[0:00] Good evening and welcome to the June
23rd, 2026 meeting of the East Amity
[0:04] Town Council. I'll call the meeting to
order and ask that we stand for the
[0:07] Pledge of Allegiance.
[0:12] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:16] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:22] justice for all.
[0:31] » I know what I asked that we take a brief
moment of silence
[0:33] on all of the events going on both at
home and abroad.
[0:42] Thank you. In accordance with Mass
General Law, this meeting is being
[0:45] recorded by LCAT and if there's anyone
else in the audience recording, if you
[0:48] could identify yourself. [clears throat]
Seeing none,
[0:52] public comments. Is there anyone in the
public audience that wishes to make a
[0:55] comment this evening?
Seeing no one online or no one on Zoom
[1:00] with their hand raised.
>> Oh, actually, Connor, can you mute pause
[1:02] for one second? I
>> Now, if there's anyone on I don't see it
[1:07] yet, but
Council comments. Is there anyone in the
[1:10] council that has a comment this evening?
[1:14] Yeah.
Seeing none, town manager's report.
[1:18] Um
>> Hi.
[1:21] Uh good evening.
Um
[1:25] So, uh attached are the project reports
for weeks uh of June 1st and June 8th
[1:31] for the high school and the auditorium.
Uh not lost in the excitement of our
[1:36] beautiful shiny new school, uh we're
reminded of fond memories and
[1:41] appreciation for just how much our old
school meant uh to the people of this
[1:45] community.
Um it is sad to watch as the bricks come
[1:49] down, but uh progress for the future and
uh the building of many new memories for
[1:54] future generations is where we turn our
focus.
[1:57] Uh onward and upward. Uh
and just a reminder you can get all your
[2:01] scheduling and progress information at
any time on the website uh easton meadow
[2:05] ma.gov/lhsbuildingproject.
[2:09] Uh every time I go by there's like
another section of the school that's
[2:12] down, so
that's happening fast too as we've been
[2:16] going with every [snorts] phase of this
project.
[2:19] Um
and as we say goodbye to the old high
[2:22] school, we also say goodbye to the
person who has led the way for the
[2:25] school department for the last 16 years.
Uh congratulations to Gordon Smith
[2:31] uh as he completes an amazing career and
leaves us for retirement. Um it's really
[2:36] impossible to quantify the impact that
Gordon has had on the school system and
[2:40] the people of Easton Meadow.
Always smiling, always dapper. Uh they
[2:44] talked about his hair a lot in his
his retirement party.
[2:49] Uh
still perfect. Uh it's hard to imagine
[2:53] him not being around and seeing him all
the time, but um very few can lead with
[2:57] their head and their heart uh and he was
a master class.
[3:01] Uh
he'll be greatly missed and we certainly
[3:04] wish him the best.
Uh I'd also like to acknowledge that the
[3:07] first meeting of the school committee in
July will be the first meeting of the
[3:10] school committee in 20 years without
Greg Thompson.
[3:14] Uh Greg has served our community with
vigor and his passion for the education
[3:18] of our youth has been unparalleled.
Uh two decades of service to a community
[3:22] is enough to garner a maximum level of
respect in its own right, uh but Greg
[3:26] will leave behind a legacy of
improvement, advancement, and one of and
[3:30] was one of the champions for the new
high school. Uh thank you for the your
[3:34] service to your community, Greg.
>> [clears throat]
[3:37] » Uh we're also wishing well to our
planning director, Wael Abdelchilla.
[3:42] Uh Robin and his wife will be moving to
uh the eastern part of the state. Uh he
[3:46] has accepted a position to be the
planning director for the town of
[3:49] Wellesley.
Uh Robin has advanced operations of the
[3:53] planning department by leaps and bounds
in his short tenure here.
[3:57] Uh, his knowledge, organization, and
passion for his field will certainly be
[4:01] missed.
Um, we wish him the best of luck as he
[4:04] starts a new chapter in his life.
Um, there's a flyer attached. I'll take
[4:09] a break from saying goodbye to people
and things.
[4:11] Uh, there Actually, it's for hazardous
waste cleanup day, so you can say
[4:15] goodbye to some of your things.
[laughter]
[4:19] Attached is a flyer for the hazardous
waste day. It's uh, August 22nd from
[4:24] 9:00 until noon at the fire station.
Uh, as you recall from last year, um,
[4:29] you do need to pre-register for this
event. You cannot just show up. Places
[4:33] with hazardous waste as a rule. Um, but
there's a certain amount of stuff they
[4:38] can take on site, so you have to sign
up. Uh,
[4:42] there is a uh, QR code on the flyer. Uh,
and also you can reach out to Elizabeth
[4:48] Bone at the health department uh, with
any questions that you might have.
[4:54] » [sighs and snorts]
[4:58] » Last and certainly in no way least,
uh, I want to say thank you and an
[5:03] emotional farewell to our colleague and
dear friend Marilyn.
[5:09] Uh, words can't express what you have
meant to this community for the last
[5:13] nearly half of a century.
>> It's a lot of years.
[5:17] » [laughter]
>> You [clears throat] always did what was
[5:19] right.
You did it with grace. You did it
[5:22] unabashedly.
There isn't a person that knows you that
[5:26] doesn't carry the utmost respect for
your passion for our community,
[5:30] the sheer breadth of your institutional
knowledge, and the shining example you
[5:35] always set for us all.
Thank you
[5:39] from the bottom of my heart
for the support you have given me over
[5:43] the years.
And I promise to wait until at least
[5:47] July before I start asking you to join
any more boards and commissions.
[5:51] » [laughter]
>> Uh sincerely, um
[5:55] I I think I speak for everyone. Um
thank you for everything. We love you so
[5:59] much.
>> Thank you.
[6:01] » Um don't be a stranger and I will be
calling you soon. But thank you for
[6:04] everything, Marilyn.
>> Very nice.
[6:06] » Appreciate it.
>> Appreciate it.
[6:08] That's it.
I made it through without a tear.
[6:11] » Me, too.
>> [laughter]
[6:14] » All right. Thank you, Tom. Any
questions?
[6:17] Comments?
I'll just echo a lot of those same
[6:20] sentiments. It was nice to go to
Gordon's uh retirement party on the
[6:24] council and it was well attended and
then it was a nice ceremony. Um
[6:29] likewise, it's
both sad, but wishing both of them well,
[6:35] both Gordon and and Greg in their
next chapter of life beyond town
[6:39] service. Um
now communications, correspondence, and
[6:44] announcements. That moves to our first
item is to recognize Marilyn formally
[6:51] for her years of service.
>> Woohoo!
[6:53] » [laughter]
>> Was that my son?
[6:58] » [laughter]
>> So, first on behalf of the council, we
[7:01] the East Longmeadow Town Council hereby
extend our congratulations to Marilyn M.
[7:05] Richards to commemorate her 46 years of
service to the town of East Longmeadow.
[7:10] Marilyn began her service to the town on
the Council on Aging Board in 1980,
[7:14] served as the first woman elected to the
Board of Selectmen in 1988, then served
[7:19] on the Planning Board in 1997,
and served on a myriad of additional
[7:23] committees before joining the Town
Council in 2019.
[7:26] Marilyn's hard work, dedication, and
expertise have contributed to the town's
[7:29] success over her tenure,
and she will be deeply missed. The Town
[7:34] Council extends our best wishes to
Marilyn in her retirement from elected
[7:37] office,
and myself as your president.
[7:44] » [applause]
[7:49] » Good morning.
>> Now, I know we have some additional
[7:53] representatives with us this evening.
>> Some additional.
[7:58] » [laughter]
>> We we didn't get the memo about wearing
[8:03] red. So, I'm not a red tonight. So,
first of all, we apologize for that.
[8:08] » We're here for the free shirts.
>> [laughter]
[8:10] » I'm coming out I'm coming out here so I
can hug.
[8:14] » [laughter]
>> I'm just glad to see
[8:16] » Congratulations.
>> Thank you.
[8:20] You too.
[8:23] » Well, first of all for Marilyn,
you know, I'm so pleased to be here
[8:27] tonight because after reading the
article and the reminder about your
[8:31] years of service, I was doing a little
math. I'm not a math guy.
[8:36] Um but the town of East Longmeadow has
been around for 132 years.
[8:40] » Jeez, you're not [laughter] that
[8:43] » For all of it. But you've literally
dedicated your life to a third of the
[8:47] history of this entire community. Uh for
46 years, whether it was as someone who
[8:52] was advocating for streetlights within
this town coming back from nursing,
[8:57] whether it was making sure that planning
boards, which is one of the unsung
[9:01] heroes of a community in a town form of
government that has to deal with it,
[9:06] whether it was the first female member
of the board of selectmen, which aren't
[9:11] really called selectmen anymore because
of that reason, called select boards,
[9:15] and then your later service on the town
council in a new form of government,
[9:20] you've dedicated your life, your adult
life, to the town of East Longmeadow,
[9:25] and it's just an honor for me
representing the state Senate side, and
[9:28] I know that Brian and Angelo will have
words to share as well, but you've
[9:32] dedicated your life to this community.
You have contributed to everything that
[9:38] you have within this community for from,
you know, the midnight early 1980s all
[9:43] the way till today. But, the one thing
that I think makes you stand out amongst
[9:47] everything else is that, you know, we
all serve, whether you're sitting on
[9:52] this town council, whether you're a
state legislator.
[9:55] In these roles, you can you don't make a
lot of friends sometimes.
[9:59] » That's true.
>> And you can
[10:00] disagree, but the one thing that makes
you stand out is that you can disagree
[10:05] without being disagreeable. And that is
something that is important to have in
[10:10] local government, it's important to have
in state government, it's important to
[10:13] have at every level of government. So,
on behalf of the Massachusetts Senate,
[10:17] be it known to all that the
Massachusetts Senate hereby extends its
[10:20] congratulations to Councilor Marilyn M.
Richards in recognition of your
[10:24] distinguished service on the East
Longmeadow Town Council and your more
[10:29] than four decades of unwavering
dedication to the betterment of this
[10:33] community and the residents who are in
public service. And be it further known
[10:36] that the Massachusetts Senate hereby
extends its very best wishes for
[10:39] continued success and that this citation
be signed by the President of the Senate
[10:44] and by me, your state senator. Keep on
staying involved, and I know you will.
[10:49] » Thank you. Thank you.
>> [applause]
[10:55] [applause]
>> Uh you can take this, but I'm going to
[10:57] turn it over to Representative Ashe and
>> [laughter]
[11:01] » Thank you, Senator. Marilyn, um
obviously Jake stole my notes there and
[11:06] said everything we wanted to say, but
sincerely, um you know, as Jake alluded
[11:10] to, working in in politics and anything
like that, it
[11:14] it's tough to know who your friends are.
