[0:09] Good evening.
[0:10] This is the April 7th meeting of the finance committee.
[0:13] Let's start with a tech check. Can everybody online hear us?
[0:17] Get a thumbs up? Alright, I see Kat. See Bruce.
[0:21] All right, thank you very much.
[0:24] We, between the people in the room
[0:26] and online, we do have a quorum present,
[0:28] but let's start with a quick roll
[0:30] call. Dirk
[0:36] Here in person.
[0:37] David here From a remote
[0:40] Location.
[0:41] Undisclosed. Patricia.
[0:44] Present. I'm Zoom. Donna.
[0:46] Present Grace.
[0:49] Present remotely. Jean?
[0:52] Here Remotely. Kat?
[0:55] Here. Remotely. Julian? Present. Matt?
[1:01] Here. Richard? Here in person. Gary.
[1:08] Now I see Gary's joining,
[1:10] so he's at a Alright, we'll come back to that.
[1:12] And I'm here in person. So that's one.
[1:17] Looks like we have 12 to start.
[1:21] Alright, as I mentioned, this is the April 7th meeting
[1:26] of the finance committee.
[1:28] This meeting is being recorded
[1:30] and is being broadcast by Pegasus.
[1:36] Do we have any announcements? I have one quick one.
[1:39] If nothing else. We have a new member, Dr.
[1:42] Donna Mackenzie has joined us
[1:45] as a member of the finance committee. So welcome.
[1:48] Thank you very much. I look forward to working with you.
[1:51] Alright, we'll see what we can do about that.
[1:57] All. Any other announcements we
[1:59] Have ways?
[2:00] Any other announcements either from people
[2:03] online or in the room?
[2:06] All right. Scene. None.
[2:08] All right, we'll move on to public speak.
[2:10] Public speaks at a time at which an individual may raise an
[2:13] issue under the finance committee's purview
[2:15] that is not included on the agenda.
[2:16] Be taken under advisement.
[2:18] There'll be no opportunity for debate
[2:21] during this portion of the meeting.
[2:22] Section of the agenda is limited to 15 minutes
[2:25] and any individual addressing the committee
[2:28] will shall be limited to three minutes.
[2:30] Do we have anybody wishing for public speak this evening?
[2:34] Anybody in the room? Anybody online?
[2:39] All right, moving on.
[2:42] We have two items
[2:43] that we're hearing tonight under
[2:45] discussion decisions and votes.
[2:47] These should be the last two items
[2:49] that were taking up before town meeting.
[2:53] You want a motion to open the
[2:54] Hearing?
[2:55] Motion to open please. So moved.
[2:57] Second. Second. Okay. Roll call.
[2:59] Vote on opening the meeting. The public hearing rather Dirk.
[3:05] Aye. David?
[3:06] Aye. Patricia. Aye. Donna? Aye.
[3:10] Grace. Aye. Jean?
[3:13] Yes. Kat?
[3:15] Yes. Julian? Yes. Matt? Yes. Richard?
[3:19] Yes. Gary?
[3:24] He's not back yet.
[3:25] Alright. And I'm a Yes. Alright then.
[3:30] So the first item this evening is Article 14,
[3:35] which is an article to amend town bylaw article 50,
[3:39] section 50, section 16, which deals with animal control.
[3:44] We previously heard this
[3:46] and recommended a referral back to the sponsor
[3:49] so that they could work on it.
[3:52] They've done what we've asked. They've brought it back.
[3:55] So I'll take a motion to reconsider. So
[3:58] Moved.
[3:59] Second. Just a a point of order.
[4:03] Could we have a reading into the record of the initial vote?
[4:08] Used for a motion to reconsider, I think has to come from
[4:11] Yes.
[4:13] It was 13 0, 0. It, it, it was unanimous. Oh, okay.
[4:16] For referral. The next, the next one, the next one.
[4:19] That may become germane too,
[4:21] but we have somebody in the prevailing side
[4:24] that will make the motion In any case,
[4:26] I already think and I, I, I made the motion to refer
[4:30] and stated at the time
[4:32] that if it came back I'd be happy to make the motion to
[4:34] Reconsider.
[4:35] Well, even I can follow the, the math of 13 zero. So.
[4:39] Alright. Did we have a second on the motion
[4:41] to reconsider several?
[4:43] Okay. Alright then on the motion to reconsider article 14,
[4:48] Dirk Aye.
[4:50] David, David? No.
[4:56] Aye. Patricia. Aye.
[4:59] Donna Aye. Grace.
[5:02] Aye. Jean?
[5:04] Yes. Kat.
[5:05] Aye. Julian. Aye. Matt? Yes. Richard?
[5:09] Yes. Gary, you back? Yep.
[5:13] Hi. Yeah. Computer? Yep.
[5:15] No, we, we saw you rejoining, so, okay. And I'm, yes.
[5:19] Alright, so article 14, previous votes, previous discussions
[5:24] wiped away by Reconsiderations.
[5:26] So we're starting anew.
[5:31] Let me see if, since I'm kind of here on my,
[5:35] alright, let me share
[5:40] The screen.
[5:43] I,
[5:48] All right, this is the matter before us this evening
[5:55] and presenter this evening,
[5:59] or our who will answer our questions this evening is Chief
[6:03] Hicks welcome.
[6:06] Alright, has everybody on the committee had an opportunity
[6:09] to read through this revised article?
[6:14] I know a couple people have 'cause they made comments.
[6:18] So any questions
[6:21] or discussion? Dirk?
[6:24] Just one question.
[6:26] What process went
[6:31] into redoing this?
[6:32] And specifically has it been reviewed
[6:35] by our very busy legal counsel?
[6:38] Yes, they took town administration took our notes
[6:42] from the previous session.
[6:46] Town council came back with,
[6:50] it was probably 95% of what you see here.
[6:54] It got circulated amongst the committee members.
[6:58] One member had a couple of questions
[7:00] or had a couple suggestions.
[7:02] Those were sent back to administration and town council.
[7:06] Some things made it into the revision.
[7:08] Some things were not deemed that they wanted
[7:13] to make them, but it's been
[7:15] through town council a couple of times now.
[7:18] Thank you. I just wanted to get that on the record
[7:20] of our meeting and I'm, I'm very happy
[7:23] with the result and we'll support it.
[7:25] Okay. Other questions on Article 14
[7:29] as it's being reviewed
[7:30] and presented this evening. Richard,
[7:36] Are there any other towns that have passed?
[7:38] Similar ordinance?
[7:42] Yes. Almost every town has something similar around
[7:46] animal control, especially as it relates to licensing
[7:49] and also vaccination.
[7:51] Okay. It's mostly, it refers to mass General law.
[7:55] Okay. Thank you. Alright, additional questions?
[8:00] Anybody in the room? Any committee
[8:03] members online with questions?
[8:07] Any members of the public with questions?
[8:12] All right, I'll take motions.
[8:13] I'll move to recommend favorable action with regard
[8:16] to the subject matter of Article 14
[8:18] as presented at the April 7th, 2026 meeting.
[8:24] Second. Alright.
[8:26] Motion made and seconded for recommending favorable action.
[8:31] Any other motions? Seeing no hands
[8:37] discussion, debate.
[8:40] Good job. All around the,
[8:43] the intention was always well framed and,
[8:45] and well articulated by the animal control officer
[8:48] who presented before the, the previous presentation
[8:53] of language did not support
[8:56] that intention effectively.
[8:59] And this does and I, I'm happy to support it.
