just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your interest in the permanent town building committee. >> Yes. Uh my name is uh David Last. I've lived in Normington for four years now. Um my son is eight, attends the Thompson uh middle school. Um, I've worked in uh real estate for um over 20 years now. Um, doing development, property management. Um, as well as uh consulting and owner project management work. Um, this felt like a good way hopefully to use uh the skills that I have to um give back to this community. Since uh we've moved here, um we've really enjoyed um the the neighbors, the community, um you know, walking to our school, having uh you know, the kids be able to bike down the street and you know, wave to their friends as they walk by. Um, so we we really value it um as a family and um I'm looking forward to um try and find a small way to um give back and um you know make sure that the capital projects that are you know within the purview of the board go as um well and efficiently as possible. >> Thank you. And I should have noted at the beginning that we actually don't have to vote on this appointment. They've already been appointed by a threeperson committee. It was myself, the chair of the school committee and the chair of the finance committee. But this was an opportunity to introduce our new members. If turn to the board for any comments, questions. >> Thank you, Miss Lass. >> Thank you. >> And is Sujin here? I don't see her on Zoom, although there's a phone number that just jumped in. Sujin, if you are here and you are in Zoom, please use the raise hand function. All right, we'll take we'll keep a look out to see if Susan jumps on the Zoom. That will take us to parking advisory committee, Andrew Brody. And I see that Mr. Brody is in Zoom. >> Hello everybody. if you could just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your interest in the park advisory committee. >> Uh yeah, hi, my name is Andy Brody. I'm a resident of Arlington for 26 years. Uh I'm also an architect here in town. Um and I teach uh architecture and interior design up at Endicott College. And um you know, basically I've been serving on town meeting for a couple of years and really was looking for a way to uh get a little more involved. Um, and among other things, I I teach uh lighting and I uh had a nice discussion with uh Mr. Beanie earlier about the the street lighting and some some glare problems that uh that came up. And anyway, the parking uh advisory committee seemed like a good place to uh get started and maybe, you know, make make a small difference in town. >> Thank you. Turn to the board for any question, comments, and a motion on this one. Mr. Helmet. >> Thank you. uh move approval. Uh just double-checking that you really want to get involved in parking in Arlington because it's it's not at all a controversial or passionate issue that people feel about. >> Yeah, I usually try to stay in my lane with this kind of thing, but you know, parking parking will work fine, >> so to speak. That was a pretty good pun. Um no, but you know, joking aside though, something you learned very quickly uh joining the select board is that people are passionate about their trash and they're passionate about parking. And that's as it should be because a lot of the function of the local government is to get things like that right. And they're hard. >> They're complicated. We never have enough resources. We can't please everybody. They're limited resources. And parking is a really good example of that. We spend a lot of time thinking about and hearing from folks uh with competing needs and desires about what parking should look like. And frankly, we need all the help we can get. So I appreciate what advice you're about to bring us and thank you for stepping up. >> Thank you. My pleasure. Yeah, this I think um fellow precinct 16 town meeting member um >> yeah, I I think this is a great time for somebody who is is skilled and thoughtful and interested in a subject to get into it, especially parking. Um you know, we've got a little bit of a discussion that involves parking later tonight. Um, it comes up, I think there's a concurrent meeting that's probably going to have impacts on parking when we talk about the design of town, the buildings that we build. Um, so it is a a fun and and passionate topic as Mr. Helmouth said. So, thank you for volunteering. >> Again, my my pleasure. Can't can't wait for the the fund to start. >> Yes. >> Is that a second? >> Oh, second. Yeah. I didn't know we're approving. >> All right. >> I look forward to working with you. >> Okay. You're lucky it's called the parking advisory committee now and not still the parking implementation governance committee which I think I say that every time we have a new member but we're looking forward to some new members because usually you know right now it's just I think me one other person and all town staff so it'll be good to have some resident input and I hope you're ready to start talking about parking meters. >> Oh J can't wait. >> We have a motion to approve by Mr. Helmouth second by Mr. Solomon. All those in favor say I. >> I. All those opposed unanimous vote. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Commissioner for Arts and Culture, Dileia Darnish. >> I see Miss Darnish is on Zoom. >> Good evening. If you could just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your interests in the Commission for Arts and Culture. >> Yeah. Uh, so my name is Dia Tharnes. I use she her pronouns and I'm currently the education of the programs director at Arlington Center for the Arts. Um, Arlington Center for the Arts has always liked to have a staff member on on the Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture. Uh, so that we make sure that we are working as a nonprofit and as a a government commission together to promote the arts and culture in Arlington. Um, I'm an Arlington resident for about 2 years. Um, and I am excited by the opportunity to continue to promote, grow, and develop the arts in Arlington. Um, and continue to find ways to invite the community to participate. >> Thank you. I'll turn to the board for any questions, comments, or motions. Motion to approve. Motion to approve by Mr. Solomon. Seconded by second, >> Mr. Helmouth. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. All those opposed unanimous vote. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> All right. That takes us to open forum. Except in unusual circumstances, any man matter presented for consideration of the board shall neither be acted upon nor decision made the night of the presentation in accordance with the policy under which the open forum was established. It should be noted that there's a three minute time li three minute time limit to present a concern or request. If you're here for open forum, we can just form a line behind this microphone here. And if you'd like to speak on open forum on Zoom, then please use the raise hand function in your Zoom app now. Thank you. And if you could just introduce yourself for the record. >> Hello, my name is Dale Duran. My husband Luke and I live at 66 Palmer Street. I also respectfully ask the select board for six minutes, three for myself and three for my husband who sees his time to uh speak to the challenges of the six families that we'd like to talk to you about tonight. >> So, we do three minutes per person. So, he can come up or you can use your three minutes. >> Okay. Get up and take over halfway through. apologize, but if we start doing that, then it becomes chaos. And >> thought I'd give it a show for last time. You know, >> do my best impression. >> First, I want to thank you in advance for what we hope is a vote in favor of raising the parking uh cap uh permit cap later this meeting. Uh the vote would represent real progress. I also want to ask you for help because there are still things about the raised cap doesn't fix. And I'll tell you about those challenges by sharing some stories from my street. My neighbors and I live in three consecutive houses at the corner of Palmer and Warren in East Arlington. Every single one of the houses has a tandem driveway and they're multifamilies. So, take a second to think about what that actually means. If the car in front needs to move, that means somebody has to come down the stairs, either move all the cars all at once by themselves one by one, or closely coordinate if your neighbors are home at that time to swap all the cars at the same time. So, the first house, Bethany and Sam are recent college grads and live in the downstairs unit. Various tenants have occupied the upstairs unit over the years, and there is one tandem driveway. Two and a half years ago, there were four working, driving adults between those two units. The top unit was home to two shift workers, who often are not considered when we think about who needs to move their cars. A tandem driveway does not work when the car in the back stack pulls out at 3:00 a.m. and the person blocking it is asleep. The car that needs to be out in the middle of the night is also rarely the last car in. So Bethany and Sam often parked in the street. And at one point they were given tickets. Seven nights in one week. That's 14 tickets between two cars. That's 14 tickets between two cars. So one of the nights Bethany even filled out the town's waiver and they still got tickets anyway. So now a second version of that problem at the same address. Today, the upstairs unit is home to a couple in their 80s, and one of them is seriously ill. So, Bethany and Sam seated the driveway to the couple upstairs to make it easier on them. Bethany and Sam still each have a car, and both still park in the street every night, and they still get ticketed for it. And that's $50 to $100 a month at minimum between their two cars. And that's $600 to $1,200 a year for recent college grads. The permit uh Sam and Bethany cannot get unless the cap is raised tonight cost $365. And this means that they're fined more than a permit costs every year for letting their sick and elderly neighbors keep the driveway. And here's what I also learned today, which surprised me. Until this afternoon, when I asked them about their story, Bethany and Sam didn't know the permit program existed. So that means years of those tickets and nobody told them there was another option. Uh the second house, that's our house. Uh Don and Mad live in the downstairs unit. Mad works two full-time jobs and is also a shift worker. So whether he can get out of get his car out in the middle of the night to go to work depends on who parked last, which is almost certainly not him. We live upstairs with my husband, with my wife. For years, we had one car and one off street space. We did not apply for a permit last year, even though it would have been convenient for us. Instead, we left it for someone who needed it more. About a year ago, her mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I and her are her caregivers, and she lives up in Methuan. Some nights I'm homes. Uh sometimes I'm at the hospital and I This is so confusing. >> She's at the I'm at the hospital. >> She's at the hospital and I'm at her house taking care of her dogs. This doesn't happen on a schedule. It doesn't tend to line up with when Don and Mid need to get out because we share that driveway. um to get by with our new normal, we needed to get a second car, but by then the permits were gone and there was no waiting list and no permits are reserved for those and so no permits are reserved for those whose needs may arise outside of January. So our options have been to engage in this process, attend these meetings, ask to be added to the agenda, which we were told can take up to 4 to 6 weeks, or wait until January until the permits reset or get ticketed. The third house, John and Audrey own it and live upstairs. Their tenants rent the downstairs. John and Audrey have two cars. One belong to their daughter who's a college student, and their tenants each have a car. So again, it's four cars, one tandem driveway, and their tenants have been taken in waves since 2021. The takeaway is that between the three houses, you have six households. All of those six households have two cars. The town allows one permit per household, and if you're lucky enough to get one, it's attached to one car, which won't always be the car that needs to be on the street that night. This means that even now, even if tonight's vote raises the cap, this program can make overnight parking lawful for only about half the vehicles for the families I just told you about. And there are still more stories about Arlington residents who need to park overnight and have no viable path. Like a resident who drives a company car, but is ineligible for a permit program because she doesn't own the vehicle she needs to park. Last thing, she's a lawyer and a native speaker. And even then, she had a hard time understanding our options from the town's materials. So, on behalf of my neighbors and myself and my wife, I'm asking the select board for four things. Make the program more visible and clear. Bring together Arlington department heads to find common sense solutions to the administrative and practical constraints facing the permit program like snow emergencies and safe streets. Put forth a plan that meets the needs of all Arlington residents. And please consider the rest of our what the rest of Arlington looks like if one corner of our street looks like this. Thank you for your time. Thank you. All right. If there is anyone else in the chamber that would like to speak in open forum. I don't believe we have anyone on Zoom. And you have a three minutes starting now. Thank you. I'm Stephanie Ford. I live at 12 Lachland uh in precinct 8. I was a town meeting member for 10 years. I've lived in Arlington for 19 years and I'm going to speak a little about the Arlington Historical Commission. Um, I've owned and stewarded more than one historic home in my time. Um, I'm here speaking to you as the body who appoints and approves the commissioners for the Arlington um, historical commission. Um, I want the historical commission to be uh strong and to have a vibrant function and to be something that we can all be proud of. And I hope that in whatever time I have left living in Arlington that I can uh contribute to that and lay a groundwork for others. Um, people struggle under the bur burden of the requirements of the Arlington Historical Commission. And as you know with many stories that people tell that burden falls un unequally on the disabled, the elderly, the economically disadvantaged. Um, people live in a lot of fear of the Arlington Historical Commission. That's one thing that I want to eliminate so that everyone can be happier together. They live under the impression that the commission can take control over the exterior of any house at any time in any neighborhood. Um, a question that I have to you to share with everyone, um, is that actually true? Can three unelected people place any neighborhood under town control? And what I mean by that is that in 2018, over a thousand people who lived on eight streets in one neighborhood called the Arlington High School South Neighborhood, received a letter saying, "The Arlington Historical Commission now has control over the exterior of your home, including the authority to issue a demolition delay." In the same year, the Select Board did not move to expand the demolition delay. In the same year that the town meeting who was on town meeting did not move to expand the demolition delay and in the same year that the consultants the town paid to work with the commission said you are not acting in an appropriate and legal manner and they did it anyway. How does this work? If I said at the Arlington Historical Commission meeting last week, a quorum of commissioners voted to place all the homes on Apple Street, Howard Street, Grand View onto this list and to take control of your exterior. I left somebody out. I don't know who. Hillside. Is that okay? And is that how it works? What would you say to your next door neighbor? Can this commission do this? And is this how it works? I'm asking for you to share please with the town to make a more friendly environment for the historical commission and all of us to let us know how does it work. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. Is there anyone else in the chamber that would like to speak in open forum? I look one more time but if anyone in Zoom would like to speak, please raise your hand now. If not, that will close our open forum. Let me get back to my agenda. All right, that takes us to item 17, presentation and discussion, design of Park Avenue intersection with Paul Rivere Road in Wallist A. We have our T manager Jimini. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Denafhrio stand. pleased to have a presentation on the Park A corridor project this evening which as the board may recall targeted redesigning three unsalized intersections on Park A to improve safety and accessibility and they included those with Oakland A, Appleton Street and the primary focus of tonight which will be the intersection with Wallist and Paul Rivere. Uh, as a reminder, there was clear consensus following the public input phase of this project on the preferred final concepts for Oakland and Appleton Street intersections, which we will see tonight. As a reminder, uh, these intersections those those intersections were much simpler and the final concepts did not uh, introduce any turn restrictions, nor did they impact parking in any way. We now have cost estimates for those projects and intend on putting them into the town's construction pipeline using uh capital funds hopefully as soon as next year. Uh tonight we are seeking the board's feedback on three potential design concepts for the larger more complex intersection at the bottom of the hill. Uh this intersection uh notably houses a significant amount of MWR infrastructure as well which complicates things further. Uh so the next step would be once we have consensus on a preferred uh design concept we will be able to advance that concept to a final design stage and will put us uh in a position to figure out how to go about implementing it. Uh so the concepts you will see tonight do not necessitate any amendments to the town's underlying parking regulations or traffic rules and orders because the changes would effectively be forced by the built environment. But nevertheless uh obviously in collaborative spirit do want to get the board's uh feedback and questions and would welcome a vote if board members were comfortable doing so at this juncture. but we could certainly uh provide additional information as necessary. So with that, I would turn it over to our uh design team from Stantech, including engineer and principal Elise Denrio and urban mobility planner Erin Cameron Gilchrist. >> Hi, good evening. Uh if you just go to the next slide, um quick agenda. Erin and I are going to go back and forth through this presentation. Uh we want to present to you the background of the project, the challenges of the corridor, even though we weren't looking at the whole corridor, but just trying to, you know, take a look at each of these intersections while keeping in mind the context of the corridor, uh what our options are for the redesign. I do have a couple slides in here that we can go over the intersections that were finalized and then we can go through the options uh that we have for the larger intersection at the bottom of the hill. And then we'll also run through design restrictions just to kind of cover our bases. And then at the end we'll we can summarize um next steps and take any questions. Next slide. So a lot of this material is going to be some that we presented at a public meeting back in March of 2025 when we spoke with the community brought some of this existing conditions information and really heard from them what their challenges are. Parkav was also identified through the connect Arlington process as a corridor that really needed both vehicle driving and pedestrian safety improvements. So that's the lens that we're coming to. The next slide just shows some of the quotes that were pulled from the Arlington the connect Arlington process that's going to focus on these intersections that we've addressed. And you're going to see things like cars accelerating. We need formal parking as we heard earlier today. All of those are themes that we've kept in consideration of the design process. And then one more um background slide that just really focuses on the location of Park A in the broader Arlington context. So we know that there's a history of vehicle crashes here. We also know the proximity to the Otis Middle School and some of the other schools. We did a site visit out um in the spring of 2025 and the fall of 2024. We spoke with a family about their challenges here. We know that there's a high volume of students and kids that are using this corridor. We need to make sure that it's a safe environment at the intersections that we're talking about. So all of that, the background information, our public meeting led us to four priorities for the entire corridor, the three intersections, which are shown on the next slide, which is reduce vehicle speed, simplify intersections, create that safer walking environment, and create multimodal options. These were tested and agreed upon at our public meeting that had over 100 people here at city hall, here at town hall. Um, and at that meeting, we presented design approaches at the three intersections that you see on the screen here. And as Elise and Jim both alluded to, we've developed our preferred approaches for Appleton and Oakland that Ely will walk through. >> Yeah. So, the next slide I think is just our lead into these two. And then if you go one more, um, these are just screenshots of our design plans. I chose the pavement marking plans just because it's clearest about what is going on. But what we really wanted to highlight was um basically the changes that we're making at these intersections are the bumpouts which are highlighted in that peachy orange. And so what we looked at doing was bringing um putting curb extensions on, bringing the curbs out to close up those intersections and those crossings a bit more just to make them shorter and safer. And then another big thing we looked at is sorry that's okay. um is like could we put medians in the middle and therefore give folks a you know spot to stop in the middle if there is another car coming. Um you know one of the things that Aaron mentioned was uh a lot of cars are traveling at higher speeds through these intersections specifically because it's on that straightaway and they're starting to go downhill. So looking to give folks that spot where they can stop look again and make sure that they're able to make it all the way across. Um really the only difference between the two uh is on those I'll say on Apple because it's a slightly skewed intersection um looking to accommodate fire trucks. We met with um emergency services and we talked about what their concerns were. Essentially the noses out in the middle of the intersection on Oakland, those are going to be mountable curbs. So that way no problem a fire truck could get around there. They don't have to worry about making that turn. um they should be able to make it anyways on that one because it's it's a 90 degree intersection, but just to be sure. And then on Apple because of the skew, we decided to do um like a rumble strip instead of doing those raised islands just because that turn is tighter because of that skewed intersection there. So that's really the only um difference. But you can see what we're doing is we're trying to channel um folks so that they are able to cross within the crossing. the crossings are in the direct path of where they should be going across the street and then also cars are brought away from the center of the road at these areas. So that way they'll hopefully slow down as they approach these these intersections. So the next slide um this gets into now the bigger intersection that was not as straightforward and we had to look at some more things because of the large intersection box shown in red on the screen here. channelizing vehicles like you're able to do at the Park A um Appleton and Park AV Oakland intersections is much more complicated. If I was to just draw a line and said this is where cars should be driving, um the next slide shows them in black and you see a lot of excess space in white. The next slide's going to show this is empty space. It's not being used for vehicles. It's not being used for pedestrians. It's just causing a more complicated intersection. When intersections are more complicated, pedestrians don't know where they're supposed to cross. Vehicles don't know where they're supposed to look for pedestrians. You're inviting an opportunity for conflict. You're also inviting an opportunity for cars to race up the hill. If you go to the next slide, this is an observation that we've seen, I've experienced. Um, we know that folks in the community have experienced this as well with cars trying to beat someone who may be turning on wall and go around them to just get up the hill. This empty space is just causing an opportunity for something that we don't want to see happen at this intersection. Um, if you continue on to the next slide, we see that that's in all directions at this intersection. I do want to be mindful of the fact that this intersection at Paul Rivere is very close to Massav with the signal at Massav and Parkav and so we did do some observations to understand where are the vehicles queuing back to let's make sure that the design that we proposed doesn't cause an issue down the road that you'll then need to fix in a later design. Um so we did want to make sure we accommodated that. All of that being said, we had to come up with a new guiding principles or considerations for this intersection in particular. And the next slide shows that. The first one is to retain parking between Massav um and Park A. We know that these spaces are being used for the Arlington Heights business district. Um, Stantech most recently completed a parking study to support um, the Arlington Heights um, future parking benefits district and look into that. Um, so we want to make sure that we're continuing to accommodate parking in as much as much as we're able to in a formalized way. The second is to advance the complete streets prioritization plan that you all have supported. This is going to say that there should be protected bicycle facilities between Park A at Paul Rivere and Massav. So the the same stretch that we're talking about, we need parking. We also want to protect the bicyclists here in a way that provides a dedicated space for them to um travel. Maintain firet truck and emergency vehicle access, just as Elise mentioned at the other intersections is critical here. Um, and then you're going to see the designs are going to have some turning restrictions. And we want to make sure that we're continuing to maintain function at the Massav Park Park intersection if we add vehicles because of turn restrictions, but then also residents on all of the streets in the um surrounding area can still get home. Um, so Alise is going to talk through our three options that we have. >> Yeah. So, I'll go through these options in detail and then um Erin will follow up with some of the details of the restrictions and where we anticipate um vehicle movement. So, uh a couple things I want to bring up as we go through all three of these is there are similarities with all of them. We'll say the core of the intersection where Wallist, Park Gav, and Paul Rivere meet, the design is the same for all of them. When we were getting into this looking at really trying to make more impactful changes to this intersection, we decided we needed to then look down this last block going into to Massav because it's kind of a ripple effect because of the way Paul Rivere is offset from from the intersection. It's not your simple, you know, four-way intersection. There's extra legs on this one. So you can see in the middle we have at at the core intersection we have islands that we have made mountable. Again we're trying to restrict um you know movements channel folks into uh their lanes without having them have all that wide space. So making those areas mountable create it easier for you know emergency services um fire trucks ambulances to be able to get through there um in an emergency. Um that also again gives like a refuge area for pedestrians as they cross the street there. Those crossings in that vicinity of of Park A there at the the curve. Um sight distance is not great and they are very long. So people might already be out in the road before they realize a car is coming down the hill one way or up the hill the other way. Uh so that's one of the reasons for for looking to do that and close that up. So the main movements that we are restricting with this option is going to be left turns onto each leg of Paul Rivere from Park AB and that's because of those um medians that we're putting in the middle when we brought some of these options and these exact options were not brought to the public. We had variations of these and at that point our scope wasn't necessarily to go all the way down to the Massav intersection but that's kind of the catalyst that that got us to this place. um folks did not seem as um hesitant over the restriction, but folks were like, well, why can't we get a left turn at Massav because that would that would, you know, alleviate some of the concern of restricting those movements. Uh so that was something that we did not initially look at. We went back and we started um looking into that. So all three of these options show a left turn lane added to I'm going to say the downhill towards Massav. Um, so folks will be able to take a left on a Massav. Um, and then the other thing that I just want to say is, you know, one thing when we were looking at Park A is a lot of folks use Paul Rivere also as well as Park a as a cut through. And so people would do that awkward, you know, straight across straight through on Paul Rivere or just come down um and and take a quick left onto Paul Rivere. So, we think that eliminating some of those conflicts and those movements are what would help create just this safer space here for folks, you know, walking and or cycling. So, this first option, um, and I I'll say with the addition of the left turn lane, there is currently angled head-in parking on both sides of Parkav. So, with the left turn lane, we do not have the width to maintain the angled head-on head-in parking in both directions. So, we looked at maintaining it on I'm going to say the plan north side or the top side and then we transitioned on the bottom half or this plan south to parallel parking. Um, because our lanes are now a little narrower because we don't have as much space. We had to slightly shift the angle of those angled parking spots so folks can back out easily and pull in. Uh, so we do lose a few spaces on that side. And then obviously converting the uh angled parking on the plan south side. We are losing parking there because we're converting it to parallel from angled in. We there's also a driveway as you get closer to Massav. So that loses some spots at that location too. Um the one of the big differences with this one is this is the option that shows a protected bike lane in both directions. So we're looking at putting the bike lane on the other side of the parking. So the parking will be adjacent to our travel lanes, our vehicular, you know, travel lanes. And then behind the parking lanes will be the bike lanes and they would be raised in this situation. So the next slide shows our next option. And the only difference really here is that we looked at, you know, could we get any space back or do anything different? Would it help us in any way to put the bike lane on road? And it does not. It's the same exact design. The only difference is um that the bike lane would be on road. So it doesn't necessarily match and of the two, you know, option A would be preferred because we're allowed to separate that. The third option we looked