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All right. The the second thing the

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second thing that's going to happen is

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that because everyone doesn't have

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copies of the motions, the select board

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will read each of the motions.

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And typically we could uh refrain from

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that if everyone had a copy, but because

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we don't, we'll just and and that's a

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good thing.

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Okay.

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» Recording.

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» All right.

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So without ado,

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I'd like to call the 220 26

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Sunund annual tongue meeting to order.

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The first thing I'd like everyone to

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rise

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and we'll do the pledge of allegiance.

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Daniel.

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» I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

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United States of America and to the

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republic for which it stands. One nation

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under God, indivisible, with liberty and

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justice for all.

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Thank you all.

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At this time,

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there's in the town meeting, just so you

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know, there's just there's really just a

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couple people that are absolutely have

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to be here. And there out of those two

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people, there's one person that really

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needs to be here. And the per that

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person is a town clerk, and she's going

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to come up and read the uh council's

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return.

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All right, you guys ready for this?

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Pursuant to within warrant, I have

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notified and warned the inhabitants of

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the town of Sunderland by posting up

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attested copies of the same at the town

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office building, the Sunderland Public

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Library, and the Post Sunderland post

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office 7 days at least before the day

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here as within directive

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Laurenitis, April 16th, 2026 at 4 p.m.

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Before I leave, I have to be at the

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meeting, but I am not the one that puts

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all this together. These guys do. Um,

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and then one quick thing, we have had

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since 2018

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19year-olds

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work the polls.

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And my very last one is now a voter. And

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I if everybody can give Beccavery

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Burgess a round of applause CUZ

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he's out back there. Um

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there there is a very low low number of

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kids that are interested in doing that.

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So hands off to him. Well done.

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Thank Thank you, Wendy.

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One of the the honors of being on the

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select board is every year that you're

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able to to review the members of your

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community and you're able to offer a

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dedication of our annual report.

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This year they have an outstanding

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individual and Nathaniel Waring will

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read that dedication. Dan

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» Hi, thanks. I'm Dan Murphy and uh happy

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to read this dedication tonight. Um each

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year we have the opportunity to

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recognize an individual or group who has

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contributed their expertise, talents or

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passion to the betterment of our

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community. Many groups or individuals

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have been recognized over the years

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having served our town in ways that make

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Sunderland great. This year, our annual

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report is dedicated to Fred Lauronitis.

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He's been he's a current water

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commissioner, former police officer,

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former EMT, captain, volunteer, fireman,

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constable, economic planning

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commissioner, and recreation department.

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And he's been a good neighbor to me,

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too. Um, we honor a leader whose life

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work is woven in the very fabric of our

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small town. From the high stakes front

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lines as a police officer, EMT, and

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captain of the volunteer fire department

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to the vital stewardship of our

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resources as water commissioner and the

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enrichment of our community on the

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recreation department, a town constable,

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economic planning commissioner, Fred has

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protected our safety, sustained our

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infrastructure, and championed our joy.

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It is rare to find an individual who has

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answered the call of service in so many

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different uniforms, yet performed each

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role with the same unwavering dedication

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to our neighbors, all with a smile on

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his face. I want to give a huge thank

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you to Fred Lauronitis.

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So, because Fred's not here, I'll tell

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one quick story. His his f his his

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family um back when I was a 10year-old

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raised cucumbers. Most of us youngsters

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at that time back in the early mid60s

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would work on the cucumber picker.

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I can tell you that Robert and Fred, if

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you missed a cucumber, you would learn

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about it with a cucumber in the back of

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the head.

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So, so Fred Fred's been training

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all of us for a very long time. and and

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all of you if you haven't who don't know

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who Fred is, if you see the Sunderland

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Town Water Department at all hours

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Monday through Sunday, that's Fred. And

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Sunund Water two years in a row has had

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the finest water in the state. So, thank

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you, FRED.

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OKAY. The other the other and it's a

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long tradition in the town is we have a

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spirit of Sunderland and this year

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Nathaniel Waring is to about to make

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that presentation.

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Thank you very much.

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We want to take a moment to publicly

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thank the members of our fire

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department. We often only see the

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flashing lights in an emergency, but

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your service begins long before the

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alarm sounds. Thank you for your

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bravery, for being the ones who run

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towards danger when others run away.

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Thank you for your training, for your

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countless hours spent away from your

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families to master the skills that save

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lives and protect our homes. And most

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importantly, thank you for your

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sacrifice. We recognize that you miss

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birthdays, holidays, and quiet nights

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away from home to endure to ensure ours

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are safe. You are the heartbeat of this

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community, and we are eternally

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grateful.

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If any of our firefighters are here

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today, if you would stand up.

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Would you spot for a second?

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Many many years ago, the town started

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recognizing the members of our community

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that who have participated.

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And I remember many times the moderator

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at the time, Bob Doobie, would struggle

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with this because he knew those people

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very well. and I'm kind of in I know why

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he struggles now.

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So,

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right now I'd like to do we've had four

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members of our community that passed

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that were very active.

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The first was Cindy Benjamin. Cindy was

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part of the town history volume 3,

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school committee, historical commission,

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treasurer, permanent building committee,

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Sunderland 275th anniversary committee,

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the Sunund 300th anniversary committee

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that is the vice chair. In addition,

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spent Cindy spent many years

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volunteering for the town that she loves

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so much. Cindy Hart was huge and helped

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many people in the town of Sundon. Cindy

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Benjamin

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The second

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who would pass is Frederick Miller.

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Fred was a served on the Sun volunteer

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firefighter on the fire department from

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1988

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to 2000.

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Mary Warner.

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Mary served on the Sunderland School

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Committee.

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the Frontier School Committee,

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the French King Regional Vocational

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School Committee,

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the Finance Committee,

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and also the Town Park Committee.

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And Mary also was the holder, passholder

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of Sunderland's Boston

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Golden King, Mary Warner.

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And our last one, gentleman by the name

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of Rick Robleski.

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Rick was a town park trustees

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for a while. He ran a barbecue place

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outside of the 7 O's and Rick could make

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one heck of a brisket sandwich. Rick

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Roblesi.

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The town clerk said I needed to

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introduce myself. It's on the paper. I'm

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Tom Fightening Kevitz

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and

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At this time, Nathaniel has a town. We

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voted the town had voted last year and

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Nathaniel's getting well and Nathaniel

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Waring will read that

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in recognition that the land in

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Sunderland is the ancestral homeland and

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territory of the Pumpk Niptuk and

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Abanaki and was seated in 1672 under

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questionable circumstances. It is with

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deep regret that we acknowledge the

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history of colonialism that led to the

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dispossession of the original

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inhabitants from their lands through

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expansionism and exclusion. We

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acknowledge the continual presence,

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resilience, and perseverance of the

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Nipnuk, Pamkak, and Abenaki peoples. We

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offer our respect to their elders, both

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past and present, for the wisdom of

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their cultures. We also acknowledge and

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honor with gratitude their

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multigenerational stewardship of the

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land along the connectqu

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today known as the Connecticut River as

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well as our commitment to balance and

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reciprocity with all creations. To those

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living peoples and to the Wampa Noag to

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the east, the Moheaggan and Pikpikquat

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to the south, the Moheaggan to the west

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and the Abnaki to the north, we extend

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our respect and commit to learning more

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about their enduring relationship with

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the land on which we live and to taking

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meaningful action to support of Native

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nations and communities. We understand

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that this acknowledgement is not enough.

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It is just a beginning. Thank you.

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We also have a a second reading

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and crystal Drake trembling will

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>> okay resolution in favor of a nuclear

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weapon freeze. Whereas the world is

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currently in a perilous position with

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regard to war and nuclear weapon use.

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Whereas a nuclear war would be the end

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of life on this planet as we know it.

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Whereas if humanly existence was a

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24-hour clock where midnight represented

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the apocalypse,

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then as of January 2025, the world was

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at 89 seconds to midnight. According to

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the bulletin of the atomic scientist

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whose science and security board member

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Manprit Seth declared

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that a slew of risks of arms racing a

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loss of guard rails possibly a further

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proliferation possibly of nuclear use

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are all rising at the same time. Whereas

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no one person should be in a position to

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exterminate us by the push of a button

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in nuclear testing has been recently

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resumed.

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Whereas we are but one town in one state

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in one nation but we are world citizens

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in regional statements make a difference

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in state, national and international

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00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,199
decisionmaking.

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Letting leaders know how the populace

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00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,600
feels in voting in a statement such as

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this energizes citizens to be more

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00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,959
involved as the subject comes up in the

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news. Whereas

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on August 8th and August 9th of 1945,

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hundreds of thousands of human beings

277
00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:32,240
died, many instantly or suffered severe

278
00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:34,399
health consequences in the cities of

279
00:14:34,399 --> 00:14:37,519
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, when the

280
00:14:37,519 --> 00:14:40,639
United States dropped atomic bombs.

281
00:14:40,639 --> 00:14:42,399
Whereas countless peoples and

282
00:14:42,399 --> 00:14:44,560
communities in the United States have

283
00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:47,360
been and continue to be grievously

284
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,839
harmed and suffer health consequences

285
00:14:49,839 --> 00:14:52,399
from the development, production and

286
00:14:52,399 --> 00:14:54,959
testing of nuclear weapons in uranium

287
00:14:54,959 --> 00:14:58,160
mining, much of which takes place around

288
00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:00,000
centers of current indigenous

289
00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:05,680
settlements. Whereas of January 2025,

290
00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:07,839
nine nations collectively in

291
00:15:07,839 --> 00:15:09,440
approximately

292
00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:10,959
12,100

293
00:15:10,959 --> 00:15:13,760
nuclear weapons in their arsenals, most

294
00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,079
of which are far more destructive than

295
00:15:16,079 --> 00:15:18,880
those used against the people of Japan.

296
00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:21,120
And the detonation of even a small

297
00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:23,760
number of these weapons would affect

298
00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,320
every being on the planet, causing

299
00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,880
catastrophic human and environmental

300
00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:30,399
consequences

301
00:15:30,399 --> 00:15:33,680
that would threaten human life itself.

302
00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:36,160
Whereas there have historically been

303
00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:38,959
bills in mass legislature calling for a

304
00:15:38,959 --> 00:15:41,680
nuclear weapons freeze and encouraging

305
00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,240
citizens hearing throughout the state

306
00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:47,040
regarding replacing nuclear weapons

307
00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:50,399
spending with funds for substantial

308
00:15:50,399 --> 00:15:52,639
substainable energy to address the

309
00:15:52,639 --> 00:15:55,759
climate crisis. Be it resolved that the

310
00:15:55,759 --> 00:15:58,079
people of Sunderland, Massachusetts join

311
00:15:58,079 --> 00:16:00,399
with the people of the world in their

312
00:16:00,399 --> 00:16:02,880
urgent call for a nuclear weapons freeze

313
00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:05,519
from this day forth.

314
00:16:05,519 --> 00:16:07,360
That was a mouthful.

315
00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:12,069
>> Thank you, Crystal. Thank you, Crystal.

316
00:16:12,079 --> 00:16:14,560
So when Wendy had earlier talked about

317
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:22,320
who puts everything together and the the budget is a large portion of it, but

318
00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:26,079
also the the additional articles that

319
00:16:26,079 --> 00:16:28,240
we're going to be voting on tonight. I'd

320
00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:29,920
like to introduce I'd like to introduce

321
00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:33,519
the select board, Nathaniel Waring,

322
00:16:33,519 --> 00:16:38,480
Crystal Drake Trombli, Daniel Murphy,

323
00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,639
and the town administrator, Rebecca

324
00:16:40,639 --> 00:16:42,560
Torres.

325
00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:46,720
The town clerk is Wendy Hoo.

326
00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:49,839
And I'm pretty uh proud to talk that the

327
00:16:49,839 --> 00:16:52,079
finance committee in Mass is here

328
00:16:52,079 --> 00:16:57,519
tonight. And I'd like Valerie to step forward and she can introduce

329
00:16:57,519 --> 00:17:05,510
herself and the committee.

330
00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,880
» Hi, I'm Valerie Vorhees, 140 North Main

331
00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:10,880
um in Sunderland. Um I'm the chair of

332
00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:13,439
the finance committee. Um I would like

333
00:17:13,439 --> 00:17:16,640
um our wonderful community-minded,

334
00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:18,400
hardworking,

335
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,959
meetinggoing finance committee to

336
00:17:20,959 --> 00:17:24,319
introduce themselves to you.

337
00:17:24,319 --> 00:17:26,160
Hi, I'm uh Dylan Corporita. I live here

338
00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,559
on 51 South Main Street.

339
00:17:28,559 --> 00:17:31,280
>> Hi, I'm Alli Dean. I live at 153 Hadley

340
00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:33,200
Road.

341
00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,280
>> Hi, Joe Wise. 123 North Plane Road.

342
00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:42,000
>> Hi, Aaron Coupe, 84 Old Ammerst Road.

343
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:53,110
>> Indian Raphael, 208 Russell Street.

344
00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:55,919
So

345
00:17:55,919 --> 00:17:58,640
believe it or not, we actually have a

346
00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,840
book that that we run our meeting by.

347
00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,039
It's called Town Meeting Time. If you go

348
00:18:05,039 --> 00:18:07,440
if you want to become a moderator,

349
00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,080
select board or or become knowledgeable

350
00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,039
how the town meeting is supposed to run,

351
00:18:13,039 --> 00:18:15,120
you can go to the Sunown Library and

352
00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,760
request a copy. And if they don't have

353
00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,480
the copy, they can get get you one. But

354
00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:22,240
everything that we do tonight is based

355
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:27,120
out of this book, town meeting time.

356
00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:30,480
But if there are qu legal questions, we

357
00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,039
do have we do have town council that's

358
00:18:33,039 --> 00:18:35,120
sitting in the back and Michael will be

359
00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:36,880
able to help us if we need

360
00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,870
clarification.

361
00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:43,200
We we also have and I'd like them to

362
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,640
stand a few outside groups uh that are

363
00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:48,720
very important to our community. The

364
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,280
first is the frontier administration.

365
00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:52,960
if you could rise and introduce

366
00:18:52,960 --> 00:19:02,470
yourself.

367
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:14,310
» Franklin Tech,

368
00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:25,510
» Sundown Elementary School.

369
00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,160
Okay, we got most of the introductions

370
00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,160
down. Um, once again, does everybody

371
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:37,520
have a red, a yellow, and a green card.

372
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:39,440
If you don't have the card, you need to

373
00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:43,360
raise your hand and your neighbor

374
00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:46,080
will we don't have any additional ones.

375
00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:47,679
So, one of your neighbors could rip the

376
00:19:47,679 --> 00:19:49,760
card and hand it to you, one of the

377
00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:56,070
cards. Okay,

378
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,640
we will we will be we will be using the

379
00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:02,799
cards to vote. Yes is green, no is red.

380
00:20:02,799 --> 00:20:05,600
If you have a question, the yellow. And

381
00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:07,679
what we're doing tonight is if you have

382
00:20:07,679 --> 00:20:10,960
a question or if you want to speak, we'd

383
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,679
like you to go quay on the center

384
00:20:13,679 --> 00:20:16,480
microphone. So there's no question about

385
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:18,799
who's calling on who or what order there

386
00:20:18,799 --> 00:20:20,960
is. We'll just stand up and get it get

387
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:26,000
in line. The one thing if someone calls

388
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,000
a question which usually is kind of

389
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,120
non-debatable just to let you know the

390
00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:33,600
but moderator's discretion if you are in

391
00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,400
line and waiting to talk we will hear

392
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,360
you. Okay.

393
00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:43,120
Um the packet does

394
00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:44,960
uh conclude the motions and information

395
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,440
on certain agendas. When we do the

396
00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,440
budget and we'll go through each C

397
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,000
category raider voters can raise a

398
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,200
yellow card to hold the budget line and

399
00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,280
if they wish to revisit for more

400
00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,320
additional discussion

401
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:06,230
concern concerning

402
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,159
the rules for town government or the

403
00:21:08,159 --> 00:21:10,080
town meeting it were governed by town

404
00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:12,240
meeting time. I will explain if someone

405
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,720
has a question about procedures

406
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:16,559
as needed. I can explain and will

407
00:21:16,559 --> 00:21:21,120
recognize legitimate requests, for points of order.

408
00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:23,600
Motions will generally be made by the

409
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,320
select board. The articles in the

410
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,440
warrant guide are discussions, but it is

411
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,640
motions that we will debate. Sometimes a

412
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:34,799
motion will be to adopt the action

413
00:21:34,799 --> 00:21:38,400
contemplated. I will ask you to stop if

414
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,799
you

415
00:21:40,799 --> 00:21:46,240
and Okay. So, those are the motions.

416
00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,080
>> They can't carry you in the back.

417
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:48,640
>> What's that?

418
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:50,320
>> They can't carry you in the back.

419
00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:52,640
>> Oh, that's good.

420
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:55,120
Um, but the article may be sometimes it

421
00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:57,039
will be a little different. Any debate

422
00:21:57,039 --> 00:21:59,440
and any subsidary motions must be within

423
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,760
the scope of the article that it must

424
00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:03,520
have a reasonable relationship to the

425
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,240
matter being discussed. If it does not,

426
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:08,640
then I may ask you to stop or may

427
00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,840
redirect you. motions and motions to

428
00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:13,679
amend generally must be in writing to

429
00:22:13,679 --> 00:22:16,960
the town clerk for mineral and clerical

430
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,600
corrections. I will accept friendly

431
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,760
amendments and we will help with the

432
00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,559
procedure. We will be going in numerical

433
00:22:24,559 --> 00:22:27,360
order. You may speak only when

434
00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:29,760
recognized by the moderator. If you want

435
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,159
to speak, come to the microphone. If you

436
00:22:32,159 --> 00:22:34,240
are unable to do so, raise your hand and

437
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,200
we will get a microphone to you. I will

438
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,360
try to balance discussion as well as I

439
00:22:39,360 --> 00:22:42,320
can. Everyone has a chance to speak on a

440
00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,720
matter but at a certain point I want to

441
00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,000
avoid repetition.