It's tough sometimes to work cuz you're
[11:16] on different different angles with
things.
[11:19] But, personally for me, from the bottom
of my heart, it's been an absolute
[11:23] pleasure working with you, whether it is
coming to some Veterans Day, Memorial
[11:27] Day, or any of the events here, or
coming in here. I think the last time I
[11:30] was here, I was late cuz I went to the
wrong door. [laughter]
[11:34] Yeah, I know, right?
But but it really has been a joy working
[11:38] with you and it is easy to see
whether speaking with you or whether
[11:43] seeing what you're doing in a meeting,
how much you care about the community,
[11:46] how much you care about a town you you
know you love and it would have been
[11:50] easy to have the time that you had
before and call it quits. But you
[11:54] didn't, you want to give more and and
that is so
[11:56] so commendable and to see somebody that
that wants to keep giving back to the
[12:00] the community that you feel has given so
much to you.
[12:04] We hope we get a red shirt before we
leave but
[12:06] » [laughter]
[12:08] » I told you.
>> Don't tell him that. You'll be back
[12:12] tonight.
>> It's been an absolute joy working with
[12:16] you. I wish you nothing but
success and and fun whatever you decide
[12:21] to do. I know this pulled so much time
from you.
[12:24] » Thank you.
>> [laughter]
[12:27] » No, it has been a joy and I will read
the citation after
[12:30] Angela's
>> After Angela's.
[12:32] » So just again, I want to thank all the
town council members obviously being
[12:36] here,
the town manager, the clerk, everybody
[12:38] and all the veterans, everybody that's
here tonight. There's no place that us
[12:42] three would rather be than be here
tonight certainly to say thank you
[12:45] Marilyn but it's a couple things. I I I
did a lot of research because
[12:50] I thought
Well, [laughter] I I do some it's easy
[12:53] with you know chat GPT, right?
I did a lot of research and I and I I
[12:58] thought there was an age requirement
when you started working because there's
[13:02] no way I said you started when you were
like
[13:06] » [laughter]
>> two or three years old but seriously you
[13:09] know again it's an honor and privilege
to be here and all of us had served on a
[13:12] local level too and I think that's
important. So we know that's really
[13:15] where you know the rubber sort of meets
the road if you will. I mean you you
[13:18] know as Jake alluded to I mean there's a
lot of tough decisions in the town.
[13:22] A lot of tough decisions that you're
you're on the front line, right? And you
[13:25] know people come at you whether it's at
a dinner, whether it's here, whether
[13:27] it's there. We've got the beauty of that
in our district-wide, next week
[13:30] statewide. People come up to us no
matter where you go. But when we were
[13:33] local and you're local and you know, and
everybody here I think realizes the fact
[13:37] that, you know, you're on the front
line. When something doesn't seem the
[13:40] way, you know, some resident may want,
they they're at you, right? And uh
[13:44] » They give them your phone number.
[laughter]
[13:46] » Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, that's good. You know, that's
[13:48] good. But
but no, I mean, that's the point, right?
[13:51] And and to be involved for so long, 40
years, and all the hard work and
[13:55] dedication, and commitment really does,
you know, uh transpose into a love
[13:59] affair, obviously, with the town, but
obviously a love affair with helping
[14:03] people, constituent service, and making
sure that, you know, the place uh that
[14:06] you call home here in East Longmeadow is
is continues to be a great place. And as
[14:10] I think we've all said, we're going to
certainly miss you. We've enjoyed
[14:12] working together. Uh we've had a great
relationship, and we're going to
[14:15] continue on. We hope that you continue
to stay involved. Uh and they may have
[14:19] to bring you back as a consultant.
>> [laughter]
[14:22] » They may need some help at some point,
right? That's what everybody does,
[14:24] right? They'll get back as a consultant.
[laughter]
[14:26] Uh but again, seriously, congratulations
on behalf of myself, the Commonwealth of
[14:29] Massachusetts. And again, no place we'd
rather be here tonight than just to
[14:32] simply say thank you.
>> Your work is appreciated.
[14:35] » Thank you very much.
>> And thank YOU VERY MUCH.
[14:38] » [applause]
[14:42] » AND BEFORE HE HANDS YOU THAT, I GOT TO
USE MY LITTLE LINE,
[14:46] RIGHT?
>> OKAY.
[14:47] » Jake'll give you one, too. It's the only
thing for you'll ever get from the
[14:50] Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
[laughter] So, enjoy it while you can.
[14:54] » You know, when you made a joke about
Anzu too, I think that's so important.
[14:57] Everybody here knows you have to have a
sense of humor. If you don't, it'll be
[15:00] tough. I know you I know you don't do
this job for the money.
[15:03] » [laughter]
>> Um so, on behalf from the House of
[15:07] Representatives, be it here by known to
all of the Massachusetts House of
[15:10] Representatives, offer What's the M
stand for?
[15:13] » Oh, jeez.
>> Uh-oh.
[15:15] » [laughter]
>> Apparently no G's.
[15:18] » Matilda.
>> Matilda. Oh, that's a lovely name.
[15:21] » It's a strong name. That's a good strong
name.
[15:24] » even know what to say.
That's what you Everybody Everybody
[15:27] needs Saugus Matilda.
>> [laughter]
[15:31] » Hereby known to all of Massachusetts.
I said I had you whisper to me.
[15:36] » It would be funny if it WASN'T AN M.
>> [laughter]
[15:41] » UM
IT'S A SINCERE congratulations to
[15:45] Marilyn Richards. Believe me, I'm not.
Your tenure on the Town Council serving
[15:50] the residents of East Longmeadow for
over 40 years of commitment to public
[15:54] service leading with grace, style, and
unparalleled dignity. The entire
[15:59] membership extends its very best wishes
and hope for future good fortune,
[16:02] continued success in all your endeavors.
Signed by the Speaker of the House, by
[16:06] Angelo Puppolo, and by Mike Brian Ashe,
state reps, and uh
[16:10] serious It's sincerely It's been an
absolute pleasure working with you. And
[16:15] they're going to be a big loss when you
Congratulations.
[16:19] » [applause]
[16:24] [applause]
[16:26] » I SHOULD PROBABLY GET IN THE FRONT.
>> How about all the town councilors
[16:29] coming, too?
>> I suppose. By the way, this is the first
[16:32] time that I've been to a town council
meeting where everybody's here in
[16:35] person. So [laughter]
>> Yeah, we're always in person. We must be
[16:38] troubling Marilyn if they all showed up
today for you.
[16:42] » Just come around front.
>> No, we going around front?
[16:45] » Yeah, let's come around front.
>> I do apologize.
[16:50] » Thank you. Thank you.
>> How you doing, Marilyn?
[16:54] » I'm fine, thank you.
[16:57] » How you doing, sir?
>> I know.
[17:00] » Line them up.
>> Line them up. So much red.
[17:02] » I know.
>> I know.
[17:03] » Thank god you guys didn't wear red.
>> Oh, yeah. I'm wearing red.
[17:06] » If we know
Where we going? Come on in.
[17:08] » Oh, yeah.
>> Okay.
[17:10] We're all short.
>> Marilyn, you got to be up front.
[17:13] » Then the people are everybody else.
Otherwise, no one will see them.
[17:15] » You go in the middle. If you can see
your arm.
[17:17] » of on this side.
>> [laughter]
[17:23] » I'll take up the whole side.
[17:28] » All right, ready?
1 2 3
[17:32] This way.
Okay, phone number one.
[17:36] » [laughter]
>> Okay, ready? 1 2 3
[18:00] » That's you, Marilyn, in the picture.
[18:04] » No, no, we're good.
>> All right.
[18:06] » All right, we're good.
>> All right, so just pick up Marilyn.
[18:09] » [laughter]
[18:13] » Thank you so much.
>> Are you good now?
[18:16] » How's everybody?
[18:21] » [laughter]
[18:26] » Yes.
[18:34] » [laughter]
[18:36] » All right, I'll see you.
>> Thank you.
[18:39] » Always here.
>> I'm always here. Thank you.
[18:42] » Got it.
>> He's coming.
[18:45] » Thank you, Victor.
>> Are we I don't want to rope you in.
[18:51] » [laughter]
[18:53] » It's like moving your computer over.
>> [laughter]
[19:01] [laughter]
[19:03] » Do you think I can keep going another 27
years to even catch up?
[19:07] » [laughter]
[19:11] » Okay.
>> No, you don't.
[19:14] » No, no, no.
>> That's okay.
[19:16] Okay, you ready?
>> Yes, we have one final
[19:18] » Okay.
>> Oh, [laughter] no.
[19:20] » So, Marilyn, on behalf of the East
Longmeadow Town Council, um
[19:25] we have decided to place a banner along
the parade route for you
[19:29] » [laughter]
>> and I wanted to show you um it proudly
[19:32] celebrates your service for the town.
>> serious?
[19:34] » Absolutely.
>> [laughter]
[19:36] » But, this is what you're going to see
when you walk in the parade.
[19:43] » [applause]
[19:48] » You've all been really great. Um it's
been a real pleasure.
[19:52] As I said in the reminder article that
the neat part about serving is
[19:57] as colleagues we become friends and I
really believe that. Um
[20:01] we've been through a lot, but it's been
really great.
[20:04] And thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you everybody.
[20:07] » Thank you.
>> [applause]
[20:15] [applause]
[20:21] [applause]
[20:25] » Last but not least.
>> Marilyn, I thought you
[20:28] » [laughter]
>> I thought we might as well add one more
[20:31] citation to the pile. Um
so, [clears throat] I I I think I speak
[20:35] for everybody here. You've been like
such a mentor. Um
[20:40] I have always loved government, but like
having somebody to lean on to, you know,
[20:45] talk about the issues, talk about the
things both here and when I was on the
[20:49] planning board, uh you have always been
I consider you now a friend and and and
[20:53] a colleague um
and just so great to work with. Um so,
[20:57] in that in that vein uh on behalf of the
governor and lieutenant governor, so you
[21:00] have all forms of government represented
tonight here.
[21:05] Um
Marilyn Richards, on behalf of the
[21:06] residents of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, I am pleased to confer
[21:10] upon you this governor's citation in
recognition of your 46 years of
[21:14] dedicated service to the town of East
Longmeadow. We commend your tremendous
[21:18] contribution to the town's success,
serving in various capacities throughout
[21:22] your tenure, including as the first
woman elected to the select board, and
[21:26] now retiring from the town council,
which you've been a part of since 2019.