[9:03] Jillian, ditto
[9:06] On all that the committee had voiced
[9:10] its concerns and those concerns have been addressed
[9:15] and I'd like to thank everyone that made that possible.
[9:19] Both those on the committee that Synopsized
[9:23] and put that together and for administration
[9:26] and staff that made it be so
[9:32] Happy.
[9:33] I would note also just kudos to everybody who
[9:38] worked in a busy season for everybody leading up
[9:41] to town meeting to bring this back so
[9:44] that it could be done at this town meeting.
[9:46] Matt, I this is really more of a comment.
[9:49] I think I appreciate that, you know, a lot
[9:52] of the feedback was taken on this.
[9:55] I think this still reflects some just grammatical stuff
[9:58] that's not correct and my understanding of the response
[10:03] of town council was that certain things like
[10:07] singular plural mismatches
[10:08] that are still in the current existing one
[10:11] should not be made.
[10:12] And the basis for that that was presented to us was
[10:15] that the Attorney General had already approved it
[10:18] with those errors and therefore we should not change it.
[10:22] And I, I, my comment is just that my understanding
[10:25] of the Attorney General's review the scope of it
[10:28] and the point of it is about whether it's legal,
[10:30] not whether it's correct or whether it's a good policy idea.
[10:34] So I I would encourage, you know, all of us in the future
[10:37] to push back on that notion
[10:38] as a reason not to make the change.
[10:40] Yeah. I'm not gonna make a motion
[10:41] to amend it further tonight.
[10:43] I'm I'll, I'll support it, but it is still flawed.
[10:48] Thank you for that observation.
[10:51] Alright, anybody else with debate
[10:55] or discussion before we vote?
[10:58] See none. Alright.
[11:00] This will be a roll call vote
[11:01] to recommend favorable action on article on the subject
[11:05] matter of article 14. Dirk
[11:08] Aye David?
[11:11] Aye. Patricia. Aye. Donna Aye. Grace?
[11:16] Yes. Jean? Yes. Kat? Yes. Julian. Aye.
[11:21] Matt? Yes. Richard. Aye. Gary? Yes.
[11:25] And I a Yes. Passes unanimously. Thank you very much, chief.
[11:30] Thank you. And then thank the other committee
[11:31] for the opportunity to reconsider.
[11:33] Thank you for coming back. As we
[11:35] Said earlier, it was a learning experience.
[11:38] All right then next order of business is
[11:45] reconsideration of Article 17, the natural
[11:47] and synthetic Turf Field Study Group report.
[11:52] All right. I believe the sponsor
[11:56] is or representative of the sponsors online.
[11:59] Mr. Evans. Welcome.
[12:02] Thank you Mr. Chair. Alright.
[12:05] When last we met, we had no
[12:10] recommendation on the subject matter of Article 17.
[12:16] Part of that seemed to have been colored by
[12:22] debate and discussion that went fairly far afield of
[12:26] what our charge is.
[12:29] We're going to limit our questions
[12:33] to more within the bounds of what
[12:36] the finance committee should actually be inquiring about,
[12:39] which is whether
[12:41] or not the sponsor is
[12:47] properly before town meeting.
[12:49] Are they a body that can in fact report to town meeting?
[12:53] Do they feel that they will be ready when
[12:55] called to the floor?
[12:57] Is this the correct
[13:00] time town meeting from a timing standpoint to present,
[13:05] but we're not going to debate composition
[13:09] of report givers
[13:11] or contents of the reports and things like that.
[13:14] That's really a town meeting issue.
[13:16] And if we have, if any members have issues with contents
[13:21] of the report, that's really a town meeting, you know, go,
[13:24] go to town meeting and raise the issues
[13:26] and, you know, debate them, you know, in,
[13:30] in at the proper venue.
[13:32] So I'm going to make a motion for reconsideration.
[13:37] As was noted earlier, most,
[13:42] most of the rules of order require that somebody
[13:46] that was on the prevailing side of the previous vote
[13:52] has to make it, has to make the motion for reconsideration.
[13:56] I was one of the seven that voted in favor, so
[14:00] I'm making the motion to reconsider and I'll second.
[14:04] Okay, well just on the prevailing side.
[14:09] Okay. On the majority side, since we,
[14:12] since there's a quantum of eight that's required.
[14:15] There, there has been no prevailing side. Right. But okay.
[14:18] On the majority side, I was, I was in the,
[14:22] the most numerous votes side
[14:32] And, and, and I didn't bring my, my copy
[14:34] of Bobby's rules with me.
[14:36] I thought it was the point for reconsideration is
[14:41] that somebody who voted one way would reconsider their votes
[14:45] and they found cause therefore, so then it would
[14:49] Be the, i I believe the rule of order is set up such that
[14:53] people on the losing side of an argument don't,
[14:56] aren't the ones that can automatically make a motion
[14:58] to reconsideration.
[15:00] They have, they have to use a different
[15:01] parliamentary procedure.
[15:03] If you won the vote and something occurs
[15:06] and you think that it's justified
[15:11] to be reconsider reconsideration as an order,
[15:14] then the person in the prevailing quote unquote side
[15:20] is automatically in order to make a motion to reconsider.
[15:23] Well, fair enough. I won't petty fog
[15:26] the issue here one way or the other.
[15:28] The motion's gonna be before us, so. Right. I'm happy to
[15:31] Yeah.
[15:32] What whatever, whatever proceed here
[15:33] people will be happy with.
[15:36] So, and you made a second of that. Yes. Okay.
[15:39] On the motion to reconsider of Article
[15:44] 17, roll call vote Dirk.
[15:48] Aye. David?
[15:50] Aye. Patricia,
[15:52] Stay.
[15:55] Donna Aye.
[15:58] Grace? Yes.
[16:00] Jean? Yes. Kat? Aye.
[16:04] Julian, yes. Matt? Yes. Richard? Yes. Gary? Yes.
[16:09] And I'm a Yes. Alright.
[16:13] Previous discussion, debate and votes are set aside.
[16:17] We are back to hearing Article 17 a new, so
[16:23] I think we're familiar with the general motion
[16:27] and subject matter that's
[16:29] before us members of the committee,
[16:33] do we have questions for the sponsor within the bounds of
[16:36] what we should be questioning and debating?
[16:45] Donna,
[16:47] Will a copy of this report be available
[16:49] for the fin com book as copies
[16:52] of other reports have often been available like
[16:56] CBRC reports, et cetera?
[16:59] We don't include committee, committee
[17:02] or third,
[17:05] we don't include reports in the fin com book,
[17:08] the CBRC report.
[17:10] It is frequently not even written or available.
[17:13] We haven't actually even been hearing that in advance.
[17:16] The first time we've been hearing it is was at town meeting.
[17:20] So that's, that hasn't been included either.
[17:22] So that's typically outside of what we do.
[17:27] Okay. I was a citizen sponsor of this petition
[17:32] and I understand like there's two points
[17:37] here for reconsideration, standing or readiness.
[17:42] And I, I question the readiness of this for a report
[17:47] and the chair of the committee herself has said it's not
[17:49] necessary to hear this in the spring, that it could just
[17:52] as easily be heard in the fall.
[17:55] And for example,
[17:58] just today I received a 17 page report from Jillian Wilson
[18:02] Martin from sustainability providing I think,
[18:07] important information about this.
[18:09] And I just questioned whether the report will be
[18:12] as comprehensive and if it could be also the master plan
[18:17] for the field won't be done until the fall.