442
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,120
Maximum of 5 minutes on the first time

443
00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:53,679
to the mic, 3 minutes on the second

444
00:22:53,679 --> 00:22:56,400
time, and usually it would have to

445
00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:58,000
really be something to get you to the

446
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,159
mic the third time.

447
00:23:00,159 --> 00:23:02,240
I may allow someone with new information

448
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,799
to speak a third time, but I may limit a

449
00:23:04,799 --> 00:23:07,679
speaker to only two times. I hope we can

450
00:23:07,679 --> 00:23:10,720
continue have a spirited debate and that

451
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:12,559
this meeting both supports and

452
00:23:12,559 --> 00:23:15,120
challenges the issues that are

453
00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:18,720
presented. However, no personal comments

454
00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,440
and all comments must be civil and

455
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:27,760
respectful.

456
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,559
town meeting wants to hear your opinions

457
00:23:30,559 --> 00:23:33,760
and it may not allow you to state what

458
00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,840
someone else thinks or says. It's your

459
00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,559
opinion. If comments stray beyond the

460
00:23:40,559 --> 00:23:44,240
limits I have noted or if there is a dis

461
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,679
disruption, I will ask you to stop. If

462
00:23:47,679 --> 00:23:49,840
you do not stop, you'll be asked to

463
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,600
leave.

464
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,559
We have many local officials and between

465
00:23:54,559 --> 00:23:56,960
the local officials and myself, we will

466
00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,919
try to get any questions answered. For

467
00:23:59,919 --> 00:24:01,600
those of in the visitor section, you

468
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:03,360
have no right to speak unless I

469
00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:06,880
recognize you to speak. If anyone wants

470
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,600
to film the meeting, they must let the

471
00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,240
let me know and I will approve the means

472
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,039
and location of the filming. I will ask

473
00:24:15,039 --> 00:24:17,360
for a voice vote on motions. No

474
00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:19,600
shouting. If I cannot discern the

475
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,240
results, I may ask for a show of hands

476
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,480
with the cards.

477
00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,440
I do respect a call of a question or a

478
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:29,360
motion to cut off debate, provided that

479
00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:31,600
anyone lined up at the mic at the time

480
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:33,840
may be allowed to speak and provide that

481
00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,080
I will reject it if I think it is

482
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,039
premature. Similarly, if I am hearing a

483
00:24:39,039 --> 00:24:40,480
lot of the same comments, I may

484
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,240
abbreviate debate on my own. There are a

485
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,000
variety of handouts available that may

486
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,400
help along the handouts

487
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,279
the annual budget. The detailed handout

488
00:24:51,279 --> 00:24:53,120
may be helpful when we vote on the

489
00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:55,039
budget. Before we get started, I want to

490
00:24:55,039 --> 00:24:57,760
give the select board members

491
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,000
chair an opportunity if you'd like to

492
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,960
make any comments.

493
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:04,320
I'd like to thank everybody for being

494
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:06,320
here. It makes me very happy to see how

495
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:07,760
much engagement we have with this

496
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,480
process. Um I know this is going to be a

497
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,039
long process. uh please you know bear

498
00:25:13,039 --> 00:25:14,720
with us as we go through it. Um if you

499
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:16,720
have questions we encourage you to um

500
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:18,159
bring them up. This has been a very hard

501
00:25:18,159 --> 00:25:19,919
budget year for all of us. Um for those

502
00:25:19,919 --> 00:25:21,279
of you who've been paying attention uh

503
00:25:21,279 --> 00:25:23,279
to the process you know that um and

504
00:25:23,279 --> 00:25:24,720
obviously we have a lot to talk about

505
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,080
today. So thank you very much for being

506
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:28,000
here.

507
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,640
And and finally I'd like to um thank

508
00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:32,960
John Bosshan, director of the FCAT and

509
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:34,640
his staff for recording tonight's

510
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,360
meeting. Dogwood Audio has been hired to

511
00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:40,480
provide the sound systems.

512
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,120
And with that, I think we're ready to

513
00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:44,960
roll.

514
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,720
Article one. All right. Article one.

515
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:50,640
Move that the town vote to hear the

516
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,240
reports of the select board, the

517
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:53,760
Sunderland School Committee, and all

518
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:56,159
other town officers, boards, committees,

519
00:25:56,159 --> 00:25:58,559
and commissions.

520
00:25:58,559 --> 00:26:01,440
>> I motion we move article one.

521
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,960
>> Second. So, we have a motion made and

522
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,400
seconded. All of those reports are in

523
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,200
this book. And if you don't have a copy,

524
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:12,880
there are copies at the select board's

525
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,360
office or in town hall and or you can

526
00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:17,760
find it online.

527
00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:19,279
And by the way, there's a lot of

528
00:26:19,279 --> 00:26:22,400
information in this book.

529
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,559
Article one.

530
00:26:24,559 --> 00:26:26,559
Get the get those cards ready. All in

531
00:26:26,559 --> 00:26:28,799
favor of article one, please hold up

532
00:26:28,799 --> 00:26:30,720
your green cards.

533
00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,440
Those

534
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,720
opposed the red cards

535
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,520
declare it unanimous.

536
00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:43,430
All set.

537
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:44,799
» Article two.

538
00:26:44,799 --> 00:26:47,360
Move that the town vote

539
00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:49,679
under provision general law chapter

540
00:26:49,679 --> 00:26:51,679
41108

541
00:26:51,679 --> 00:26:54,240
to set the salaries and compensation of

542
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,720
all its elected officials connected

543
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,960
herewith for fiscal year 2027.

544
00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:02,559
Should I read all the salaries since

545
00:27:02,559 --> 00:27:03,919
they don't have copies? No.

546
00:27:03,919 --> 00:27:04,240
>> Yes.

547
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:05,200
>> Yeah, you pull that.

548
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:09,919
>> Okay. Assessors chair $3,70

549
00:27:09,919 --> 00:27:13,600
annually. Clerk $3,70

550
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:17,360
annually. member $3,070

551
00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:19,760
annually.

552
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:25,190
Board of Health Chair $1,537.50

553
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,679
annually. Members, $1,230

554
00:27:29,679 --> 00:27:32,320
annually.

555
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,120
Moderator, $25

556
00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:36,640
annually.

557
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:40,640
Planning board chair, $1,25

558
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:45,440
annually. Clerk $1,025 annually. Members

559
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:49,830
each $563.75

560
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:55,200
annually. Town clerk $64,54

561
00:27:55,200 --> 00:28:00,960
annually. Select board chair $3,357

562
00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:07,110
annually. Vice chair $2,92125

563
00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:13,269
annually. and clerk $2,92125

564
00:28:13,279 --> 00:28:16,080
annually.

565
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:19,440
>> I motion we move article two

566
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:25,669
>> second.

567
00:28:25,679 --> 00:28:29,919
» Sorry about that. I will second that.

568
00:28:29,919 --> 00:28:31,919
>> So we have a motion made and seconded

569
00:28:31,919 --> 00:28:34,159
for the salaries of the elected

570
00:28:34,159 --> 00:28:37,039
officials in the town of Sunderland.

571
00:28:37,039 --> 00:28:43,430
All those in favor.

572
00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,750
» All those opposed.

573
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,159
» Declare it

574
00:28:50,159 --> 00:28:54,310
unanimous.

575
00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:56,880
Article three.

576
00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:58,960
Move that the town vote to fund the

577
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,200
operating budgets of the town and public

578
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:03,279
schools for the fiscal year beginning

579
00:29:03,279 --> 00:29:06,799
July 1, 2026 by appropriating the sum of

580
00:29:06,799 --> 00:29:10,630
11,930,312.

581
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,760
All as set forth in the column entitled

582
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,559
fiscal year 27 override budget annual

583
00:29:16,559 --> 00:29:19,279
town meeting in the document entitled

584
00:29:19,279 --> 00:29:21,760
town of Sunderland fiscal year 27 town

585
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,559
meeting budget as on file with the town

586
00:29:24,559 --> 00:29:27,520
clerk and to meet said appropriation to

587
00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:32,710
raise the sum of 11,253,682

588
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:36,159
and transfer from one fund Comcast PEG

589
00:29:36,159 --> 00:29:39,760
access fund the sum of 53,000 to fund

590
00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:43,600
610 10 WWTP sewer fund the sum of

591
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,510
$477,726

592
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,480
and three certified free cash the sum of

593
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,590
$145,94.

594
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:57,520
Provided, however, that approval of the

595
00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:01,919
column fiscal year 2027 override budget

596
00:30:01,919 --> 00:30:03,760
annual town meeting shall be expressly

597
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,480
contingent upon approval by the voters

598
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,799
at an election of a Proposition 2 and a

599
00:30:08,799 --> 00:30:11,039
half override, allowing the town to

600
00:30:11,039 --> 00:30:13,520
raise the funds appropriated here

601
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:15,840
outside the limits established by

602
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:18,000
Proposition 2 and a half, general law,

603
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,200
chapter 59, section 21C, and further

604
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:23,039
provided that should said Proposition 2

605
00:30:23,039 --> 00:30:25,919
and half override question fail the sum

606
00:30:25,919 --> 00:30:30,070
of 11,273,299

607
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,039
all as described in the column entitled

608
00:30:33,039 --> 00:30:35,919
fiscal year 27 base budget annual town

609
00:30:35,919 --> 00:30:39,279
meeting in the document entitled town of

610
00:30:39,279 --> 00:30:42,399
Sunderland fiscal year 27 town meeting

611
00:30:42,399 --> 00:30:45,360
budget as on file with the town clerk

612
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,760
shall instead be appropriated with said

613
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,240
appropriation met by raising the sum of

614
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,720
10,453,600

615
00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:54,720
$182

616
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,520
and transferring from one fund Comcast

617
00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:01,360
PEG access fund the sum of $53,000

618
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:05,440
to fund 610 WWTP sewer fund the sum of

619
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,510
477,726

620
00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:11,760
three stabilization fund the sum of

621
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:15,600
$100,000 and four certified free cash

622
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,430
the sum of $188,891

623
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,720
or take any vote

624
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:27,360
Oh, okay. That's it. All right. Period.

625
00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:28,960
Thank you.

626
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,039
>> Um, should I say 2/3?

627
00:31:31,039 --> 00:31:31,600
>> Yes.

628
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,000
>> 2/3 vote. General law chapter 40,

629
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,640
section 5B, transfer from the general

630
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,320
purpose stabilization fund.

631
00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:42,559
>> I second that. Okay. We have a motion

632
00:31:42,559 --> 00:31:45,120
made on the uh article for this year's

633
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:47,600
town budget. Please note that it's going

634
00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:49,760
to require a twothirds vote because

635
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:52,000
there's money coming out of the

636
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:54,480
stabilization account. Because of coming

637
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:56,080
out of stabilization, you needed a

638
00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:58,960
twothirds vote on the budget. At this

639
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:00,559
time, the finance committee m chair

640
00:32:00,559 --> 00:32:02,159
would like to make a an opening

641
00:32:02,159 --> 00:32:05,120
statement.

642
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,159
>> Hi. Um the center finance committee

643
00:32:08,159 --> 00:32:10,480
along with the select board here in

644
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,360
Sunderland began our budget process um

645
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:15,519
last year following the usual approach.

646
00:32:15,519 --> 00:32:18,320
uh we crested level service budgets and

647
00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:19,919
enhanced budgets from each town

648
00:32:19,919 --> 00:32:22,159
department. We had every other week

649
00:32:22,159 --> 00:32:24,640
meetings with the town departments. They

650
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:26,559
shared their budget with us. There's a

651
00:32:26,559 --> 00:32:29,039
lot there was a lot of consultation. A

652
00:32:29,039 --> 00:32:31,440
few months into the process once we

653
00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:33,039
received figures from the schools. It

654
00:32:33,039 --> 00:32:34,799
became clear that we were facing

655
00:32:34,799 --> 00:32:37,679
significant fiscal challenges that

656
00:32:37,679 --> 00:32:41,039
required a more rigorous review.

657
00:32:41,039 --> 00:32:43,679
In response, we ask all departments to

658
00:32:43,679 --> 00:32:46,799
prepare reduced budget scenarios

659
00:32:46,799 --> 00:32:50,640
at a 5% and 20% below current year

660
00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:53,840
funding levels. Um, we then worked

661
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,240
closely with department heads and other

662
00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:57,919
stakeholders to evaluate these

663
00:32:57,919 --> 00:33:01,279
reductions line by line, applying

664
00:33:01,279 --> 00:33:03,120
judgment

665
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,760
rather than across the board cuts. For

666
00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,080
example, the town clerk is responsible

667
00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:10,799
for three elections in the coming fiscal

668
00:33:10,799 --> 00:33:14,559
year compared to one this year. So a 20%

669
00:33:14,559 --> 00:33:17,200
reduction would not have been practical

670
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:19,600
or responsible. There are lots of

671
00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:21,919
examples of this kind of attention that

672
00:33:21,919 --> 00:33:23,600
we have given to our town departments

673
00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:26,799
and our needs. This budget,

674
00:33:26,799 --> 00:33:28,159
the finance committee believes this

675
00:33:28,159 --> 00:33:30,080
budget is a result of a balanced,

676
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,960
thoughtful budget is a is a is a result

677
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:35,519
of a thoughtful balance budget process

678
00:33:35,519 --> 00:33:37,679
that maintains services at a level that

679
00:33:37,679 --> 00:33:40,720
our children, families, seniors, and

680
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:42,720
residents can rely on while also

681
00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,919
protecting Centerland's long-term fiscal

682
00:33:45,919 --> 00:33:49,269
health.

683
00:33:49,279 --> 00:33:55,430
» Thank you.

684
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:58,240
Valerie.

685
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:00,880
So, a quick thing with the budget, we'll

686
00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:05,519
be going through there's major portions,

687
00:34:05,519 --> 00:34:07,519
for example, general government, town

688
00:34:07,519 --> 00:34:10,000
buildings, police department. We'll be

689
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:14,320
going through each of those. If you want

690
00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,760
additional information on those, if you

691
00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:20,639
could hold the card, the yellow card up,

692
00:34:20,639 --> 00:34:22,480
I'll note it and we'll come back and

693
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:27,919
we'll specifically talk about that

694
00:34:27,919 --> 00:34:31,599
portion of the budget.

695
00:34:31,599 --> 00:34:34,720
General government

696
00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:38,550
$730,429.

697
00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:42,000
Would anybody like a hold on that

698
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,720
without seeing a yellow card? Town

699
00:34:44,720 --> 00:34:46,879
buildings

700
00:34:46,879 --> 00:34:50,389
$199,372.

701
00:34:50,399 --> 00:34:55,430
Would anybody like to discuss that?

702
00:34:55,440 --> 00:35:00,950
Police department $688,185.

703
00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:02,800
Would anybody like to talk about the

704
00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:06,390
police department?

705
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,960
Fire Department

706
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:16,069
$131,470

707
00:35:16,079 --> 00:35:17,680
EMS

708
00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:25,190
$315,527

709
00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:28,240
Inspector and Other Protection

710
00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:34,870
$70,125

711
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:37,280
Highway department

712
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:39,440
and and I would just want to have an

713
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:42,160
opportunity for George. Thank you for

714
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:44,480
this past winter. It was not an easy

715
00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:46,960
winter. You guys did a remarkable job.

716
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:53,910
Thank you.

717
00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,880
Their budget is $42,000

718
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:04,630
$90.

719
00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:06,960
We'll come back. We'll come back to

720
00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:09,200
that. Total highway.

721
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,000
Total health and sanitation

722
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:18,470
$83,14.

723
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:21,680
We got a hold on that. We'll come back.

724
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:23,680
Total library

725
00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:31,109
$255,74.

726
00:36:31,119 --> 00:36:42,950
Total elementary school 3,951,324.

727
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:45,599
Going to hold on.

728
00:36:45,599 --> 00:36:48,480
Franklin County technical

729
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:59,030
assessment of $188,765.

730
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:01,200
Frontier Assessment

731
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:14,870
2,82,995.

732
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:16,320
Out of district tuition and

733
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:18,000
transportation,

734
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:27,190
$45,345.

735
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,480
Total benefit and insurance

736
00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:41,430
1,319,847.

737
00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:45,200
Total miscellaneous and reserve fund

738
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:53,589
$268,940.

739
00:37:53,599 --> 00:37:56,240
Total miscellaneous and reserve fund for

740
00:37:56,240 --> 00:38:04,950
total operating budget is 11,452,589.

741
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:07,760
And we need to also put in there the

742
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:10,320
total wastewater

743
00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:17,829
treatment budget of $477,726.

744
00:38:17,839 --> 00:38:20,720
Anybody want to talk about sewer?

745
00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:23,920
Wow, you guys are pretty dull.

746
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:25,920
So we have a total budget in the town of

747
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:34,150
Sunderland 11,930,315.

748
00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,480
So we did have a couple hoes. So I'd

749
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,560
like the person that held the question

750
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:40,800
on the highway department to come up to

751
00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:42,560
the microphone and ask the question,

752
00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:46,470
please

753
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:48,400
if it works. Aaron, sure.

754
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:50,960
>> Seems to work. I noticed that the

755
00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:53,359
expense line for the highway department

756
00:38:53,359 --> 00:38:56,240
had a significant reduction and I would

757
00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:58,320
like to know what the impacts of that

758
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:05,109
reduction might be on highway services.

759
00:39:05,119 --> 00:39:08,870
» We have George here today.

760
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:21,270
» Thanks George.

761
00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:23,920
The reduction for the for the line item

762
00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:26,160
for that would probably

763
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,000
line painting would probably be get cut

764
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,240
for the year cuz that's gone up

765
00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:33,839
dramatically over the years uh in price.

766
00:39:33,839 --> 00:39:37,599
So some services will like line painting

767
00:39:37,599 --> 00:39:40,240
and other art tree trimming and stuff

768
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:43,280
like that will get cut for we won't be

769
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:48,069
able to do as much. Um

770
00:39:48,079 --> 00:39:53,109
things will take us a little longer

771
00:39:53,119 --> 00:39:56,000
repairs on catch basins and stuff like

772
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,960
that. We get held over till next year

773
00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:00,480
until we can get the money back

774
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:03,589
hopefully.

775
00:40:03,599 --> 00:40:09,030
» Thank you, George.