at, well, what if we flop everything and do the angled parking? Um if you just go Oh, is it slow? Thanks. Um if you put the parking on the plan south side um as angled headend so going downhill on park a and then we made um parallel parking on the plan north side. Uh similar to the first option these both show that the um bike lane would be separated and therefore behind the parking. So it would be you know aligning with the complete streets prioritization. um this loses an extra spot again because there's that driveway on the south side. So, we can't get as many spots in there. So, to maximize the parking in this vicinity, um you know, we would recommend the first option which keeps the angled parking on the top side. Um, one option that we are looking at that Erin is going to run through tonight is looking at um, you know, doing some more formalized parking on on Paul Rivere Road to help alleviate some of, you know, this parking loss or what we're looking at as a as a parking loss in this area. So, the next slide is just a summary of the three comparisons. So it shows uh the number of parking spaces we're able to retain in each option, the parking spaces lost and then whether it meets the complete streets plan. Uh so essentially we're losing 11 spaces um in the first two options and then there'll be the additional loss of one in um the third option. The second option doesn't necessarily meet the complete streets prioritization plan because it does not have protected bike lanes in both directions. So that's just a quick comparison. Erin's going to run through um the remaining talking about the restrictions, the turning restrictions, and then we can take questions at the end. We'll come back to parking. Um when we talk about the turn restrictions because of the median, I want to make it very clear at the beginning, this is only for your general vehicle. Because these are mountable islands, emergency vehicles would be able to make all the moves that they currently make. Um this is just for your everyday driver trying to res restrict those through um vehicles that are using park app and Paul Rivere as a cut through. So because the left is going to be restricted if you're coming down the hill and you live on Paul Rivere um Paul Rivere to the left of Park app. So you're trying to make that left going downhill. You can't do that anymore. So, there's going to be a need to go through the neighborhood or go down to Massav and make a left and then work your way back up. Um, we recognize that. We wanted to provide some of those graphics to show how you would do that. I know that I'm going to show you slides that are going to say I'm putting more cars on small residential streets. Yes, that is the point. The point is to make it more complicated so people aren't using Paul Rivere and Pargav as a cutth through quite as much as they are today. Um same for folks that are currently going up going up Appleton Street from the Massav Appleton intersection going down Park a um Paul Riverier crossing over Paul Rivere and then getting there. That movement is also going away in both directions. We want folks to be using Massav. That's what the road is there for. The roads that of Appleton Street and Paul Rivere and Wallist, these are all residential street. We don't want quite that cut through traffic. So, the next slide's just going to show if you're coming down the hill and you wanted to turn left, what are your other options? Um, and so you are seeing that I'm having folks go through the neighborhood. Um, there's also the opportunity for folks to come up the hill and turn right. That's still an option. Um, if Paul River remains two-way. We're going to talk about it being one way in a moment. Um, but this is how folks would get to their house. Um, the next slide just shows the other side of Parkav. Um, for the Poly River residents, um, they can come up from Appleton Street. As I was just um mentioning, we are still maintaining the right turn from Parkav onto Paul River though. Um but by rem by adding in that median, we are intentionally removing movements from the intersection because when we remove movements from the intersection, it gets simpler. It gets easier for pedestrians and drivers to understand what to expect. Um these yellow graphics are just showing how would you get out of here. So, if you had to go to Massav, you can't take that left anymore. Where can you go? Um, and so I'm sending folks down Appleton Street. Um, and then here we are go going out in the opposite direction. So, I mentioned a one-way polar river. I also mentioned that we're going to come back to parking. Today, Paul Rivere does not have formal parking on either side. On the north side of the street, there are no parking signs, but on the south side, those don't exist. Um, and so some folks are parking on the street. They're parking in what's a 5-ft buffer or so, which means that if you're driving down the road and someone's parked there, you got to go into the other lane to go around it. We could formalize this. We could stripe the parking. You have the space that we can have two 11 ft lanes. 11 feet is perfect perfectly fine for your general vehicle. Um and then we have a 9 and a half foot parking lane. It's a very wide parking lane. Someone can get out of the car and have their groceries or their little kid and they're still not in the middle of the road. So, um that is an option. What that allows you to do is it one formalizes the f formalizes parking so that folks aren't driving into the other lane when they're going down um Paul Rivier, but it also allows you to get back some of those 11 or 12 parking spaces that you're losing because we're converting the angled parking to parallel. There's an option B that you could put parking on both sides of Paul Rivere um if you wanted to make it one way. that would add the most parking. That would restrict um reduce the need for neighbor coordination because there would be parking on both sides for both for houses on both sides of the street. Um but that would add more restrictions um for the turning. I do have some diagrams in here that just show what the the next slide um shows any of the impacts. If you did one way Paul Rivere, you'd want it to be one way towards Park A on this side of the street just so that the turn restrictions because of removing the left isn't then making it so someone can't get home um or get to the church. So, we have these diagrams if you want to dive into them. Um you'll see that you can get to most places that you need to. um Paul Rivere on the other side of um Park A on page south of what you're looking at. There's not a need to make that one way. Um so I'm not suggesting that. Um right. But >> yeah, so we wanted to, you know, as Jim said, present this tonight and then we were looking at potentially additional engagement and um, you know, we'd like to get to a place that we can develop design documents in a similar way that we did the other um, couple of intersections. Jim, I don't know if you want to close out with anything else or >> Yeah, I appreciate that. Now, just to drive home a point that uh Miss Cameron Gilchrist was just making is, you know, we do have the option if we wanted at some future juncture to contemplate making Paul Rivere one way, but that is not necessarily something we have to uh consider this evening. We just wanted uh the board to be aware that should uh you know the parking impacts prove uh problematic based on experience, it's something we could uh pull the trigger on later as a potential way to uh mitigate those impacts, but it doesn't have to be done as part of this uh final design or as part of construction. It could be done at any point in the future. So, just wanted to make that clear. Thank you. >> Okay. A lot of information to digest there. I'll turn to the board for any questions, comments. Mrs. Mahan, >> should I move receipt or >> Okay, I'll move receipt of this. Um, second. Thank you for I think I understood almost all of what you were saying. you painted the picture very well, including the people that kind of chicken over one side of Paul River Park have chicken to the other side. >> Um, moving and and I do want to say that I this plan when it went up on the select board agenda. Um, there's been a lot of discussion by Allen residents on a nonf Facebook list. Um, a lot of town meeting members. Um I don't know how many reside in this nexus actually. Um and and one of the things that was a common theme um one's a school committee member uh was why isn't there a just I think I already know the answer the ro how how about a rotary where all that is and and I I did I h I don't comment on things that we're going to discuss at a select board meeting because I don't know how many of us are on at the same time but I did see that and I wanted to say the purpose of this plan for myself personally, not that it isn't for my colleagues also, is how to make um this area of PAV safer for pedestrian, bicyclist, vehicular traffic in that order. And to me, a rotary getting away from how many dimensions you need, if it's 25 feet, 45 feet, things like that. To me, a rotary in that area um basically addresses vehicular traffic first and how to get them through. And I think it makes it less safe for pedestrians and um won't talk about ebikes, that's a whole another thing, but um bicycle traffic, but just know that that question has has come up a lot and I know you have an answer to that. um when you say moving forward uh and and I know you're also aware and um if and when we get to that point if it is a a one-way um when we started the parking overnight parking program when I first got on the board the two streets were Highland A lower Highland A closer to Massav because of the topography and the houses that have those huge huge walls that you can't put and the other one area was what I'll call the lower end of Paul Rivere parallel to Trader Joe's and Walgreens with that rumble strip. >> They have the same thing all those stones up there. So moving forward um whatever plan you come up with um on the Paul River I know that that's something that you know we we'd want sort of that just be sort of one of the first placeholders to how how we can retain that for those houses that just have no way of putting in in in a driveway. So when you say moving forward, I I heard a public meeting and then I heard um having conversations with the PAGAB neighbors and I think all of us or just about all of us went to the forum you had down in town hall and I put up at least seven different post-it notes on three different things. But when you say public meeting or meetings either to you you both or to the manager through the chair, what what is that next step? Is it two separate ones? Is it a general public meeting and then a Paul Rivera neighbor meeting or what are you what are you anticipating? Understanding there could be a third option as you move forward. >> Sure. Uh thank you Mrs. Mahan. So for next steps on the slide that was shown previously, we were not indicating to hold yet another uh public forum style meeting. What we were indicating is that we would do further direct engagement with uh a butters of Paul Rivere as they would be uh impacted by uh the turning restrictions that will flow from uh any one of these concepts depending on which is chosen >> and would that include I'll try to make this my last question the congregationalist church >> yes >> where Paul River >> and one of their parishioners as we all know um is struck leaving services there. >> Yeah, >> I don't know. I'll just say Linda. I don't know if she wants me to keep saying her full name. Um so so that that will also be included. Um because that's again, you know, and I'm not saying my colleagues don't have the same priorities, but I just want to stress that, you know, um pedestrian, bicycle, vehicular. So that's it. Thanks. So >> you made a a comment that we don't need to think about making the other side of Paul Rivere one way. >> What was behind that? >> It was that we're already we're already removing movements from the intersection by eliminating the left turn. That what's what's very Can you grab the graphic by chance? The one with the red the red box would be helpful. So the big challenge with Paul Rivere at park I have at Paul Rivere and Walston is it's a five leg intersection and five leg intersections are inherently more >> 12 maybe. Sorry. >> Yeah 12 sounds right. Um, fivelegged intersections are inherently more complicated because you don't know where to look. >> And because we're removing Paul Rivere Road north of Park A for the most part from the intersection now because you're not able to turn left into it. It's mostly a right in right out kind of situation. um Paul Rivier on the other side. It's fine to maintain it as a right in right out as well. So we don't need to make that one way right now, but we you but we can look at it and we do have graphics that show what that would look like as well. So it could context of >> you know parking loss and creating parking and where it would be >> the most useful and this is this is in my nexus. Is that the the word we're using if we live nearby? So, this is, you know, a lot of folks who were who are coming in, I think, from Park A will either be parking in the area that we're talking about tonight, >> or come down to the right and park on Davis, which is is parallel to Park Avenue. >> Um, >> it's my understanding that they can't really park on Paul Rivere on this side where the the condominium building is >> because that's marked no parking. So, all I was saying is that the I I get what you're saying about the simplification of the intersection and that we've sort of hit a point where we're more comfortable with that, but >> it seems like the one-way option, which then creates the opportunity for parking on both sides on that shorter block, >> may be something we just want to understand in the context of do we do that or do we take this very long stretch of Paul Rivere and make that one way. >> We can provide those graphics as well. Um, we did study it on both sides. Just as Jim said, Paul Rivier road being one way can be a second move, a second option, something you do down the road. >> The same can be true for one side of the p one side of Park A or the other. Um, as long as it continues to be that it's one way towards Appleton Street. So, it's either one way towards Park A on I like calling it lower Paul Rivere. Um or >> one way from Park A. >> That's fine. It's when it switches in the opposite direction that you're starting to restrict too many movements. But it it works. >> Okay. >> And and given that I think we may be reaching out to folks on Park Ev and beyond and one of the things you'd mentioned is there's sort of um this this inherent issue of people using other streets as cutthroughs. if you have some sort of software or data that helps us kind of understand that because one of the things that >> landed really big at at the public forums was people understanding that this is just a highway between Winchester and Belmont, right? >> Yeah. >> So, you know, hey, people are sacrificing, but it's not you, right? It's >> a be interesting to understand as we talk about, hey, you know, who's coming down Park a down Paul Rivere? Is that is that how you get to Lexington without having to wait at the light? Right. >> Yeah. >> Um any data that you have or nice graphics that help us understand that I think that would help when we go to the community and say, "Hey, you are making a slight sacrifice." But >> if you feel unsafe, we're going to get rid of a lot of that sort of zip through traffic that you wor about. >> I will say that it's about a hundred vehicles that were dislocating by restricting that left turn. Um assuming that's assuming all of them go to um Massav. But if you live on Paul River, you are going to take that left onto Wall Street and you're going to snake your way through the neighborhood. That number of folks that are actually going to Paul Rivere is so low that our model is not can >> it's not reliable um when we get to that number. So I'm confident um that we know that