[18:19] And I just, I think,
[18:21] I wonder if our time could be better spent when there's more
[18:24] information that could be presented before us.
[18:28] Mayor, I'd like to answer those, please.
[18:31] Yes, Mr. Evans, please.
[18:33] First of all, thank you
[18:35] for mentioning Ms. Wilson Martin's study.
[18:39] We had requested that the working group had requested that
[18:44] as part of our fact finding
[18:48] to be able to present that to town meeting.
[18:52] As you might expect, there are a number of different reports
[18:56] that say a number of different things.
[18:58] And Jillian's report is actually a very good report
[19:01] because it crystallizes a lot of the more recent
[19:06] research in this area.
[19:09] And as, as to whether, why do it now,
[19:13] we made a commitment to fall town meeting,
[19:18] to have an interim report to form a study group
[19:21] and to continue this discussion at town meeting.
[19:26] And the objective of having the interim report is to present
[19:30] what we know now, what we think we need to know to be able
[19:34] to make a recommendation of the future town meeting
[19:41] as to under what conditions
[19:45] or what circumstances is it advisable
[19:49] to use a turf field versus a grass field.
[19:53] The prevailing sense is that other things being equal
[19:58] grass field would be better, but there's also other factors.
[20:02] And those factors include availability of fields
[20:07] in, in a given town, the necessary rest for those fields,
[20:13] the, the demand for
[20:19] new sports to be included.
[20:21] As an example, we heard last night from
[20:25] the rec parks department that two things
[20:30] that are, are relatively new that are
[20:34] youth field hockey feeder programs
[20:37] and NFL flag football.
[20:40] Right. Those are two additional sports.
[20:43] And in addition to what we already have, so our
[20:49] basic premise is to start with the demand side of things.
[20:55] Mr. The Field and Park study,
[20:57] Mr.
[20:58] Mr. Evans. Yeah, I I I'm gonna try
[21:01] and keep the committee from strain into report
[21:05] contents. So, so
[21:07] The only thing I'll wrap up I is the field
[21:11] and park study is an independent issue.
[21:13] It's not just the grass versus turf issue.
[21:17] It is What, what's the, what's the,
[21:20] we did a study in 2016, it's now 2026.
[21:25] It needs to be updated.
[21:26] A lot of the information is still valid,
[21:29] but in some cases the situation's just gotten worse.
[21:33] Yes. Mr. So, Okay,
[21:35] I I I, I you, you started off I think
[21:39] directly addressing the question in that you
[21:44] have, you, you made a commitment to give an interim report.
[21:47] This isn't the final report,
[21:49] but this is being responsive to an, in a request
[21:52] for an interim report.
[21:54] So do we have other questions from members
[21:56] of the committee, Mr.
[22:00] Munich?
[22:02] Not that this is quantifiable anymore than the answer to
[22:05] how high is high, but
[22:10] what percentage of the committee's work is,
[22:15] or the study groups work is completed.
[22:20] Maybe the answer to that would be how many more meetings
[22:23] of the study group are anticipated
[22:25] between now and fall town meeting?
[22:30] Really depends on
[22:31] where we end up at 10 at Springtown meeting.
[22:34] I think what we're going to see, you know, without straying
[22:39] the field from the chair's instructions
[22:44] we're we are, you know, probably 50% there is, there's a,
[22:48] there's a, a lot of data out there.
[22:52] There's information, we've had experts from various
[22:57] different organizations both within town
[23:00] and external to town.
[23:01] We've been provided with numerous studies
[23:06] and we're trying to synthesize that into a presentation
[23:10] that that goes through.
[23:12] Here's what we know, here's what we don't know.
[23:16] What information gaps do you feel?
[23:19] Do you town meeting feel, need to be addressed for you
[23:22] to be able to, or for the town to be able
[23:26] to make an informed decision.
[23:28] Thank you. In the, between now
[23:32] and fall town meeting, the collection of information
[23:35] by the study group, is there
[23:41] currently an open solicitation for information
[23:45] and at what time would the working group's
[23:49] window close for receiving information to allow it time
[23:54] to synthesize the work and come up with a final report?
[24:00] Good question. I would say, you know, given
[24:02] that we're about 50% there, what we've asked people
[24:07] for people who are experts is the net new information.
[24:12] We have plenty of historic information where historic is
[24:16] five years or, or maybe greater.
[24:20] But we, we are interested in is new things that that,
[24:24] that we don't have information for.
[24:26] There's no shortage of information.
[24:28] It's a matter of, of putting it all together
[24:32] and formulating the pros and cons of each.
[24:36] Right. There are situations where both, where one
[24:38] or the other is more advisable than, than the alternative.
[24:43] And that's what we want to lay out.
[24:46] Thank you. Just to finish up on that line,
[24:51] the transom for people to,
[24:56] if the door isn't open
[24:57] or the windows isn't open, the transom being open,
[24:59] is there a date at which
[25:03] the working group goes into conclave
[25:05] and says, this is,
[25:07] we just can't receive any more new information
[25:10] after this date because we have to amalgamated
[25:13] and create a final report?
[25:15] Yeah, that, that's a reasonable question,
[25:18] but we don't have the answer yet.
[25:20] And, and the reason we don't have the answer
[25:22] yet is we don't, we want to identify the gaps that,
[25:26] that people perceive with what we have already.
[25:31] We know we have a certain amount of work to do,
[25:34] but I'd estimate that
[25:36] and one person in their working group,
[25:40] I'd estimate that we'd probably want to do the complete
[25:44] the lion's share of any research by early summer so
[25:48] that we're in a position that to consolidated
[25:53] well in advance of fall town meeting.
[25:57] So just to truly wrap this, this line up, will the report
[26:01] to SPRINGTOWN meeting give town meeting a sense as to
[26:09] when or for how long the
[26:13] study group will be in receiving mode?
[26:16] I will discuss that with the rest of the group.
[26:19] I don't have an answer.
[26:21] Thank David. And then Donna.
[26:25] Thank you. My question is this,
[26:28] is there a report which is ready to be submitted
[26:31] to town meeting and how long is that report?
[26:37] No, there is not. This is going to be much like
[26:41] the presentations that, for example, CBRC
[26:46] provides that says, here's what we have so far, right?
[26:50] We don't have the definitive answers.
[26:52] Here's what, here's the information that we
[26:55] have received to date.
[26:57] Here are our preliminary conclusions based on
[27:01] that information,
[27:03] and let's have a discussion at town meeting.
[27:06] And, and as I said earlier, let's find out
[27:10] what information town meeting members need to help them
[27:16] be comfortable in making a decision.
[27:20] The decision, if you look at some of the other communities,
[27:25] the decision typically is there are circumstances
[27:28] where we'll use turf.
[27:30] And when we use turf,
[27:32] we have the following restrictions on it.
[27:34] Mr. And
[27:39] I, I I I, I, I think, I think Mr.
[27:42] Coffee's questions you
[27:43] Get, you get the gist of
[27:45] what we're working trying to do, right?
[27:47] To continue. David, another question or are you set?
[27:52] I'm set. Thank you Donna. And then Dirk,
[27:57] I have another question
[27:58] and I've never been asked anything by this working group.
[28:03] And again, I was the sponsor of this warrant article
[28:06] and I'm curious about the time
[28:08] and is it the intention of the group
[28:10] to uphold the advisory moratorium, which goes
[28:12] through December 31st 2 28?
[28:15] Is that question out of order?