776
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:10,400
» Are there any other additional questions

777
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:14,630
for George?

778
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:18,240
We had a hold on the total health and

779
00:40:18,240 --> 00:40:20,400
sanitation.

780
00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:23,280
Would the person uh that asked Hollis?

781
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:24,960
>> Yes.

782
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:28,640
>> Um I think you if I read this right need

783
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:32,560
to explain 173%. That's my only question

784
00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:34,079
there.

785
00:40:34,079 --> 00:40:36,240
And I don't know if anyone held up for

786
00:40:36,240 --> 00:40:40,320
the library, but I'd like you to explain

787
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,880
almost 50%

788
00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:46,400
for the Sun Library. So, go ahead and

789
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:55,589
explain those two things.

790
00:40:55,599 --> 00:40:58,400
» All right. So the health and sanitation

791
00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:02,720
um there is PAS found at a residence and

792
00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:07,520
we're required to monitor and

793
00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:10,800
check that situation in PAS. Um it will

794
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:13,760
require continuing monitoring for some

795
00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:15,760
time. So that's what the increase in

796
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:21,430
that sanitation is.

797
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:24,079
» It's one sole can you please speak in

798
00:41:24,079 --> 00:41:24,960
the microphone? So

799
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:26,319
>> Yep. So

800
00:41:26,319 --> 00:41:27,520
>> just so we we do we we just want

801
00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:28,800
everyone to hear Hollis.

802
00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:31,119
>> So it is one home that it was found in

803
00:41:31,119 --> 00:41:34,400
but the testing has to encompass an area

804
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:36,400
around that.

805
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:41,520
>> Okay. Explain the library then.

806
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:44,400
>> Uh in the event that the override fails

807
00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:46,480
then the library expense item will be

808
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,440
reduced significantly. Um and I think

809
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:53,040
that um so just to be clear as Val

810
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:56,880
explained uh for all departments even uh

811
00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:58,640
non-override

812
00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:00,480
uh even if we pass the override we're

813
00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:03,040
still having some reductions.

814
00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:05,839
Um but if the override fails then yes

815
00:42:05,839 --> 00:42:08,480
we're losing quite a lot of uh funding

816
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:10,960
in the expense line item and the kind of

817
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:13,599
things that you will see uh at the

818
00:42:13,599 --> 00:42:16,000
library. We will not actually be uh meet

819
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:17,359
the requirements for state

820
00:42:17,359 --> 00:42:19,920
certification. We will have to file a

821
00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:24,079
waiver. Uh we will uh that affects all

822
00:42:24,079 --> 00:42:26,400
the services the library gets. The CWMR

823
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:28,400
is your interl loan. So hopefully we

824
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:30,960
will get that waiver. Um but that will

825
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:34,000
not be guaranteed. um and will become

826
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,640
harder as the years goes on. Uh we will

827
00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:39,599
be reducing uh materials.

828
00:42:39,599 --> 00:42:47,359
Uh we will have to uh redirect uh privately donations to the materials

829
00:42:47,359 --> 00:42:49,440
line items. So you will see a reduction

830
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:52,880
in programs like the concerts uh

831
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:56,319
lectures, crafts, um some of the many of

832
00:42:56,319 --> 00:42:57,920
the things that you come have come to

833
00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:01,040
appreciate at the library uh technology

834
00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:04,800
etc. So I mean I think that that 476%

835
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:08,079
reduction is the consequence of a failed

836
00:43:08,079 --> 00:43:17,589
override.

837
00:43:17,599 --> 00:43:19,599
» Okay. Is there any else any more

838
00:43:19,599 --> 00:43:25,589
comments?

839
00:43:25,599 --> 00:43:27,599
We had a uh

840
00:43:27,599 --> 00:43:29,040
>> what's that?

841
00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:35,670
>> Peter,

842
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:37,200
» is it all right now to make a comment

843
00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:41,430
about the budget as a whole?

844
00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:42,720
» How about when we get to the final

845
00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:47,589
number?

846
00:43:47,599 --> 00:43:53,190
» Boy, a lot of power up here, huh, David?

847
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:55,520
Elementary. Total Elementary. We had a

848
00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:57,119
card that was held up for Total

849
00:43:57,119 --> 00:44:04,630
Elementary.

850
00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:05,760
» Hi Darius.

851
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:09,280
Um Judy Pierce. Um could you

852
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:11,599
just talk about the level funding versus

853
00:44:11,599 --> 00:44:13,200
the override funding and the differences

854
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:14,800
that will create in the elementary

855
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:16,880
school for us? Uh we've had some pretty

856
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:19,520
consistent years uh at high percentage

857
00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:24,160
increases for the elementary school. um

858
00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:27,440
just a high level of

859
00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:29,440
the potential for I'm guessing a lost

860
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:32,880
art, language, music, uh staff, people,

861
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:34,960
library services.

862
00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:36,960
So, have I pretty much nailed it?

863
00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:39,839
>> Yeah.

864
00:44:39,839 --> 00:44:42,480
Let me give an overview um of

865
00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:45,760
where the elementary budget is. So, we

866
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:49,599
came in at Oh, I appreciate that.

867
00:44:49,599 --> 00:44:50,960
If I did that, it'll take about 10

868
00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,040
minutes. Um,

869
00:44:53,040 --> 00:44:56,560
our needs level came in at 18%. And I

870
00:44:56,560 --> 00:44:57,920
know folks are going to say like, how is

871
00:44:57,920 --> 00:44:59,599
it that high? How is a community this

872
00:44:59,599 --> 00:45:02,720
small have that size or raise? Um, and

873
00:45:02,720 --> 00:45:04,960
generally the needs of the students in

874
00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:08,480
Sunderland Elementary um, basically it

875
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:10,400
comes down to that we have a high need

876
00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:12,400
student population and a high need

877
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:14,240
student population identified by DESIE

878
00:45:14,240 --> 00:45:15,599
by the Department of Education is those

879
00:45:15,599 --> 00:45:17,760
who are dis economically disadvantaged

880
00:45:17,760 --> 00:45:19,760
students with disabilities and English

881
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:21,440
language learners.

882
00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:24,960
your comm our community um has a large

883
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:27,520
number of those and to put those numbers

884
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:30,560
to to so you can understand how it folds

885
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:33,920
out is that Sunderland's 53% high need

886
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:36,720
students compared to 10 years ago you

887
00:45:36,720 --> 00:45:40,079
were 36% high need students as a

888
00:45:40,079 --> 00:45:41,839
comparison to your neighbors across the

889
00:45:41,839 --> 00:45:44,480
river Deerfield's at 38%. So you're

890
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:46,880
around almost 20% higher in high needs.

891
00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:48,640
And because of these high needs, there

892
00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:51,119
are more programming, there's more IEPs

893
00:45:51,119 --> 00:45:53,520
and so forth. Um, and this year we've

894
00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:55,920
had an unprecedented number of newcomers

895
00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:58,720
to our town with high needs that we have

896
00:45:58,720 --> 00:46:01,359
to meet. And so when I talk about we

897
00:46:01,359 --> 00:46:03,760
have to meet by law for those who don't

898
00:46:03,760 --> 00:46:05,280
follow education when you a student has

899
00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:09,359
an IEP or um a 504 plan that we need to

900
00:46:09,359 --> 00:46:14,640
um follow. We have to meet those under the regulations. And if we

901
00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:16,880
have to cut elsewhere to meet those

902
00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:20,079
needs, we have to under the law. And so

903
00:46:20,079 --> 00:46:22,640
we have already reduced our budget to

904
00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:25,040
get to the 10%. And what we did is we

905
00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:26,480
already reduced the budget by three

906
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:28,400
instructional assistants. We currently

907
00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:31,599
froze the budget this year allowing no

908
00:46:31,599 --> 00:46:34,480
um non-needed spending. So extras for

909
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:36,880
classrooms were were put on hold. Um we

910
00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:38,319
used all the rural aid we could get even

911
00:46:38,319 --> 00:46:39,440
though there was a reduction from the

912
00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:41,520
state. So um keep pushing our

913
00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:44,319
legislators to get rural aid for us. Um

914
00:46:44,319 --> 00:46:46,240
we reduced two grade level teacher

915
00:46:46,240 --> 00:46:48,480
positions for next year by combining

916
00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:49,760
classrooms. So we're now we're going to

917
00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:53,359
have a classroom at 25 26. Um and we're

918
00:46:53,359 --> 00:46:54,880
taking we're rolling the dice with our

919
00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:56,400
kindergarten class that's around 20

920
00:46:56,400 --> 00:46:59,359
right now. In years past, we've gotten

921
00:46:59,359 --> 00:47:02,160
more than five students entering um

922
00:47:02,160 --> 00:47:04,000
kindergarten in a single year. And

923
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:05,520
that's significant because the law

924
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:06,960
requires us to have classes of

925
00:47:06,960 --> 00:47:09,119
kindergarten under 25 or else we have to

926
00:47:09,119 --> 00:47:11,040
split. So, we're kind of rolling dice.

927
00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:12,079
We're going to hope that it holds out.

928
00:47:12,079 --> 00:47:13,920
But this community, we have a lot of

929
00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:17,119
people that enroll late. Um we are also

930
00:47:17,119 --> 00:47:18,640
going to reduce physical education by

931
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:21,920
one day. So, that got us down to 10%.

932
00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:27,280
Um, if we have to cut further,

933
00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:30,319
we would have to cut about $360,000,

934
00:47:30,319 --> 00:47:31,920
we would cut the school adjustment

935
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:35,839
counselor, um, a math interventionist,

936
00:47:35,839 --> 00:47:38,160
um, another structuralist assistance,

937
00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:39,359
and then we would have to look at

938
00:47:39,359 --> 00:47:41,119
specials such as art, music in the

939
00:47:41,119 --> 00:47:42,880
librarian.

940
00:47:42,880 --> 00:47:44,640
It's just the reality. There's nowhere

941
00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:47,680
else to cut after that. Do we just get

942
00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:49,040
rid of fourth grade and send them home

943
00:47:49,040 --> 00:47:51,440
for the year? I sorry to bring levity to

944
00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:52,880
that but there really there we've

945
00:47:52,880 --> 00:47:55,200
already reduced things so far that would

946
00:47:55,200 --> 00:47:58,800
be bare bones and I want to talk about a

947
00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:01,280
reality what happens if you don't fund

948
00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:03,839
your school okay is there's something

949
00:48:03,839 --> 00:48:06,000
called school choice

950
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:07,760
we have been beneficiaries of school

951
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:10,079
choice in the four towns that I work

952
00:48:10,079 --> 00:48:12,960
with where we I call winners meaning we

953
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:15,760
take in more money than we send out if

954
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:18,160
we don't provide a quality education in

955
00:48:18,160 --> 00:48:21,359
the eyes of our citizens People

956
00:48:21,359 --> 00:48:22,960
will walk and they will go to other

957
00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:24,960
schools and they will take money with

958
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:27,680
them. So we will write a check for every

959
00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:29,680
student decides that because we can't

960
00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:32,000
provide some of the standard things like

961
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:34,000
art and music which I would call them

962
00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:36,240
standard expectations in an elementary

963
00:48:36,240 --> 00:48:39,359
school. They may go to Ammerst. They

964
00:48:39,359 --> 00:48:41,040
could go to one of the other, you know,

965
00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:43,280
within the union that doesn't help you.

966
00:48:43,280 --> 00:48:44,720
Um but they could, you know, go to

967
00:48:44,720 --> 00:48:46,000
Hatfield. they could go somewhere else

968
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:48,240
that may have this and they we will then

969
00:48:48,240 --> 00:48:50,800
write a check to that school. So next

970
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:52,400
year I'll be here saying well we had to

971
00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:54,720
pay out this many students and this

972
00:48:54,720 --> 00:48:57,200
happened 10 years ago or so when the

973
00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:00,319
override failed uh was it 10 or 11 years

974
00:49:00,319 --> 00:49:02,160
ago. I wasn't in this position at the

975
00:49:02,160 --> 00:49:05,280
time but we lost about a dozen or so

976
00:49:05,280 --> 00:49:07,280
students that went mostly to Amoris and

977
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:09,760
they never came back after we were able

978
00:49:09,760 --> 00:49:11,200
to bring back the budget over the next

979
00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:12,880
couple years. Then they never came back

980
00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:16,160
to Frontier either. And so we paid out

981
00:49:16,160 --> 00:49:17,680
and paid out and many of them went to

982
00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:19,520
charter schools. The charter schools

983
00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:22,000
tuition around $20,000 per student going

984
00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:25,040
out. So we get no savings when those

985
00:49:25,040 --> 00:49:26,880
students leave. You can say, "Oh, well,

986
00:49:26,880 --> 00:49:28,240
if some students leave, wouldn't our

987
00:49:28,240 --> 00:49:30,480
budget go down?" No. Unless I'm going to

988
00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:33,520
not offer fourth grade. Um, and if a

989
00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:35,359
high need student leaves, a high need

990
00:49:35,359 --> 00:49:37,040
someone on an IEP that's receiving extra

991
00:49:37,040 --> 00:49:38,960
services, let's say like like speech or

992
00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:40,880
OT or something like that, they bill us

993
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:43,680
for that as well. So, it gets to this

994
00:49:43,680 --> 00:49:46,800
slippery slope of we really need to and

995
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:48,240
I'm, you know, giving you all this

996
00:49:48,240 --> 00:49:49,359
information so you can be informed

997
00:49:49,359 --> 00:49:50,880
voters and I hope you pass that on to

998
00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:52,960
other people that you really do need to

999
00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:55,760
fund the the base education of where

1000
00:49:55,760 --> 00:49:58,400
we're at in this budget. Um, and and

1001
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,280
unfortunately, we've cut away and and

1002
00:50:01,280 --> 00:50:03,040
combined and done all the things that we

1003
00:50:03,040 --> 00:50:06,160
can um do at this point. So, that's kind

1004
00:50:06,160 --> 00:50:08,160
of an overview of where we're at and I

1005
00:50:08,160 --> 00:50:13,680
can certainly answer any questions in in within this budget or how things

1006
00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:14,880
would move, that kind of thing. But

1007
00:50:14,880 --> 00:50:17,520
hopefully that gives an overview. Um,

1008
00:50:17,520 --> 00:50:18,400
thank you.

1009
00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:26,309
>> Thank you, Superintendent Modesto.

1010
00:50:26,319 --> 00:50:27,760
Are there any other questions on the

1011
00:50:27,760 --> 00:50:36,390
elementary budget?

1012
00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:39,359
I was wondering if you could clarify

1013
00:50:39,359 --> 00:50:42,720
school choice because what it seems to

1014
00:50:42,720 --> 00:50:45,520
be in the press,

1015
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:49,119
we get something in the order of $5,000

1016
00:50:49,119 --> 00:50:52,400
for a student coming in.

1017
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:55,119
And yet it costs us somewhere's in the

1018
00:50:55,119 --> 00:50:58,480
neighborhood of what 20 to $25,000 to

1019
00:50:58,480 --> 00:51:01,200
educate that student. So what's the

1020
00:51:01,200 --> 00:51:04,000
percentage of students that are school

1021
00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:08,240
choice then versus students from the

1022
00:51:08,240 --> 00:51:15,589
community?

1023
00:51:15,599 --> 00:51:17,280
Excellent question.

1024
00:51:17,280 --> 00:51:19,920
So, school choice uh you know started

1025
00:51:19,920 --> 00:51:23,200
like in mid 90s um basically and they

1026
00:51:23,200 --> 00:51:25,200
for any student that chooses to go to

1027
00:51:25,200 --> 00:51:27,040
another community that community gets

1028
00:51:27,040 --> 00:51:30,319
$5,000 per that student and any

1029
00:51:30,319 --> 00:51:33,280
additional IEP or services that student

1030
00:51:33,280 --> 00:51:35,599
receives. So, let me explain that. So if

1031
00:51:35,599 --> 00:51:37,839
I was to come to Sunderland Elementary

1032
00:51:37,839 --> 00:51:40,400
and I had an IEP that required speech

1033
00:51:40,400 --> 00:51:42,960
services, I would then be build you

1034
00:51:42,960 --> 00:51:44,400
would you would build a sending school

1035
00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:46,880
cuz I came to Sunland Elementary $5,000

1036
00:51:46,880 --> 00:51:49,280
plus the sped increment on top of that.

1037
00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:51,680
can get very expensive because sped

1038
00:51:51,680 --> 00:51:53,119
increments could go all the way up to

1039
00:51:53,119 --> 00:51:56,000
having a one um which you know could be

1040
00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:58,640
30 to $40,000. Uh so that kind of thing.

1041
00:51:58,640 --> 00:52:01,920
So it's not just $5,000 but overall it

1042
00:52:01,920 --> 00:52:06,800
is $5,000. Um, so the idea is that let's

1043
00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:09,680
say you have 15 students in your

1044
00:52:09,680 --> 00:52:12,319
classroom. Well, we think in the the

1045
00:52:12,319 --> 00:52:14,079
sweet spot for right now is, you know,

1046
00:52:14,079 --> 00:52:16,400
we'll say fourth grade. 18 to 20 is

1047
00:52:16,400 --> 00:52:17,599
probably the sweet spot for that

1048
00:52:17,599 --> 00:52:19,359
classroom. Well, we could take three

1049
00:52:19,359 --> 00:52:22,880
students of choice, get that $15,000

1050
00:52:22,880 --> 00:52:24,960
plus any spent increments, and then be

1051
00:52:24,960 --> 00:52:28,559
able to reduce the cost to the towns.