[21:30] The Commonwealth thanks you for your
time and talent and wishes you all the
[21:34] best in the years to come. The 23rd day
of June in the year 2026. Maura T.
[21:38] Healey, governor, and Kimberly Driscoll,
lieutenant governor.
[21:44] » [applause]
[21:48] [applause]
[21:51] [laughter]
[21:57] » Okay.
Congratulations.
[21:59] » Thank you. I don't believe this.
>> [laughter]
[22:03] » Uh next under communications, uh was
just the 4th of July parade. We'll all
[22:08] be participating in that again this
year. Um
[22:11] Thank you, Ralph, for securing the
golf cart, and Cathy again for the
[22:15] decorations as usual.
Um we [clears throat] can meet um
[22:19] church parking lot as usual.
>> With the cart. With the cart.
[22:25] » [laughter]
>> See everyone then.
[22:28] » Awesome.
>> All right. Next, uh we do have a public
[22:32] hearing this evening.
Was scheduled for 6:15. Uh this is a
[22:37] public hearing for a proposed bylaw
amendment amendment chapter 500 fee,
[22:41] fine, and penalty schedule as a second
reading. And I would ask the clerk to
[22:44] read the legal notice into the record.
>> The East Longmeadow Town Council will
[22:49] hold a public hearing on June 23rd, 2026
at 6:15 p.m. in the media room of of the
[22:55] Council on Aging, located at 328 North
Main Street
[22:59] for a required second reading of a
proposed bylaw amendment, chapter 500
[23:04] fee, fine, and penalty schedule.
For the purpose of an annual update of
[23:08] all fees, fines, and penalties for the
town of East Longmeadow.
[23:13] The public hearing may also be attended
via Zoom webinar.
[23:17] Information relating to this bylaw is
available for public inspection at the
[23:21] town clerk's office.
[23:24] Oh.
Sorry, for the council clerk.
[23:27] » [laughter]
>> Oh, the council clerk. For the council.
[23:30] » Thank you, Jackie. Uh the members from
left to right this evening are Jim
[23:33] Leyden, Kathy Hill,
Anna Jones, myself Connor O'Shea,
[23:36] Marilyn Richards, Ralph Page, and John
Torsha.
[23:40] And then since it is a second reading,
we will quickly do that reading this
[23:43] evening. Um
under section 500-6 fire department
[23:49] fees, fines, and penalties,
we have the I'll say it in the form of
[23:54] item and then the new fee would be the
BLS emergency and emergency transport is
[24:01] now $1,000
445.09.
[24:05] BLS emergency transport Medicare is
$473.92.
[24:12] BLS non-emergency Medicare $296.20.
ALS one emergency non-emergency
[24:19] transport $2,309.26.
[24:22] ALS emergency transport Medicare
$562.79.
[24:27] ALS one non-emergency transport Medicare
$355.44.
[24:33] ALS two emergency transport $3,475.70.
[24:38] ALS two emergency transport Medicare
$814.56.
[24:44] » [clears throat]
>> Mileage per mile $38.99.
[24:47] Intercept fee $321.36.
[24:52] And if we go down to
[24:59] Sorry, many pages later, if we go to
What chapter is that? Uh 500-12 public
[25:06] works department,
fees, fines, and penalties. We were
[25:09] skipping that one.
>> Oh, you are? Okay, stop. Yep.
[25:11] » Oh, okay.
>> Then
[25:13] under
section G, water, sewer, and storm water
[25:17] rates, water standard rate would now be
$4.97 per 100 cubic feet. Water
[25:24] agricultural rate be $3.73
per 100 cubic feet. And sewer rate is
[25:30] $5.06 per 100 cubic feet.
And that is it.
[25:37] At this time, it is a public hearing, so
if there's anyone in the public audience
[25:40] that wishes to make a comment, now is an
opportunity to do so.
[25:45] I don't see anyone online or in person.
That will close the public input portion
[25:50] of the hearing.
Now, it is the council's opportunity to
[25:53] make any comments, questions, concerns.
I would just first add that um
[25:58] [clears throat]
we're not changing any of these at this
[26:01] time um
above and beyond. These are really just
[26:04] copied from what we appropriated in the
town budget last month and updating them
[26:08] in the town bylaw because chapter 500 is
a place that residents can see anything
[26:13] that the town would charge you all in
one consolidated place. This is really
[26:17] just to keep it in sync with
with the budget.
[26:21] Any other comments?
>> So, I would make a motion to close the
[26:25] public hearing.
>> Motion has been made and seconded. Any
[26:29] further discussion? Seeing none, all
those in favor, please say I.
[26:32] » I.
>> I.
[26:33] » Any opposed? The motion passes. Close
the public hearing. And then, is there a
[26:38] motion to approve
>> I will move
[26:41] to adopt the proposed bylaw amendment
chapter 500 the fine and penalty
[26:46] schedule as presented.
>> I'll second that.
[26:49] » Motion was made and seconded. Any
further discussion?
[26:52] Seeing none, this is a roll call vote.
Jen?
[26:55] » Yes.
>> Cathy?
[26:56] » Yes.
>> Anna?
[26:57] » Yes.
>> I say yes. Marilyn?
[26:58] » Yes.
>> Ralph?
[26:59] » Yes.
>> And John?
[27:00] » Yes.
>> Motion passes.
[27:04] Okay.
Next under orders of the day, financial
[27:08] matters, we have an appropriation to
match donations received by the Veterans
[27:13] Memorial Committee.
Um I know this was a topic that we've
[27:18] discussed over the last couple years uh
with the Veterans Memorial Committee to
[27:22] try to get the Veterans Memorial project
to completion. Um
[27:27] I don't know if you have anything to
add to the topic, Ralph. I know you did
[27:31] some of the
discussion and legwork here.
[27:35] » what we're planning? I I do believe so,
but like I said, if you want to have to
[27:40] hurry up, that would be great.
>> You're also welcome to come forward if
[27:42] you have any
comments as well this evening.
[27:44] » I'm going to have a seat.
So, um
[27:47] » Of course.
>> Of course.
[27:50] So, I know uh this topic's gone around a
few different times, and um
[27:55] we're we're coming close to the end, and
so my thought was
[27:59] um
in celebration of the country's 250th
[28:04] birthday,
uh what better way to help us celebrate
[28:07] by remembering those from East
Longmeadow that have given their all at
[28:11] a memorial.
And so,
[28:14] I asked Connor to put this on the agenda
as a matching donation so that anyone
[28:20] that contributes,
uh we would also contribute up to a
[28:24] total of 100,000. I know they're looking
to generate the last $200,000 roughly,
[28:31] and uh I thought maybe this would be a
great way, um
[28:35] that
it it's for the town, um and I thought
[28:39] this was a good way to celebrate our
birthday, and to give it a little push,
[28:43] and to also put some out there for the
businesses,
[28:47] um knowing that it's a one-to-one match.
So, if they made $5,000,
[28:53] $5,000 would also come from the town,
and hopefully we get them there, and I'd
[28:58] love to see a shovel in the ground by
Veterans Day this year.
[29:01] » That'd be nice.
>> There you go.
[29:04] » That would be great.
Is there anything you want to add on
[29:07] behalf of the committee?
>> Well,
[29:09] you have all these guys in the red
shirts
[29:11] on the side of the aisle.
>> [laughter]
[29:13] » You got the email.
[29:16] » Seriously, we'd like to First of all, I
want to say congratulations to Marilyn.
[29:19] » Thank you, Terry.
>> On behalf of this committee,
[29:22] uh you've always been a strong advocate
and supporter, showed up at our
[29:26] fundraisers, and uh
we really appreciate that.
[29:30] Uh [snorts]
but going forward on why we're here
[29:34] is [clears throat] uh
this committee
[29:37] is strongly appreciative
of the conservative concerted effort of
[29:42] what you're trying to do, especially
trying to get us across the finish line,
[29:47] uh especially after eight long years of
fundraising.
[29:52] And uh
but working together now, I think it's
[29:55] really important that the strategy
is that we
[29:59] get this word out to the community, we
get it out to all the businesses, all
[30:05] the households, and all the veterans.
And uh directly ask them
[30:10] uh through a donation request form
that uh
[30:16] they support this East Longmeadow
Veterans Memorial.
[30:20] And it's important, I know you all
realize this, but there's people in the
[30:24] community,
I think, that are
[30:27] somewhat unaware of what we've been
doing for the past eight years.
[30:31] And this is really to honor the 20
East Longmeadow veterans who did give
[30:36] their life for this community,
uh but also to honor and pay tribute to
[30:41] everybody who served, especially from
the town of East Lyme East Lyme Meadow.
[30:47] And I think if we if we don't get this
across the finish line,
[30:52] we're going to run the risk
of forgetting.
[30:56] And there's the phrase that
is in the common circle of all veterans,
[31:00] and that is three words, "Lest we
forget."
[31:04] Because what those three words mean,
it's a solemn promise
[31:09] to [clears throat and cough]
perpetuate the legacy
[31:12] of the veterans who gave their lives.
And it's always been a solemn tribute.
[31:18] So, thank you. Thank you very much, and
uh
[31:21] I know you have asked for uh paper
forms. Um I did bring 10 of them
[31:25] tonight. And if you need more, you can
you can make copies.
[31:29] And uh
also, Ralph, I can
[31:33] you know, once you generate that letter,
>> Yep.
[31:35] » um
I think we talked about corresponding
[31:39] with each other.
>> Absolutely.
[31:41] » other's input. But I also um
think it's important, and I'll give you
[31:46] this,
is uh there's three documents
[31:50] that probably should be inserted to
accompany that letter.
[31:54] And uh
that is this flyer right here.
[31:58] It's uh really our symbol, the Battle
Cross symbol, but it also uh specifies
[32:04] when, how, and where
to make a donation. Uh many people can
[32:09] just walk in to People's Bank and make
that donation. And this flyer also
[32:15] designates uh what our uh EIN number is,
tax-exempt number, so that people can
[32:22] avail themselves of that number.
Uh the other document is
[32:27] a picture of the memorial.
And the last document is the actual
[32:32] paper form, which is very specific in
terms of I don't know Maryland bought
[32:37] one
and uh
[32:39] how to buy a
day before.
[32:43] And uh
so
[32:46] we do
um
[32:49] we did make some
uh small cuts
[32:53] to uh
what we was originally asking for,
[32:56] $202,000.
And those were uh
[33:00] to give up the
$12,000
[33:04] in the benches that we were going to
buy.