about 70% of vehicles that are using Parkav are pass through vehicles. That's what we presented at the forum. um the software that we use reports that in high confidence. Once we look at Paul Rivere alone, that confidence drops. Um and I would not be confident um using it. Um >> we would need to do like an origin destination type study to determine. >> We would need to go and watch the cars again, >> but I know you've done that before. So, >> yeah. >> Joe, if you want to go out, >> different job every time I see you, but >> Yep. >> Okay. So, I hope that was that made sense. >> And we can definitely prepare graphics. We do have I think some of them from previously as well. >> Yeah. Yeah. I I think it's going to feel like a trade-off to people and to just make sure that they really understand, >> you know, depending on what they value. This this may be in your best interest to give a little to get a lot. I think that would go a long way. >> Did I hear that I need to make a motion to designate you as the guy to go out there and stay out there? >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Or something. Yeah. I think Joe has set up cameras before in order to do this. >> I I don't want to be wrong. I don't want to speak out of turn. >> Sorry, Joe. >> Yes, I'll set. >> Thank you. Thank you for this good work. Um um Miss Mark, could you advance four or five slides till we get to the um the parking park avenue cues? That one. Um, so I understand all all three of these options would eliminate uh what a lot of people like to do, which is to turn left on Paul River as a shortcut because it takes a while to wait at the light to turn left. So Trader Joe's rolls Walgreens customers and I'll admit that I'm one of those. Um, make that turn very carefully and very, you know, with with some trepidation because, you know, and then if it backs up enough like this, you can't do it and then you just waiting for conflicts, right? So it's it is certainly awful and I don't mind losing that. Um, but my question is, have you studied what will happen to this queue if you could no longer turn on Paul River Road and what the weight the wait times and the overall effect on traffic flow for people turning left on Massav from and Park will look like. >> Yeah. So, the the solution to that is creating that left turn lane. Um, so you're adding more you're adding more storage. There are also slight modifications to the signal that we've discussed with um Mike Rodmacher and team and we'll pro we'll we've provided um that will help the intersection flow a little bit better. Um, it is a fairly complicated intersection for a driver approaching it, especially one that doesn't use it that often or wants to use it the way they want to because um there's not defined lanes, but there's like 20 ft, which is enough for two cars to go side by side. Um, so our recommendations do include channelizing that intersection as well using paint um, just to help >> guide vehicles, but there are slight intersection modifications to process these cars. >> Yeah. >> And I will just put this out there during the peak hour of the day, there will still be likely a large backup. We can't eliminate that. >> Um, and that left turn lane is not long enough to accommodate that, but it it's long enough. We made it as long as we could that it would help generally um allow cars to be able to >> get over into that lane that do want to take that left and absorb some of these other cars. >> Yeah. Got it. >> And I'm just going to add one more going back to that. Um we know that this is a cut through area >> where then slow we're going to slow down some Arlington residents as a result of this, but you're going to be slowing down. folks are using this as a cutthor and using it as a highway which may deter them from using it quite as frequently but >> the intersections will always operate they operate the way they do because folks are willing to sit and wait for them. So >> yeah. Yeah. No, I mean it's it's it's going to be an awkward intersection, but I think this will make it a less dangerous one. Um, one side note I want to make is because I am a a cyclist and I go I visit Arlington Heights businesses quite often on my bike >> and it is terrifying in both directions to go down the hill towards Massav with an angled parking. >> Yeah. And then uh to to start up the hill, I do have an ebike, but it didn't go very fast because of the hill. >> And you know, it's you just the perils are manifold because especially coming up the hill um towards uh towards Park Circle, you you're trying to power up to get up the hill, you have to worry about cars backing out from the angle parking. You have to worry about people cutting you off into Paul Rivere and Wallston. And it is one of those situations where I just I hope nothing happens before we can do this. But it is is something like I think if I ever get creamed that's where this is going to be right. Um so I really love that you were able to find a way with with these options except for be um it doesn't look like there's any real advantage to be honestly um to to take those bikes out of the at least the danger zone so that you're not going to get backed up into when people are are leaving parking. So thank you for that. Um and and uh I think that that will be great for businesses because a lot of those like going to roasted granola um you know Yeah. Right. Cookie to cookie. Oh my gosh. >> Yeah. >> Um you know because the nice thing about that as you ride your bike you feel like you can earn those calories. But I think that that'll be good. It'll it'll encourage people to feel safer and be safer doing that um and still have reasonable amount of of car access. So uh so I was excited about that as well. Um I did have a question. Mr. chair. Um, does the town manager want the board and I know we're missing one member tonight, but would it be is it how is the town manager feeling about getting a a vote for the sense of the board or do you just want an informal sense about these design options? Did you just want a discussion tonight? What's kind of what's what's your >> I mean I don't we were presented with three different designs and I mean I'm going to have some comments. So, I mean, I'm not I'd rather have a vote on a specific plan, but I mean, I'm really one person here as opposed to, you know, the plans that can change. Like, we're not vote, >> it's not we're not voting to change the traffic rules in order or to give the go-ahhead to do any of these plans today. Um, >> yeah. Right. I think it's it's my preference to just have it to receive and get comments from the board members of the committee because I don't think there's anything specific to vote on, >> but I'm certainly open to to what your comments are here. >> Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Helmouth. where we do have three options for consideration and we don't want to expend I guess what I'll call time, money or resources advancing all of them to a further stage. We're hoping you know even if it's not a formal vote if the board indicated an interest in uh you know a particular option that would be the one we would uh further to a final design and use to further engage the community. I will note uh as we heard all three options introduce essentially the same uh turning restrictions. Alls we're really talking about is on which side of park a the parking uh impacts would be focused on and whether we want to protect the bike lane or not. So by and large the concepts do sort of uh introduce the same things with some minor tweaks and we just wanted to see if there was consensus on which direction we should uh continue to further develop to a final design that could be you know again shown to the board uh towards the end. We just didn't want to get too far ahead without getting uh feedback. >> Okay. Um, oh, before I voice any meetings, I want to hear what all members including the chair have to say. >> Yeah. So, first I'll probably should have done this as two separate agenda items, but on Oakland and Appleton. >> Mhm. >> Love it. I think that's where we we ever since it was an accident a couple years ago. You know, I live on Hillside. My kids go one goes to Audison, the other one, but they both go down to they use this corridor all the time. They go down the heights to eat with their friends. So, and you know, we always tell them go make sure it's a signalized intersection right now, right? It's like I don't care if there's a crosswalk. We have the flashing beacons now. >> It's which has been a major improvement. Everything we've done has been an improvement, but >> you know, even at the signalized intersections, we're just like assume that the driver is just going to be a that's going to go through the light. And that's unfortunate, but that's sort of what we see here. You know, in the past couple years, we with the speed limit and the enforcement. Again, thank you to APD. There's been a lot of enforcement on Park A. Some people think it's too slow, too bad. When you're going 25 miles an hour, you can feel that it's a lot safer going down the road. And so those two I think will are great especially at Oakland where you know one of the biggest dangers is the car stops for somebody in the crosswalk and somebody else goes through the parking lane around them and it's like >> so now that they can't go through the parking lane that's going to make be huge safety improvement and again >> will it take a little longer for someone to drive down the road? Too bad. >> Um so those are great. Um, I I like just about everything I see it at at uh at the lower part. I use the left turn. I go to Trader Joe's. I go I don't consider it a cut through. I just consider it the way because that's where they are. It's not, you know, cut through. I I sort of think of, you know, you're going through to avoid traffic. And I just wonder if there's a I definitely agree that going from lower Paul upper Paul Rivere to lower Paul River if that's the way we're describing it. If there's a way to just rest say either left or right or make it so they can't go across >> it's I don't particularly think the left turn and I'm just one voice and other people can have different opinions. I don't think the people that take the left that are already on park a are particularly causing a lot of safety concerns and you know for me I live on hillside if I can't take that turn I'm not going to sit and park a and go go down to the light I'm going to go down hillside and through the neighborhood and again if this board and the professionals think that that's a safer way to do it I mean for I think you know having a controlled you know allowing people to still take the left turn down Paul Rivere and you know having some speed mitigation on Paul Rivere >> again it's for me it's just the way as opposed to a cut through but that said you know there's been there's a lot of safety issues here so if the professionals say that that's what needs to be done in order to make it safe then I can accept that but I do at least in my experience with this area think that you can still incorporate a left turn there on Paul Rivere and still make it safe. That's just a a food for thought on that. >> Sure. >> Um the parking, you know, I never like to I'm always a voice to not lose parking spaces, but I do understand the restrictions of this area. It is, you know, when I go down there, it is always full. But those head-on parking spaces going down park a create a little chaos anyways, like Mr. Helman said with bicyclists coming through, but even there's always a queue there and people are trying to back out and they can't back out and then they're like bombing out. So, I think it's actually right to change those two head two >> parallel parking. >> Yeah. >> And keep the head in on the other side. I think the protected bike lane on the side where it's head in is fine. I maybe it's just too new for me. I don't love the protected bike lane on parallel parking. I know they've done in Lexington and and it's in Cambridge and for me especially where cyclists are going down the hill and you know if you're roll unless you're riding your brakes you're going to come down at a fair amount of speed and where there's there's something about the passenger side there's kids getting out you don't expect cyclists to be kind of coming through on that side even if there's a lane there. Um, I think when you're on the driver's side, you know, there could be a car there, could be a cyclist. So, for me, again, I think that creates conflicts with I mean, you have kids that are getting out of the like if my kid if I'm parking on a main road, I'm telling my kids to get out on the passenger side. They're not looking to see if somebody's coming down the bike lane. So again, I'm one voice and I'm not the expert, but I've always been a little hesitant with the protected bike lanes in the in the uh parallel parking spaces. But again, that's just me. This is we're here for comments. Um but other than that, I I mean, I think it all looks good. I think it, you know, addresses a pretty dire need. you know that the problem with this intersection, as you said, is it's just too big. It's too much space. There's too much space for people to do things that they're not supposed to. Um, and I think this goes a long way to helping that. And if we have to drive slower and sit in a little more traffic and, you know, lose a little parking, it's not ideal, but it's c it's something that we need to do to make this area safer. >> So, those are my thoughts. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Alman. Um, got a question for you to town manager. We're probably not going to make a a plan here and go install it next year, right? And Mr. Herd brought up a few interesting points. It It would be interesting to find out what are some things here that we can test, evaluate. I know when we do the Halloween stuff at ACMI, I don't know if they fully close that entrance to Paul Rivere, but when it's popular, that gets packed. Um, and Mr. Dorsey's not here before I was on this select board. I actually reached out to him because the telephone pole across my street was coming down. He helped with that. Appleton Street was shut down from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. And the world didn't end, right? but nobody looked at it and said, "Oh, here's a great way to test to see if we close this street if it'll work out." So, it may be interesting if if you all can kind of think about what are some of the things where it it may even help us to understand the impact of this. And on a busy weekday, if APD could stand there for a couple hours and shut something down and we could see what chaos ensues, that would help us to sort of have a little bit more confidence in saying, "Yeah, you know, this will work or we should rethink that before we pour concrete, right?" >> Olive, >> what's your timeline? So for this particular intersection uh we don't have a clear-cut time frame because in large part the MWR is planning some capital improvements in this vicinity in this entire intersection. It is littered with uh subsurface infrastructure which they own and which may need to be upgraded. So we are in the interest of trying to continue to have things move on uh this intersection. What I was hoping to do is reach a final concept that in fact I would hope we could learn from and potentially deploy some quick build strategies. But we need to be able to do that to a sort of 100% design or close to it. But we would do so in a manner and with strategies be it uh ballards, rubber, you know, other solutions that exist now that you can have laser cut to your dimensions to implicate to implement uh traffic islands. But in order to really explore some of those options, we were hoping to have a design uh that gets furthered in its level of engineering detail where we might be able to deploy some things that we would put out there perhaps for a period of time longer than just a day where something might appear like a detour like us closing down a road, but where we could message a change in traffic patterns, maybe do something over the course of