1052
00:52:28,559 --> 00:52:31,680
Frontier is an extreme winner in school

1053
00:52:31,680 --> 00:52:34,400
choice. extreme. Okay. Right now,

1054
00:52:34,400 --> 00:52:36,079
Frontier has shut its doors to school

1055
00:52:36,079 --> 00:52:37,599
choice in the in the middle school

1056
00:52:37,599 --> 00:52:38,720
because it's filled. There's the amount

1057
00:52:38,720 --> 00:52:40,640
of people that want to go there to the

1058
00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:42,640
point where it's paying for all its

1059
00:52:42,640 --> 00:52:47,599
capital projects the last few years, the uh the track, the roof, we're going

1060
00:52:47,599 --> 00:52:49,200
to do the parking lot over. All those

1061
00:52:49,200 --> 00:52:50,400
things have been paid for by school

1062
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:52,160
choice. The reason why we're using it to

1063
00:52:52,160 --> 00:52:54,559
take care of capital funds is because

1064
00:52:54,559 --> 00:52:56,480
they're non-reoccurring. So, you're not

1065
00:52:56,480 --> 00:52:57,920
inflating your budget that's going up

1066
00:52:57,920 --> 00:52:59,119
and down with students that are coming

1067
00:52:59,119 --> 00:53:01,520
and going. So

1068
00:53:01,520 --> 00:53:03,599
overall as a district, we've been doing

1069
00:53:03,599 --> 00:53:06,960
very well at school choice. Um but the

1070
00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:09,280
numbers overall have come down the last

1071
00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:11,200
few years as the county is getting

1072
00:53:11,200 --> 00:53:14,000
smaller um and people are are are

1073
00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:17,839
choosing to leave less. The other thing

1074
00:53:17,839 --> 00:53:19,599
on school choice is also charter

1075
00:53:19,599 --> 00:53:22,160
schools. So charter schools, so if a if

1076
00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:24,160
a child from Sunderland said, "Hey, you

1077
00:53:24,160 --> 00:53:25,359
know what? I'd rather go to Chinese

1078
00:53:25,359 --> 00:53:27,680
immersion school in Hadley." that cost

1079
00:53:27,680 --> 00:53:30,960
the town $21,000.

1080
00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:32,720
Okay? So, we have to bring in for every

1081
00:53:32,720 --> 00:53:34,800
child we bring in from another town, we

1082
00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:36,559
get $5 ahead. Charter schools get

1083
00:53:36,559 --> 00:53:38,720
$20,000 ahead. That's just the way they

1084
00:53:38,720 --> 00:53:41,920
do the formula. Um, so you have to

1085
00:53:41,920 --> 00:53:43,520
understand, so if people decide to go

1086
00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:45,359
elsewhere and they choose charter, it's

1087
00:53:45,359 --> 00:53:48,160
four times as much. And you know, there

1088
00:53:48,160 --> 00:53:49,599
is some reimbursement that you get back

1089
00:53:49,599 --> 00:53:51,280
depending on what year they go and that

1090
00:53:51,280 --> 00:53:53,520
kind of thing. But um overall it's an

1091
00:53:53,520 --> 00:54:00,950
expensive u setup in education.

1092
00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:03,760
» Thank you. Thank you.

1093
00:54:03,760 --> 00:54:06,000
Are there any other questions on that

1094
00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:10,160
the elementary school budget?

1095
00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:12,559
Seeing no hands or anybody standing up

1096
00:54:12,559 --> 00:54:14,880
in line,

1097
00:54:14,880 --> 00:54:17,839
we go to the grand total

1098
00:54:17,839 --> 00:54:20,079
>> and there was a reserve total

1099
00:54:20,079 --> 00:54:22,720
miscellaneous and reserve raised hand

1100
00:54:22,720 --> 00:54:23,520
saw that.

1101
00:54:23,520 --> 00:54:25,760
>> Okay. Total miscellaneous and reserve

1102
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:27,440
fund.

1103
00:54:27,440 --> 00:54:32,150
Somebody have a hold on that.

1104
00:54:32,160 --> 00:54:36,480
» Hi. Um just a quick question. I when I

1105
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:38,800
attended one of the select board finance

1106
00:54:38,800 --> 00:54:40,400
committee meetings where they discussed

1107
00:54:40,400 --> 00:54:42,319
the senior center and it sounded like

1108
00:54:42,319 --> 00:54:44,640
the goal was to move to a location in

1109
00:54:44,640 --> 00:54:47,440
Sunderland further down on Amoris Road,

1110
00:54:47,440 --> 00:54:49,680
but I saw a recent news article that

1111
00:54:49,680 --> 00:54:52,079
sounded like Deerfield or some folks in

1112
00:54:52,079 --> 00:54:53,760
Deerfield were still pushing for it to

1113
00:54:53,760 --> 00:54:56,079
be in Deerfield. So, and I had thought

1114
00:54:56,079 --> 00:54:57,680
the matter was settled. So, I just

1115
00:54:57,680 --> 00:54:59,920
wondered if someone could clarify like

1116
00:54:59,920 --> 00:55:01,680
where that's at and what we could expect

1117
00:55:01,680 --> 00:55:03,839
with this if we vote for it. You want to

1118
00:55:03,839 --> 00:55:05,119
talk?

1119
00:55:05,119 --> 00:55:07,119
>> Huh?

1120
00:55:07,119 --> 00:55:11,990
>> Joyce, did you want to talk?

1121
00:55:12,000 --> 00:55:14,319
So, so right now, typically we don't

1122
00:55:14,319 --> 00:55:18,160
allow outsiders to speak at the town

1123
00:55:18,160 --> 00:55:22,720
meeting. In this case, um Joyce Palmer

1124
00:55:22,720 --> 00:55:24,800
Fortune is the chair of the board of

1125
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:27,119
oversight for the senior center, and I

1126
00:55:27,119 --> 00:55:28,880
believe she would be able to answer that

1127
00:55:28,880 --> 00:55:32,240
question the best. Joyce.

1128
00:55:32,240 --> 00:55:34,400
>> Uh, thank you very much for asking the

1129
00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:37,920
question. Um, the board of oversight has

1130
00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:40,160
been looking into new locations for the

1131
00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:43,920
senior center for gez 2 three years now.

1132
00:55:43,920 --> 00:55:45,920
We've been doing studies. We've done a

1133
00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:48,960
lot of work with uh consultants with a

1134
00:55:48,960 --> 00:55:51,760
group called EDM studio and we had them

1135
00:55:51,760 --> 00:55:53,680
look at many many places within the

1136
00:55:53,680 --> 00:55:58,480
towns uh including the place we are

1137
00:55:58,480 --> 00:56:01,520
proposing in our budget which is um 112

1138
00:56:01,520 --> 00:56:05,680
Ammeris Road. Uh and then we also had

1139
00:56:05,680 --> 00:56:08,160
them look at uh 8 Conway Street in

1140
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:11,280
Deerfield which is Gerfield's current

1141
00:56:11,280 --> 00:56:14,960
town hall. Um, when they looked at these

1142
00:56:14,960 --> 00:56:18,400
buildings, they said, "You're going to

1143
00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:21,440
need $8 million

1144
00:56:21,440 --> 00:56:25,280
to renovate 8 Conway Street." We looked

1145
00:56:25,280 --> 00:56:29,440
at it and said, "Five probably. We could

1146
00:56:29,440 --> 00:56:30,799
probably live without some of the

1147
00:56:30,799 --> 00:56:34,880
things." They said 5 million. So that's

1148
00:56:34,880 --> 00:56:38,240
a building with decades of deferred

1149
00:56:38,240 --> 00:56:40,240
maintenance

1150
00:56:40,240 --> 00:56:43,040
that is in really rough shape. There's a

1151
00:56:43,040 --> 00:56:45,920
reason why the Deerfield Town staff are

1152
00:56:45,920 --> 00:56:47,599
leaving the building and going into a

1153
00:56:47,599 --> 00:56:52,000
new renovated facility. So with that

1154
00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:54,720
context, we found the most coste

1155
00:56:54,720 --> 00:56:58,640
effective thing to do was to rent a

1156
00:56:58,640 --> 00:57:01,839
building that is in really good shape.

1157
00:57:01,839 --> 00:57:04,240
No deferred maintenance. whatsoever. A

1158
00:57:04,240 --> 00:57:07,040
place that is I would call it an

1159
00:57:07,040 --> 00:57:08,880
adequate senior center. It's not a

1160
00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:10,799
luxurious senior center. It's an

1161
00:57:10,799 --> 00:57:12,880
adequate senior center. Happens to be

1162
00:57:12,880 --> 00:57:15,599
located in Sunderland. Uh and I think it

1163
00:57:15,599 --> 00:57:18,400
would uh help us with our growth. We are

1164
00:57:18,400 --> 00:57:20,880
growing and growing and growing and we

1165
00:57:20,880 --> 00:57:22,880
can expand our services without

1166
00:57:22,880 --> 00:57:24,960
expanding our staff because we could use

1167
00:57:24,960 --> 00:57:27,280
our staff more efficiently if we're all

1168
00:57:27,280 --> 00:57:31,359
at one location. Um, I think uh some

1169
00:57:31,359 --> 00:57:32,880
people in Deerfield might have been

1170
00:57:32,880 --> 00:57:34,480
disappointed. I guess that might come

1171
00:57:34,480 --> 00:57:37,440
under the category of saying trying to

1172
00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:38,720
me telling you what somebody else

1173
00:57:38,720 --> 00:57:40,240
thinks. So maybe I I'll stay away from

1174
00:57:40,240 --> 00:57:42,000
that. But there are people who are

1175
00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:44,160
disappointed that the Sun the senior

1176
00:57:44,160 --> 00:57:47,280
center might be in Sunderland and uh

1177
00:57:47,280 --> 00:57:50,720
they want to offer the building kind of

1178
00:57:50,720 --> 00:57:55,839
asis basically with minimal maintenance,

1179
00:57:55,839 --> 00:57:57,839
minimal renovations

1180
00:57:57,839 --> 00:58:00,559
and the board of oversight just thinks

1181
00:58:00,559 --> 00:58:03,839
that's not a good idea for our seniors.

1182
00:58:03,839 --> 00:58:07,920
Uh ultimately that location will be more

1183
00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:09,440
expensive

1184
00:58:09,440 --> 00:58:11,839
because of all the repairs that are

1185
00:58:11,839 --> 00:58:14,640
needed on the building and those repairs

1186
00:58:14,640 --> 00:58:16,799
are going to come from money from the

1187
00:58:16,799 --> 00:58:19,119
three towns and that is not by any means

1188
00:58:19,119 --> 00:58:22,319
a done deal. Okay, that is not it has

1189
00:58:22,319 --> 00:58:24,240
not been discussed in Sunderland. It's

1190
00:58:24,240 --> 00:58:26,559
not been discussed in Wheatley. Do we

1191
00:58:26,559 --> 00:58:30,319
want to ask our taxpayers to spend the

1192
00:58:30,319 --> 00:58:32,400
money for the deferred maintenance on a

1193
00:58:32,400 --> 00:58:34,400
building that Deerfield will own in the

1194
00:58:34,400 --> 00:58:37,119
end of the day? I don't know. That has

1195
00:58:37,119 --> 00:58:39,520
just not been discussed. It was never on

1196
00:58:39,520 --> 00:58:42,720
the board of oversight's plate to make

1197
00:58:42,720 --> 00:58:45,200
that decision. But some folks in

1198
00:58:45,200 --> 00:58:47,280
Deerfield want us to consider that. And

1199
00:58:47,280 --> 00:58:49,200
it's kind of too late in the budget

1200
00:58:49,200 --> 00:58:51,920
cycle for us to really consider that.

1201
00:58:51,920 --> 00:58:54,640
What I would like you to consider

1202
00:58:54,640 --> 00:58:56,720
is

1203
00:58:56,720 --> 00:58:59,839
putting this voting for this override at

1204
00:58:59,839 --> 00:59:01,599
town meeting and then of course it goes

1205
00:59:01,599 --> 00:59:04,160
to your ballot box and put it to the

1206
00:59:04,160 --> 00:59:06,160
voters. The voters get to decide on

1207
00:59:06,160 --> 00:59:09,200
this. Okay. I don't know that there is a

1208
00:59:09,200 --> 00:59:10,720
cheaper option out there than the one

1209
00:59:10,720 --> 00:59:13,680
we've put forward. Our senior center is

1210
00:59:13,680 --> 00:59:17,200
about right now 0.5%

1211
00:59:17,200 --> 00:59:20,240
of your budget and we are asking you to

1212
00:59:20,240 --> 00:59:22,480
roughly double that.

1213
00:59:22,480 --> 00:59:25,680
But seniors,

1214
00:59:25,680 --> 00:59:28,960
you show up. You show up when the

1215
00:59:28,960 --> 00:59:31,200
schools need you. You show up when the

1216
00:59:31,200 --> 00:59:32,640
highway department needs you. You show

1217
00:59:32,640 --> 00:59:35,920
up when everyone needs you. And here's

1218
00:59:35,920 --> 00:59:38,880
one time when I'm asking everybody to

1219
00:59:38,880 --> 00:59:42,400
show up for the seniors and for all the

1220
00:59:42,400 --> 00:59:45,599
things the senior center does that helps

1221
00:59:45,599 --> 00:59:47,520
every single senior. We are growing. We

1222
00:59:47,520 --> 00:59:49,520
have an exponential growth rate and we

1223
00:59:49,520 --> 00:59:52,079
are like way past

1224
00:59:52,079 --> 00:59:53,839
the limitations of the space we have

1225
00:59:53,839 --> 00:59:58,319
right now. Uh so my choice my argument

1226
00:59:58,319 --> 01:00:00,880
to you is let's vote on what the board

1227
01:00:00,880 --> 01:00:04,960
of oversight has put before you. We're

1228
01:00:04,960 --> 01:00:07,040
looking at the interest of all three

1229
01:00:07,040 --> 01:00:10,240
towns and the seniors of all three towns

1230
01:00:10,240 --> 01:00:12,640
when we made our recommendation

1231
01:00:12,640 --> 01:00:16,079
to rent at 112 Ammeris Road with the

1232
01:00:16,079 --> 01:00:19,760
option to buy in the future. Okay. And

1233
01:00:19,760 --> 01:00:21,920
we were looking at really what is best

1234
01:00:21,920 --> 01:00:25,920
for all three towns. Okay. If that fails

1235
01:00:25,920 --> 01:00:27,680
in one of the towns, then we're back to

1236
01:00:27,680 --> 01:00:29,920
square one and we have to consider

1237
01:00:29,920 --> 01:00:32,079
everything. But I can tell you, we're

1238
01:00:32,079 --> 01:00:34,559
not going to get something cheaper.

1239
01:00:34,559 --> 01:00:35,760
We're not going to be able to get

1240
01:00:35,760 --> 01:00:39,119
anything cheaper. Our estimates for what

1241
01:00:39,119 --> 01:00:41,599
we would need to do at 8 Conway Street

1242
01:00:41,599 --> 01:00:45,359
are very different from what some folks

1243
01:00:45,359 --> 01:00:50,559
in Deerfield are are uh proposing. So,

1244
01:00:50,559 --> 01:00:52,640
reasonable people of Sunderland, I hope

1245
01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:55,839
you hear me. And um thank you, Tom, for

1246
01:00:55,839 --> 01:01:06,630
letting me have a few minutes to speak.

1247
01:01:06,640 --> 01:01:07,920
If I could just add a couple quick

1248
01:01:07,920 --> 01:01:09,359
things before we get to our next

1249
01:01:09,359 --> 01:01:11,520
speaker. Um, just want to clarify that

1250
01:01:11,520 --> 01:01:13,520
uh this has to pass tonight and then it

1251
01:01:13,520 --> 01:01:16,000
goes to the election and it has to pass

1252
01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:18,079
not only in Sunderland but in Deerfield

1253
01:01:18,079 --> 01:01:20,000
and Weightley. Also, if any of those

1254
01:01:20,000 --> 01:01:22,000
three towns voted down, it does not

1255
01:01:22,000 --> 01:01:23,839
happen. Just so everyone's aware of how

1256
01:01:23,839 --> 01:01:25,520
that works. Um, I also would want to

1257
01:01:25,520 --> 01:01:26,480
there's one quick little thing and

1258
01:01:26,480 --> 01:01:27,920
that's that, um, I was actually very

1259
01:01:27,920 --> 01:01:29,359
surprised when we had our presentation

1260
01:01:29,359 --> 01:01:31,839
from the senior center recently about

1261
01:01:31,839 --> 01:01:33,440
how much the numbers of seniors have

1262
01:01:33,440 --> 01:01:36,720
grown in town. And if we had the same

1263
01:01:36,720 --> 01:01:39,520
growth in our students in town, we'd be

1264
01:01:39,520 --> 01:01:41,599
talking about millions of more dollars

1265
01:01:41,599 --> 01:01:44,319
for the schools in order to to to meet

1266
01:01:44,319 --> 01:01:47,520
their needs. And so having a modest

1267
01:01:47,520 --> 01:01:50,160
increase in in funds for the senior

1268
01:01:50,160 --> 01:01:52,880
center for this much larger population

1269
01:01:52,880 --> 01:01:55,359
than we had even 10 years ago um is a

1270
01:01:55,359 --> 01:01:59,040
rec is a reflection of that growth not

1271
01:01:59,040 --> 01:02:00,880
just of the of the increased needs of

1272
01:02:00,880 --> 01:02:02,400
the senior center itself. Thank you.

1273
01:02:02,400 --> 01:02:03,920
Please go ahead.

1274
01:02:03,920 --> 01:02:05,119
>> Actually Nathaniel, I'm just going to

1275
01:02:05,119 --> 01:02:07,680
build on your comment. Uh if you I

1276
01:02:07,680 --> 01:02:09,280
didn't see the presentation. I apologize

1277
01:02:09,280 --> 01:02:10,559
for that. if we could get some

1278
01:02:10,559 --> 01:02:12,720
information on the total participation

1279
01:02:12,720 --> 01:02:14,000
in the senior center and then the

1280
01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:17,200
Sunderland portion of that and then also

1281
01:02:17,200 --> 01:02:18,880
if I'm understanding correctly the

1282
01:02:18,880 --> 01:02:20,799
expenses listed in the override portion

1283
01:02:20,799 --> 01:02:23,599
the 175,000 I think it is is that just

1284
01:02:23,599 --> 01:02:24,799
for the rent of the building or are

1285
01:02:24,799 --> 01:02:26,880
there other costs baked into that number

1286
01:02:26,880 --> 01:02:28,160
please

1287
01:02:28,160 --> 01:02:29,599
>> I'm going to answer that last part first

1288
01:02:29,599 --> 01:02:31,680
and then go backwards from there um so

1289
01:02:31,680 --> 01:02:33,760
the override amount the difference

1290
01:02:33,760 --> 01:02:35,599
between the override amount and the base

1291
01:02:35,599 --> 01:02:38,480
budget amount is the cost of the senior

1292
01:02:38,480 --> 01:02:40,240
center that's the increase cost to be

1293
01:02:40,240 --> 01:02:42,480
able to rent the building and do all the

1294
01:02:42,480 --> 01:02:44,079
things we need to do. Um, so if it

1295
01:02:44,079 --> 01:02:46,319
doesn't pass, the lower budget amount is

1296
01:02:46,319 --> 01:02:48,160
the amount that the senior center would

1297
01:02:48,160 --> 01:02:50,079
get um in their current location and

1298
01:02:50,079 --> 01:02:51,920
current setup.