[33:07] And also to uh
strip some of the uh bushes and the
[33:11] things of that nature. Although it's
still going to look beautiful.
[33:14] » [clears throat]
>> But uh since that happened in the
[33:17] interim,
uh we had a donation
[33:20] of uh
for almost $4,500
[33:24] from someone in the local area.
And we went out and did buy three
[33:29] benches that one of our members
uh Ed Brown coordinated with a company
[33:34] in another state. And we all we have the
benches already.
[33:39] And they were delivered to the trailer
where we have everything stored back
[33:43] there. So with all this cuts and
everything,
[33:46] uh we came down to where we
penny for penny, we actually need
[33:51] $186,349.
[33:54] But um
having said that,
[33:59] all of the vendors who did bid on this
project
[34:04] cannot hold
to the price
[34:07] of what they originally gave.
Uh I know this for a fact. Um out of the
[34:12] four or five vendors,
uh there might be one or two right now
[34:15] that are going to have to increase.
The longer this goes on, obviously we
[34:19] all know that that's going to impact the
price, but hopefully not too much. Our
[34:24] our architect
and uh
[34:27] which is Kevin Rochelle architectural we
all, W.J. Quinn our general contractor.
[34:33] They're working feverishly to hold the
line. Yeah. You know, with that. And
[34:37] they're doing an excellent job. So.
That's That's all I have to say.
[34:43] » Thank you for the update, Terry.
>> Thank you, Terry.
[34:45] » I think
>> If I can come forward, I'll give you all
[34:47] this information.
>> Sure.
[34:51] » I'll just step
>> Oh, yeah. Be careful of the cord, too.
[34:54] That's Give it Yeah, give it a jump.
>> All right.
[35:01] » Yeah, these are the 10.
>> Perfect.
[35:04] » Um
[35:09] And these are the other documents.
>> Awesome.
[35:13] » Okay.
>> I think there's three.
[35:16] » Yeah, that's all three.
So, thank you very much.
[35:20] » Thank you, Terry.
>> Terry.
[35:26] » I asked Terry for the
donation forms cuz I know we've heard
[35:29] about them in the past.
>> But
[35:30] » at least for me, I wanted it for my own
personal donation.
[35:35] » And that's very specific of
where to send the money.
[35:38] » Exactly.
>> [laughter]
[35:42] » Thank you again.
>> Great. Thank you, Terry.
[35:44] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[35:46] » If there's no other comments or
questions.
[35:49] » Thank you.
>> Hey, do you want to stick around for the
[35:51] motion?
>> Here.
[35:52] » Yeah.
>> Hey.
[35:53] » Terry.
>> [laughter]
[35:54] » Why don't you guys stick around for a
few minutes?
[35:56] » Don't go.
>> Stick around. We're going to make a
[35:58] motion to actually do this.
It hasn't been done yet, so.
[36:08] » Hopefully we can take it.
>> Yeah.
[36:10] » I'm sorry.
>> Yeah, it's not finalized yet. Come on
[36:14] in. Let's make sure this goes through.
We still have to vote on it.
[36:18] » [laughter]
>> My wife didn't feed me. Go ahead.
[36:23] » Okay, so I move to appropriate $100,000
from free cash to match donations
[36:30] received by the Veterans Memorial
Committee between June 23rd, 2026 and
[36:36] October 1st, 2026
dollar for dollar up to $100,000
[36:42] to be used for the design, construction,
and costs related thereto of the
[36:48] Veterans Memorial.
Provided that all donations submitted
[36:52] for matching
are supported by detailed itemized
[36:56] documentation identifying each donor and
the corresponding contribution amount.
[37:03] Matching funds shall only be expended
once sufficient total funding has been
[37:08] verified to fully complete the project.
Any unexpected any
[37:14] any unexpended
funds such as unused contingency shall
[37:19] revert to the town's general fund and
shall not be retained by the committee.
[37:24] Prior to the release of any funds, the
town's director of municipal finance or
[37:29] their designee shall review and approve
all donation documentation.
[37:35] » Second.
>> Motion is made and seconded. Any further
[37:37] discussion?
Seeing none, do we want this as a roll
[37:42] » Roll call, please.
>> Jim.
[37:44] » Yes.
>> Kathy.
[37:44] » Yes.
>> Anna.
[37:45] » Yes.
>> I'm a yes. Marilyn.
[37:47] » Yes.
>> Ralph.
[37:48] » Yes.
>> And John.
[37:49] » Yes.
>> It passes.
[37:51] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[37:53] » Terry, if you'd come up for a minute.
>> Oh, jeez.
[37:57] » That's good.
>> Yeah, watch the cord.
[38:00] » He tried to get him.
>> [laughter]
[38:06] » So, now that the town has agreed to
matching grants, I'd like to make the
[38:10] first donation from my company Page
Landscaping. I can let's work this
[38:15] together and let's get this done.
>> Yeah.
[38:17] » Well, um when I stepped out into the
hall
[38:21] uh there's a gentleman in the audience.
And uh,
[38:25] sitting right there.
His name is Thomas Flaherty. He's the
[38:28] general manager
of Westfield Gas and Electric. And once
[38:32] we get the uh
the donation request form and out, uh
[38:36] he's the company's going to give us a
donation of $5,000.
[38:43] » [applause]
[38:49] » All right. Thanks everybody. You really
Thank you.
[38:52] Yeah, you really don't know what this
means to us.
[38:53] » Now now you can go.
>> [laughter]
[38:57] » Thank you. Thank you for coming.
[39:05] » [laughter]
>> Okay.
[39:11] Next we have approval of our June 9th
open session minutes.
[39:16] » I move to approve the June 9th, 2026
open session minutes.
[39:20] » Second.
>> Motion was made and seconded. Any
[39:22] further discussion?
Seeing none, all those in favor please
[39:25] say aye.
>> Aye.
[39:27] » Any opposed? The motion passes.
Next under old business, we have the
[39:32] 250th anniversary. Uh you'll notice this
evening we're all wearing red, and
[39:36] that's because our polo shirts for the
town council came in. Uh we're still
[39:41] waiting on a corrected version for the
town manager, but
[39:44] » Oh my gosh, I didn't even notice.
>> town councilor this evening.
[39:46] » [laughter]
>> Thanks to your vote.
[39:50] » You're one of us tonight.
>> [laughter]
[39:53] » But now we'll all have a consistent look
for the 4th of July and 250th
[39:57] celebration this year.
I don't know if you had anything else.
[40:00] » No, uh the banners are going up. Uh some
of the bigger banners are going up
[40:04] tomorrow. Um
the fence is up for the carnival, so
[40:08] we're
we're pretty much got everything all
[40:10] planned out and ready to go.
Um
[40:13] yeah.
Looking good.
[40:15] » The the banners do look really good.
>> They do look very nice.
[40:18] » Flags and towns um um it really makes a
difference. You come in you can tell
[40:22] immediately.
>> And I'm glad we did the three types. The
[40:25] different type you know, the different
>> They look good.
[40:27] » They look very nice.
>> Right.
[40:29] » Soon to be four.
>> Yeah. Soon to be four.
[40:32] » [laughter]
>> That one's Can I have that one after so
[40:34] I can hang in my office?
>> Well, we didn't tell you that's 10 ft by
[40:37] 15.
>> [laughter]
[40:39] » Where's this going to be?
>> You're left to find them all.
[40:43] » Oh, yes.
>> Oh my [laughter] god.
[40:46] » Okay.
>> Let's see.
[40:49] » Next under
old business we had the town manager's
[40:53] performance evaluation.
Um
[40:58] So, I had met with Tom earlier to kind
of discuss
[41:03] we all collectively as a council had had
talked [clears throat] about evaluation
[41:06] wise so he's not caught off guard by
anything that we're uh
[41:10] thinking of here, but I had submitted a
memo to you in advance of this meeting
[41:13] just to kind of summarize everything.
I'll just read through it so the benefit
[41:17] of the public audience.
>> Mr. Chair, I know we have an executive
[41:21] coming up.
Is something that we could actually do
[41:24] after the executive?
>> Sure, we can do that.
[41:26] » I would make a motion that we um
out of order and
[41:32] come back to this after executive
session.
[41:36] » Motion was made and
>> Second.
[41:39] » Second motion made and seconded. Any
further discussion?
[41:42] Seeing none, all those in favor to move
out of order please say aye.
[41:46] » Aye.
>> Any opposed?
[41:48] Motion passes.
Um I would expect it should just be
[41:52] » Yeah.
>> 5 minutes.
[41:55] » [laughter]
>> Okay. Then I move to enter into
[41:59] executive session pursuant to
Massachusetts General Law Chapter 30A
[42:03] Section 21A2 for the following purpose
contract negotiations with non-union
[42:09] personnel town manager Tom Christensen.
[42:14] Is there a second?
>> Second.
[42:16] » Oh.
I was going to say, should we do all
[42:20] this then executive then instead of
doing this? No?
[42:23] » It's only going to take a couple
>> 5 minutes? Okay. All right.
[42:28] » A motion was made and seconded. Jim?
>> Yes.
[42:31] » Cathy?
>> Yes.
[42:32] » Anna?
>> Yes.
[42:33] » I'm a yes. Marilyn?
>> Yes.
[42:34] » Ralph?
>> Yes.
[42:35] » And John?
>> Yes.
[42:36] » We promise it'll be quick.
>> Yes. [laughter]
[42:39] By the time you close the doors, you'll
be able to walk away.
[42:41] » Almost.
[42:52] » Are you locking me in?
>> Yeah, so if you just
[42:57] Uh yes.
>> Yes.
[43:00] » Well, yes, yeah.
[43:14] » Oh, oh no, I just recorded and now I
think Oh my gosh.
[43:17] Oh my gosh.
>> You just what?
[43:20] » Recording in progress.
>> Thank you, Jamie. Thank you all for your
[43:24] patience. Uh we are back from executive
session. Um
[43:28] so just to quickly recap the town
manager's performance evaluation, the
[43:32] subcommittee had met on Tuesday, June
16th. Um overall, Tom, out of the 10
[43:38] categories that we evaluate our town
manager on,
[43:42] he scored 85 and 1/2 out of 100 if you
add them up math-wise.
[43:47] Uh but in our breakdown, that falls into
generally exceeds and always exceeds the
[43:51] performance standard in most categories.
So, thank you for your
[43:56] deserved service to the town. Um
each year the council has to put
[44:01] together goals that are mutually agreed
upon by the town manager per the town
[44:04] manager's contract. So, this year's
goals that we've agreed to
[44:09] uh the first one is to review health
insurance costs, reconvene the insurance
[44:12] advisory committee, and evaluate
potential stabilization funds. That was
[44:17] also an action item that came out of the
financial oversight committee
[44:20] recommendation from this year.