[28:16] That's out of order. We're not,
[28:17] we're not discussing contents or Okay.
[28:20] Working workings of the inner, inner workings of the,
[28:23] It it just, it would've just gone to my point
[28:26] that there is no hurry to hear this report.
[28:29] That's debate. Well, do you have a question?
[28:33] No, I'm set for now. Thank you very much, Dirk?
[28:36] Yeah, just for the record, the reference was made
[28:40] to CBRC for any lay people watching.
[28:44] That's a charter and bylaw review
[28:45] commission or committee rather.
[28:51] My question to follow on to Mr.
[28:54] Munich's line of questioning, I, is there a,
[29:01] is there some possibility
[29:04] or probability that
[29:11] given the, the known unknowns, given the fact that
[29:18] information is still coming in
[29:19] and the, the sort of drawing
[29:24] of a circle around the scope is, is not yet
[29:29] something that our presenter can
[29:34] represent on behalf of the committee?
[29:36] Is there a possibility that
[29:41] there might not be a final report ready for the fall
[29:46] and it might go until spring of 2027?
[29:52] I will not speculate on that,
[29:54] but I will give some guidance.
[29:56] The guidance is, we have plenty of information.
[30:01] We know that we need to make a decision at some point
[30:05] and at town meeting to figure out is is
[30:12] do we, what do we do as far as turf versus
[30:18] grasp in this town specifically,
[30:23] we do know we need a,
[30:25] and without going too far afield, we know we need to
[30:29] develop the practice field at the high school.
[30:32] There's an acute need there.
[30:33] That's, that's a forcing function I'll call it,
[30:38] to get it done sooner rather than later.
[30:40] We've had two independent activities, Mr.
[30:44] Chair, the first is the working group.
[30:48] The second is, is Mr. Chair to determine
[30:50] Mr. Bruce, hold, hold, hold.
[30:52] Yeah,
[30:53] I, I think we strayed already from the, from the question
[30:57] of whether there's a possibility
[31:02] that it might go along.
[31:04] I don't want to know all the reasons
[31:06] or all the substantive discussion that might prompt that.
[31:10] I just, I'm looking for a sort of rule of thumb
[31:16] kind of eyeballing of the situation is, is it
[31:23] Highly Unlikely it an eyeball 10% likely 40% likely
[31:27] that it could go beyond next fall?
[31:30] It is 99% likely that it won't go past. Very good.
[31:34] Next floor. Good. That's what I'm looking for. Thank you.
[31:37] Thank you Matt.
[31:40] And then don't have any other members
[31:42] seeking the floor. Matt? Yeah,
[31:44] Apologies if this is a repeat question,
[31:46] but I maybe I didn't understand the answer.
[31:48] I think earlier it was asked if there was a report ready
[31:50] to deliver to town meeting.
[31:52] I think our vote is about whether
[31:53] or not to recommend the town meeting hear a report.
[31:57] I understand that there is not a 100% complete report.
[32:00] Is there any report, like is there a written piece
[32:04] of material that can be either delivered in writing
[32:08] or read out loud that is currently ready to go
[32:11] for delivery to town meeting?
[32:13] This spring?
[32:15] This spring, yes. Right now, no.
[32:18] We are meeting, we've met every week
[32:23] to assimilate all the information.
[32:25] We are now in the process of the feling that presentation
[32:30] and fleshing out that presentation.
[32:33] It's not gonna be a war in Peace presentation.
[32:36] It's gonna have many pointers to studies
[32:40] that have been made, one of which is, has been referred
[32:43] to earlier tonight, which was Jillian's.
[32:45] Thank you.
[32:49] All right. Any other members
[32:50] of the committee with questions?
[32:53] I Alright.
[32:56] I have a hand up from a member
[32:57] of the public with a question.
[32:59] Oh, good. Ms. Vickers, please.
[33:04] Yes. Friendly Vickers Precinct eight town meeting member.
[33:06] Thank you for your time.
[33:09] I, as a town meeting member,
[33:14] I am very curious about the presentation of a
[33:19] maybe 50% ready report
[33:23] and then how that works again in the fall.
[33:25] Do we get to, because members change, you know,
[33:29] town meeting membership changes, will we
[33:32] rehear the whole thing or will we just have a second half?
[33:36] And I am curious about the purpose of this
[33:41] as I'm understanding what you're saying,
[33:43] as I'm understanding what you're saying.
[33:45] The purpose of presenting half a report this time is solely
[33:50] and specifically to say this is the information we've
[33:53] gathered, it's not analyzed.
[33:55] This is the information
[33:56] and we wish to know what additional information you want.
[34:00] Meaning a discussion would be from town meeting members.
[34:04] Please tell us what you're looking for,
[34:06] but not discuss what we've just told you
[34:09] because it's incomplete.
[34:12] Not exactly true.
[34:14] What it is going to be is a, a report
[34:18] that is not a final report that says,
[34:20] here are our findings to date.
[34:23] Here are our, our conclusions to date.
[34:26] There are things we want to do to ensure
[34:30] that it is a complete study before we finalize.
[34:36] There's, we are, we're we are finding information.
[34:41] Even Jillian's work as an example that
[34:47] recently done interviewing LFNR,
[34:52] art Good Hunt, who's an expert in both
[34:55] grass and turf fields.
[34:57] Getting all that information together.
[35:02] Also leveraging the information that's been gathered by, all
[35:07] by surrounding communities in Massachusetts.
[35:11] There are are pros and cons to each approach to, and,
[35:15] and each town comes to a different conclusion.
[35:19] Some, some say no, we're,
[35:21] we're gonna have a complete moratorium on turf fields
[35:25] and others say, we'll use turf fields in
[35:31] specific circumstances with, with specific restrictions.
[35:36] So that's what we want to present at town meeting.
[35:40] Is it going to be a hundred percent complete?
[35:43] No, we're not there yet.
[35:45] We didn't say we would be there yet,
[35:48] but what we're trying to demonstrate is meaningful
[35:50] progress towards that goal.
[35:52] Thank you. It may, I may I ask more?
[35:57] Please. Mr. Sch?
[35:59] Yes, Ms. Vickers. Thank you.
[36:01] I, or maybe this is more of a comment than a,
[36:06] a question on, it feels to me as a town meeting member
[36:10] that if I am being asked to
[36:14] discuss half fulfilled study information
[36:19] and listen to a conclusion about that information,
[36:22] that it is potentially wasting my time
[36:25] because then we'll need to start over again in the fall.
[36:28] So with this information, are you going
[36:31] to be presenting a full analysis of what you've already
[36:35] received and how can there be a full analysis of
[36:38] what you've received to see if the collection
[36:41] of information isn't complete?
[36:44] I, I'm just very concerned about how, let me answer
[36:47] that time could be sent spent on the floor
[36:50] and how that moves forward.
[36:52] Okay. Before, before the sponsor response.
[36:55] Some of those questions are
[36:57] for debate when town meeting is asked whether they want
[37:00] to hear, hear the report, so that some of
[37:03] that might be in order if you want
[37:05] to stand up at town meeting when this question's asked of
[37:09] that body, but briefly, Mr. Evans.
[37:14] Yeah, here here's, it's not 50% done.
[37:17] It's, it's a draft, it's like any draft plan, right?
[37:21] You'll have it sketched out.
[37:26] I'll, I'll, I'll use the analogy of
[37:30] a school design, right?