1299
01:02:51,920 --> 01:02:54,000
Um, and then you were asking about the

1300
01:02:54,000 --> 01:02:56,960
breakup the breakdown of uh the people

1301
01:02:56,960 --> 01:02:59,280
in town. Do you have those information?

1302
01:02:59,280 --> 01:03:04,950
I don't have them.

1303
01:03:04,960 --> 01:03:06,559
Yeah, it might take me more than a

1304
01:03:06,559 --> 01:03:08,160
minute to find it, but when we went

1305
01:03:08,160 --> 01:03:10,720
through the numbers, basically the uh

1306
01:03:10,720 --> 01:03:13,760
number of people uh using the senior

1307
01:03:13,760 --> 01:03:16,400
center, uh it was getting close to like

1308
01:03:16,400 --> 01:03:18,480
a thousand between the three towns. And

1309
01:03:18,480 --> 01:03:21,599
when you uh broke it down by town, it

1310
01:03:21,599 --> 01:03:24,079
was exactly in proportion to the number

1311
01:03:24,079 --> 01:03:27,039
of seniors in the towns. So if you took

1312
01:03:27,039 --> 01:03:28,720
the number of all the seniors in all the

1313
01:03:28,720 --> 01:03:31,440
towns and then you took the number of

1314
01:03:31,440 --> 01:03:34,160
seniors that live in Sunderland and you

1315
01:03:34,160 --> 01:03:36,880
get a fraction, it's about 28%. If you

1316
01:03:36,880 --> 01:03:38,319
look at the participation in senior

1317
01:03:38,319 --> 01:03:40,640
center, 28% of the people are from

1318
01:03:40,640 --> 01:03:43,520
Sunderland. It's it's really eerily

1319
01:03:43,520 --> 01:03:46,799
close to just the fraction of people

1320
01:03:46,799 --> 01:03:50,480
from uh of uh age 60 and above from the

1321
01:03:50,480 --> 01:03:52,559
towns.

1322
01:03:52,559 --> 01:03:55,200
I've got more detailed numbers somewhere

1323
01:03:55,200 --> 01:03:57,200
in here, but I didn't have the screen

1324
01:03:57,200 --> 01:03:59,440
up. So, but I'm happy to chat with

1325
01:03:59,440 --> 01:04:09,349
anybody um another time.

1326
01:04:09,359 --> 01:04:10,559
» Yes, sir.

1327
01:04:10,559 --> 01:04:11,920
>> Thank you for Thank you for coming up to

1328
01:04:11,920 --> 01:04:12,559
the microphone.

1329
01:04:12,559 --> 01:04:15,119
>> Yeah, thank you for uh taking me out of

1330
01:04:15,119 --> 01:04:19,119
order here. I just want to uh request

1331
01:04:19,119 --> 01:04:24,480
that the the moderator ask people to

1332
01:04:24,480 --> 01:04:27,520
identify who they are and where they

1333
01:04:27,520 --> 01:04:30,640
live. So I am Jay Bowerman and I live at

1334
01:04:30,640 --> 01:04:34,000
5 South Silver Lane in Sunderland.

1335
01:04:34,000 --> 01:04:42,230
>> Thank you Jay.

1336
01:04:42,240 --> 01:04:47,750
» Are there any other questions? Yes, sir.

1337
01:04:47,760 --> 01:04:50,000
My name is Andy Mars. I live at 62

1338
01:04:50,000 --> 01:04:52,319
Howard Hepern Road. Just a technical

1339
01:04:52,319 --> 01:04:54,559
question. Assuming we vote for the

1340
01:04:54,559 --> 01:04:57,200
override and pass the override, but

1341
01:04:57,200 --> 01:05:00,079
Deerfield doesn't agree to the senior

1342
01:05:00,079 --> 01:05:03,599
center, what happens to the $53,000 and

1343
01:05:03,599 --> 01:05:05,039
in terms of uh

1344
01:05:05,039 --> 01:05:06,480
>> Good question.

1345
01:05:06,480 --> 01:05:08,240
>> If we vote for the override and

1346
01:05:08,240 --> 01:05:10,079
Deerfield doesn't vote for the senior

1347
01:05:10,079 --> 01:05:12,960
center, what happens to the $53,000 that

1348
01:05:12,960 --> 01:05:15,680
would be in our budget?

1349
01:05:15,680 --> 01:05:18,559
Yeah. So the the short answer the short

1350
01:05:18,559 --> 01:05:20,720
answer is is that the the money is

1351
01:05:20,720 --> 01:05:22,720
contingent on the project going forward.

1352
01:05:22,720 --> 01:05:25,520
Um and so the BU would um default for

1353
01:05:25,520 --> 01:05:28,000
the lower budget if the three towns

1354
01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:29,599
don't pass the money. Um and that money

1355
01:05:29,599 --> 01:05:31,680
would get returned to the town in the

1356
01:05:31,680 --> 01:05:50,390
form of free cash in the following year.

1357
01:05:50,400 --> 01:05:52,000
At this point, I'd like town council

1358
01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:54,319
just to clarify that and and and he'll

1359
01:05:54,319 --> 01:05:56,720
just talk in legal terms so you'll be

1360
01:05:56,720 --> 01:06:02,630
able to follow easily.

1361
01:06:02,640 --> 01:06:04,000
» Good evening everyone. Michael

1362
01:06:04,000 --> 01:06:06,480
Dortenzio, town council from KP Law.

1363
01:06:06,480 --> 01:06:08,960
Thank you for having us here. Uh what

1364
01:06:08,960 --> 01:06:12,319
Nathaniel said was correct. The money

1365
01:06:12,319 --> 01:06:14,559
would be raised and appropriated because

1366
01:06:14,559 --> 01:06:16,640
it is within the amount in article 3

1367
01:06:16,640 --> 01:06:18,400
that you are raising and appropriating.

1368
01:06:18,400 --> 01:06:22,640
So even if the uh senior center does not

1369
01:06:22,640 --> 01:06:25,520
go forward in its current form, that

1370
01:06:25,520 --> 01:06:28,400
money will be collected from taxes. If

1371
01:06:28,400 --> 01:06:30,960
it is not spent as Nathan as Nathaniel

1372
01:06:30,960 --> 01:06:32,640
said because it doesn't go forward in

1373
01:06:32,640 --> 01:06:35,280
its current form, it will either close

1374
01:06:35,280 --> 01:06:37,039
to free cash at the end of the year as

1375
01:06:37,039 --> 01:06:39,839
Nathaniel said or it can be used by town

1376
01:06:39,839 --> 01:06:42,319
officials within uh a certain number of

1377
01:06:42,319 --> 01:06:44,480
days at the end of the fiscal year to

1378
01:06:44,480 --> 01:06:47,440
close any overages and other line items.

1379
01:06:47,440 --> 01:06:49,280
Those are the two items uh that could

1380
01:06:49,280 --> 01:06:51,680
occur. Uh, of course you can also have a

1381
01:06:51,680 --> 01:06:53,520
special town meeting in the fall once

1382
01:06:53,520 --> 01:06:55,359
you determine what'll happen and you

1383
01:06:55,359 --> 01:06:57,119
could move that money to some other

1384
01:06:57,119 --> 01:06:59,680
purpose that the town wants to do. Thank

1385
01:06:59,680 --> 01:07:00,720
you.

1386
01:07:00,720 --> 01:07:05,029
>> Thank you.

1387
01:07:05,039 --> 01:07:09,270
Okay. Any other questions?

1388
01:07:09,280 --> 01:07:11,119
Peter.

1389
01:07:11,119 --> 01:07:13,839
Hi. I'm My name is Peter Gagarin, 300

1390
01:07:13,839 --> 01:07:17,200
North Main Street. Uh many years ago, I

1391
01:07:17,200 --> 01:07:18,640
was head of the finance committee for a

1392
01:07:18,640 --> 01:07:21,280
number of years. Uh I've been through

1393
01:07:21,280 --> 01:07:26,079
many budgets. I always believed in

1394
01:07:26,079 --> 01:07:28,640
having a relatively tight budget. Uh I

1395
01:07:28,640 --> 01:07:31,280
know people have to pay taxes and and

1396
01:07:31,280 --> 01:07:34,240
keeping our spending uh reasonably

1397
01:07:34,240 --> 01:07:37,440
limited was always a a goal. Uh this

1398
01:07:37,440 --> 01:07:39,599
town has

1399
01:07:39,599 --> 01:07:42,000
wonderful town government. uh we don't

1400
01:07:42,000 --> 01:07:44,480
do it by having a huge amount of money

1401
01:07:44,480 --> 01:07:46,720
but every part of the government works

1402
01:07:46,720 --> 01:07:50,240
incredibly well and efficiently uh to to

1403
01:07:50,240 --> 01:07:54,480
provide us the services that they do. Um

1404
01:07:54,480 --> 01:07:56,160
I had a couple people when I came into

1405
01:07:56,160 --> 01:07:57,599
this meeting this evening that came up

1406
01:07:57,599 --> 01:08:00,160
to me and said uh Peter can you tell us

1407
01:08:00,160 --> 01:08:01,680
what's going on with this budget? How

1408
01:08:01,680 --> 01:08:03,839
come it's up so much? How come the

1409
01:08:03,839 --> 01:08:06,559
override is so much?

1410
01:08:06,559 --> 01:08:09,920
And I pointed out oh maybe four things

1411
01:08:09,920 --> 01:08:13,520
that were going on this year that are

1412
01:08:13,520 --> 01:08:17,600
uh both unusual and very expensive. Uh

1413
01:08:17,600 --> 01:08:20,159
one is the increase that all towns are

1414
01:08:20,159 --> 01:08:22,960
feeling in health insurance costs.

1415
01:08:22,960 --> 01:08:25,359
Okay. And obviously a lot of individuals

1416
01:08:25,359 --> 01:08:28,480
feeling that too. And we can say all we

1417
01:08:28,480 --> 01:08:30,560
want about why it's happened or whose

1418
01:08:30,560 --> 01:08:33,359
fault it is or whatever. That doesn't

1419
01:08:33,359 --> 01:08:35,359
make any difference. We have to provide

1420
01:08:35,359 --> 01:08:37,759
health insurance for our employees and

1421
01:08:37,759 --> 01:08:40,880
we have to pay what the going rate is.

1422
01:08:40,880 --> 01:08:43,359
Second is

1423
01:08:43,359 --> 01:08:45,759
at the elementary school

1424
01:08:45,759 --> 01:08:48,480
a massive increase in the cost of spe

1425
01:08:48,480 --> 01:08:51,199
special education.

1426
01:08:51,199 --> 01:08:54,400
is one of those things

1427
01:08:54,400 --> 01:08:57,120
that the law says you have to do it. And

1428
01:08:57,120 --> 01:08:58,480
if you've got your head on the right

1429
01:08:58,480 --> 01:09:01,920
way, you know you have to do it. Okay?

1430
01:09:01,920 --> 01:09:03,279
We take care of every kid that walks

1431
01:09:03,279 --> 01:09:05,120
through that door of the elementary

1432
01:09:05,120 --> 01:09:09,120
school. And the cost of when their

1433
01:09:09,120 --> 01:09:13,759
special needs are so severe that we have

1434
01:09:13,759 --> 01:09:15,839
to send them to special schools, out of

1435
01:09:15,839 --> 01:09:18,239
district placement we call them, and the

1436
01:09:18,239 --> 01:09:21,040
transportation for that. uh those have

1437
01:09:21,040 --> 01:09:23,040
just skyrocketed in the last year with

1438
01:09:23,040 --> 01:09:25,679
additional students coming on board that

1439
01:09:25,679 --> 01:09:29,920
we have you know spending over 150,000

1440
01:09:29,920 --> 01:09:33,920
for a single student. Okay. And again

1441
01:09:33,920 --> 01:09:36,239
it's the legal thing we have to do it

1442
01:09:36,239 --> 01:09:38,880
and it's also it's the right thing. It

1443
01:09:38,880 --> 01:09:41,359
just costs a huge amount of money. Third

1444
01:09:41,359 --> 01:09:43,520
major increase is that we have more kids

1445
01:09:43,520 --> 01:09:46,239
going to Frontier

1446
01:09:46,239 --> 01:09:49,440
this year, which is next year's budget

1447
01:09:49,440 --> 01:09:51,359
allocation between the four towns is

1448
01:09:51,359 --> 01:09:55,040
based on in part how many kids you have

1449
01:09:55,040 --> 01:09:58,080
there. And so

1450
01:09:58,080 --> 01:10:00,320
Frontier's budget overall increase has

1451
01:10:00,320 --> 01:10:02,719
not been that large, but Sunderland is

1452
01:10:02,719 --> 01:10:05,600
bearing the lion share of it.

1453
01:10:05,600 --> 01:10:07,920
And the fourth thing that I would pick

1454
01:10:07,920 --> 01:10:10,960
out is our plans for a new senior

1455
01:10:10,960 --> 01:10:15,120
center. Uh we have very late to the game

1456
01:10:15,120 --> 01:10:18,159
in terms of providing adequate space for

1457
01:10:18,159 --> 01:10:21,440
a senior center. Uh I think that

1458
01:10:21,440 --> 01:10:25,679
everybody realizes that um but that also

1459
01:10:25,679 --> 01:10:28,080
is a new expense.

1460
01:10:28,080 --> 01:10:29,920
And so with each of these folks I talked

1461
01:10:29,920 --> 01:10:32,560
to before the meeting, they walked away

1462
01:10:32,560 --> 01:10:34,880
saying, "Ah, okay, it makes sense." And

1463
01:10:34,880 --> 01:10:38,239
then I said, "Can you support this in

1464
01:10:38,239 --> 01:10:40,640
the vote?" And the answer was clearly

1465
01:10:40,640 --> 01:10:43,040
yes, because it's something we need to

1466
01:10:43,040 --> 01:10:48,550
do. Um,

1467
01:10:48,560 --> 01:10:50,320
we have to vote tonight on this this

1468
01:10:50,320 --> 01:10:52,239
article here to pass that. And and the

1469
01:10:52,239 --> 01:10:53,760
sense I get from this room is that

1470
01:10:53,760 --> 01:10:55,679
that's not going to be a problem. the

1471
01:10:55,679 --> 01:10:59,360
vote that really is uh is the deciding

1472
01:10:59,360 --> 01:11:00,960
thing will be next Saturday at the

1473
01:11:00,960 --> 01:11:04,239
ballot box. Okay? And and overrides

1474
01:11:04,239 --> 01:11:06,560
generally will pass a town meeting

1475
01:11:06,560 --> 01:11:08,640
without too much difficulty and it's a

1476
01:11:08,640 --> 01:11:10,400
real challenge to get them passed at the

1477
01:11:10,400 --> 01:11:13,840
ballot box. So I would just say that

1478
01:11:13,840 --> 01:11:15,760
again going back all my years involved

1479
01:11:15,760 --> 01:11:18,320
with town finances, it's like how do we

1480
01:11:18,320 --> 01:11:20,880
both offer good services but also keep

1481
01:11:20,880 --> 01:11:23,679
budgets pretty tight. Believe it or not,

1482
01:11:23,679 --> 01:11:25,840
the budget that's been proposed here

1483
01:11:25,840 --> 01:11:30,480
this evening with the override amount is

1484
01:11:30,480 --> 01:11:33,360
a tight budget. You heard Darius talk

1485
01:11:33,360 --> 01:11:36,320
about what they've already

1486
01:11:36,320 --> 01:11:38,239
at the elementary school in order to get

1487
01:11:38,239 --> 01:11:43,360
to this level. So, I hope that you and

1488
01:11:43,360 --> 01:11:46,560
your friends will join me and many

1489
01:11:46,560 --> 01:11:49,040
others here in voting next Saturday to

1490
01:11:49,040 --> 01:11:53,199
pass this. Otherwise, it's not going to be pretty.

1491
01:11:53,199 --> 01:12:04,070
Thank you.

1492
01:12:04,080 --> 01:12:05,840
Okay, I don't see anybody else lined up

1493
01:12:05,840 --> 01:12:08,239
at the microphones.

1494
01:12:08,239 --> 01:12:11,360
Are we ready to vote?

1495
01:12:11,360 --> 01:12:15,199
So, red and green cards,

1496
01:12:15,199 --> 01:12:19,750
put the yellow ones away.

1497
01:12:19,760 --> 01:12:22,960
All those in favor

1498
01:12:22,960 --> 01:12:25,280
of article three,

1499
01:12:25,280 --> 01:12:31,110
hold up your green cards.

1500
01:12:31,120 --> 01:12:33,280
Those opposed

1501
01:12:33,280 --> 01:12:38,550
red cards.

1502
01:12:38,560 --> 01:12:42,719
Moderator declares 2/3 majority. Article

1503
01:12:42,719 --> 01:12:55,110
passes.

1504
01:12:55,120 --> 01:12:59,669
Article four.