The second [clears throat] is to provide
[44:23] a municipal fiber build-out plan within
6 months due January 2027, which I know
[44:28] part of that is this evening, but we
expect that there will be more reporting
[44:32] and
uh planning.
[44:34] And then the third is to improve the
town's online presence, including the
[44:37] town website, social media, and expanded
use of open government code.
[44:42] Um
Overall, the town manager's current
[44:46] salary was $147,680.
[44:51] Given his
rating that the council all gave him,
[44:55] his contract says that he would get a
minimum 4% increase, which would be
[44:59] $5,907.
Um
[45:02] but then the council in executive
session made an additional motion. So,
[45:06] for public transparency purposes, I will
entertain that motion
[45:10] now.
>> May I?
[45:11] » Sure.
>> Okay.
[45:13] » [clears throat]
>> I move to approve a 7% increase,
[45:16] $158,195,
[45:20] to the town manager's salary based on
his performance evaluation score
[45:25] exceeding generally meets the
performance standard, effective July 1,
[45:30] 2026.
>> Second.
[45:31] » Second.
>> Motion was made and seconded.
[45:35] Just so it's explicitly clear, the 4% is
built into that 7% number, so it's not
[45:40] an additional above the 11.
It's really just 3% more for your
[45:43] exceeding performance above the
line that we set. Thanks.
[45:48] Um any other discussion?
Seeing none, all those in favor please
[45:52] say I.
>> I.
[45:54] » Any opposed?
Motion passes.
[45:57] And then we have one more motion to
adopt the goals.
[45:59] » I move to adopt the goals for the town
manager for FY27 as presented.
[46:04] » Second.
>> Motion was made and seconded. Any
[46:06] further discussion?
Seeing none, all those in favor, please
[46:09] say aye.
>> Aye.
[46:10] » Any opposed? Motion passes.
>> Thank you.
[46:14] » You all.
>> [snorts]
[46:16] » All right, next under new business we
have a municipal fiber update
[46:19] presentation from Whip City.
[46:25] » [clears throat and cough]
[46:32] » Brush coming up.
>> [laughter]
[46:35] » Just want to let the record show that uh
I thought I did that
[46:39] on the side
the contribution and uh
[46:43] but it's something that we do. We're
we're huge on the community support. Um
[46:47] in Westfield alone last year we donated
close to $300,000.
[46:52] Uh plus a million dollars towards the uh
high school field project. So
[46:56] Um we're doing the same in West
Springfield.
[46:58] Helping out quite a few uh non-profit
organizations there as well.
[47:04] Thank you.
>> The town definitely appreciates the
[47:05] support.
>> Yeah. Thank you.
[47:10] » Goes. All right.
Well, uh
[47:13] thank you for having us this evening. Um
my name is Andrew Shaw. I'm the key
[47:17] account sales manager for Westfield Gas
and Electric Whip City Fiber.
[47:21] My left is Tom Flaherty, uh our general
manager.
[47:25] My right, Jameson Carter, our fiber
superintendent.
[47:30] From Mitchell, the assistant general
manager, and I think you all know Ryan.
[47:34] » He's the top fiber guy.
>> [laughter]
[47:38] » Um so yeah, so thank you for having us
here this evening. The goal of tonight
[47:42] is to provide you with an update. Um I
think the last time we spoke to the
[47:46] committee or the council was probably 2
years ago.
[47:49] Um so there's been a lot of work going
on um that not necessarily that you see,
[47:54] but is actually foundational to moving
the project forward.
[47:58] So, we'll start today. We'll give you
some background and sort of some of the
[48:01] roles of uh Westfield Westfield Gas Web
City Fiber. Give you an update as far as
[48:06] where we are today.
Uh then we'll go into sort of, you know,
[48:09] what what does Web City Fiber do? What's
the coordination that we provide? Uh
[48:14] talk about the FSAs, which are fiber
service areas. So, the whole town, as
[48:18] part of the design and engineering, gets
split up into a neighborhoods or fiber
[48:22] hoods, which are fiber service areas.
Uh we'll talk about some build costs and
[48:27] expected revenue, anticipated income.
Um and then uh we'll sort of close with
[48:33] some sort of next steps and how we plan
the phased approach to the build of uh
[48:39] your fiber network.
Um so, with that, we'll just jump into
[48:44] the first slide.
Um so, we you know, we talk about
[48:48] completed engineering and design. So,
what that meant is uh we actually mapped
[48:52] out every street, every house, every
pole in the whole of uh East Longmeadow.
[48:57] And that equated to roughly 75 miles of
overhead and 35 miles of underground
[49:03] construction that would be required.
Um in all, there's about 7,300
[49:09] uh dwelling units, so potential
customers. And we anticipate a take rate
[49:14] of around 50% of that. So, what you're
seeing tonight is based on those sort of
[49:18] numbers. Uh that equates to 34
individual fiber service areas, FSAs.
[49:26] Um
Moving from that, uh we then uh
[49:31] acted as the general contractor for that
design company. So, not only do we
[49:38] uh
manage the network and are able to build
[49:42] that network for you, we also manage the
the uh contractors that are required for
[49:48] some of the work. We also um
uh get involved with designing the hut,
[49:53] what goes in the hut, the equipment
that's required, how many huts do we
[49:56] need, the placement of that hut. We
worked in conjunction with with Tom and
[50:00] Ryan.
Also during this period, we found that
[50:04] two things happened which kind of was a
were a little bit of a delay. One was a
[50:09] company
just came in and just started tagging
[50:13] every single pole. So that meant that
they were the primary person on the
[50:17] pole. So we had to work to move them out
so that East Longmeadow was the primary
[50:24] person on the pole. So that was a little
bit of work that we did.
[50:29] On top of that, one of our utility
partners changed the pole application
[50:34] process. So you batch the poles
that you're going to strand onto that
[50:41] you're going to put your fiber onto. So
you batch those.
[50:44] That had a number of I think it was 200
per application and they changed that
[50:50] halfway through to 125. So that meant we
had to go back
[50:55] and rework all those fiber service areas
and pole applications.
[51:00] Interestingly enough with the utility
partner here in town,
[51:05] you have to go on a GIS map and
individually peg every single pole that
[51:11] you want to run strand on. So it's a
pretty laborious process.
[51:16] But that works all being completed.
And we're at a stage now where we not
[51:21] only have a full design,
full engineering build out.
[51:26] We're ready to go.
We've worked on phased approach which
[51:31] Jamie will speak to.
Which will provide the best
[51:37] way for the town to receive benefit
quickly
[51:41] from building out the
the fiber
[51:46] infrastructure.
So with that, any questions so far?
[51:53] I just want to point out, I'm looking at
some concerned and puzzled faces. We
[51:56] apologize. This is complicated stuff.
There's
[52:01] our utility partners and the Department
of Public Utilities and with your
[52:07] East Longmeadow Municipal Light Plant,
you're now a utility.
[52:10] » [laughter]
>> It's complicated. We're trying to make
[52:12] this as simple as possible.
Trust us, we've done this before. So,
[52:18] if that helps.
Yeah, I can give you some idea.
[52:21] We manage right now over 20 communities.
We have just over 19,000 individual
[52:26] subscribers that we are supplying daily
and that we keep active every single day
[52:31] of the week.
I'd like to hand it over to Jamie just
[52:34] to talk about current state today.
>> Sure. So, where are we today? So, right
[52:38] now we have bi-weekly meetings with
National Grid. We also have meetings
[52:42] with Verizon and we have communication
with Charter, who is your communication
[52:46] company right now. Through those
bi-weekly meetings, we are conducting
[52:50] basically they're giving their estimates
for the make-ready work that's supposed
[52:54] to be completed on the poles in order
for us to provide a service to East
[52:58] Longmeadow.
Those estimates are coming in. Lucky
[53:01] enough for us, we have four individuals
that were ex-linemen, ex-gas guys that
[53:06] are used to doing the work. They
understand what's going on in the poles.
[53:09] So, they're able to basically address
the poles once
[53:13] not every so often, but once National
Grid comes in, give us the estimates per
[53:16] pole and they call out maybe pole
replacements,
[53:20] certain moves that need to happen, light
replacements or light movements. We're
[53:24] able to go out there, take a look at
those [clears throat] poles and say,
[53:26] "No, we don't need to do that. This
needs to be done on this pole." So,
[53:30] we're able to shave some of that cost
off because again, we have ex-linemen
[53:34] that are able to identify those certain
things on those poles that need to be
[53:37] addressed and what doesn't need to be
addressed.
[53:40] Also,
there's forestry stuff that's been
[53:43] called out on some of those and we've
been able to tackle those through our
[53:46] bi-weekly meetings. I did count a couple
numbers here just to let you guys know.
[53:50] We had some forestry challenges in and
50% of those forestry challenges so far
[53:54] have been overturned to us in our favor.
So, that's good. They don't have to
[53:58] perform those.
Also, we've had 117 pole challenges and
[54:02] we're currently working on those today
with National Grid. They have a
[54:05] ex-lineman themselves who's going out to
these poles and we're riding out those
[54:09] poles with him to identify those issues
and overturn those issues that the town
[54:13] will not have to pay for. So,
>> If I may interrupt, what does a pole
[54:18] challenge really
>> Sure. Yep, absolutely. So, if you look
[54:21] obviously when you go outside you drive
around you see poles out there.
[54:25] What they're challenging is that there's
enough make-ready room for us to attach
[54:28] a line. We need 40 in from the
secondary. So, your your basically your
[54:33] electric line that goes from the pole to
the house, your house,
[54:36] that's called secondary. If there's not
40 in on that pole between Arcom and
[54:41] electric, they need to change that pole
out or perform some movement on the pole
[54:46] so that we can put our line in. So,
again, each pole is being identified.
[54:51] Andrew was speaking to you guys about
125 poles. There's multiple
[54:54] applications. We're seeing all those
surveys and estimates come to us and
[54:59] we're challenging those big ticket
items. Those big ticket items are going
[55:02] to what's going to drive the cost higher
and we're making sure that everybody's
[55:06] playing on the same even level playing
ground here.
[55:09] Um so,
with that, that's where we are today
[55:12] with the make-ready estimates. Uh
discussing a phased approach to build.
[55:16] Obviously,
um
[55:18] if you take a look at this map behind
me,
[55:20] you'll see
[55:24] » Let me stop.
You want
[55:26] » Yeah, I'll talk about it.