[37:32] You have a 25% design, then a, a schematic design,
[37:36] then a 50, then a 75,
[37:39] and then you get to a hundred percent at all points.
[37:43] During that you have an idea of where,
[37:48] of what the project is going to look at
[37:52] and you get each an additional level of detail to it.
[37:57] And once you, once you get more information,
[38:00] I think we have frankly plenty of information.
[38:05] I think what's more challenging is taking that information
[38:10] and putting it in a format that, that's
[38:14] not a bunch of links that says that say, okay,
[38:18] you want more information on it.
[38:20] Go see these websites. That's not what we want to do.
[38:23] We want to come to provide some conclusions,
[38:28] but those conclusions aren't written in stone.
[38:30] We, we wanna have a discussion about them.
[38:33] Thank you. Alright.
[38:37] Additional questions from members of the committee
[38:40] Ready to make a motion.
[38:43] Donna has a question for a second time.
[38:45] Just quickly, you said you wanted
[38:46] to provide some conclusions.
[38:48] So are you taking a viewpoint on this
[38:50] because the working group has said time
[38:53] and time again, it was not taking a position on the
[38:56] material, just presenting the material.
[38:58] Can you re-answer that?
[38:59] No, we're not making a conclusions.
[39:01] We're presenting pros and cons
[39:04] and what the facts have said on each of those.
[39:08] And we're, this is ultimately going to,
[39:10] to be a town decision.
[39:12] It's not a working group decision,
[39:14] it's not a moratorium group decision, it's not a turf
[39:19] advisory or a turf
[39:23] company decision.
[39:24] It's a town decision
[39:26] and the town will have to make that determination.
[39:31] Thank you. Alright.
[39:33] Seeing no other hands up either in the room
[39:35] or online motions,
[39:38] I'd like to move f to recommend favorable action
[39:42] with regard to hearing
[39:44] and discussing a report under Article 17.
[39:51] Second. Any other
[39:55] motions? Ms. McKenzie?
[40:00] Can I make a motion that the report be
[40:02] heard in the fall town meeting?
[40:04] That's, that question's not before us scope.
[40:08] Okay. Do I need to make a motion that it not be heard
[40:11] or is that just all via
[40:13] Vote?
[40:14] Just vote No, just vote accordingly. Okay.
[40:15] Well just a question of the motion maker on, on that.
[40:20] It as published the warrant article is to hear and
[40:25] or discuss.
[40:28] Well, it's not going to be discussed without hearing.
[40:32] So that option falls off of the decision tree. So,
[40:36] And, and my, my motion was here
[40:38] and discussed and Okay. I took
[40:39] The route.
[40:40] Okay.
[40:42] And that's what I was seconding at least
[40:44] I thought that's what I heard.
[40:46] All righty. Alright. Any other motions?
[40:52] Seeing no hands, nobody seeking the floor. Dirk?
[40:56] Well, a bunch of things make this challenging,
[41:00] but I think as a body we should
[41:06] pretty reliably err on the side of transparency,
[41:10] on the side of engagement of the public
[41:15] and of our representative town body.
[41:22] A commitment was made to this process.
[41:26] I, I think that there are people out there
[41:29] who care about this process
[41:31] and who some
[41:36] present parties accepted may
[41:42] be interested
[41:43] and perhaps gratified to know that
[41:46] there is attention being paid,
[41:48] that there is work in progress, that there is more
[41:52] to be done to finalize things.
[41:55] I think the, among,
[41:59] among many words we've heard, not all of which convinced me
[42:04] that, that it was easy to make this motion that I'm making.
[42:11] There there were some that were quite helpful
[42:15] and I think the comparison of this to a large town project,
[42:20] building a school or adopting a consequential policy
[42:24] of some sort as this certainly could end up in
[42:29] is, is apt that it happens
[42:33] in in waves.
[42:35] And it doesn't happen in waves
[42:36] because you go up to a line and stop.
[42:40] It happens because you start to understand the total picture
[42:45] with some level of granularity and then you go in
[42:49] and study it more and you understand it in more
[42:52] detail and more detail.
[42:54] And that may
[42:58] all be done in one wave.
[43:00] It may be done in two wave for, for a large school project.
[43:04] It happens in probably half a dozen waves or more.
[43:08] I think this is the right thing to do.
[43:11] It's a matter that was brought properly
[43:14] before town meeting as a concern of people in our
[43:21] population of Natick citizens and,
[43:27] and a group has been duly constituted
[43:31] to study it and can talk about it.
[43:37] It would've been perhaps easier to make this motion
[43:39] and support it if we had more of a draft.
[43:43] Now we don't, that's not the first time I've ever
[43:48] seen a, a large topic brought to this body
[43:54] for discussion at a town meeting where
[44:00] what was to be discussed was not fully prepared by
[44:07] a project manager or a construction company or a bidder
[44:11] or whatever.
[44:13] I, I think it's the right thing to do for our citizens.
[44:16] It to, as I say, to err on the side
[44:20] of transparency and engagement
[44:23] and not to bottle it up until everything's fully baked.
[44:28] We could be sorely disappointed as a town if we take
[44:32] that route on a number of issues, not just this one.
[44:36] So I'm gonna vote for my motion. Thank you.
[44:40] Thank you. As the seconder, I just wanna speak to this, is
[44:44] that I'm almost completely agnostic as
[44:49] to the subject matter of my feelings on this.
[44:53] I think the finance committee has relatively few
[44:58] gatekeeping functions as
[45:01] it pertains to these sorts of things.
[45:03] I mean, is it, is this a group
[45:06] that should be talking to town meeting?
[45:08] I think we have several indications that they are
[45:11] not the least of which is the select board accepted
[45:16] and deemed within the scope of
[45:19] what town meeting should be doing a warrant article.
[45:22] So I think that they've met the threshold of are they people
[45:25] who are allowed to report
[45:27] and then beyond that it's
[45:30] do they think they'll be ready when the
[45:33] moderator calls on them?
[45:36] That's really pretty much the threshold that we have for
[45:42] blocking, you know, people from hearing information at town,
[45:45] meeting all of the objections that anybo
[45:49] or even the, the
[45:52] positive feelings everybody has about the subject matter
[45:55] or anything having to do with any of these committees,
[45:58] not just this one, but anybody that's presenting,
[46:01] that's debate for town meeting, let's make them
[46:04] as individual town meeting members
[46:06] or a group of town meeting members on
[46:08] the floor of town meeting.
[46:10] We, we, we shouldn't,
[46:13] there should be relatively limited gatekeeping
[46:17] that we do on information delivery to the town body.
[46:21] So that's just my feeling on, on all
[46:24] of these sorts of reports.
[46:27] Additional debate and discussion, Richard,
[46:32] I plan to support this, not that I have a a view on the,
[46:36] on the subject matter, but what I've seen in both times that
[46:41] the presenters come to fin com is a
[46:45] enormous interest in discussing the matter so that
[46:49] that alone shows that town meeting is the place
[46:53] where the matter can be properly discussed.
[46:56] So it it should be properly discussed there.
[47:00] Thank you Matt.
[47:02] Yeah, I'll, my primary concern here is, is the idea
[47:06] that the report is not ready at the time,
[47:09] but I think the more I think about that,
[47:10] the consequence there is that they go to town meeting
[47:13] and say, I have no report.
[47:15] So there's really nothing there
[47:16] that's not much of a concern.
[47:17] I'll, I'll support this,
[47:18] That, that may be the quickest way past this at town
[47:21] meeting Julian.