1505
01:12:59,679 --> 01:13:02,159
All right. Article four. Move the town

1506
01:13:02,159 --> 01:13:03,840
vote to transfer from capital

1507
01:13:03,840 --> 01:13:06,080
stabilization fund

1508
01:13:06,080 --> 01:13:08,560
uh

1509
01:13:08,560 --> 01:13:12,149
$357,878.22

1510
01:13:12,159 --> 01:13:15,120
22 for the fiscal year 2027 capital

1511
01:13:15,120 --> 01:13:16,800
budget specifically for the capital

1512
01:13:16,800 --> 01:13:18,800
equipment, buildings, facilities, and

1513
01:13:18,800 --> 01:13:21,040
other capital projects as shown on a

1514
01:13:21,040 --> 01:13:23,679
document entitled FY27 capital budget by

1515
01:13:23,679 --> 01:13:25,760
funding source as on file with the town

1516
01:13:25,760 --> 01:13:27,760
clerk and as may be necessary in

1517
01:13:27,760 --> 01:13:30,239
connection there within. uh and to

1518
01:13:30,239 --> 01:13:32,320
authorize one or more taxexempt lease

1519
01:13:32,320 --> 01:13:34,320
purchase finance agreements pursuant to

1520
01:13:34,320 --> 01:13:37,840
general law chapter 44 section 21C for

1521
01:13:37,840 --> 01:13:39,600
capital equipment identified in said

1522
01:13:39,600 --> 01:13:42,320
document for terms not exceeding not to

1523
01:13:42,320 --> 01:13:43,920
exceed the useful life of the equipment

1524
01:13:43,920 --> 01:13:47,120
as determined by the select board.

1525
01:13:47,120 --> 01:13:49,360
>> Second.

1526
01:13:49,360 --> 01:13:51,520
>> So we have a motion made and seconded

1527
01:13:51,520 --> 01:13:54,000
because everyone doesn't have the

1528
01:13:54,000 --> 01:13:56,800
information packets. Nathaniel, could

1529
01:13:56,800 --> 01:13:58,960
you just read quickly the uh the items

1530
01:13:58,960 --> 01:14:01,040
that are on the capital budget plan?

1531
01:14:01,040 --> 01:14:03,520
>> Absolutely. Our first item is for the

1532
01:14:03,520 --> 01:14:05,199
police department and that is public

1533
01:14:05,199 --> 01:14:07,440
safety complex and booking room video

1534
01:14:07,440 --> 01:14:10,719
and that is $10,000500.

1535
01:14:10,719 --> 01:14:12,960
Uh a new cruiser for the night shift and

1536
01:14:12,960 --> 01:14:16,640
that is $80,000 for a total of $90,500

1537
01:14:16,640 --> 01:14:18,560
for the police department. Uh for the

1538
01:14:18,560 --> 01:14:20,400
library, there's a remodel of the door

1539
01:14:20,400 --> 01:14:23,520
to the reading room for $15,000.

1540
01:14:23,520 --> 01:14:25,280
For the highway, there's a Ventrek

1541
01:14:25,280 --> 01:14:28,880
sideway plow mower with cab for $70,000

1542
01:14:28,880 --> 01:14:31,199
and an asphalt roller with small tractor

1543
01:14:31,199 --> 01:14:35,600
for $39,000 for a total of $109,000.

1544
01:14:35,600 --> 01:14:37,199
For the South County Senior Center,

1545
01:14:37,199 --> 01:14:39,520
there's new building furniture. Um, a

1546
01:14:39,520 --> 01:14:44,070
total of $18,762.92,

1547
01:14:44,080 --> 01:14:46,640
which is our share of the total for the

1548
01:14:46,640 --> 01:14:49,840
three towns. um highway department. A we

1549
01:14:49,840 --> 01:14:53,440
have uh a backhoe year six lease, truck

1550
01:14:53,440 --> 01:14:55,520
year four lease and loader year five

1551
01:14:55,520 --> 01:14:59,750
lease uh for $34,22063,

1552
01:14:59,760 --> 01:15:02,640
$40,39467

1553
01:15:02,640 --> 01:15:05,920
and $50,000 even for a total of leases

1554
01:15:05,920 --> 01:15:10,630
of $124,615.30.

1555
01:15:10,640 --> 01:15:12,560
The total capital stabilization projects

1556
01:15:12,560 --> 01:15:18,709
all around are $357,87822.

1557
01:15:18,719 --> 01:15:20,880
» Okay. Are there any questions on this

1558
01:15:20,880 --> 01:15:24,480
article and motion?

1559
01:15:24,480 --> 01:15:36,470
>> Not seeing any. Yes.

1560
01:15:36,480 --> 01:15:42,149
» You can try.

1561
01:15:42,159 --> 01:15:45,520
Um I'm Ann Nelbam on South Main Street

1562
01:15:45,520 --> 01:15:49,600
and I had left a message for George um

1563
01:15:49,600 --> 01:15:51,440
during one of the snowstorms. I was

1564
01:15:51,440 --> 01:15:54,880
coming back from work from Westfield and

1565
01:15:54,880 --> 01:15:58,719
some reason ways took me off of 91 and

1566
01:15:58,719 --> 01:16:02,239
sent me down Route 9 and up 47.

1567
01:16:02,239 --> 01:16:04,719
And I don't know if people realize how

1568
01:16:04,719 --> 01:16:08,320
great our highway department is, but as

1569
01:16:08,320 --> 01:16:12,880
soon as I got through Hadley on Route 47

1570
01:16:12,880 --> 01:16:15,040
and got to Sunderland, it was a

1571
01:16:15,040 --> 01:16:17,679
completely different road. It was

1572
01:16:17,679 --> 01:16:21,679
plowed. Well, it took me 45 minutes just

1573
01:16:21,679 --> 01:16:24,880
to get off 91 and go on Route 9 and come

1574
01:16:24,880 --> 01:16:27,199
home. And then I had to go to Deerfield,

1575
01:16:27,199 --> 01:16:29,520
South Deerfield. The roads weren't that

1576
01:16:29,520 --> 01:16:31,120
good in South Deerfield, which really

1577
01:16:31,120 --> 01:16:33,760
shocked me. And Sunderland was just by

1578
01:16:33,760 --> 01:16:38,080
far plowed so well. And I don't think

1579
01:16:38,080 --> 01:16:41,440
our highway crew gets enough uh credit

1580
01:16:41,440 --> 01:16:44,480
for all that hard work and extra time

1581
01:16:44,480 --> 01:16:58,470
they put in. So, thank you, GEORGE.

1582
01:16:58,480 --> 01:16:59,600
All right. Are there any other

1583
01:16:59,600 --> 01:17:04,470
questions?

1584
01:17:04,480 --> 01:17:07,679
» Yes, sir.

1585
01:17:07,679 --> 01:17:16,070
Thank you for your comments.

1586
01:17:16,080 --> 01:17:16,560
» Want me

1587
01:17:16,560 --> 01:17:17,760
>> talk?

1588
01:17:17,760 --> 01:17:21,760
>> Uh Will Sillin, uh 34 South Main Street.

1589
01:17:21,760 --> 01:17:23,440
Um,

1590
01:17:23,440 --> 01:17:25,679
I'm looking at looks like we're we're

1591
01:17:25,679 --> 01:17:28,080
spending $357,000

1592
01:17:28,080 --> 01:17:30,960
out of the stabilization fund, right? Is

1593
01:17:30,960 --> 01:17:31,679
that what I'm seeing?

1594
01:17:31,679 --> 01:17:32,640
>> That is correct. Yes.

1595
01:17:32,640 --> 01:17:34,159
>> Okay. And then underneath it, the

1596
01:17:34,159 --> 01:17:38,480
balance as of last month was $141,000.

1597
01:17:38,480 --> 01:17:40,880
So, that's pretty cool.

1598
01:17:40,880 --> 01:17:44,239
>> Yeah. So, so great question. Um, we have

1599
01:17:44,239 --> 01:17:46,800
a couple years ago we passed a a bunch

1600
01:17:46,800 --> 01:17:49,360
of years ago we passed $125,000

1601
01:17:49,360 --> 01:17:51,520
stabilization override. That meant that

1602
01:17:51,520 --> 01:17:53,600
every year we were collecting that much

1603
01:17:53,600 --> 01:17:55,440
money for capital projects already. And

1604
01:17:55,440 --> 01:17:56,880
then two or three years ago, I don't

1605
01:17:56,880 --> 01:17:58,239
remember exactly how many, we passed

1606
01:17:58,239 --> 01:18:00,080
another override over stabilization for

1607
01:18:00,080 --> 01:18:02,800
capital to increase that amount to 400 I

1608
01:18:02,800 --> 01:18:05,440
think we're at $430,000

1609
01:18:05,440 --> 01:18:08,159
now. So the the bottom number is our

1610
01:18:08,159 --> 01:18:10,960
starting balance. we're adding 430,000

1611
01:18:10,960 --> 01:18:13,840
and then spending the 357ish,000. Um the

1612
01:18:13,840 --> 01:18:15,280
reason that we're making sure we spend

1613
01:18:15,280 --> 01:18:17,280
less than we bring in is because we know

1614
01:18:17,280 --> 01:18:19,360
that we have some large looming projects

1615
01:18:19,360 --> 01:18:21,360
including the school roof on this

1616
01:18:21,360 --> 01:18:23,199
building right here. Um and we're trying

1617
01:18:23,199 --> 01:18:24,960
the capital stabilization committee is

1618
01:18:24,960 --> 01:18:27,199
trying really hard to put ourselves in a

1619
01:18:27,199 --> 01:18:29,280
good fiscal position for when that comes

1620
01:18:29,280 --> 01:18:31,760
up so we have a nest egg set aside. So,

1621
01:18:31,760 --> 01:18:34,239
with the money going out and the amount

1622
01:18:34,239 --> 01:18:37,040
we started with, we're ending up uh

1623
01:18:37,040 --> 01:18:39,440
right around $200,000 in the account for

1624
01:18:39,440 --> 01:18:43,990
seed money for that going in the future.

1625
01:18:44,000 --> 01:18:48,149
Okay. Are there any other questions?

1626
01:18:48,159 --> 01:18:50,000
So, Tom, meeting floor. According to

1627
01:18:50,000 --> 01:18:52,400
Mass General Law, chapter 44, section

1628
01:18:52,400 --> 01:18:54,320
21C,

1629
01:18:54,320 --> 01:18:57,679
this requires a twothirds vote. So, get

1630
01:18:57,679 --> 01:19:00,080
those cards ready. All those in favor,

1631
01:19:00,080 --> 01:19:05,350
please hold up your green cards.

1632
01:19:05,360 --> 01:19:07,040
Those opposed, please hold up a red

1633
01:19:07,040 --> 01:19:11,270
card.

1634
01:19:11,280 --> 01:19:15,189
Declare it unanimous.

1635
01:19:15,199 --> 01:19:18,560
Article five. moves the town vote to

1636
01:19:18,560 --> 01:19:21,199
transfer from free cash to pay any

1637
01:19:21,199 --> 01:19:24,719
unpaid bills of previous fiscal year,

1638
01:19:24,719 --> 01:19:30,080
specifically invoice number 2743

1639
01:19:30,080 --> 01:19:35,520
for a plumbing on April 3rd, 2025 for

1640
01:19:35,520 --> 01:19:40,310
$275.

1641
01:19:40,320 --> 01:19:41,360
Just

1642
01:19:41,360 --> 01:19:42,800
>> second.

1643
01:19:42,800 --> 01:19:45,280
>> We have a motion made and pay to pay

1644
01:19:45,280 --> 01:19:45,920
some old. Do

1645
01:19:45,920 --> 01:19:46,880
>> you mean

1646
01:19:46,880 --> 01:19:48,480
Hollis, are you meaning to hold the

1647
01:19:48,480 --> 01:19:51,760
yellow card or you've Oh, got it. All

1648
01:19:51,760 --> 01:19:52,239
right.

1649
01:19:52,239 --> 01:19:54,080
>> I I think I think Hollis is trying to

1650
01:19:54,080 --> 01:19:55,760
get it. Keep going.

1651
01:19:55,760 --> 01:19:58,640
>> I'm with you.

1652
01:19:58,640 --> 01:20:01,760
>> Are there Are there any questions? Just

1653
01:20:01,760 --> 01:20:04,960
pass. Now,

1654
01:20:04,960 --> 01:20:07,920
because of Mass General Law, chapter 44,

1655
01:20:07,920 --> 01:20:11,360
section 64, we need a four fifths.

1656
01:20:11,360 --> 01:20:13,040
You're you're stressing your moderator

1657
01:20:13,040 --> 01:20:16,000
with the math up here. Okay. So, all

1658
01:20:16,000 --> 01:20:17,840
those in favor of this article, please

1659
01:20:17,840 --> 01:20:21,199
hold up your green.

1660
01:20:21,199 --> 01:20:25,270
Those opposed with the red,

1661
01:20:25,280 --> 01:20:32,229
declare it unanimous,

1662
01:20:32,239 --> 01:20:36,149
article six.

1663
01:20:36,159 --> 01:20:38,880
Okay. Move that the town vote to amend

1664
01:20:38,880 --> 01:20:41,199
the fiscal year 2025 budget by

1665
01:20:41,199 --> 01:20:43,520
increasing the board of health personnel

1666
01:20:43,520 --> 01:20:46,080
service line item by increasing the

1667
01:20:46,080 --> 01:20:47,520
board of health personal service line

1668
01:20:47,520 --> 01:20:51,750
item by $5,896.33

1669
01:20:51,760 --> 01:20:53,280
for the purpose of correcting an

1670
01:20:53,280 --> 01:20:55,679
administrative error in processing the

1671
01:20:55,679 --> 01:20:58,080
payroll of the former health agent from

1672
01:20:58,080 --> 01:21:02,960
October 21, 2024 to March 26, 2025 said

1673
01:21:02,960 --> 01:21:05,440
some to be transferred from certified

1674
01:21:05,440 --> 01:21:08,000
free Dash

1675
01:21:08,000 --> 01:21:08,800
>> second.

1676
01:21:08,800 --> 01:21:10,080
>> Okay, we have a motion made and

1677
01:21:10,080 --> 01:21:16,390
seconded. Explanation.

1678
01:21:16,400 --> 01:21:17,920
» Um,

1679
01:21:17,920 --> 01:21:20,719
we had a situation where we had

1680
01:21:20,719 --> 01:21:24,880
transition in personnel and the person

1681
01:21:24,880 --> 01:21:30,239
who um the per the health agent had not

1682
01:21:30,239 --> 01:21:32,480
been putting in his own time sheet. It

1683
01:21:32,480 --> 01:21:36,560
had been done by an employee and that

1684
01:21:36,560 --> 01:21:39,920
employee um left and we had new

1685
01:21:39,920 --> 01:21:44,400
employees and another person um did not

1686
01:21:44,400 --> 01:21:48,000
manage to get the time sheets in and we

1687
01:21:48,000 --> 01:21:54,000
had a situation where um the agent left

1688
01:21:54,000 --> 01:21:57,440
and retired and didn't realize until it

1689
01:21:57,440 --> 01:22:00,080
uh almost the following year about 9

1690
01:22:00,080 --> 01:22:02,719
months later that he had not been paid

1691
01:22:02,719 --> 01:22:07,440
for 6 months. Um, and so we needed to

1692
01:22:07,440 --> 01:22:09,920
rectify the situation

1693
01:22:09,920 --> 01:22:13,199
and I apologized. I was new. We had a

1694
01:22:13,199 --> 01:22:15,520
lot of different transitions going on

1695
01:22:15,520 --> 01:22:19,600
and so we are trying to just correct an

1696
01:22:19,600 --> 01:22:24,639
error um with this payment.

1697
01:22:24,639 --> 01:22:27,280
>> Are there any questions?

1698
01:22:27,280 --> 01:22:28,239
Dylan, uh,

1699
01:22:28,239 --> 01:22:30,560
>> just from a process standpoint, can we

1700
01:22:30,560 --> 01:22:33,280
amend the fiscal year 2025 budget? Does

1701
01:22:33,280 --> 01:22:35,600
that exist anymore or do we need to just

1702
01:22:35,600 --> 01:22:39,679
pay the bill like the motion before?

1703
01:22:39,679 --> 01:22:42,400
>> I'll let council answer that. We had a

1704
01:22:42,400 --> 01:22:50,470
conversation about it.

1705
01:22:50,480 --> 01:22:52,239
» Thank you, Michael Dortenzio, town

1706
01:22:52,239 --> 01:22:54,560
council. Thank you for the question. uh

1707
01:22:54,560 --> 01:22:58,400
so paying bills that uh have already

1708
01:22:58,400 --> 01:23:00,400
been incurred. So this is different

1709
01:23:00,400 --> 01:23:02,560
because the bill that was in the last

1710
01:23:02,560 --> 01:23:04,560
article was one that was received after

1711
01:23:04,560 --> 01:23:07,199
the fiscal year. Right? That's why uh it

1712
01:23:07,199 --> 01:23:09,199
requires the four fifths vote under

1713
01:23:09,199 --> 01:23:13,520
section 64. Uh this was uh an uh a

1714
01:23:13,520 --> 01:23:15,520
charge that the town had already

1715
01:23:15,520 --> 01:23:17,760
authorized in a previous fiscal year. So

1716
01:23:17,760 --> 01:23:20,080
it's not the bill we're paying it late

1717
01:23:20,080 --> 01:23:22,239
but the bill wasn't received late. the

1718
01:23:22,239 --> 01:23:24,320
services were rendered and we were aware

1719
01:23:24,320 --> 01:23:25,760
that they were rendered because this was

1720
01:23:25,760 --> 01:23:28,320
a town employee. Um so for that reason

1721
01:23:28,320 --> 01:23:31,040
in my opinion this is a valid way uh to

1722
01:23:31,040 --> 01:23:33,600
amend the budget if um a little

1723
01:23:33,600 --> 01:23:36,000
unconventional but it does work uh and

1724
01:23:36,000 --> 01:23:38,080
it solves the issue of making sure that

1725
01:23:38,080 --> 01:23:40,159
the individual is paid for those hours

1726
01:23:40,159 --> 01:23:43,920
that were worked. Thank you. Thank you.

1727
01:23:43,920 --> 01:23:46,080
Okay.

1728
01:23:46,080 --> 01:23:48,560
>> Any other questions?

1729
01:23:48,560 --> 01:23:58,870
Mr. Bertrron

1730
01:23:58,880 --> 01:24:01,360
» Scott Berser on 7 Old Emmeris Road. I'm

1731
01:24:01,360 --> 01:24:03,600
going to put on the hat of my esteemed

1732
01:24:03,600 --> 01:24:05,600
colleague Peter Ggeraran from many years

1733
01:24:05,600 --> 01:24:07,920
ago and ask what is the value of

1734
01:24:07,920 --> 01:24:11,440
certified free cash?