a week or two weeks and uh do some data collection with it. But that is something that we have talked about exploring in terms of because we don't know when we'd be able to do the full civil construction and that might impact things underground that we might uh pursue similar to what we did at Massav at Appleton doing some uh changes above the surface and at a lower cost to start to implement some of the safety and accessibility improvements but also learn uh before we invest hundreds of thousands if not you know potentially a million dollars. We know we haven't worked out a cost estimate on this one but uh that's sort of a long way of saying no discrete time l timeline yet until we learn more from uh MWR about what other work is going to be happening here in the near future. Mr. Thomas, >> um it it just occurs to me. I think um I'm going to guess that there might be consensus here on at least either option A or option B and that I don't think anyone has spoken in uh in robust defense of those god- aful ankle ankle parking spaces going downhill um to editorialize a bit. So if that's the case and if other members want to confirm that or not, they could give the town manager at least some guidance. I think um I think Mr. heard raises a really good question that a lot of other people will raise too. Um I know as a cyclist I I'll take the protect parking protected bike lane anytime. Um and I like those when I ride in Cambridge. I know as a motorist though it is a change because I drive too. I drive more often than I bike. Um, so I think that and I don't need an answer for this now, but I think as we go through this, um, helping the community, helping the board understand how a community adjusts to a parking protected bike lane, what it means in that particular location with the downhill and the entry and how the bikes are going to enter. I do want to make sure that that's safe, >> you know, for me as a cyclist, for for for folks as a driver because yeah, you can get doored from the other side too, right? So again, I don't need an answer for that tonight, but I think that is just as guidance uh as this moves forward, that might be a way to help uh the decision- making between those two options perhaps. >> May I just clarify that? >> And sure, >> it would need to be studied regardless, but um it is at sidewalk level, so it is a raised bike lane downhill. So it's on it's up at the curb. It's not it's not the ones like on Mass A Cambridge where you're like opening the door and there's the ballard and then the bike lane >> that doesn't impact like your kid is still crossing the bike lane but that that's what we're showing on >> the plans not the not the Massav Cambridge version. >> Okay. So this is and that's the case for both op so for the other side as well. >> Both sides. Yes. I I don't think I said that clearly. Yeah. >> I will I will say Mr. Mr. Chair, just for what's worth, sign me up for option A. I think that that would be that's the gold standard for for cycling safety. It also eliminates the risk of getting door from the other side and it makes things easier for the safer for the cars, too, for the for the kids coming in the other side. So, yeah, that's that's my I'll just put that out there. Others can say what they want to say. >> So, cars would still be parked on a curb. >> Yes. >> Yes. Correct. >> Yes. Okay. >> Yes. And >> and is there some separation between the curb and the actual length? >> Yes. Yeah. It's about 2 feet. I retract my comments though. That's fine. >> It It's still worth bringing It's stilling up for me. Like >> I was envisioning like what you see in like Lexington and Cambridge where it's just this kind of tight little area where you're between a curb where bicyclists are kind of in this like small space. >> Yeah. >> And like my son who would never in a million years look just opening the door and somebody running into the door. So if it if there's enough space essentially that where somebody opens the door they could still the cyclist can still get by then I think if it if there's a legitimate safety reason for the bicyclist then I think that's fine. It's also just worth adding um this from Wallist to Massav will need to be signed and paved in a way that encourages slow speeds for all wheeled users. >> Bikes will be going slower here. They are going to be because the bike lane is going to be slightly narrower than it is also around Park. That's going to make them go slower just as the bike the cars will drive slower. Um there's treatments that can be done to the bike lanes to help slow car um bikes so that they know, hey, there's cars here. Um people be getting in and out. But um that's the envision of this. >> Do you find that when you have the protected bike lanes, all the cyclists use it as oo I don't mean to be like cute with this, but as opposed to just saying, "All right, well, I don't want to drive up on the sidewalk over here. I want to keep they just stay in the lane of traffic." I can't say all cyclists, but for I'd say most besides like your um spandex warriors. >> Yep. >> The bros don't get started. >> Like most most folks are going to be using this. >> Sorry if there's any bros up here. >> We also heard that people don't bike on park a because it's a hill, but when we provide the >> um higher quality bicycle facility, that invites more bikers. Okay. >> And that's option A. >> Yeah. Um, option A or option C. Option B does not provide that level of protection. >> This is mine. Um, I'm assuming, or maybe I shouldn't, um, in terms of this area, I'm pitching in my head like 15 22 man holes. Yeah. >> And and in my clothes, >> I mean, there's a lot. I didn't actually count them all yet. >> Something like that. >> There's a lot. >> And and I'm thinking what's under there? >> And I know in terms of what's under there and all the different domains of what that could be in terms of town pipe, state pipe, what utility, etc. Has that been taken into account in terms of because it seems like right now we're at A or C and I definitely would be A. or is that something because that also can affect the cost of the project also and could even change it to an option D. So what I'm saying is is it is have those 30 manholes what's underneath there what that means been taken into these plans or no that will be going forward because that's where I'd say I'm comfortable with moving receipt and and endorsing option A but I think we really unless you tell me we already know what those 30 man holes what's underneath there that's going to change what this project looks like from time to do it cost to do it, etc. So, has that already been done or no? That's moving forward. Once we decide to move forward, >> that's moving forward. We're going to look into that more. We know the utilities out there. We did get record plans that were available. Um, it will likely impact potentially the design of the curb line. There are other things we can look at when there are vaults underground, what you can do to um, you know, with curb to put that on top. So, those are that's kind of the next phase that I think um Mr. Feny was was getting at that we're going to get into that and need to also discuss with MWA if they're making changes if certain things aren't going back exactly in place of where they are today. Um that's all stuff that we need to to work through. But the manholes don't impact A, B, or C because the manholes are all within the the red interneath. >> I'm not saying the actual manholes when you're doing designing the project. You know what I'm saying? You need to take that whether that's an old rusted town pipe that's going to blow. and whether that's an MWR feeder pipe that they just put in back in 1996 or they put it in in 2004 2007 because I know they so that but but anyway so I I'd be happy to go with a but I think it's going to change because of those sorry >> yeah I mean I would say with the clarification on the on the bike lane I think a is fine I'll just kind and this is a argument that I don't think I'll win but I I mean, I think the dangerousness of Paul Rivere is people cutting straight across. I I think >> really no one would be on Paul Rivere to go up Wall because it just disappears into essentially nothing. >> If someone was taking a left on on Paul Rivere, up Park A, there's just other ways to go. You go up Oakland, you go there's plenty of ways to circumvent that. And I'm just wondering if there's a way to keep the left on Paul Rivere and just make up Upper Paul River right turn only. So you can't go left, you can't go straight across, you can't. And that's just my thought. If there was a way to do it and still make it safe, again, I just think I'm again differentiating cut through versus just the stuff I go to is over there, right? as opposed to and I think it's going to if you restrict that left turn, it's going to cause a fair amount of extra queuing for people that would be going down that way. >> And like I said, it sends people through the neighborhoods, which is it good, is it bad? It's not for me to say, but I mean, that's just my thought to see if the the people designing it could come up with something that could keep that. If not, I can eat it on the in the name of safety. >> We can we can take another look at it if there is a way to preserve it. Um, just for for you to know when I say cut through traffic, I mean people that are coming from not Arlington and going to not Arlington. So, not residents trying to go to Trader Joe's. >> Um, >> we understand that's your way and how you would go, but we're not trying to kick you out of here. It's more it's it's the 70% of folks that are using Park that >> aren't Arlington destined. >> Yeah. >> So, um but we can definitely take a look to see if it's if there's a way to preserve that left turn. I think we did, but we can definitely go back to it and look. >> Yep. >> We're still at that point. >> Would you like a motion to endorse? >> I I will move to endorse uh option A, but I I think Tom manager is trying to get somebody's attention. Are you good, sir? >> Uh, sure. Thank you. If I could just briefly, uh, with respect to our experience with bike lanes in town, I will note we we we probably wouldn't expect, at least during inclement weather or during snow events, that, you know, people who are still cycling are going to favor the roads because they're plowed. So, we should have that expectation if we're introducing, you know, raised sidewalk level bike lanes that we won't be able to conduct the same level of snow removal operations contemporaneously with the road. So, there would be an expectation at least during those significant snow events that there will be a delay in clearing snow there, which for those folks who are still dieh hard and cycling in those conditions are likely to uh be in the road to your earlier point. And then I just want to note that, you know, part of the beauty of having a preferred concept and knowing what we want to go where, which I appreciate the board's feedback on, uh, option A, is then we can start to sketch it out and then say, here's what the town is looking to do. MWR, you're, you know, you're planning work, you know, other utility companies are planning work. What might this impact? What changes might this necessitate? uh or you know if it's simply access to existing infrastructure that can't be moved and needs to remain. Okay, can we elevate you know that uh manhole cover or that access point to be at a new curb level so we can start to have those uh more what I call descriptive discussions based on the town having a desired plan and achieving a certain degree of goals. But it's uh you know hard to provide our utility partners with anything substantive until we have a a chosen sketch to provide them. So I thank the boards for their feedback. >> I did make I made my motion. >> We have a motion to endorse >> not say anything else. >> You can know the rules. Um I just had a quick question. So Mary, who I think is more closer up to you, her son was hit crossing at Oakland and I know we kind of focused a lot on the one intersection in in the designs. One of the things that I think a lot of us see is that there's so much width that two cars can be crossing a single crosswalk going in the same direction. Does this >> eliminate that? Yeah, that is one of the reasons we want to add those medians in the middle of of park a to close it up so that way there isn't that space. >> Okay. >> For them to do that. >> Yeah. So it's now >> is that like 10 plus the five plus >> it's like 18 and 1/2 ft. Two cars could do that if they drove in the bike lane. Um but it'll be it'll be striped in a way that's not and it's much narrower now. It's much narrower in this design than it is now. >> Okay. Okay. All right. >> Well, I envision some guy trying to still drive over the curb to get around, but >> probably. >> Yeah. He's going to hurt his car a little bit and have to slow down to do it. >> Yeah. As long as it's slower, that's fine. But yeah, I I second. >> They're all in a rush. I don't know where they're going, but they're all in a rush again. >> All right. So, did you >> second? Yes. >> Good. Good. >> All right. We have a motion to endorse plan A by Mr. Helman, seconded by Mr. Solomon. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Unanimous vote. >> Thank you very much for your comments. >> We're cruising right along this agenda. >> Look at that. >> We were we were Yeah, we were. >> All right. The hard stuff. >> Item 18, discussion. Potential comments on draft updated combined sore overflow control plan. Mrs. Uh >> um want to thank my colleagues because we've had several several lots and lots of meetings about this. Um, but I what I'm hoping for tonight, um, is that I'd like to make a motion to, uh, approve that the select board direct the town manager and town council to, um, create potential comments on the draft updated combined sewer flow overflow control plan. Um, and for the final draft to be presented to this board at our September 14th meeting to hopefully be voted upon to make it in time for the comments which are due, I believe I've been saying September 15th, but they're September 30th. >> Uh, I have it as September 28th, but >> September 28th, >> very close to that. Um so if that's okay with everybody with also with the caveat that um any directed comments in terms of uh what individual members would like to see in our draft comments or waiting to see what the draft comments are and then add to it. Um that that's fine. I don't need that we need I don't think we need to discuss it here tonight because we've done it. Not that anyone if you want to but I that's what I just wanted a formal vote on. that. So that would be my vote, my motion. Sorry. >> Second. >> Yeah. Um second then just um I think this is implied but um I'll have the best be able to have input if I can see suggested things and you know do a red line or do you know do comments on it um in time to be considered for the final. Um but I'm very happy for the board to do that. >> Yeah. So, if we could um I if I can, I'll work with the chair and the manager and town council of getting the draft before hopefully even the Thursday before the 14th if we can get it closer to like the earlier part of the week. >> That'd be fabulous. >> Um with the caveat that something else could be added at the end for that very reason. So, thank you. >> All right, we have a motion as articulated by Mrs. Mahan, seconded by Mr. by helmet. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Unanimous vote. Item 19, temporary loading zone at 204 Massav. Mr. Feny. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So before the board this evening is a request that came in to the office of the select board from Krada seeking to introduce a uh loading zone in front of uh their prop their business property on Massav at uh specifically at 208 Massav. Uh in your packet this evening, you'll see uh comments received back from uh both the police department and the engineering division uh outlining what I'll call uh specific concerns with the request. Uh from my perspective, I just thought I would offer, you know, I would not advise the board to consider any permanent parking changes at this time. Uh as the board is aware, the relocation of the bus stop is temporary due uh to building construction and therefore should not be the driver of any permanent uh parking changes. I think it's worth acknowledging at the same time that we probably all would agree in hindsight that the stop was moved prematurely based on the delays with building construction. And frankly, we do not know yet exactly when we'll be able to safely return the stop to the other side of the intersection, but it will be returned at some point when we can uh safely do so. So with that, you know, it's just not great uh practice to consider making a permanent change based on what is all be an extended but somewhat uh temporary condition. And uh further, you know, based on this request, we did not have the opportunity to, I guess, engage the other businesses on that block who may value having uh as much so-called front door parking as possible for uh their customers and the use of uh passenger vehicles, which would be sort of restricted if we were to designate a loading zone for uh commercial vehicles. So that engagement has uh not taken place, but I'm, you know, confident that's something we could undertake in the future following uh the removal uh the return of the bus stop to the far end of the intersection and return to what I'll call normal intersection operations if the board uh desired in the future. Thank you. Great. Turn to the board for any questions, comments, or motions. Mrs. Mahan, >> uh, I have a question. Um, are you asking for a are you are we discussing and considering um a temporary loading zone for a designated amount of time or would it be all day long? Nobody could park there at all unless they were loading or unloading from Krada or would it be that it's a loading zone for any of those businesses? So, so is there a time is it all day and I'm assuming it can't be just for CBDA. It has to be for all the businesses there. Those would be my questions. >> Thank you, Mrs. Mah. That is correct. If you once this board designates a loading zone, which it has done in a few instances, it is open and available to the public. Usually there's a stipulation that it be used by commercial vehicles and that it be time limited. So usually they are 15 minutes, 20 minutes or a half hour. I would have to confirm what the uh other use restrictions are for similar loading zones in Arlington Center, but all that to say it, you know, it's usually for commercial parking, could be used by any business, and it is intended to be uh short-term parking. And right now you're the vote if we if I so moved would not define what the temporary time is because we don't know how much longer that project that's just ridiculous on Lake Street and Massav. Don't get me started. So it's a temporary with no designation of what temporary is. >> Correct. We we don't have an end time yet. It wouldn't we don't necessarily have to wait for the project to be fully complete. We have to wait for the project essentially the building to be out of the ground and at a stage where at least overhead protection for pedestrians could be restored in order to uh regain access to that sidewalk. But we don't have a specific date for that yet. >> Okay. And I assume in the request it's in front of 208, but your recommendation is in front of 204. Uh so to be clear, my recommendation this evening was that we do not entertain the request, but if the if the board uh were willing to entertain uh Gabbr's request, it would be in essence at the uh first available uh parking block or parking opportunity that is outside of the uh what is now a shared right turn and bus stop lane. So, you're not recommending this? >> Correct. >> I'd make a motion for no action. >> All right. A motion to to not Do you have any Do you have any comments? >> Second. >> I mean, I I mean, I think that the I certainly feel for the business. I'm not sure the bus stop because it's there's no parking that the bus stop is the bus stop has caused some issues but I don't think it the bus stop is causing the issues that are at play here because it's not affecting the parking. Um what's the time limit on those spaces right now in front of that call it the capital block there? >> Uh I believe it's 2hour parking in that vicinity. I mean, I think in within the, you know, bounds of the current request, I would agree it's not really feas. I mean, you go up and down Massav and everyone's got complaints about loading. I mean, that's why there's trucks parked in the middle of Massav and you know, we have that with Starbucks. We have that, you know, in the center where we really haven't been able to figure out a a good solution for that. It's just one of the, you know, constraints of living in a town like Arlington. Um, you know, I could either, again, I'm fine supporting Mrs. Han's motion if we wanted to look at something to you know I think if you know the economic development coordinator goes down in that block and just talks to the businesses and there's you know more than one specific business that thinks that there's an issue that's being created and we kind of look back at another solution which could be for that I know you know some people use that to go into the capital theater to watch a movie but you know if 15-minute parking would make more sense for the the businesses on the capital block because just about all those businesses have a fair amount whether it's 15 or 30 minutes have a fair amount of rollover. Um, you know, other than maybe Auto Pizza where people would stay a little longer, but you know, I think all those businesses could benefit from shorter parking right there and, you know, for the capital. They're going to have to go beyond those spots anyways to fill a theater. Then, you know, I mean, the other option is to just look a couple spaces down. Not even I I mean I think in general having a loading zone on the capital block would be difficult. I mean if you said all right you know we're going to go down and they have to wheel the boxes down 50 ft then you could look at that. But I'm inclined to support Mann's motion with the idea that maybe we could do a little more followup with the businesses or have, you know, town staff look at whether or not it makes more sense to have shorter parking in that one particular area. Um, and I think that's one of the things that the parking advisory committee is going to tackle within our studies of East Arlington and the and Arlington Heights is we kind of look at in general about all of the these parking issues. So, I am fine with M. Mahan's motion. I could support that tonight with the idea that maybe it has provoked some thoughtful study for to see if there's a way to kind of retain the parking the parking that all these businesses need for their their clients. You know, I grew up in this area and there's always a lot of turnover in these storefronts because of the parking. So, it could could be that, you know, we take a look at this area to see if there's a solution that we come up with. But I don't think what's being proposed is really a starter for anybody. >> Mr. Helmet. >> Yeah. I I I just want to voice my support for Mr. Herd's thoughtful addition to that. I think that those are that is worth doing. Um I would also maybe not too seriously suggest that a loading zone going into good could also be useful for people getting croissants coming out and stopping for for less than 15 minutes. Um but you know, but I think you're right. Just see what's really happening. see how the other other businesses um feel about it. I I also appreciate the the comments from our department heads and um you know just pointing out some of the the concerns with this. So I do want to voice support for the business but um but I think this is a good course for tonight. Okay. >> All right. We have a motion for no action by Mrs. Mahan, seconded by Mrs. Helmouth. All those in favor say I. >> I. All those opposed. Unanimous vote for no action. >> Just like town meeting. >> All right, that brings us to item number 20, discussion. Vote on street overnight parking permits. So, we put this on just because we found out a couple weeks ago that the parking permits were out. You know, we had created this pilot, which has now become a real, you know, long-term plan. And there it was always the idea that we wanted to kind of test how many permits were needed. We wanted to make it so people could get have them but not have so many that you know floods the streets and kind of flies in the face of you know the feedback that we've gotten from residents over the years. And you know some of the push back that we got even initially when we instituted the the overnight parking passes it was always set up so and for I know Mr. Um, and you had some questions about this. The discussions and we had many. It was a long development. The overnight parking pilot was, you know, just historically there's been valid questions in Arlington whether or not we want to remove the restriction on overnight parking. They always fail. The town in general has wanted to uphold the overnight parking ban. There was historically if someone had no parking whatsoever, then they could apply to get a permit. So their their property had no driveway, they could apply to get a permit. We only gave them in very specific situations. So we created the pilot just to see if it would work to just allow people to get overnight parking passes without having to show that they had no parking at all. It was definitely intended to restrict one car per household. The original intent was to have it in front of people's houses, but I don't think there's any way to police that. Um, the fee, and this is all up for discussion, with one, this is just a select board policy, so with one vote, we could change anything about the overnight parking policy. the fee was higher in order to make sure that only people that needed it had it because when even when we did the overnight parking pilot before there was a number of people that reached out and said they didn't want more cars in Arlington they didn't want to promote you know the use of additional vehicles for you know myriad of reasons so tonight the one I think one thing that we were always in agreement is that you know we said it I think it originally 125. At one point we increased it to 175. >> 175. >> And so now, >> and I know Miss Gallagher is here as well, you know, it's a good conversation with the treasur's office for us to know when if we increase the limit as we approach, you know, not having enough permits to meet demand. So we can make sure that people that need it and fall within the criteria can have those permits. So really we're now maxed out has been discussed. So we I think it's you know since we've had the permit permit program there hasn't been any major issues or safety issues that I'm aware of that have been and the town manager I'm sure can back this up have been created by allowing more overnight parking. Um so it probably makes sense to increase that to a level. It's just what what level is that that be would want that to be? is there. It could be to 250, could be to 300, whatever the board decides. And that's what we'll we'll go with. And we can amend the fee. We can amend any. We can I'm not sure we can get rid of the policy now since he's throwing all those those out there. But I'm just open up to the board for any comments, discussion, motions. >> Yeah. I mean >> that solid >> well it's an easy question in the beginning I think there's a if to order stickers this is a admin clerical and me it's a minimum order of 100 isn't it correct >> so just so you know that it's a minimum order of 100 anyways we have 15 175 is out we have 15 stickers down there so if we place the minimum order at 100 that would give us 290 What's the next thing? >> Aren't we out of stickers? >> I thought we had >> We are sold out of stickers. Correct. >> Oh, I thought we had 15 down there. >> So, should I You can come up to the >> Oh, it doesn't matter. I'm just trying to give I'm trying to round off the number from 290 to 300. Go ahead. Sorry. I thought I saw somewhere 15 stickers were down there. Sorry. >> Um Lyn Gallagher, Treasure Talk again. Um yes, we have now 14 physical stickers. We keep a small batch on hand because there are reasons that people need a new sticker. Someone has it, they get in a car accident, they buy a new car. We don't consider that a transfer because you're not really transferring it to a new person. You're just putting it on your new car. So, we always want to keep a few on hand. And in fact, we just um used one today. So, we have 14 physical stickers left. Um if we are to order more the the um vendor that we use Ryden uh it has a minimum order of 100 and it would take approximately two to three weeks for them to come in. So those are just sort of the physical constraints that we're faced with if we um expand the um the permits right now. Um certainly we can do that. Um I I I again we could then open it up after that time period. >> What's their next minimum order or it doesn't matter after you know >> doesn't matter after that. Okay. >> Um so >> and just to clarify for the public it's you hold 14 but they're not ones that you could just give out because there's already 175 that are out there and that's this board policy. >> Yes. So when we order we we order a few more just because you know you can for as I said you need to be able to replace them. um on occasion for people who you know uh bought them early on. So >> and hypothetically if you ordered if we increased it 75 and you ordered 100 the other ones would just sit there >> in the event that we increase it again. Um yeah just couple things that or a couple ways to look at it. One is that we we seem to have missed that we hit a threshold, right? And that's put a lot of people out. >> Yep. >> In terms of e, you know, financial or or just the stress of it, right? >> And it, you know, I we can relieve that tonight, but I'm wondering what the process would be going forward. Do we just, you know, hang people out for two months until somebody comes in loud enough and says, "Hey, like we got a problem here." And then we up it. And then long term I think and the ARB people are much more into the the details of things but we are we are we have some new zoning that has some new permissions for parking and we are inherently creating potentially some demand for additional parking. So, I'd be curious, I don't know, like if we get together with them every year, every couple of years, or reach out to them, so maybe they could inform us on, hey, here's kind of what you might need to be thinking about a year or two in the future given what the base zoning is is today and what it may be in the future. And that way, we can be a little bit more proactive about thinking like when do we make policy jumps and why. So I think the first question is an easier answer. The second one takes a little bit of thought and I I don't think it needs to be a policy other than you know it's just treasur's office talking to the select board's office and say when there's 25 left. >> Exactly. >> Then they just notify us. Ashley says all right we only have 25 left on on the to give. Talks to the chair. Should we put this on the agenda for discussion? And we can do that. I think, you know, I we've done it incrementally in the past. I have no problem going from 175 to 300 or creating the capacity because I think it's shown that it's not, you know, CL it's not causing issues out there. So, there's really no reason to not have the additional capacity. So, you know, if maybe 300's the number and then we just, you know, say that going forward, we'd like to know if there was 20 when you get to 25 left, you know, I think at the pace that the new requests are coming in, that gives us plenty of time to put something on the agenda. And then you know as we go forward we can talk to the ARB and if all of a sudden you know we see that in one particular year there's a big influx and it could be just people find out about people start a lot of people park overnight