[47:24] Yeah, so the, for me, the big consideration here is
[47:28] Their value to the community town meeting
[47:31] for the time that's expended.
[47:33] What is the value they're gonna receive in return for that?
[47:37] And if what they receive is really quite
[47:43] complete, then they have value
[47:44] and a certain amount of comfort and absurdity
[47:47] and in, in the way this is going.
[47:51] But they'll also receive value if they perceive there
[47:54] to be deficiencies.
[47:56] And that was the my line of questioning there as
[47:59] to the window for still being able
[48:01] to receive in information.
[48:04] And even if it isn't framed as such, this
[48:09] before town meeting will be a solicitation
[48:11] for input if there are any perceived deficiencies.
[48:16] Yeah, so it could be that the showing up
[48:20] before town meeting, you're,
[48:22] they're asking in in town meeting
[48:24] and finance committees recommending
[48:26] that sufficient rope be given these folks
[48:28] to craft a, a cat's cradle.
[48:31] But the positive out of this is
[48:35] that members of the community that
[48:39] maybe are holders of stakes will
[48:44] spot deficiencies
[48:45] or take comfort that there aren't any deficiencies.
[48:48] And if between spring
[48:51] and fall town meetings, it turns out
[48:54] that there has not been opportunity presented availed
[48:59] or made possible for people,
[49:04] then fall town meeting is when the pitchforks can come out.
[49:07] So I'll be voting in favor of this to keep the process live.
[49:13] Thank you David. And then Donna,
[49:17] Thank you.
[49:19] My sole question was,
[49:20] is there a report currently ready and does not appear?
[49:23] There is a report currently ready, so it's hard for me
[49:25] to vote and say, well let's hear a report
[49:28] and discuss it when there is no report to hear and discuss.
[49:32] So perhaps the presenters will come forward in April 28th
[49:36] and say, actually we don't have a report yet.
[49:38] So we are currently working this,
[49:40] we've been working very hard.
[49:42] We'll continue to work hard,
[49:43] we'll get back to you in the fall.
[49:45] But right now when there's no report,
[49:47] I have trouble voting in favor of let's hear a report
[49:50] that does not exist.
[49:54] Donna, I understand the reading, the reasons
[49:58] for hearing the report and I think because of transparency
[50:01] and discussion and all of that, that's really important.
[50:04] I do look forward to hearing this report,
[50:07] but I don't think it's ready.
[50:08] And as the citizen sponsor of this,
[50:11] I would not have presented this petition. If there
[50:16] Ex excuse You that's content,
[50:18] I can raise it at time meeting. No, no,
[50:20] You're not the sponsor of this.
[50:22] This is, this is the, this is the
[50:27] not article 17, what's before us Is is
[50:29] Okay.
[50:30] Okay. I'm sorry. I just, sorry, I apologize then.
[50:36] I, I don't, I don't feel that it's,
[50:39] this is ready for prime time.
[50:41] I heard erroneous information yesterday saying
[50:44] that turf fields could be recycled.
[50:45] They cannot, there's just incorrect information
[50:49] and this can be adjudicated at town meeting as you said.
[50:52] And I think that's a really wise point
[50:55] and I do look forward to hearing that.
[50:57] I think it will be a long drawn out process at town meeting
[51:00] and I, I just wanna say that,
[51:02] but I'm not against conversation.
[51:05] Thank you, grace.
[51:09] Yeah, thank you. I'm gonna echo a previous speaker
[51:11] because I, I do have concerns.
[51:13] I, I definitely agree with the concept
[51:16] of town meetings should be hearing updates.
[51:18] But if we ourselves are a body that are supposed
[51:20] to vet the recommendations before us
[51:23] and we ourselves are not seeing a report
[51:25] that makes it very hard for us to recommend
[51:28] whether a town meeting should hear the report.
[51:30] And so I, I myself am torn on how I wanna vote on this
[51:33] and I would just offer that if the presenter
[51:35] and the team are still defining how they want
[51:37] to present this, that in some essence less is more.
[51:42] And so being able to provide an update on the work
[51:46] to date can be black or white.
[51:48] This is what we've done to date,
[51:49] this is the stances we're aligned on, this is
[51:52] what the work is we want to do next.
[51:54] But if we're presenting recommendations on, on
[51:57] what we're already thinking of, of
[52:00] of concepts from the time the team has worked before,
[52:03] but then also saying we're only 50% there, here's more
[52:05] that we wanna do, then I would caution
[52:08] how much we are debating that on town meeting floor
[52:10] because it's not even fully finished for the team to debate.
[52:13] So I say all that just to say that
[52:15] as the team prepares the report that they would like
[52:19] to share to town meeting, I would offer
[52:21] that it should be very clear on what is up for debate versus
[52:26] what is the work we want to present
[52:28] and leave any type
[52:29] of recommendations aside if we're not
[52:31] truly ready to debate those.
[52:33] Thank you. Thank you. A additional
[52:36] members of the committee,
[52:38] Hey, it's Gary.
[52:39] I'd like to raise my hand, but for some reason I can't find
[52:42] the raise hand button even though
[52:43] I've used Zoom a million times.
[52:44] You are recognized then Go ahead.
[52:46] Yeah, I I kind of lost even what we're debating on only
[52:49] because I thought it was just to yay
[52:51] or nay on letting them present
[52:55] That, that that is, that is the question before us.
[52:58] It is like, so it seems simple to me there's lots
[53:01] of debate what's in or out of this report
[53:05] or if there even is a report.
[53:06] But didn't someone present a report
[53:09] to us about the turf in field situation like a month ago?
[53:15] Yeah, that's, that's not really whether
[53:18] or not the report exists when this committee meets.
[53:20] We have a history of approving thing reports which are
[53:24] in progress or being written or still gathering information.
[53:30] Then and again, the charter
[53:31] and bylaw review committee is a, is an excellent example.
[53:35] I don't think we ever heard one of their vice chairs reports
[53:39] in this meeting because the subject matter
[53:43] of their report was still being worked on by the committee.
[53:46] So, okay,
[53:48] Well no, no, but like it's minor point.
[53:50] But didn't someone present something though about
[53:54] how long the fields LA last
[53:55] and how they're out of date so to speak?
[53:59] Because they they're overused.
[54:01] Yes. We, we we've we've heard, we've heard
[54:04] we've heard about the turf fields and,
[54:07] and grass fields from from yes.
[54:09] From various other, within the context
[54:13] of various other issues.
[54:16] Oh, maybe it wasn't directly to,
[54:17] to this warrant article then,
[54:19] but, alright, well, I think, I don't know,
[54:21] seems like we're debating way too much on a topic
[54:23] that is just yes or no and letting someone present.
[54:26] But thank I'm all for them presenting.
[54:29] Thank you for that observation. Okay. Anybody else?
[54:36] All right. We have one motion
[54:38] before us for recommend favorable action on the subject
[54:42] matter of Article 17 to hear
[54:45] and discuss the report of the natural
[54:48] and synthetic turf field study group
[54:52] by roll call vote Dirk Aye.
[54:56] David?
[54:57] No. Patricia
[55:00] Abstain.
[55:02] Donna? No.
[55:05] Grace Abstain.
[55:10] Jean? No.
[55:13] Cat? Yes.
[55:16] Julian? Yes. Matt? Yes. Richard?
[55:20] Yes. Gary?
[55:22] Yes. And I'm a, yes. So the yess are
[55:26] 1, 7, 5, 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1, 2
[55:36] Nos and two.