>> Perfect. I'll get the other I'll get the
[55:29] other one for the other half.
>> So, the poles
[55:32] » Thank you, Jim.
>> Thank you. Vanna [laughter] White.
[55:36] So, the poles
that we had
[55:39] we engineered it to the
>> and based off the design we figured
[55:41] [laughter] that a
great location for a hot site would be
[55:46] here on Vineland Ave.
From Vineland Ave, we're looking to
[55:50] build out a phased approach to start off
in this general vicinity and as make
[55:56] ready's being completed, we're able to
basically start climbing out and build
[56:00] out other FSAs. Now, obviously as you
build an FSA, a customer taking that
[56:05] service
that service is now going to fund more
[56:09] FSAs to be built out. So, what I say
phased approach, money's coming in,
[56:14] people are taking service, you're able
to pay for more more FSAs to be
[56:17] delivered.
So.
[56:20] » When he says Vineland, that's uh on the
same property as the Vineland pump
[56:25] station?
>> Yeah.
[56:26] » Yep.
>> Um there [clears throat] was enough room
[56:28] for us to easily locate that sort of out
of the way on our property, which was
[56:33] nice.
>> Yep.
[56:34] » It's also on our municipal fiber
backbone.
[56:37] » Correct. There's We've got We're able to
work with Ryan here as well as Tom to
[56:41] identify that you guys have conduit
already in place, which gives us
[56:44] transport to get to other parts of the
town to then spider out to those other
[56:48] fiber service areas.
Um
[56:51] » What are the um
I see like the different colors, but I
[56:54] see the fiber service areas. What do the
colors mean in relation to
[56:57] » So, if you look at this,
>> Oh, okay.
[57:00] » So, this is based off the fact that
let's say that National Grid performs
[57:04] their make ready work, all the poles are
ready for us to start putting fiber
[57:06] service on there.
Once they do that, these other areas are
[57:10] shaded based off of the areas that we
would build out first. So, right here
[57:14] we're calling bid one in 2028, which
which would be this section of town
[57:17] because it's the closest to the hot.
That's where you're going to spend the
[57:20] money to get your make ready done and
then go further out as you progress.
[57:27] Got you. Any questions?
>> Yeah, this area made sense just because
[57:30] as Tom mentioned, there was already land
that we could we could utilize and also
[57:35] when you looked at the
the homes that are in this area your
[57:39] cost per passing
with less.
[57:42] » They're very consolidated so there's a
lot more
[57:45] homes in that area so you're able to get
a higher take rate.
[57:48] » It's overhead.
>> Right.
[57:49] » So it's cheaper to run.
>> Return on investment.
[57:52] » It's cheaper than underground.
>> Yeah, a lot.
[57:54] » Yeah.
>> Yes.
[57:55] » And your return on investment is faster
rather than building way out on the
[57:58] other side of town a lot of dollars to
get your first customers. There's a nice
[58:02] density in there so your return on
investment be quicker, reinvest, keep
[58:06] building.
>> And so I see the the triangle where you
[58:09] have that first hut on Vineland. Would
there be other triangle huts elsewhere
[58:14] throughout town as you expand the
network?
[58:16] » So right now
with talking to Ryan we had the original
[58:20] assessment of putting two huts but after
talking to Ryan there is the
[58:25] possibility and I think it's a strong
possibility that we could just utilize
[58:28] one hut only and be able to use use your
current underground conduit.
[58:31] » Okay.
>> And then express it out to the area
[58:33] where we thought your second hut
location was going to be and then spider
[58:36] out from there.
And it's underground which means it
[58:39] would be
>> [clears throat]
[58:41] » less susceptible to pole hits, tree
damage, etc. So that's where we would
[58:46] have your kind of safe haven.
>> That area was down on the south side
[58:50] along the
>> Yeah.
[58:51] » The second second location was the
Chestnut Street pump station property.
[58:56] » Yeah. Okay. I like that.
>> All right.
[58:59] » So from there we can hop into our
conduit which goes under the bike trail
[59:02] which is even more protected from just
being on the curb side and get up to the
[59:07] Vineland pump station.
>> So you keep saying our underground
[59:11] conduit. Don't we already have
conduit with fiber that runs through the
[59:16] town and connects everything? Are we
hooking into our existing main fiber?
[59:21] » No.
>> The thought would be to keep it
[59:23] separate. So fiber has a lifespan.
It's 25 years.
[59:28] » Yeah, so 25 years and obviously it's
we've had fiber in Westfield today that
[59:32] was put up in 1996 and it's still there
today and works fine.
[59:36] So, and that was to basically handle our
north ring and south ring.
[59:40] Uh we have we own the fiber in
Westfield, so NBI does not run through
[59:45] Westfield. So, NBI runs on our fiber
through Westfield.
[59:49] » So, I know Ryan when we first talked
about it that was one of the benefits
[59:52] that we thought we'd be saving money
basically already using our main line
[59:57] and the fiber. Is that one of the
reasons why the price in 3 years 3 and
[1:00:03] 1/2 years that we've already been
looking at it? Initial [clears throat]
[1:00:06] we were hearing 8 11 million and now
we're up to 31 million and it looks like
[1:00:12] we're not even going to start a build
out for 2 more years. So, where are we
[1:00:15] going to be? I mean, let's be truthful.
Where are we going to be with the total
[1:00:19] cost by the time this gets built out? I
think the 31 million if that's today,
[1:00:25] you got to be looking at least another
10 million on top of that.
[1:00:28] Uh
>> I don't believe that will grow that
[1:00:30] much. I'm I'm thinking around 2 million.
However, with the
[1:00:34] um this includes the worst-case scenario
from National Grid on the make-ready.
[1:00:39] So, if all all of our challenges come
in,
[1:00:41] I'm not sure what the total amount that
will come off maybe you know 500,000 to
[1:00:45] a million dollars will come off of that
make-ready as well.
[1:00:48] » And like National Grid's make-ready if I
got it right was like 7 million.
[1:00:52] » Yeah, it was 7 to 8 million I think.
>> Yeah, I think so. Yeah.
[1:00:55] » Yeah.
[1:00:59] » Just the make-ready is almost what we
were discussing at the beginning the
[1:01:03] total cost of everything.
And the longer this goes, I mean, we
[1:01:08] rushed through, we made sure we got our
votes in time to start the plant and
[1:01:12] everything.
Um I was at the meetings when we first
[1:01:15] met and we were talking total 5 years
for the make-ready and total build out
[1:01:20] and like I said, we're close to 4 years
in and
[1:01:24] I mean, we're we're still sitting here
talking about, [clears throat] you know,
[1:01:27] what's got to be done with make ready
and all that. It's very frustrating, um
[1:01:31] at least for myself. Like I said, some
counselors were here, some weren't, but
[1:01:36] um for a long time.
>> those bi-weekly
[1:01:38] » bi-weekly meetings.
>> Yeah, so working with the utility, it's
[1:01:42] been challenging, but we've been trying
to drive
[1:01:45] in your favor.
>> Is that typical to have to
[1:01:50] um wrestle with the utilities if I
>> I I I hate to say, unfortunately, yes.
[1:01:55] Um you know, we had established
relationships when we were building out
[1:01:59] our 19 Hill towns, but those established
relationships were also pushed by the
[1:02:04] government, you know.
The governor, the lieutenant governor
[1:02:08] was pushing that to make sure that those
towns are built because they were under
[1:02:11] served, right?
>> Under served.
[1:02:12] » So, again,
we are still pushing that same momentum.
[1:02:17] We have a great relationship with
Eversource. They're working well with us
[1:02:20] right now. National Grid, we haven't
worked with them since we've done this.
[1:02:24] I think we're starting to get in a
momentum where things are going to work
[1:02:28] in our favor.
Um so, we through those bi-weekly
[1:02:32] meetings and they're and like I said, by
us going out with their line folk,
[1:02:36] » [clears throat]
>> discussing the challenges, that's also
[1:02:38] working in our favor as well cuz they
see that again, we're not
[1:02:42] Gateway, we're not Joe Schmo off the
street. We are a utility that's coming
[1:02:46] out and we have knowledge of the utility
electric line department.
[1:02:50] So, we're able to give them
that insight and they agree with us on
[1:02:54] most of the causes.
[1:02:59] » Well,
>> Yeah.
[1:02:59] » I would like to assume that these
numbers are at a 50% participation rate,
[1:03:05] but were to go to 60% or 65, then
monthly cost for [cough]
[1:03:11] um a subscriber would be lower.
>> Or you would make more money to pay off
[1:03:16] the the bond sooner.
Um some of the towns that we work with
[1:03:20] in in the Hilltowns have already paid
off their debt
[1:03:23] you know,
10 to 15 years prior to what was
[1:03:27] originally planned.
Um they're also working on an an 85 to
[1:03:31] 95% take rate because they had
absolutely nothing. But you have towns
[1:03:35] that
like New Ashford up in up by
[1:03:38] Williamstown, they have 96 customers.
You know, they had but I think a
[1:03:42] potential of 99
customers in in that in that one town.
[1:03:47] Like that's that's one of the towns.
Building out West Springfield, we're
[1:03:50] already seeing from the pilot area take
rate of 50%. So that that payback is
[1:03:55] going to be that much better. In
Westfield, we're just over 55% and we
[1:04:00] we're actually just doing a study to
find out what what it's taking for for
[1:04:04] people to to change over. What I've
found in in kind of beating up some of
[1:04:09] my friends that haven't switched over is
they're just they're used to pressing,
[1:04:13] you know, 822 for for NBC or or you
know, 849 or whatever it is for for
[1:04:19] ESPN. And I'm like, but you're okay
paying, you know, upwards of 450
[1:04:24] dollars
a month for this and I'm like,
[1:04:28] your savings, you know, verse what I I
I have a
[1:04:31] I said it before and I think Ralph heard
it.
[1:04:33] I have an an antenna in my house which
gets about 40 plus channels.
[1:04:38] 10 of them are bilingual channels, but a
lot of like the 22s and 40s and channel
[1:04:44] 3 out of Connecticut and stuff like
that, they have a bunch of sub channels.
[1:04:49] Um but you know, streaming, we were just
talking out on the hallway about
[1:04:51] watching the World Cup. You know, so for
a month and a half, I bought, you know,
[1:04:55] Fox One so you can stream all the all
the World Cup games and then you can
[1:04:58] cancel it. So you decide what you want
to watch, what bundle of of programming
[1:05:03] you want to watch. There's a lot of
one of our biggest take rates in
[1:05:07] Westfield, which was a concern at first,
is actually people over 65 because
[1:05:12] they're on fixed incomes. We help them.