1735
01:24:11,440 --> 01:24:13,679
>> I was going to ask what the value of

1736
01:24:13,679 --> 01:24:18,470
certified free cash is.

1737
01:24:18,480 --> 01:24:21,280
Oh, the total.

1738
01:24:21,280 --> 01:24:22,880
>> You probably want to know stabilization,

1739
01:24:22,880 --> 01:24:25,920
too, right?

1740
01:24:25,920 --> 01:24:27,360
>> Well, if you're going to do the uh All

1741
01:24:27,360 --> 01:24:27,600
right,

1742
01:24:27,600 --> 01:24:30,639
>> Russ Krenshaw question. That's so our

1743
01:24:30,639 --> 01:24:35,750
opening balances are $574,883

1744
01:24:35,760 --> 01:24:39,440
in free cash, $379,911

1745
01:24:39,440 --> 01:24:43,440
in stabilization, um 141537

1746
01:24:43,440 --> 01:24:47,120
in capital stabilization, $86,580

1747
01:24:47,120 --> 01:24:50,320
in the Comcast PEG access fund,

1748
01:24:50,320 --> 01:24:53,280
$1,14,463

1749
01:24:53,280 --> 01:24:58,159
in the CPA fund, and 1.266426 266426

1750
01:24:58,159 --> 01:25:02,480
million in the sewer reserve fund.

1751
01:25:02,480 --> 01:25:04,960
>> You're welcome.

1752
01:25:04,960 --> 01:25:07,840
Okay, any other questions?

1753
01:25:07,840 --> 01:25:09,360
So, basically, you want to pay somebody

1754
01:25:09,360 --> 01:25:12,159
that hasn't been paid.

1755
01:25:12,159 --> 01:25:15,040
All those in favor, please.

1756
01:25:15,040 --> 01:25:17,520
Green cards.

1757
01:25:17,520 --> 01:25:20,639
All those opposed, red card.

1758
01:25:20,639 --> 01:25:23,040
Declare that unanimous.

1759
01:25:23,040 --> 01:25:25,120
Article 7.

1760
01:25:25,120 --> 01:25:42,229
All right.

1761
01:25:42,239 --> 01:25:45,520
Okay. If we want to speed it up, people

1762
01:25:45,520 --> 01:25:48,159
are putting their motions back on the

1763
01:25:48,159 --> 01:25:50,960
table. So, if you don't have the written

1764
01:25:50,960 --> 01:25:53,679
motions, and if everybody gets a copy of

1765
01:25:53,679 --> 01:25:56,239
the motions, then we can do away with

1766
01:25:56,239 --> 01:26:04,310
reading all of these motions.

1767
01:26:04,320 --> 01:26:09,830
» Thank you, Wendy.

1768
01:26:09,840 --> 01:26:10,960
» All right, so we'll give everyone a

1769
01:26:10,960 --> 01:26:12,400
minute to grab them and then we will

1770
01:26:12,400 --> 01:26:14,400
dispense with the reading of article 7

1771
01:26:14,400 --> 01:26:16,639
and move from there. But I'll give

1772
01:26:16,639 --> 01:26:20,790
everyone a minute first.

1773
01:26:20,800 --> 01:26:22,239
Oh, I look Yeah, I was I'm looking

1774
01:26:22,239 --> 01:26:23,120
forward to

1775
01:26:23,120 --> 01:26:24,639
>> not reading the

1776
01:26:24,639 --> 01:26:26,400
>> I mean, you guys want to listen to me

1777
01:26:26,400 --> 01:26:37,270
read five pages in a row? Sure.

1778
01:26:37,280 --> 01:26:40,320
» Yeah, it's a good chocolate break time.

1779
01:26:40,320 --> 01:26:51,030
>> Sold.

1780
01:26:51,040 --> 01:26:55,040
Is every is everybody uh have a copy?

1781
01:26:55,040 --> 01:27:04,310
I have one up here.

1782
01:27:04,320 --> 01:27:06,719
» What's that?

1783
01:27:06,719 --> 01:27:08,639
Okay,

1784
01:27:08,639 --> 01:27:11,360
we have additional ones in the back. You

1785
01:27:11,360 --> 01:27:14,950
need a copy.

1786
01:27:14,960 --> 01:27:17,199
Article 7. All right. We're going to

1787
01:27:17,199 --> 01:27:19,120
dispense with reading of article 7.

1788
01:27:19,120 --> 01:27:21,600
is the community preservation

1789
01:27:21,600 --> 01:27:24,000
committee um moving money around the

1790
01:27:24,000 --> 01:27:25,840
various reserve funds. So, you still

1791
01:27:25,840 --> 01:27:27,440
have to make a motion.

1792
01:27:27,440 --> 01:27:29,760
>> I move article 7.

1793
01:27:29,760 --> 01:27:30,960
>> Second.

1794
01:27:30,960 --> 01:27:32,400
>> All right. We have a motion made and

1795
01:27:32,400 --> 01:27:35,360
seconded. Basically, art article 7. This

1796
01:27:35,360 --> 01:27:39,040
is the Jennifer article. Um, and Jenn

1797
01:27:39,040 --> 01:27:40,719
Jennifer Uncles is one of the only

1798
01:27:40,719 --> 01:27:42,800
people in the world that understands how

1799
01:27:42,800 --> 01:27:48,400
this stuff works. And and basically what this says is that we we take in

1800
01:27:48,400 --> 01:27:52,239
Sunderland has a CPA of 3% that we get

1801
01:27:52,239 --> 01:27:55,040
from the state hopefully and 3% from our

1802
01:27:55,040 --> 01:27:57,840
taxes. And there are certain items,

1803
01:27:57,840 --> 01:28:00,320
three locations that we have to put a

1804
01:28:00,320 --> 01:28:02,800
certain percentage of way. And what this

1805
01:28:02,800 --> 01:28:05,040
does is this addresses one the

1806
01:28:05,040 --> 01:28:09,360
administrative expenses for CPA and then

1807
01:28:09,360 --> 01:28:12,000
it also establishes the minimum

1808
01:28:12,000 --> 01:28:18,880
contribution to each of the funding that the CPA needs to deal with.

1809
01:28:18,880 --> 01:28:23,830
Jennifer, is that right? Basically,

1810
01:28:23,840 --> 01:28:26,320
okay. Is there any other questions on on

1811
01:28:26,320 --> 01:28:29,360
this article?

1812
01:28:29,360 --> 01:28:32,239
Seeing no yellow cards.

1813
01:28:32,239 --> 01:28:34,159
All those in favor, please signify with

1814
01:28:34,159 --> 01:28:37,760
the green cards. Those opposed red

1815
01:28:37,760 --> 01:28:40,080
cards.

1816
01:28:40,080 --> 01:28:45,270
Declare that declare unanimous.

1817
01:28:45,280 --> 01:28:46,560
» Article eight.

1818
01:28:46,560 --> 01:28:49,040
>> I motion we move article 8.

1819
01:28:49,040 --> 01:28:54,390
>> Second.

1820
01:28:54,400 --> 01:28:58,320
» So article 8 is actually a Jennifer.

1821
01:28:58,320 --> 01:28:59,920
Does somebody with CPA want to talk

1822
01:28:59,920 --> 01:29:03,199
about these articles in unison?

1823
01:29:03,199 --> 01:29:11,910
Our chair.

1824
01:29:11,920 --> 01:29:14,080
» Hi, my name is Megan Arwin. I'm at 206

1825
01:29:14,080 --> 01:29:20,000
River Road. Um and um this article is to

1826
01:29:20,000 --> 01:29:21,840
help establish an orchard project here

1827
01:29:21,840 --> 01:29:23,360
on the Sunderland Elementary School

1828
01:29:23,360 --> 01:29:26,400
project that's adjacent to the community

1829
01:29:26,400 --> 01:29:30,400
path. And the money that I'm seeking

1830
01:29:30,400 --> 01:29:32,400
through this uh CPA funding is to help

1831
01:29:32,400 --> 01:29:33,760
with the establishment and the

1832
01:29:33,760 --> 01:29:36,400
maintenance of this project over the

1833
01:29:36,400 --> 01:29:39,199
next 3 to 5 years depending on its

1834
01:29:39,199 --> 01:29:41,920
needs. And uh the idea is to have it be

1835
01:29:41,920 --> 01:29:44,800
a community space that a space that

1836
01:29:44,800 --> 01:29:46,960
community can engage with and also for

1837
01:29:46,960 --> 01:29:49,679
the students to learn from and to see

1838
01:29:49,679 --> 01:29:53,040
hopefully if Thrive and and how

1839
01:29:53,040 --> 01:29:54,960
programming through that orchard can

1840
01:29:54,960 --> 01:29:56,880
bring community together and and

1841
01:29:56,880 --> 01:29:59,360
everybody hopefully enjoying the fruits

1842
01:29:59,360 --> 01:30:02,400
that come from it.

1843
01:30:02,400 --> 01:30:03,840
Sun some has been very fortunate with

1844
01:30:03,840 --> 01:30:07,679
the CPA projects and it's it'd be great

1845
01:30:07,679 --> 01:30:12,080
if we we could and we do put a pictorial

1846
01:30:12,080 --> 01:30:13,840
thing on the walls to see how the money

1847
01:30:13,840 --> 01:30:16,239
is used. It's amazing projects that have

1848
01:30:16,239 --> 01:30:18,800
gone forward. Any of have any questions

1849
01:30:18,800 --> 01:30:23,189
on article 8?

1850
01:30:23,199 --> 01:30:24,880
Let's see no questions. All those in

1851
01:30:24,880 --> 01:30:28,560
favor of article 8, please green cards.

1852
01:30:28,560 --> 01:30:32,159
opposed red cards.

1853
01:30:32,159 --> 01:30:38,480
We'll declare it uni uh majority. Yes.

1854
01:30:38,480 --> 01:30:39,520
>> Thank you.

1855
01:30:39,520 --> 01:30:41,120
>> Article nine.

1856
01:30:41,120 --> 01:30:43,440
>> I move I move article 9.

1857
01:30:43,440 --> 01:30:46,470
>> Second.

1858
01:30:46,480 --> 01:30:48,480
» Jennifer.

1859
01:30:48,480 --> 01:30:50,400
>> Um my name is Jennifer Unless. I'm on

1860
01:30:50,400 --> 01:30:52,480
North Silver Lane. Um on the

1861
01:30:52,480 --> 01:30:54,719
Conservation Commission as well. And

1862
01:30:54,719 --> 01:30:57,840
this article is to

1863
01:30:57,840 --> 01:31:00,719
move 100,000 to the conservation trust

1864
01:31:00,719 --> 01:31:06,629
fund which has a balance of $312,020.

1865
01:31:06,639 --> 01:31:09,520
And some of the things we've used that

1866
01:31:09,520 --> 01:31:11,520
conservation trust money is to do the

1867
01:31:11,520 --> 01:31:15,040
town match for APR land. Not too long

1868
01:31:15,040 --> 01:31:18,719
ago, we put $50,000 toward some APR

1869
01:31:18,719 --> 01:31:21,280
parcels up in the north part of town.

1870
01:31:21,280 --> 01:31:23,360
There's one in process now that's almost

1871
01:31:23,360 --> 01:31:25,760
$10,000 on Russell Street for the town

1872
01:31:25,760 --> 01:31:28,080
match part and there's a couple

1873
01:31:28,080 --> 01:31:29,840
conversations happening for a

1874
01:31:29,840 --> 01:31:32,880
conservation restriction and another

1875
01:31:32,880 --> 01:31:35,440
parcel for some kind of protection.

1876
01:31:35,440 --> 01:31:37,360
We're not sure what that looks like yet.

1877
01:31:37,360 --> 01:31:40,960
So those other hopper projects will

1878
01:31:40,960 --> 01:31:43,679
deplete that 312,000. So the 100,000

1879
01:31:43,679 --> 01:31:47,280
will bring it back up for projects that

1880
01:31:47,280 --> 01:31:49,360
come up between now and next town

1881
01:31:49,360 --> 01:31:51,040
meeting.

1882
01:31:51,040 --> 01:31:55,840
So, so basically also anytime that the the town or the state wants to

1883
01:31:55,840 --> 01:31:58,320
purchase property andor restrictions on

1884
01:31:58,320 --> 01:32:00,719
property, the town is always asked to

1885
01:32:00,719 --> 01:32:03,040
make some kind of contribution. So, a

1886
01:32:03,040 --> 01:32:06,000
lot of times the CPA money, it goes into

1887
01:32:06,000 --> 01:32:07,840
the conservation commission and and the

1888
01:32:07,840 --> 01:32:09,679
conservation commission will use it in

1889
01:32:09,679 --> 01:32:12,320
these in these applications to help the

1890
01:32:12,320 --> 01:32:14,800
town purchase these restrictions andor

1891
01:32:14,800 --> 01:32:16,639
land.

1892
01:32:16,639 --> 01:32:20,320
Any other questions on article 9?

1893
01:32:20,320 --> 01:32:23,199
All those in favor for article 9,

1894
01:32:23,199 --> 01:32:27,920
green, opposed, red,

1895
01:32:27,920 --> 01:32:30,320
declare it unanimous.

1896
01:32:30,320 --> 01:32:33,280
Article 10.

1897
01:32:33,280 --> 01:32:36,239
All right. Article 10 is a change to the

1898
01:32:36,239 --> 01:32:38,880
ADU laws uh pursuant to the changes at

1899
01:32:38,880 --> 01:32:40,480
the state level. Um

1900
01:32:40,480 --> 01:32:41,840
>> make the motion.

1901
01:32:41,840 --> 01:32:42,639
>> You have to make a motion.

1902
01:32:42,639 --> 01:32:45,600
>> Right. Sorry. I move article 10.

1903
01:32:45,600 --> 01:32:48,400
>> Second. We have a motion made and

1904
01:32:48,400 --> 01:32:50,000
seconded explanation.

1905
01:32:50,000 --> 01:32:52,320
>> Yep.

1906
01:32:52,320 --> 01:32:55,040
>> Uh so the state as I'm sure many people

1907
01:32:55,040 --> 01:32:57,360
are aware recently changed the laws

1908
01:32:57,360 --> 01:32:59,520
around additional dwelling units. Um and

1909
01:32:59,520 --> 01:33:01,679
once they passed that law basically it

1910
01:33:01,679 --> 01:33:04,480
opens up the floodgates for without

1911
01:33:04,480 --> 01:33:07,199
local regulation. It's sort of the wild

1912
01:33:07,199 --> 01:33:08,800
west on them. People can do whatever

1913
01:33:08,800 --> 01:33:11,120
they want. Um, towns are encouraged to

1914
01:33:11,120 --> 01:33:15,520
adopt individual bylaws that set our own

1915
01:33:15,520 --> 01:33:17,280
regulations around them within the scope

1916
01:33:17,280 --> 01:33:19,199
of the of the state regulations. Uh, and

1917
01:33:19,199 --> 01:33:23,270
that's what this article is.

1918
01:33:23,280 --> 01:33:24,800
If you want to talk, just come on up and

1919
01:33:24,800 --> 01:33:27,840
get mine. So, yeah. So, we're going to

1920
01:33:27,840 --> 01:33:30,000
need the planning board to give an oral

1921
01:33:30,000 --> 01:33:33,679
presentation and it's part of our master

1922
01:33:33,679 --> 01:33:37,520
in the laws that they got to talk.

1923
01:33:37,520 --> 01:33:39,520
>> Good evening everyone. Uh my name is

1924
01:33:39,520 --> 01:33:41,920
David Dean. I'm at 153 Hadley Road. I'm

1925
01:33:41,920 --> 01:33:45,120
also a member of the planning board. Um

1926
01:33:45,120 --> 01:33:47,199
as uh as Nathaniel said, the state of

1927
01:33:47,199 --> 01:33:49,760
Massachusetts updated its laws uh back

1928
01:33:49,760 --> 01:33:52,880
in 2024 to allow accessory dwelling

1929
01:33:52,880 --> 01:33:55,120
units by right um under certain

1930
01:33:55,120 --> 01:33:57,360
circumstances. And I know there was a

1931
01:33:57,360 --> 01:33:59,760
proposed accessory dwelling unit uh

1932
01:33:59,760 --> 01:34:02,480
bylaw that was uh made several years ago

1933
01:34:02,480 --> 01:34:05,199
that was um that was voted down. This is

1934
01:34:05,199 --> 01:34:06,800
a different situation. And what we're

1935
01:34:06,800 --> 01:34:10,639
doing now is uh amending our zoning code

1936
01:34:10,639 --> 01:34:12,239
or attempting to amend the zoning code

1937
01:34:12,239 --> 01:34:16,400
to essentially comply with the uh the

1938
01:34:16,400 --> 01:34:18,800
new state law that has been that has

1939
01:34:18,800 --> 01:34:22,480
been passed. And um so the planning

1940
01:34:22,480 --> 01:34:25,760
board worked with uh with FRCOG, the uh

1941
01:34:25,760 --> 01:34:27,600
the Franklin County Regional Council of

1942
01:34:27,600 --> 01:34:31,440
Governments, and also worked based on a

1943
01:34:31,440 --> 01:34:35,120
uh a model bylaw that that was um that

1944
01:34:35,120 --> 01:34:39,440
was promulgated. And we largely followed

1945
01:34:39,440 --> 01:34:42,400
that um that model bylaw with a couple

1946
01:34:42,400 --> 01:34:44,480
of small exceptions that I can just

1947
01:34:44,480 --> 01:34:47,120
point out really quickly. Uh the first

1948
01:34:47,120 --> 01:34:55,280
is that um the way that the state law is written is that um ADUs are allowed

1949
01:34:55,280 --> 01:34:59,840
by right um with a a maximum size of

1950
01:34:59,840 --> 01:35:03,520
either 900 square ft or half of the

1951
01:35:03,520 --> 01:35:07,199
gross floor area of the um the primary

1952
01:35:07,199 --> 01:35:10,639
dwelling. We've changed that slightly.