on the street and some people just say hey I only get five tickets a year that's cheaper than buying a permit so but then someone gets ticketed every day for two weeks. weeks and months drives them to come in and get a permit. So, you know, it could be just the way it's getting enforced. It could be, you know, the new zoning that creates more of a demand for it. Um, but I I think if we have just a policy where we get notified at a certain point that the permits are running out, then we talk about it and talk about the increases because again, you know, if we went up to a thousand, then all of a sudden, if there was a thousand, that could be a potential impact that the the incremental increases have allowed us to, you know, reassess the policy just to again make sure it's working and it's not creating any major traffic issues or safety concerns, you know, that we're aware of. And it's not creating, you know, major backlash because, you know, if all of a sudden you just abolish the restriction alto together, we'd have a lot of people coming in here saying, "Hey, why why'd you do that? You know, we didn't want you to do that." Right now, where it's, you know, it's kind of still kind of lays into people that need it, then, >> you know, I I think it works. And and I just would add one thing because this has been my bone of contention from the beginning. When we started this journey and it was brought to our attention was brought as a issue of equity and financial hardship and we were asked to have a pilot program for and and specifically saying East Arlington that you know for for people it's different kind of h housing and different incomes and you know so we started out to for financial and and we just opened it up to and if you look at the numbers um it's spread out townwide. It's it's not just you know it's um spread out pretty evenly. Um, and we do, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, still have the original mission, original emission mission of this was for people who lived in East Arlington, were renting and it was a financial hardship for them. And we still have um, and we leave that to the treasur's office to to um, determine there there are exclusions for financial hardship. So, when you talk about the $365 fee, is that correct, Ms. Maher? >> That's the financial and medical hardships are through our office and it's a separate program. It doesn't >> um in it doesn't impact the 175 that are given. If you are able to meet the criteria for a hardship or a disability, it's through our office and we are able to issues those stickers. It's not impacted on the 175. So that's what that is. So this is um so I would just to get it on the table and then someone can amend it um make a motion to increase the parking pilot program by 125 which would bring us to 300 because we're at 175 I believe. >> Correct. >> Correct. It just want to make one comment. Um just as you talk about getting higher levels, um I don't know what how many parking spaces we have in municipal lots, but the parking manager and I were discussing it and and when there is a snow emergency, anyone who has a parking permit is supposed to then park in a municipal lot. So you would have the people who have not only the municipal lot overnight stickers, but then you would have all the parking um on street overnight parking permit people also trying to park in the municipal lots. So there is a certain cap that would be on that. I don't have those numbers, but just to keep that in the back of your mind as you talk about expanding the program um going forward. >> So Mr. Rama, >> were you done? I think >> I think the the only other question I had was the potential of, you know, if somebody gets a ticket, they could get the ticket, not know about the policy, not know about the permits, pay the ticket online, and be done, right? Is there a way that we sort of tell people like, "Hey, here's your ticket. By the way, there's a program, come find out if it's got capacity, like to to get out of that loop of just, oh, I guess this is what life in Arlington is. You know, I get a ticket every few nights." >> Then then we would run out, I think. Okay. >> I I can't answer if that person came in and they have gotten an on street overnight ticket. Typically, um the the officer doing that at night would not be able to engage the individual, the resident, because typically it's overnight. So, um if they come in, um typically the parking manager will um let them know about um the 14 nights that you can call up to um you know the the station and get an overnight pass. So, they will she will um let them know about that program. So that is a way to avoid tickets and we will let them know about the on street overnight with the idea that they can keep it in mind if they're interested in that when the program opens up. You know, for now we've just been saying that it was going to be discussed here, but that it would open up um for 2027. So we do try if somebody comes in to the treasur's office to pay a fine of that sort to give them pertinent information. >> Okay. Yeah. I mean, if I Google Arlington overnight parking, I I can get to the form, but it's not necessarily intuitive. I don't know if that's an easy website change. Like, there's something about over the first thing that comes up is overnight parking and it doesn't link to the program. >> Okay. >> So, I'm just, you know, I don't want to put people out when we we have something to give them and we're just not getting them to it. That's all. But I'll show >> um thank you. U I I definitely want to raise the cap to tonight. I'm fine with 300. I think that you know the cost is high. That was kind of on purpose. I'm open to thinking about that if and I think the time is probably coming where we ought to reconsider all aspects of this program. Um but I think one of the reasons for the cost being what it is is is to try to strike a balance as the chair was saying uh between the need that people have in many circumstances and the repeatedly expressed desire of town residents to to to not just allow lots of overnight parking. So that's that's the reason for it. Um and I'm happy to keep the motion to what it is tonight. I just wanted to point out the treasurer in in her memo and thank you for this and a couple of other recommendations I thought were interesting. one of which I don't think I like but um but one one of which I think I do and might be something to consider as we uh reevaluate this thing on a larger scale. One of them is uh requiring all outstanding motor vehicle related balances to be paid in full before a permit can be issued. I really like that because that's a that's a good lever to make sure that they pay people pay their parking tickets. Um, and we've been doing other things along those lines to ensure that because it's revenue for the town, but it's also an incentive to comply with the parking law. Um, so I, you know, that that would be interesting to me. I think an interesting point, the other recommendation was um kind of eliminating the practice of giving people the first opportunity um sort of reserving your permit, you know, the the next year. I recall the reason we did that was that people who are taking advantage of this, even though we are told it's a pilot program. It's pretty clear now that it's as permanent as things can get in government. Um, and that they're making an investment in changing their lives, getting into the car, you know, getting that that living, not knowing if you're going to get the permit in the lottery the next year is not a happy place to be. So, you know, I'm I'm willing to think about that as well as we evaluate it all, but just I wanted to note that that those were good points to raise. Um, and I think we ought to take that up and maybe, you know, maybe look at the rest of it. And before we vote, I wanted to see if the 300 would to the town manager's knowledge create any problem with the space for snow spots in municipal lots. >> Uh, it would not. It would be under the available number of parking spaces in uh off streetet lots. >> So, I'm I'm good with that. Yeah, >> I think >> you know the number of >> a lot of people that have them >> I think Mr. Diggins used to know that number. >> I think a lot of people that have the permits >> over 800 >> have the ability to park somewhere on their house. It's just, you know, they're willing to pay the $365 because it's more convenient to park on the street. Um, and you know, I think it's worth receiving the comments that we got about. Again, this this was a pilot that we were trying to help alleviate an issue for people that didn't have parking. There was never really any consideration to allow more than one overnight parking per household. And I don't think there's and does it create some issues potentially. But you know it's when you choose your residence and you choose what fits for your family. I think you know what we're helping out those families by allowing what was not available before. And I think, you know, if we expanded beyond one permit per household, then we would get a fair amount of push back, especially in, you know, the East Arlington neighborhoods and the two family neighborhoods where where it create some congestion. So again, I don't want to dismiss a concern that's been brought to us, but it is something that we've talked about and it's always been since we had the policy. And could it change in the future with the future board? Yep. because it this is just parking policy which is easy. It's not doesn't have to go to town town meeting or get state approval. It just you know it can be amended at any given meeting. But I think we're coming to a good spot now by again making sure there's enough permits and then you know kind of having a discussion that you know the treasur's office and the select board office can follow up with that just keeps the line of communication open that once I would say 25 once we get to 25 available permits or less that you know it gets on our radar for discussion could be a memo and correspondence received that we receive and then determine when we want to put it on a an agenda. I think that would be a prudent policy to make sure that we're not turning people away because of lack of permits. So, do we have a motion to increase the number of permits to 300 seconded by Mr. Helman? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Unanimous vote. All right. And that brings us to item 21, discussion vote reappoint process. Mr. How much? >> Thanks for putting me on last. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Uh I inherited Yeah. Yeah. Really? It's a good offense. I inherited uh the the work for this from our departed member. Um just to be clear, he departed not this earth, but just to Somerville. and um so far as I know and uh in that this spring from the town manager's goals discussions from last summer where the town manager actually suggested that we the board contemplate in collaboration with town manager and other appointing authorities for boards, commissions and commissions um some way to um provide invite and enable and empower u opportunities for for more people to serve on boards, commissions and committees because right now our our reappointment process has been more or less de facto automatic. And so the work we've been taking over taken over the last few months has been to try to craft a policy that you see in front of you now as a draft which uh is probably not perfect and um that's why it's for discussion. Uh the intent of this is to try to strike a balance between uh creating space for new people and I I just want to point to that when the town did its equity audit and equity plan that one of the recommendations was to really focus on this and and giving opportunity for more new ideas and more people to serve. But to strike a balance between that and to and to to recognize that a we don't have unlimited talent in town and sometimes institutional knowledge to stay on a committee for multiple terms can be really important and really valuable. So we don't want to tie our hands I in my view at least uh that way either by having a term limit that would be uh maybe a solution in search of a problem. So how do we do this? So the proposal that's before us for discussion and vote if we want to or or not um would be to say well what if uh unless there's a problem or or unusual circumstance normally appointee to a three-year term on a board commissioner committee could serve for two terms consecutively um and then at that point they'd be they would be thanked for that but but to say um we can um the town manager if they're the appointing authority, the select board say um you're welcome to to apply, but we're going to open this up to the public. We're going to we're going to go through the process again and you'll be in the pool with everybody else. You could be reappointed or the town may decide that its needs have changed for expertise or voice. Um and so um so you might not and the town manager's innovation on this as I've worked with him and also the clerk to figure out how to operationalize this and I know that he worked with other staff members would be to uh that he's going to go into to have a have a mechanism to kind of have a pool of applicants kind of at the ready so that we could still advertise um but but we uh but we'd have some some ability to kind of know who might be interested and what they might bring to the role once those two terms have come up for a member. The idea of a pilot came about really because of operational capacity. Uh we it's a we have six over 60 active boards, commissions and committees. It would be a lot to try to do this all at once especially before we know how it works. So a pilot would let us try it. We can tweak it and perfect it and I'm sure that it will get changed. um a pilot. Also, we we're suggesting 10 the board could add or or move to that. Um and those are listed in the appendix at the end of the policy, but I'm going to read them for the for the public. Uh the ZBA, the ARB, the board of health, park and recreation commission, library trustees, trust funds commissioners, conservation commissioner commission, historic districts commission, cemetery and historical commission. Um those are on our public agenda for tonight's meeting. And the rationale for those is the memo. Some of that's just practical. Those have a centralized appointing authority in this room, the town manager or the board or both. Um again, in the spirit of learning from a pilot, we a lot some of the boards and commissions like the finance committee for instance or the CPA have multiple members. They have multi multiple appointing authorities and multiple people having votes. that would be more complicated to try to enforce a new practice especially before we've had a chance to try it out. Um so the town manager actually suggested these these 10 and I'll let him speak to anything else he wants to that I missed and also kind of talk a little bit more about the oper operationalization. >> Sure. Uh thank you Mr. Helmouth. I think you uh touched well upon most of the points here. I do think you know the memo did note you know part of the choice in these commissions is that they derive statutory authority uh which means they have a lot of independent and substantial decision-making authority that maybe over licensing permitting jurisdiction over private property uh policym development of public property uh the investment or dispersement of funds so those are all very important functions and from what I've seen in my experience as being the appointing authority is we tend to have more applicants than we do have seats for uh vacancies on those boards, committees and commissions. Whereas if you were to look at our committee openings page and if there is, you know, some of our special special interest committees or advisory committees or other types of committees, we are oftent times advertising long-term vacancies and trying to fill those uh positions. So, you know, based on my experience, I thought that these would be uh the board's committees and commissions where the board may wish to uh