[55:39] Okay. We have
[55:43] seven votes being insufficient to make a recommendation.
[55:46] We still have no recommendation on the subject
[55:48] matter of Article 17.
[55:51] So that's what we will write up for the book.
[55:55] Thank you everybody. Thank you Mr. Evans.
[55:59] Motion to close the hearing. Thank you, Bruce.
[56:05] You're welcome. Said time meeting.
[56:09] Thank you.
[56:14] Kat, I see your hand up.
[56:17] I just wanted to ask you, what was that
[56:19] vote count
[56:20] 7 3 2 7 3 2.
[56:27] Yes. Okay. Thank you.
[56:29] In the, in the in the negative was David, Donna, and Jean.
[56:35] Okay. Two abstains were Patricia and Grace.
[56:39] Everybody else voted in the affirmative.
[56:42] All right, thanks. At least according to my notes.
[56:46] Alright, I'll take a motion
[56:47] to close the public hearing please.
[56:49] So moved. Second.
[56:51] Alright, we will call vote on closing the public hearing.
[56:56] Dirk Aye. David? Aye. Patricia. Aye. Donna.
[57:01] Aye. Grace? Yes. Jean? Yes. Kat?
[57:07] Yes. Julian? Yes. Matt? Yes. Richard? Yes. Gary? Yes.
[57:12] And I'm a yes. Alright.
[57:14] That should have been our last vote for this season.
[57:18] Congratulations everybody.
[57:19] Thank you very much for getting us all here.
[57:23] All right, moving on.
[57:27] Hopefully the next item will be relatively straightforward.
[57:32] I put this agenda item on, which is
[57:36] discuss the finance committee's role, if any in guidance
[57:39] of town meeting procedures, especially
[57:41] as it relates to meeting rules.
[57:44] I agreed to put this on
[57:45] because it came up during debate of article three motion, a,
[57:50] a lengthy, complex motion
[57:56] feedback from various parties, including the moderator is,
[58:01] it's outside, well excuse me, it's
[58:04] outside the finance committee's purview.
[58:07] Unless the question comes in as part
[58:10] of a warrant article question, like the charter
[58:12] and bylaw review committee might make a recommendation
[58:16] of either a bylaw or a rule change
[58:19] or some sort of procedure.
[58:21] If it is a question which is being asked formally
[58:24] of the finance committee, then we,
[58:27] we certainly can have opinions on it.
[58:29] But unsolicited
[58:32] and unwarranted as it were,
[58:37] it's just not within the scope of what we do.
[58:39] If individual FinCon members as town media members want to
[58:45] raise questions or make motions to suspend rules
[58:48] or sit next to their compatriots
[58:53] and come up with 10 different questions that they can ask
[58:58] as a caucus, all of those things are great,
[59:01] but that's not part of our gig. Mr.
[59:04] Coburn, I would just note as you're saying that,
[59:06] that not all of our members,
[59:08] I believe are town meeting members
[59:10] and any who aren't are also welcome to engage in debate
[59:15] and questioning at the town meeting.
[59:16] Right. Just can't make that motion to suspend,
[59:19] they can't make the motion, can't make
[59:20] motions to suspend rules.
[59:21] But do we have any discussion on this item?
[59:25] I know that it's, it's been a longstanding interest and,
[59:29] and bless everyone's heart if they want
[59:33] to take it up at town meeting, but it's not a fin income.
[59:35] Well, the way,
[59:37] The way it can exist
[59:43] before town meeting is in our
[59:48] writing on the, of an article stated
[59:52] that the finance committee discussed the possibility
[59:54] of dividing the motion
[1:00:00] and what alternatives may be thereby opening a window,
[1:00:04] but without making a recommendation as to
[1:00:06] what the solution to that is.
[1:00:09] You could open the same window by staying standing up
[1:00:12] and seeking the moderator's attention to make that point.
[1:00:17] It doesn't mean it, but
[1:00:19] But, but that is of the evening.
[1:00:20] Whereas many assiduous well read town meeting members
[1:00:25] go through the book and they absorb
[1:00:28] that information a beforehand. So,
[1:00:31] Well, the really good ones are watching this meeting
[1:00:33] so they already know.
[1:00:36] Define good. Yeah,
[1:00:37] There you go.
[1:00:41] Well, I wrote up article three, so
[1:00:47] I can tell you that it's not in the current draft,
[1:00:49] but we're looking for reviewers.
[1:00:51] So if a reviewer would like to make that notation
[1:00:55] as a possible change, there's a couple days left.
[1:01:02] All right. Any anybody, Mr. Coburn?
[1:01:04] I might wanna do that. I I would say that
[1:01:14] it is a very interesting discussion
[1:01:15] and one that I encourage though though, it,
[1:01:20] it really isn't the purview of this body
[1:01:23] and I don't wanna make it the purview of this body.
[1:01:25] I encourage people whose purview it is,
[1:01:29] including the moderator, including ordinary citizens
[1:01:35] to think about what does procedure do.
[1:01:39] Sometimes procedure is just about organizing things.
[1:01:43] Sometimes procedure, whether it's for
[1:01:48] the intention of doing so
[1:01:50] or not can really have a very substantive effect.
[1:01:56] And anyway, kind
[1:02:01] of enough said, if,
[1:02:06] if it really, if we really discover it has unintendedly
[1:02:11] enough of an effect at one town meeting, the
[1:02:17] procedural remedy is for a group of citizens to get together
[1:02:22] and file an article for the following town meeting
[1:02:25] correcting the, the deficiency
[1:02:29] or the, the unintended problem.
[1:02:33] If, if I might just for a second time on this, the
[1:02:37] single largest criticism that I've heard
[1:02:43] both being outside of the finance committee
[1:02:44] and inside the finance committee is
[1:02:46] you're just a rubber stamp.
[1:02:49] And when a huge article goes before town meeting
[1:02:51] and it has limited ability to some extent
[1:02:58] I would want the public to know
[1:03:00] that we don't take these things lightly
[1:03:02] and maybe our scope for what we can put
[1:03:04] before them is maybe limited or constrained
[1:03:07] because of circumstance, but not that we take it lightly.
[1:03:11] That, and here's the, here's the whole thing
[1:03:15] and sucks to be Utah meeting.
[1:03:18] I think that if we raise the issue without them
[1:03:23] being heavy handed or finger on the scale about it,
[1:03:26] but I think that it, the rest
[1:03:29] of our work we'll receive better
[1:03:32] or reception if people know that
[1:03:37] we don't take these things lightly.
[1:03:39] So yeah.
[1:03:43] Alright. Point taken David,
[1:03:49] I often feel that I'm tilting at a windmill on this one
[1:03:52] and I said probably there will be a
[1:03:55] motion before our meeting.
[1:03:56] I hope it will be heard favorably.
[1:04:01] To echo what Julian just said, I don't want us
[1:04:03] to come across as rubber stamp
[1:04:05] and I don't want us to feel that we are interfering with
[1:04:09] transparency and having a full blown issue.
[1:04:15] While social media is not the be all end all,
[1:04:18] there are enough comments out there, the public wants
[1:04:22] town government to be responsive
[1:04:25] and this is the opportunity to be respons the well as
[1:04:30] it troubles me that the finance committee,
[1:04:32] our hands are being tied here, I'll live with that.
[1:04:36] But when this come the, that one particular article comes
[1:04:41] before town meeting, I hope there will be the opportunity
[1:04:44] to have a full discussion
[1:04:47] and ask questions to pick apart a
[1:04:52] very large document with large financial ramifications.