We told them you know how to get an
[1:05:15] antenna, you know, to get the local
channels, but then they have the
[1:05:18] internet and we taught them how to how
to stream. We hold
[1:05:22] you know, we still hold programs on
that. We started holding those in multi
[1:05:26] languages in in West Springfield as
well. It's a huge bilingual community.
[1:05:31] So we hold those and they're very well
attended a lot of times by the by the
[1:05:34] same people. Some you know, it's that's
their day out or whatever
[1:05:39] you know, at the senior center. But
they're the the take rate has been going
[1:05:42] really well.
>> How long has Westfield had fiber?
[1:05:46] » So Whip City Fiber proper is 10 years
old this year. So
[1:05:51] » So after 10 years you're at 55%.
>> After 10 years we're at 55%.
[1:05:56] » Cuz I know originally talked we were
talking around 30% would basically cover
[1:06:00] all our costs.
>> Yeah.
[1:06:02] » Anything above that would be
>> And that was our original business plan
[1:06:05] for for West So I was
for Westfield I was on the the board at
[1:06:09] the time
the municipal light board and our
[1:06:13] projected take rate was going to be 30%
and that would that would pay off the
[1:06:18] debt service. Our original debt service
was 15 million. To totally build out
[1:06:22] Westfield was just over 40 million and
everything over that first 15 million we
[1:06:26] paid with cash. We also are the ones
doing doing the work, doing the installs
[1:06:32] and and and all of that. So we're we're
a little bit different, but we're also
[1:06:36] running that business and and going out
to 22 and 22 total communities today
[1:06:42] that we didn't plan on back in 2013 when
we were originally doing the business
[1:06:48] plan.
So it's a little bit of a of a
[1:06:51] difference and again our business plan
might be different than other people's,
[1:06:55] but you the the town of East Long Meadow
own all the infrastructure. We just
[1:07:00] provide all the services. The money that
comes in goes directly into East Long
[1:07:04] Meadow's account or West Springfield's
account or any other community that
[1:07:07] would that we work with on top of that.
>> And the principal.
[1:07:10] » Right. That Yep. So, you have to pay pay
off your bond, and you you get a monthly
[1:07:15] bill from us.
>> Um kind of Can I um So, I'm looking at
[1:07:19] your construction schedule.
Um
[1:07:23] » [clears throat]
>> at first five uh colors up on top and
[1:07:27] going through 2030, and then you have a
to be determined in yellow, which looks
[1:07:32] like half of our town.
>> Yep.
[1:07:34] » So,
do we have a a general idea of
[1:07:40] how long before the entire town would be
built out?
[1:07:44] » So, that would be based off of that what
National Grid works. They've been giving
[1:07:48] us estimates of how fast they can work.
So, if they work fast, we can follow
[1:07:52] behind them as fast to build it out.
>> And
[1:07:56] the other thing is underground.
>> Yes.
[1:07:58] » So, obviously you want to do the poles,
it's cheaper, you get a lot of take
[1:08:01] rate. Um my concern is um truthfully,
I'm hearing from the public, and
[1:08:08] they're getting a little tired of
waiting.
[1:08:10] Um is there a location, let's say Great
Woods, where there's
[1:08:15] a lot of houses condensed together, the
big houses, the take rate would probably
[1:08:19] be good, where we can start doing
underground and not wait for National
[1:08:23] Grid, and maybe hook it up to the main
line under the bike trail?
[1:08:28] » So, the underground we don't have to
wait for National Grid, but we have to
[1:08:31] fund it.
And get to it.
[1:08:35] » I I mean it's one of those where
if you put some in and people like it,
[1:08:41] they're going to be talking, and then
everyone's going to be excited about
[1:08:45] hey, what's going forward. Um people
can't get excited about me telling them
[1:08:49] that it's another 2 years, maybe another
three, and they're like, you told me
[1:08:52] that 4 years ago.
>> Yeah.
[1:08:55] » So, that's that's why we're here,
because we're at that point.
[1:08:58] » Mhm.
>> So, Grid is finally
[1:09:01] uh
we we have an understanding with Grid
[1:09:04] now, I think, Uh after the last couple
meetings that
[1:09:06] » Cheers.
>> uh huh?
[1:09:08] » It's a couple beers.
>> Allegedly.
[1:09:10] uh that
we expect and fully expect a partnership
[1:09:15] with the town of East Hampton, right?
National Grid is
[1:09:19] on our property
and that we want to start a utility in
[1:09:22] town and and therefore uh we expect a
certain level of
[1:09:28] collaboration. And so they have been
working to change the way they do things
[1:09:33] to allow us
to build this in a way that GoFiber,
[1:09:38] GoNetSpeed, or whoever
wouldn't be allowed to do because that's
[1:09:43] what we expect. So
we're at this point now where we've been
[1:09:46] challenging and fighting and
scratching and clawing and waiting from
[1:09:50] last June to get our estimates to this
June to get our estimates.
[1:09:55] And now we're here. And so
now's the time to sort of look at
[1:10:00] how this can be funded and
let's let's hit go. We we don't we don't
[1:10:06] have to wait for Grid anymore.
We're we're at that point where we can
[1:10:12] figure out what the other agreement
looks like and how the construction is
[1:10:15] going to go.
Um that that specifically is I think why
[1:10:19] we're here to say
let's go. Um I think there's a little
[1:10:24] bit of a a spreadsheet there that it's
probably hard to read to that that shows
[1:10:29] the the cost of things. And again,
uh we had sort of earmarked quite a bit
[1:10:34] of free cash. Um
and that uh a couple months ago about
[1:10:39] maybe putting two like a couple million
dollars towards this project. Uh Kim and
[1:10:43] I have been talking with bond counsel
about our options. Um
[1:10:49] Of all the things, uh ca- capitalizing
interest is allowed for this type of
[1:10:54] project. Um
and and pretty much the only way you get
[1:10:58] these things off the ground to to get
this much money. We don't borrow
[1:11:02] interest payments
or or it just increases the cost of the
[1:11:06] project. However,
like we've been saying since the
[1:11:09] beginning, this is a project that is
going to generate revenue for us.
[1:11:13] Um, so it's a whole different animal.
But, like Kim was saying or like I was
[1:11:17] saying, Kim and I were talking uh with
bond counsel about our options. Um,
[1:11:22] and it and it appears that uh we're
we're all we're likely to have
[1:11:28] another couple million dollars in free
cash available
[1:11:31] um when we certify again in September.
Um, if we want to uh use that to fund
[1:11:37] this project. But, uh we are at the
point now where it's time to go.
[1:11:42] Um, grid's almost there. The design is
done. Um,
[1:11:47] » [clears throat]
>> uh Whip City has been doing a ton of
[1:11:50] work on our behalf for the last uh year
and a half checking in, uh taking
[1:11:55] meetings, having phone calls, you know,
fighting the good fight. Uh, but we're
[1:12:00] here. Um,
this is what it cost. I think somebody
[1:12:04] asked the question before. I think we
said we we sort of
[1:12:08] added escalation a little bit into the
pricing of that. So, if
[1:12:12] uh the $31 million is what, you know,
some sort of escalator of what you'd
[1:12:17] think the cost would be 3 years from
now. That that's sort of in the
[1:12:20] equation.
>> Right. And also, when we originally
[1:12:23] priced it, um the the mileage for the
underground was half of what the actual
[1:12:28] came back on the engineering study. That
was the largest largest increase in
[1:12:33] addition to the um the increase in the
in the uh estimated make ready.
[1:12:37] » Yeah, so the the underground piece while
while
[1:12:40] we wouldn't have to wait for grid, and
that I can't disagree with you on.
[1:12:45] It I mean, the cost is three to four X
to try to build it. Um, it is extremely
[1:12:50] expensive.
Um,
[1:12:53] and I still think this is the right
plan. And we've talked about this a
[1:12:57] bunch of times. This is the way to spend
our money wisely and have revenue
[1:13:02] generating
within a couple years of of giving a
[1:13:06] check to Grid to start moving their
stuff out of our way.
[1:13:09] » And in the first areas, if Grid moves
quicker, you'll see the the bid
[1:13:13] timeline. You know, right now we're
we're doing 10 fiber service areas. A
[1:13:16] fiber service area is about 250
locations. But we're doing 10 a year in
[1:13:21] West Springfield, and that plan's
working fantastic with that partnership
[1:13:25] that we've developed through with
with Eversource and Verizon. Verizon was
[1:13:30] a little bit slow at first, but they've
they've even come to the table. Verizon
[1:13:35] is
it's kind of that snail,
[1:13:38] you know, going going through and
they're they're tough to work with.
[1:13:42] Here, that's not as big of an issue. You
do have two utilities to deal with.
[1:13:46] Eversource is up on that right on that
Springfield line. But if we can get
[1:13:50] those built out faster, we can we can
the make-ready work faster, we can bid
[1:13:56] those out faster. And great part about
it, we do all the installs. We're just
[1:14:00] talking about that in the hallway. We do
100% of the installs. Our direct
[1:14:04] employees. We don't contract that out.
The only we we do contract out the you
[1:14:09] know, putting the strand in in the
distribution system out there.
[1:14:13] Everything else is done by us.
>> So, what did you just say about 250?
[1:14:17] » 250 in each fiber service area. So, each
puzzle piece
[1:14:21] » That's what you can do in a year?
>> No, no, no.
[1:14:23] » No, no, no.
>> Each one of those puzzle pieces, the
[1:14:25] FSA, like if you look at FSA 7,
>> 50.
[1:14:28] » that's about 250 locations. It can
>> We're doing 10.
[1:14:32] » So, we're doing 10 about 10 a year in in
West Springfield. However, with
[1:14:38] with that, it's
it's built it's capable of 288
[1:14:42] connections. We we leave that many open.
So, you'll see
[1:14:47] I know Mr. Page, you're on the the south
side of town if I remember correctly at
[1:14:52] one point in our conversation. No, but
if you look at that you look at the
[1:14:56] growth Yeah, I know. I know.
>> [laughter]
[1:14:58] » But, you look at that area, you know,
that that area is expansive. So, when we
[1:15:02] build that that fiber service area might
only have 225 cuz there's potential for
[1:15:09] that growth in there. And and the key
is, you know, when we have
[1:15:13] the fiber cabinet there that has the 200
and 88 connections, you don't want to
[1:15:16] put another cabinet. You want to size
every area correctly so that you can
[1:15:21] expand
when that load comes in.
[1:15:23] » Roughly 300 acres close to me that will
be all developed within, well, by the
[1:15:27] time fiber is done.