start its pilot. And what the town would do to operationalize this, in my opinion, is just rethink how we advertise these things. You know, for those 10 boards, committees, and commissions, I would envision us setting up a new section of the website that makes clear for these you can express interest and apply on a rolling basis. So, there would be a form. So, you don't need to uh by chance, you know, wait for there to be a vacancy and then you see our vacancy announcement and you wish to apply at that time, right? If you're interested in the historic district commission, you could apply at any time and every year there may be an opportunity for us to look at uh the pool of applicants who have expressed interest in that position because as you know how our terms work is you know there's there's always someone each year uh coming up. So while for the majority of our boards, committees and commissions, we would still do sort of vacancy based announcements and post committee openings, we would establish a new section of the website, new process for anyone interested in those uh the 10 pilot boards, committees, and commissions shown here to express interest at any time on a rolling basis. And then when we have the opportunity where someone is reaching uh having served two consecutive terms, they may wish to continue to serve. But we'll also look at our applicant pool then to see if there's any other interested parties whom we may reach out to and uh go through our customary process for filling uh vacancy by conducting interviews, reviewing resumes, uh etc. So that's all I wanted to add. Well, I guess my one question would be that just about all these boards have many, many members that are already past their initial term. If we institute that, would we post the seat when they're up for renewal since they've already been on the board for a certain number of terms or is it two years from two terms from today? >> So, >> or is it something that we just discussed? Okay. Well, I mean, so the that no, that's that's a point is worth discussing. And >> in the draft, which is again a draft, it has a little item five says the policy shall apply retroactively to appointees already serving consecutive terms, which would which would do what you said and I think the board would need to decide with the town manager. Um, you know, is that what we want to do or do we want to sort of grandparent um folks in? I think that makes sense to do because, you know, we'd have to wait six years to see if this was >> right. I think I think the point is we have, you know, some boards that consistently have vacancies and we have these boards in front of us that consistently do not. And I'm sure there's some it would be good to be able to gate where we, you know, only posting the vacancy, you know, you know, letters. So requesting people to submit letters of interest in the event that it's vacancy. It would be good for these boards to see if there is an interest in filling some of these seats. And for people that are on these commissions, you know, there's certainly value to institutional knowledge. So people that are applying have to know that they might be, >> you know, going up against somebody that knows the board and does well on it. But I don't think that's a reason to not do it. >> So I'm good with it. Mrs. Man, >> just to get us on the table, I'd like to make a motion to approve the pilot reappoint process as outlined by the vice chair and the town manager. Um, and I definitely agree with um what's in the draft, making it retroactive. Um, I I think this is really a good policy just in terms of and I've just had conversations m with Mr. Helmouth um a because I didn't realize he was picking up the mantle from where Mr. Diggins um once started with the with the town manager and I apologized for that because he had done so much work on it which warmed my heart because I'm like we're way ahead than I thought we were and and part of the reason um I was hoping to that I thought that had dropped and I didn't realize m the vice chair Mr. Helmouth had picked up was because um uh just myself individually and I shared this with Mr. helmet in terms of hearing from different residents across the town. And I think it's a good thing um that like me, I know I have to run every three years. This is going to sound corny, but it it it is the God's honest truth that it really lets me re-evaluate, do I want this job? Am I fit for this job? Is my family in my work life still with this job? Um, and and I and it and I think by going through that process, it allows like Nathaniel Stevens, if we could have kept him for another 57 years, but I would still want Conservation Commission, I'd be he'd have my vote for as long as I could do it. But, um, unless something radically changed. But so I'm I'm for institutional knowledge being the longest serving member on this board as of right now currently of the five of us. Um but I I think this is a good thing that answers so many um questions and things that we've heard in terms of opening up government, opening up um the processes to um serve and volunteer in the town. Um and I think it will help um other boards and commissions commission sort of go through the process without having to raise money but to to really go through and and evaluate to say because you know Arlington does change and any city or town changes um and uh people can change with that and and still be just as effect as effective but um I'm I'm going far astray because I'm trying to say certain things in tactful way, but I think this is a a good group of 10 to start out as a pilot. Um, and I am by in no means picking any commission or board or individual. I have no idea, you know, who's up next or whatever, but um I think this is a very good thing to start and and a very good p pilot program of 10. So that's why I'd make a motion to approve the pilot reappointment process. >> I would second that. Um my one question is on the operational side. So let's say you appoint somebody on day zero and somebody's interested and they apply on day one. Their next opportunity is essentially a year later, right? And you're building a pool of candidates over that period of time. And then cuz I mean these these are very important boards when you need to make the re appointment. Do you have enough like are you going to give yourself a lot of time to check and make sure that person is still into it nine months later and that my concern is that we run the risk of potentially getting closer and finding out oh all these people that put in it's now later they've changed their mind and we're in a mad dash to make sure that we have candidates. >> So in discussing this what we chose was a threemonth window to start that process before a reappoint would be made. felt that was sufficient enough that we're not, you know, gauging someone's interest six months in advance and then finding out yeah that it has similarly changed on the other end. Uh but that also gives time to reach out to the incumbent to see if they remain interested. uh gives time for due diligence as though it has not been customary to do so in the past to potentially reach out to the chair, check that member's uh attendance, identify any uh you know particular issues that may have arisen during the term, see how they're performing, understand what's going to be before that board committee or commission in the upcoming years ahead in terms of, you know, policy decisions or uh special permit decisions that might require ire a certain level of expertise that we may uh go out and see. You know, we certainly when we do experience vacancies, we work with the board use, you know, what would be you know, the most beneficial uh sort of professional expertise to have and we try to seek that out in the applicant pool and then appoint it. So we arrived at 3 months probably being the window of time that provides uh sort of the sweet spot for allowing all those things to happen but also still having sufficient time to uh reach out to candidates who had previously expressed interest andor recruit additional candidates if there are none to choose from. Okay. >> All right. We have a motion to approve by Mr. Mahar, seconded by Mrs. Salman. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Unanimous vote. >> Correspondents receive number 22, Cemetery Parking, Stephen Harrington. 23, Town Communications Channel for Resident Advocacy, Steven Harrington. And number 24, request for historic marker for Dr. George F. Grant, Pearl Morrison, chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday observance committee of Arlington and David Lewig >> Dr. Grant subcommittee chair is that a typo is that just okay >> Dave Lewig is the Dr. Grant committee chair >> oh Dr. Grant committ >> okay >> you want to make Mr. lewig doctor. No, >> I was going to say should is that what I started referring to? Okay. >> Uh take a motion from the board. >> Move um receipt uh for the first two. Move receipt and referral for item 24 to the public memorials committee. >> Second. >> Second. And >> Mr. I would just note on number 24 uh the agenda materials actually received back a referral from the public memorials committee. So it is the board had referred it and they are sending back their correspondence. My recommendation would be to uh refer it to myself and then I would confer with the recreation director and park and recreation commission as it will be placed on land under their jurisdiction. >> Thank you. amend my motion so stated. >> And um one other question on number 23. I believe the town meter town meeting procedures committee which includes the moderator discussed this. Is that correct Mr. Feny? >> Uh that is correct. Mrs. Mahan. >> Um do you think there's anything that they decided that could be communicated back to Mr. Harrington or? Uh I did receive a preliminary update from uh the town's moderator, but I have not had a chance to uh follow up directly to see uh if they took a vote, if there will be any further discussion on the matter. So uh once I have that confirmation, I would be uh intending on reaching out to Mr. Harrington directly to provide uh an update on that process. >> Okay. Thank you. I just had figured that you know this it it's not our domain or our decision. We're not the decision making makers on this. It would be the moderator and town meeting procedures committee and they were meeting and so the correspondents did get referred. So there's no action needed right now but um there will be an answer from the um authority that oversees that. Thank you. And I think I seconded your motion or somebody did. Okay. >> Motion to receive by Mr. Helmet, second by Mrs. Mahan. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Unanimous vote. All right. New business. >> No new business. >> Attorney Cunningham. >> No new business. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Miss Stefeni, >> no new business. Thank you, >> M. >> I do have new business. I'll try to be brief. I know we've settled on a date for the select board goals and town manager goals in September. Um I asked the board administrator to send me last year's goals just to go over it. Um um and I shared my thoughts with the town manager in terms of he refined the document that the previous to the previous town manager Mr. Chapter Lane came up with um and he's already made revisions to it. If there's anybody else on the board that you know feels it should be amended in some way. Should it stay the five six page single space thing? Should it not? I did, you know, also express to him, um, I do appreciate whatever the document is for how many pages, however many pages and however many lines. Um, I do like that we do go through each one and the manager sort of gives us a premiere on um, each thing and where it's at. Um, I will say and and I'll I'll look at because I know we we shouldn't just keep adding to things, but um I will be um I have two things I want to put on. Won't say what both of them are. One of them I'm doing work uh looking at comparable towns. Um and it comes from uh the root of a current redevelopment board member um who approached me in the town manager at town meeting who indicated which was their right to uh said that I I voted no on the override even though and said because the select board did not um make any business commitments um uh in the override and recognizing what we have in years ahead of us and instead of my first retort would have been well that's the redevelopment board. Um but then I thought okay let's look at this as a positive and I have seen that other comparable towns do have uh so I'm looking at coming up with a goal to discuss with my colleagues about a bianual sort of report card score sheet from the planning department to track business and housing and to kind of keep us more up to speed on that. Um, but so just to let you all know that, but I'm making sure that I get it from other towns so that it's not just um that it's it's the best thing that it can be. And then the other thing that I wanted to um and I'm not saying you guys have to come up with any new I new things to do because it's not like you all have a life, but I do too. Um the other thing is I did meet with um Natasha Wadeen to give all praise and glory to her that when I put out about the uh this board put out about the soccer watch party. Um she basically had four mini town days up there. Would have had five if it didn't rain up at the um Arlington res. Uh as of right now, uh all of it was charged to the recreation department budget and it was about a 22 $25,000 loss. So when I was going over with her because there was an issue regarding um the brewery company, not here at town hall but up at the resz and she gave me to date we have received nothing in terms of payment for June 19th, June 24th, June 26, July 1st. And the other thing that I was surprised by is um and then as a result of that I started looking at other things because when I was chair I didn't recall seeing any monies coming in for town day. Last year's town day has not been paid by the Allent Brewery Company. Um and I don't I know this year's Patriots Day has not been paid and I I'm not sure about last day. So, I um discussed with the manager and the board administrator to to get and they've started taking steps on that um to start figuring that out. But the other thing that I was concerned about is I think and I'm going to leave it to the town manager and the board administrator moving forward. Um and other breweries do this when you're at an event at 6:05 at 6:00 when it's over at 6:05. I say hit the button and the you get a print out of how many customers and what the service was. Um and then the manager said, "Well, they could do it in a PDF." You know, I'm old school. You get But I said, "Well, as long as it wasn't, oh, we have to do a PD." Because that's what we're doing right now. We've been doing the honor system and we're not getting anything. in the in in my opinion looking at what was reported for the first night with 3,800 attendance approximately the number the one number that they say is our cut so to speak isn't even close not that they paid it. So um I'm just I rate with when we go out and you know people say to me oh yeah you you tell me you've looked under every couch and you looked for every penny and things like that. Now I'm coming across, you know, I think if if the the brewery part of it for the four mini town days, um, in my opinion was properly tracked and we were um, and then there's a discrepancy about how much the poor is, which I think there shouldn't be. I don't think it would be a $22,000 loss. I think it would be, you know, closer to the low teens, if that. So, um, just wanted to bring that to your attention. And I know it, you know, some people may say, you know, you're not talking a lot of money with a multi-million dollar budget, but I I I'll leave it at that and that's it. Thank you, Mr. Helmet. >> No new business. No new business. We'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. So move. >> Second >> by Mr. Helmet, second by Mrs. Mahan. All those in favor say I. I. >> All those opposed, we are adjourned.