[1:04:57] So that being said, and I guess we'll see all on the 28th
[1:05:01] Right.
[1:05:02] And and town meeting can decide what it wants to do.
[1:05:06] I mean that somebody, even from the stage,
[1:05:11] somebody can stand up and make a motion and get it debated
[1:05:14] and make your case and you know, town meeting can vote
[1:05:17] to do pretty much whatever it wants.
[1:05:20] So, alright,
[1:05:23] Just for one further comment for reasons Mr.
[1:05:28] Munich I think articulated well.
[1:05:30] I wanna commend the chair
[1:05:32] for putting this discussion on our agenda tonight so
[1:05:36] that we can show that members do care about something
[1:05:40] that we don't really have the clear chartered
[1:05:45] ability to do something about
[1:05:48] As a collective.
[1:05:49] That's right. Right.
[1:05:51] Okay. Alright.
[1:05:53] Just jumping ahead for a little bit,
[1:05:56] I wanna make sure we get the meeting minutes
[1:05:59] that are on listed, on the agenda approved.
[1:06:01] Before we go onto anything else, has everybody had a chance
[1:06:05] to read the minutes
[1:06:08] and make any notes that they're going to make?
[1:06:10] Send them back to KA everybody more
[1:06:13] or less on board with the minutes
[1:06:15] as presented. Okay.
[1:06:19] I'm gonna abstain if that's okay.
[1:06:21] Yeah, that's fine. I take
[1:06:25] motions. I move to
[1:06:29] Approve the minutes.
[1:06:32] Seconded. All right.
[1:06:35] Any discussion on the minutes approval?
[1:06:37] I just wanna say it's March 24 and March 26.
[1:06:40] Yeah, that yes, as as listed. Yes.
[1:06:43] Approve the minutes as listed on the agenda. Okay.
[1:06:50] Roll call vote on the minutes approval Dirk?
[1:06:54] Aye David? Aye. Patricia? Aye.
[1:06:59] Donna Abstains. Grace? Yes. Jean?
[1:07:05] Yes. Kat? Yes. Julian? Yes. Matt? Yes. Richard?
[1:07:10] Yes. Gary? Yes. And I'm a yes.
[1:07:14] Alright, thank you.
[1:07:17] Oh and post fact of debate.
[1:07:21] Once again I admire
[1:07:23] and appreciate anybody that can take
[1:07:26] my participation in a meeting and without using emoticons
[1:07:30] and other things, so thank you.
[1:07:34] Okay. Alright.
[1:07:37] I guess I can give you a status update on
[1:07:39] where we are on town meeting materials.
[1:07:43] Now that we've taken the last two votes.
[1:07:45] I can update two lines on a table that gets sent out
[1:07:50] to town meeting members that tells all
[1:07:53] of our votes the quantum is required at town meeting
[1:07:57] dates, things like that.
[1:07:59] And then it goes with a couple of blocks of
[1:08:05] pertinent financial data,
[1:08:07] which will also show up in the town meeting book.
[1:08:12] We usually just give them a couple of chunks
[1:08:14] of high level things to
[1:08:16] get them thinking through the process.
[1:08:18] But it has things like all the appropriations,
[1:08:21] all the funding sources, debt service schedule,
[1:08:26] some financial ratios, things that typically come up
[1:08:29] and get asked like what are all the
[1:08:35] account balances for, you know,
[1:08:38] the various funds and things like that.
[1:08:40] So it's four, four page, four pages,
[1:08:45] double-sided tube sheets of paper this year.
[1:08:48] It also includes the announcement that the
[1:08:52] moderator is conducting a town meeting member orientation
[1:08:57] at Kennedy on the 14th, I believe is what it was.
[1:09:02] So just get that out there
[1:09:05] in a little bit sooner than they would get the book.
[1:09:07] They at least have the announcement that
[1:09:09] there's an orientation if town meeting members want to
[1:09:14] avail themselves of that.
[1:09:16] So that's, that goes out tomorrow.
[1:09:18] And then the full book, I think except
[1:09:23] for the two items which we were discussing this evening,
[1:09:26] at least a draft has been done of all other warrant articles
[1:09:32] I went through and reviewed ones that I hadn't written.
[1:09:36] So some of the reviews are done.
[1:09:39] So I guess Dirk
[1:09:41] and I signed up for the two that we're hearing tonight.
[1:09:44] So those will be done sometime tomorrow
[1:09:47] or the day, you know, imminent imminently done tonight.
[1:09:51] So that will have all the warrant articles written.
[1:09:54] I have most of the non-war article
[1:09:58] book materials gathered.
[1:10:00] I still need a couple of town reports and things like that.
[1:10:03] And then there's a block of data and exhibits
[1:10:07] and things like that that I take out
[1:10:09] of the amended town administrator's budget book
[1:10:14] that's not quite ready for print yet.
[1:10:16] So as soon as that gets done, I'll do those extracts,
[1:10:21] include them in our report,
[1:10:23] and then I'll be able to go to, to print in the mail.
[1:10:27] It might not be the scheduled time, which was this Friday.
[1:10:31] It might, depending on when the TA book gets published,
[1:10:35] it might be, you know, the first couple days of next week.
[1:10:38] But we're well ahead of schedule for an April 28th
[1:10:43] town meeting start.
[1:10:44] So I think we're okay on that.
[1:10:47] But people are still welcome to take a look at the folders
[1:10:51] go through and we can have more than one person reading
[1:10:55] through things and reviewing them,
[1:10:56] but it's pretty much time for
[1:11:02] that to be wrapped up.
[1:11:03] So any other questions
[1:11:06] or anything like that on town meeting member materials
[1:11:10] that we send out after tonight's letter
[1:11:16] to town meeting members is complete.
[1:11:19] And in the mail I'll circulate an electronic copy
[1:11:22] for everybody just as an FYI thing.
[1:11:27] Okay. Committee members' concerns, questions,
[1:11:32] feedback, things that we need to deal with for town meeting
[1:11:36] because we don't have any other meetings
[1:11:38] scheduled between now and then.
[1:11:42] Don't see anybody with a hand up online.
[1:11:46] And Julian, as far as the, from town administration,
[1:11:51] there's absolutely zero sense
[1:11:53] that there will be any collective bargaining unit
[1:11:55] or other things between now
[1:11:57] and the first night of town meeting. It's
[1:11:59] The, the window was to hit tonight's meeting.
[1:12:04] They definitely didn't make, they're still,
[1:12:07] everybody's still working on it
[1:12:09] and I haven't heard that there's gonna be anything
[1:12:14] between our last meeting
[1:12:15] and the start of town meeting. I, I just,
[1:12:17] Just, just haunting memories
[1:12:19] of there being a finance committee meeting scheduled for
[1:12:24] six o'clock in the high school.
[1:12:26] Right. In the classroom. 'cause Yeah,
[1:12:28] Yeah, no, nobody's asked for that
[1:12:30] and we'll, you know, if it comes up
[1:12:32] and it seems to be important, we will, I'll ask
[1:12:35] and we will entertain that question,
[1:12:37] but so far I haven't heard anything about it.
[1:12:41] Other questions? All right then
[1:12:47] I guess we'll take a motion to adjourn these.
[1:12:48] So moved. All right then second. All right.
[1:12:52] That's a non debatable motion. Everybody wave.
[1:12:56] Have a good evening. We are adjourned. Thank you.