>> There you go. Perfect timing.
[1:15:30] » That's building code.
>> Uh building code.
[1:15:33] » Development.
>> Yeah.
[1:15:34] » When you when those developments are
announced to speak with that developer
[1:15:38] to have conduit put in as part of that
development and then that's
[1:15:42] » And Connor, I I think I think Ryan had
mentioned that once before at a planning
[1:15:46] board meeting.
>> Yeah, about 2 years ago. 2 years ago.
[1:15:49] » We actually had it installed on Scarlet
Drive, whatever that Oakwood Estates off
[1:15:54] Parker Street.
Tom Bratt agreed to put in conduit for
[1:15:58] fiber. So, that's being installed. And
again,
[1:16:00] » We have a development going in Westfield
now that has 20 20 homes. They're higher
[1:16:04] end homes, but the developer
physically bought the conduit from us
[1:16:08] and is installing the conduit. So,
that's,
[1:16:11] you know, a big chunk of change that we
don't have to invest in.
[1:16:15] » It We're we're we're
we're taking that leap again when we
[1:16:20] built all our other infrastructure,
water, sewer, storm water, like
[1:16:24] this is this is a
big moment for the town.
[1:16:29] And again, it's got to start somewhere
and we are at that point where we either
[1:16:33] start or we don't.
[1:16:36] And I think and I think everybody over
there thinks that we should start and I
[1:16:40] think we're in a good place financially
to get there and have revenue coming in
[1:16:46] be you know, maybe even before we have
to make that first payment.
[1:16:50] Um
>> So I don't want to cut it short, but I
[1:16:54] would suggest that this is a lot of
information for us to to digest. So if
[1:16:59] you're open to it, maybe we could
schedule another meeting. Um maybe later
[1:17:04] this summer or so where we can come back
and have more discussions and give us
[1:17:08] some time to think about it internally
and
[1:17:11] formulate any questions that we have.
>> Sure.
[1:17:13] » Yep.
>> Mr. Chair, question for you, Tom.
[1:17:17] » Um
I'm fine with that. But is that
[1:17:20] hindering us? Is it Is there a timeline
you need something from us? Is there
[1:17:23] » Well, we're still we're we're we're
waiting a little bit to finalize things
[1:17:27] with National Grid. I think we're
making, like they said, uh more progress
[1:17:32] in the last couple weeks or a month than
we've made for a few months.
[1:17:37] Uh
based on sort of everybody laying their
[1:17:40] cards on the table and and sort of
expressing what we expect uh from the
[1:17:44] partnership. Uh it seems like that those
numbers will be coming probably by the
[1:17:48] end of the month or or or yeah, so um
at that point it's going to be
[1:17:54] finalizing our agreement with Grid to
start the work and finalizing our
[1:17:58] agreement uh with Westfield uh for or
Whip City. Um
[1:18:04] and and we'll get rolling.
Um
[1:18:07] » So just to be clear, get rolling means
get the poles [snorts] ready for
[1:18:12] » Yes. Yes.
>> Yes, that's right.
[1:18:14] » Start the hut.
>> So the hut's got to be there before you
[1:18:17] do anything.
>> So we've already established our first
[1:18:19] 13 applications that National Grid will
start working on. That's already been
[1:18:22] set in place for those first FSAs that
we have on the map there.
[1:18:26] » So 13 * 125
>> 125
[1:18:29] » So if we start the make-ready, if you
don't mind, um if we start the
[1:18:33] make-ready, we're still looking probably
2028 before the people actually get the
[1:18:39] high speed fiber.
>> As long as they move if they move the
[1:18:42] faster they move the faster we can move.
That's all I can say.
[1:18:45] » And this is all
>> And I'm basing that basically on what
[1:18:48] you
>> Yeah.
[1:18:49] » Our options that we can't start one of
those colored areas until it's the the
[1:18:54] full make ready work from the utility is
done. So, we can't go out and start
[1:18:58] hanging strand or
>> We have to really be conservative with
[1:19:01] our estimate
uh based on
[1:19:04] past experience, the fact that we didn't
get the estimates for how much it was
[1:19:09] going to cost for a year after. Uh I
don't know how long it's going to take
[1:19:13] to actually do the work.
Uh so, that's that's a difficult thing
[1:19:16] to gauge.
Uh they they say that it can be done in
[1:19:19] a certain amount of time, but
>> The positive part about this town just
[1:19:23] so you're aware is
in West Springfield the pole setter is
[1:19:26] Verizon. So, Verizon obviously has just
Verizon workers doing that. The pole
[1:19:31] setter here in town is National Grid.
National Grid could contract out other
[1:19:34] contractors to work the town, which
means your make ready will go a lot
[1:19:38] faster.
[1:19:40] » [clears throat]
>> I will put that on our agenda for our
[1:19:44] next meeting that we can continue the
discussion. Um that way that we're not
[1:19:47] proceeding without making any decisions
from a council level whether we want to
[1:19:52] but I expect that we're going to stop
the project but before we have a chance
[1:19:56] to decide and discuss.
>> Does council meet twice a month or once?
[1:20:00] » Uh typically in the summer July and
August we meet once a month unless
[1:20:03] there's a special need uh but then
starting in September we meet twice a
[1:20:07] month again.
>> When's our next meeting? July 14th?
[1:20:09] » July 14th.
>> Right after the holiday.
[1:20:14] » Right.
[1:20:16] » All right. Thank you for the update.
>> Thank you.
[1:20:19] » Thank you guys so much. Thank you.
Appreciate the questions. Thank you.
[1:20:23] » Thank you.
>> Would you like your board back?
[1:20:27] » What's that?
>> Yeah.
[1:20:28] » That was a lot.
>> [laughter]
[1:20:30] » Do you want to keep it?
>> We can keep it in the chamber.
[1:20:33] » The wall. What?
[1:20:37] Yeah, sure.
Let's do that.
[1:20:40] Thank you, sir.
Good to see you.
[1:20:46] Next step I held it very well.
I mean
[1:20:52] Oh, next one's me, huh?
>> Yep. Next we had the bylaw review
[1:20:56] committee
report with the recommended changes.
[1:21:00] I will table this to the next meeting.
I am through. I am doing chapter 315
[1:21:06] right now, which I'm running into major
issues um with the chapter cuz every
[1:21:11] time I go to move something or adjust
it, I lose columns and I am not really
[1:21:18] good with word and it took me over 2
hours to figure out how to change the
[1:21:23] color of some of these.
But I got that down um and like I said
[1:21:27] » It's not Ralph cuz I had that same
problem with zoning bylaws to changing
[1:21:32] colors.
>> So I am literally writing all of
[1:21:36] the corrections I'm doing
in order to get it correct and I'm I'm
[1:21:41] readjusting
like uh we split up emergency services
[1:21:45] to fire and police departments and so
the police department is going under P.
[1:21:51] So I've literally moved that to where
it's supposed to be with all the
[1:21:54] corrections and I'm trying to make it as
easy as possible. So when we read it you
[1:22:01] know, it'll be read. We're taking this
out. We're adding this. And as it is
[1:22:07] I can't tell you how many corrections. I
believe I'm at close to 300 commas um
[1:22:14] not to mention all the other wording and
all and the commas are the hardest cuz I
[1:22:18] I go through and all of a sudden it's
like
[1:22:20] that's a different color.
[1:22:24] Um but I will have it ready absolutely
no later than the next meeting and I
[1:22:29] will circulate it ahead of time.
The last third of the document I scanned
[1:22:34] through and there's
only
[1:22:36] 150 or so changes. So
it'll go quick.
[1:22:41] » Oh, that's good. I think more time is
plenty fine. I think we still could take
[1:22:45] the motion that we talked about at our
last meeting though to allow us to
[1:22:49] kind of split that report into two
phases where this first one that we
[1:22:52] would start talking about at the next
meeting would be just the regular bylaws
[1:22:57] and then zoning could still continue on.
There are movement.
[1:23:02] » Would you like a motion?
>> I would.
[1:23:04] » I move to authorize the bylaw review
committee to submit its required report
[1:23:08] in two phases.
First with recommendations on general
[1:23:12] bylaws submitted first, second for
zoning bylaw recommendations submitted
[1:23:17] at a later date. This shall satisfy the
requirement of the charter
[1:23:21] allowing additional time for more
complex zoning review.
[1:23:25] » Second.
>> Motion was made and seconded. Any
[1:23:27] further discussion? Seeing none, all
those in favor please say I.
[1:23:31] Any opposed? Motion passes.
Next under new business, so per the
[1:23:37] council rule five, we have to prepare
the calendar for the upcoming year. So
[1:23:42] I've
done so as usual for July and August
[1:23:45] we'll have the one meeting unless
there's
[1:23:48] » Very nicely done.
>> any changes or things that pop up and
[1:23:52] otherwise we'll resume to two meetings a
month except for December. The last
[1:23:56] couple years we've only had one because
of the the holidays and being busy and
[1:24:00] so forth, but um thankfully the
spreadsheet's pretty nice. You just
[1:24:04] change the year and anything that we
have figured out that has to be done as
[1:24:08] it automatically calculates, so
>> [clears throat]
[1:24:11] » It's great that you just volunteer to do
[laughter] that every year.
[1:24:13] » Yep.
>> Appreciate that.
[1:24:16] » You're never going to leave us.
>> [laughter]
[1:24:19] » All right. Then next action items for
our next meeting, uh the first will be
[1:24:24] reorganization that we do annually.
We'll elect a new president and vice
[1:24:29] president. Um for that meeting as well,
we have to do our annual acknowledgement
[1:24:33] of the council rules nation. So,
[cough and clears throat] if you have
[1:24:36] any
suggested changes or if you think
[1:24:38] they're fine as is,
then for the next meeting,
[1:24:42] um we'll have fiber on the agenda again
to discuss.
[1:24:46] Generally, we'll have the year-end
financial report and any transfers that
[1:24:50] are due cuz
it's the
[1:24:52] » [clears throat]
>> had all that final year-end paperwork by
[1:24:54] the following day, I believe. And then,
um
[1:24:57] » A lot of motions.
>> a review report.
[1:25:00] That's all I have so far.
>> That's fair.
[1:25:02] » We'll entertain a motion to adjourn.
>> Marilyn, take us away.
[1:25:06] » I move we adjourn. [laughter]
>> Motion is made and seconded. Any further
[1:25:11] discussion?
Seeing none, all those in favor, please
[1:25:13] say I.
Any opposed? Motion passes and we are
[1:25:17] adjourned at 7:42.
>> Thank you. So, we're done.