1953
01:35:10,639 --> 01:35:12,719
Um, and I can explain why in a second,

1954
01:35:12,719 --> 01:35:14,320
but what we've what we've done is we've

1955
01:35:14,320 --> 01:35:16,960
gotten rid of the the half the gross

1956
01:35:16,960 --> 01:35:23,120
floor area um uh portion and increased

1957
01:35:23,120 --> 01:35:27,199
the maximum size from 900 ft² to 950 ft.

1958
01:35:27,199 --> 01:35:29,760
That was based on a recommendation from

1959
01:35:29,760 --> 01:35:31,600
uh from Furkog and some other folks we

1960
01:35:31,600 --> 01:35:35,360
spoke with uh who suggested that um

1961
01:35:35,360 --> 01:35:38,239
putting that limit too small would make

1962
01:35:38,239 --> 01:35:41,040
um would make these units essentially

1963
01:35:41,040 --> 01:35:44,719
economically uh not feasible. um just

1964
01:35:44,719 --> 01:35:47,520
due to the cost of construction and the

1965
01:35:47,520 --> 01:35:49,360
cost of

1966
01:35:49,360 --> 01:35:55,199
um bringing those into compliance with building um and other codes which

1967
01:35:55,199 --> 01:35:58,159
they must comply with. Uh the reason

1968
01:35:58,159 --> 01:36:00,960
that we got rid of the half of the gross

1969
01:36:00,960 --> 01:36:05,280
floor area requirement was um to ease

1970
01:36:05,280 --> 01:36:07,920
the burden on our town administrative

1971
01:36:07,920 --> 01:36:10,320
staff. This would be administered by the

1972
01:36:10,320 --> 01:36:12,800
building inspector who's a single person

1973
01:36:12,800 --> 01:36:16,880
who we share with with other towns. Um,

1974
01:36:16,880 --> 01:36:18,800
and it's not quite as simple as just

1975
01:36:18,800 --> 01:36:21,520
looking at the property card that you

1976
01:36:21,520 --> 01:36:24,320
know is online because the way that the

1977
01:36:24,320 --> 01:36:27,199
uh the state statute defines gross floor

1978
01:36:27,199 --> 01:36:30,800
area is not just simply building area or

1979
01:36:30,800 --> 01:36:32,800
what you would typically, you know, see

1980
01:36:32,800 --> 01:36:35,679
as the uh square footage of a home in a

1981
01:36:35,679 --> 01:36:38,000
real estate listing. it uh it can

1982
01:36:38,000 --> 01:36:40,560
include basements but only if they are

1983
01:36:40,560 --> 01:36:42,800
you know compliant in terms of uh of

1984
01:36:42,800 --> 01:36:46,880
height um and you know doesn't include

1985
01:36:46,880 --> 01:36:49,600
crawl spaces. It's it gets a little more

1986
01:36:49,600 --> 01:36:54,719
complicated. So we wanted to ease that administrative burden and we also

1987
01:36:54,719 --> 01:36:57,280
didn't believe that that that would have

1988
01:36:57,280 --> 01:37:00,960
a material effect on um you know the

1989
01:37:00,960 --> 01:37:03,440
ability of of people to to build these

1990
01:37:03,440 --> 01:37:07,040
should they choose. Um, so I'll open the

1991
01:37:07,040 --> 01:37:08,719
floor to comments now and happy to

1992
01:37:08,719 --> 01:37:10,400
answer questions if they if they come

1993
01:37:10,400 --> 01:37:13,430
up.

1994
01:37:13,440 --> 01:37:21,189
Any questions?

1995
01:37:21,199 --> 01:37:23,280
» State your name and uh address, please.

1996
01:37:23,280 --> 01:37:26,880
>> Uh, Larry Re uh 60 North Plane Road.

1997
01:37:26,880 --> 01:37:30,960
Phyllis Burman, 60 North Plane Road.

1998
01:37:30,960 --> 01:37:34,800
The key Massachusetts requirement that a

1999
01:37:34,800 --> 01:37:37,280
bioride adu not exceed half the gross

2000
01:37:37,280 --> 01:37:41,040
floor area of the principal dwelling or

2001
01:37:41,040 --> 01:37:44,560
a maximum of 900 ft whichever is smaller

2002
01:37:44,560 --> 01:37:47,679
was designed to ensure the ADO remains

2003
01:37:47,679 --> 01:37:51,679
accessory ADU or subordinate to the main

2004
01:37:51,679 --> 01:37:54,800
home. This regulation ensures that the

2005
01:37:54,800 --> 01:37:57,520
ADU does not dominate the property by

2006
01:37:57,520 --> 01:37:59,840
keeping the ADU smaller than a primary

2007
01:37:59,840 --> 01:38:02,080
residence. It maintains the

2008
01:38:02,080 --> 01:38:03,840
neighborhood's character with the

2009
01:38:03,840 --> 01:38:05,520
appearance of a lot that has a single

2010
01:38:05,520 --> 01:38:09,119
family home with a secondary unit rather

2011
01:38:09,119 --> 01:38:11,119
than a duplex or a multif family

2012
01:38:11,119 --> 01:38:14,080
property. It limits the impact on local

2013
01:38:14,080 --> 01:38:16,639
density and infrastructure by preventing

2014
01:38:16,639 --> 01:38:20,800
the construction of two similarly sized

2015
01:38:20,800 --> 01:38:23,520
homes on a single family lot and

2016
01:38:23,520 --> 01:38:26,000
prevents creating essentially two family

2017
01:38:26,000 --> 01:38:28,800
homes which require a different zoning

2018
01:38:28,800 --> 01:38:32,080
law. The reasoning for this ADU

2019
01:38:32,080 --> 01:38:34,560
regulation is sound.

2020
01:38:34,560 --> 01:38:35,840
Several cities and towns in

2021
01:38:35,840 --> 01:38:37,920
Massachusetts recognize the value of the

2022
01:38:37,920 --> 01:38:40,719
size limitation and have or plan to

2023
01:38:40,719 --> 01:38:44,960
adopt the requirements as is.

2024
01:38:44,960 --> 01:38:47,280
Sunderland planning board proposes to

2025
01:38:47,280 --> 01:38:50,719
slightly tweak the basic ADU size

2026
01:38:50,719 --> 01:38:53,199
requirements in two ways. First, they

2027
01:38:53,199 --> 01:38:55,520
change the maximum square footage from

2028
01:38:55,520 --> 01:38:59,600
900 to 950. The reason so given tonight

2029
01:38:59,600 --> 01:39:02,239
was economic reason given by the

2030
01:39:02,239 --> 01:39:05,920
planning board earlier

2031
01:39:05,920 --> 01:39:09,360
uh was to facilitate the creation of

2032
01:39:09,360 --> 01:39:12,239
fully handicapped accessible units which

2033
01:39:12,239 --> 01:39:15,119
tend to need slightly more space. We

2034
01:39:15,119 --> 01:39:18,320
don't we support that argument and

2035
01:39:18,320 --> 01:39:19,920
sincerely wish that the extra space

2036
01:39:19,920 --> 01:39:22,000
would actually be used for that good

2037
01:39:22,000 --> 01:39:23,920
cause.

2038
01:39:23,920 --> 01:39:27,040
We do very much oppose the second tweak

2039
01:39:27,040 --> 01:39:29,600
of the basic ADU size limits. Playing

2040
01:39:29,600 --> 01:39:32,639
board says they propose to entirely drop

2041
01:39:32,639 --> 01:39:35,679
the clause quote or one half the gross

2042
01:39:35,679 --> 01:39:37,840
floor area of the principal dwelling

2043
01:39:37,840 --> 01:39:41,280
whichever is smaller. End quote.

2044
01:39:41,280 --> 01:39:42,880
in order to make administration of the

2045
01:39:42,880 --> 01:39:47,040
bylaw easier for the town staff.

2046
01:39:47,040 --> 01:39:48,639
We're sorry that the administration of

2047
01:39:48,639 --> 01:39:50,880
the ADU bylaws will mean more work to

2048
01:39:50,880 --> 01:39:55,600
regulate it, but that's the job.

2049
01:39:55,600 --> 01:39:58,480
We don't believe that a key ADU size

2050
01:39:58,480 --> 01:40:00,320
regulation should be eliminate

2051
01:40:00,320 --> 01:40:04,000
eliminated just to save administration

2052
01:40:04,000 --> 01:40:06,080
efforts.

2053
01:40:06,080 --> 01:40:09,520
other cities and towns

2054
01:40:09,520 --> 01:40:11,679
are capable to do it capable of doing

2055
01:40:11,679 --> 01:40:13,520
this.

2056
01:40:13,520 --> 01:40:16,880
Um they can do the math on this ADU and

2057
01:40:16,880 --> 01:40:20,480
protect from creating possible loopholes

2058
01:40:20,480 --> 01:40:22,800
for developers to potentially capitalize

2059
01:40:22,800 --> 01:40:25,440
on and Sunderland should do the same.

2060
01:40:25,440 --> 01:40:27,280
For example,

2061
01:40:27,280 --> 01:40:29,040
there's a lot at stake here. A

2062
01:40:29,040 --> 01:40:31,679
nonoccupant landlord could build two

2063
01:40:31,679 --> 01:40:34,800
similarsized buildings on a lot

2064
01:40:34,800 --> 01:40:37,440
declaring the slightly smaller one to be

2065
01:40:37,440 --> 01:40:41,119
an ADO and then rent both of them.

2066
01:40:41,119 --> 01:40:42,719
Further every lot in the future

2067
01:40:42,719 --> 01:40:45,199
development and you for all of these

2068
01:40:45,199 --> 01:40:48,560
things as you know I'm planning you have

2069
01:40:48,560 --> 01:40:51,679
to look to the future.

2070
01:40:51,679 --> 01:40:53,280
A lot of future development could be

2071
01:40:53,280 --> 01:40:55,440
treated this way with each in the

2072
01:40:55,440 --> 01:40:58,239
development holding two fairly equal

2073
01:40:58,239 --> 01:41:01,910
houses.

2074
01:41:01,920 --> 01:41:05,119
Pardon me.

2075
01:41:05,119 --> 01:41:06,719
Other cities and towns I said have no

2076
01:41:06,719 --> 01:41:08,239
trouble doing this to protect from

2077
01:41:08,239 --> 01:41:10,639
creating these loops loopholes and

2078
01:41:10,639 --> 01:41:15,510
Sunderland should do the same.

2079
01:41:15,520 --> 01:41:19,600
If Sunderland takes no action, ADUs are

2080
01:41:19,600 --> 01:41:23,360
still allowed. It's state law.

2081
01:41:23,360 --> 01:41:26,880
Uh uh in fact, there's two ADUs in town

2082
01:41:26,880 --> 01:41:29,840
in process right now.

2083
01:41:29,840 --> 01:41:32,560
But we can't ignore the danger of

2084
01:41:32,560 --> 01:41:35,440
passing this proposed article as is and

2085
01:41:35,440 --> 01:41:39,679
of losing the protection of that half

2086
01:41:39,679 --> 01:41:43,440
size gross floor area safeguard.

2087
01:41:43,440 --> 01:41:45,199
>> Larry, can you uh sum it up, please?

2088
01:41:45,199 --> 01:41:47,280
>> Unless the here's a summation. Unless

2089
01:41:47,280 --> 01:41:50,080
the amendment restores this requirement

2090
01:41:50,080 --> 01:41:54,480
law, the article should not pass. And we

2091
01:41:54,480 --> 01:41:57,040
have proposed language to put it back

2092
01:41:57,040 --> 01:42:00,550
in. Thank you.

2093
01:42:00,560 --> 01:42:04,719
Um, can we propose some language for

2094
01:42:04,719 --> 01:42:06,480
>> So we can please

2095
01:42:06,480 --> 01:42:10,719
>> I wish I could. I'm sorry. Um, again,

2096
01:42:10,719 --> 01:42:13,760
I'm going to uh reiterate what he said.

2097
01:42:13,760 --> 01:42:16,159
If this doesn't pass, and we think it

2098
01:42:16,159 --> 01:42:19,920
should be taken back and rewritten to

2099
01:42:19,920 --> 01:42:22,960
include the um the phrases that he was

2100
01:42:22,960 --> 01:42:25,679
talking about, you're still going to be

2101
01:42:25,679 --> 01:42:30,320
able to have um the ADUs in Sunderland.

2102
01:42:30,320 --> 01:42:32,560
And in fact, like North Plain Road right

2103
01:42:32,560 --> 01:42:35,520
now has one that's in progress. there

2104
01:42:35,520 --> 01:42:39,360
was and it's it follows the exact state

2105
01:42:39,360 --> 01:42:43,760
um regulations and there was absolutely

2106
01:42:43,760 --> 01:42:48,159
no administrative um problems with it.

2107
01:42:48,159 --> 01:42:51,679
There's another one on Monagu Road.

2108
01:42:51,679 --> 01:42:55,199
Again, it's the same building person and

2109
01:42:55,199 --> 01:42:58,400
um they had no trouble whatsoever

2110
01:42:58,400 --> 01:43:01,280
following the regulations which they do

2111
01:43:01,280 --> 01:43:05,760
in Graanby and Ammerst and Lever and um

2112
01:43:05,760 --> 01:43:09,360
all of those towns have accepted the

2113
01:43:09,360 --> 01:43:13,520
regulations the way they are. So we have

2114
01:43:13,520 --> 01:43:18,320
proposed that the we would ex we would

2115
01:43:18,320 --> 01:43:21,679
find article 10 acceptable if they

2116
01:43:21,679 --> 01:43:23,199
changed

2117
01:43:23,199 --> 01:43:26,159
um one of the regulations

2118
01:43:26,159 --> 01:43:29,760
and we have it written and we emailed it

2119
01:43:29,760 --> 01:43:32,320
to everybody. I don't know if they

2120
01:43:32,320 --> 01:43:34,719
printed it or if you want a printed copy

2121
01:43:34,719 --> 01:43:41,430
or that we give to Wendy or whatever.

2122
01:43:41,440 --> 01:43:53,350
» Thank you, Phyllis.

2123
01:43:53,360 --> 01:43:55,119
» So, are are you Did you want to make a

2124
01:43:55,119 --> 01:43:56,159
motion?

2125
01:43:56,159 --> 01:43:58,960
>> Do did you want to amend a motion? We

2126
01:43:58,960 --> 01:44:04,390
want to

2127
01:44:04,400 --> 01:44:06,480
» So do you want did you

2128
01:44:06,480 --> 01:44:06,800
>> Yes.

2129
01:44:06,800 --> 01:44:08,239
>> Did you want to amend the motion?

2130
01:44:08,239 --> 01:44:13,040
>> We would amend amend the motion to to uh

2131
01:44:13,040 --> 01:44:14,800
change

2132
01:44:14,800 --> 01:44:19,350
uh section 125167.

2133
01:44:19,360 --> 01:44:23,600
» I'm sorry. We would uh spec amend the

2134
01:44:23,600 --> 01:44:25,920
motion to

2135
01:44:25,920 --> 01:44:28,960
add two changes that

2136
01:44:28,960 --> 01:44:31,199
they're required in two places in the in

2137
01:44:31,199 --> 01:44:33,360
the proposed by level. What it does

2138
01:44:33,360 --> 01:44:36,960
simply is return the requirement of

2139
01:44:36,960 --> 01:44:39,840
having the limitation of a gross square

2140
01:44:39,840 --> 01:44:45,199
foot gross floor area as well as the

2141
01:44:45,199 --> 01:44:48,480
maximum square footage size. And we're

2142
01:44:48,480 --> 01:44:50,480
okay with the maximum square footage

2143
01:44:50,480 --> 01:44:51,440
size being 90.

2144
01:44:51,440 --> 01:44:52,560
>> Can I hear you, ma'am?

2145
01:44:52,560 --> 01:44:54,800
>> We're okay with the n the proposal

2146
01:44:54,800 --> 01:44:56,239
changed by the planning board to change

2147
01:44:56,239 --> 01:44:56,800
it from.

2148
01:44:56,800 --> 01:44:59,600
>> So, so you're I I need your spe your

2149
01:44:59,600 --> 01:45:01,840
specific amendment. The specific

2150
01:45:01,840 --> 01:45:08,550
amendment is what's highlighted?

2151
01:45:08,560 --> 01:45:10,880
» Should I should I read the whole thing?

2152
01:45:10,880 --> 01:45:13,520
>> So, so I I'm going to read what I

2153
01:45:13,520 --> 01:45:15,119
believe your amendment is.

2154
01:45:15,119 --> 01:45:15,600
>> Yes.

2155
01:45:15,600 --> 01:45:18,960
>> Okay. you tell. So I'm going to go

2156
01:45:18,960 --> 01:45:25,189
change 125116B7

2157
01:45:25,199 --> 01:45:29,199
by adding the red underlined text.

2158
01:45:29,199 --> 01:45:32,480
Correct. So I'll read the whole chapter

2159
01:45:32,480 --> 01:45:35,520
with with the I'll I I'll bring up what

2160
01:45:35,520 --> 01:45:37,679
they wanted to look at.

2161
01:45:37,679 --> 01:45:41,520
protected use ADU,

2162
01:45:41,520 --> 01:45:44,960
auxiliary dwelling unit, an attached,

2163
01:45:44,960 --> 01:45:49,040
detached, or internal ADU that is

2164
01:45:49,040 --> 01:45:52,639
located or is proposed to be located on

2165
01:45:52,639 --> 01:45:55,520
a lot in a single family residential

2166
01:45:55,520 --> 01:45:59,600
zoning district and is not larger in

2167
01:45:59,600 --> 01:46:02,960
gross floor area than this is the

2168
01:46:02,960 --> 01:46:04,480
amendment

2169
01:46:04,480 --> 01:46:07,440
half the gross floor area of the

2170
01:46:07,440 --> 01:46:11,280
principal dwelling or

2171
01:46:11,280 --> 01:46:13,199
this is now in this not a part of the

2172
01:46:13,199 --> 01:46:16,560
amendment 950 square ft

2173
01:46:16,560 --> 01:46:19,440
amendment whichever is smaller and

2174
01:46:19,440 --> 01:46:23,760
provided that only one ADU on a lat on a

2175
01:46:23,760 --> 01:46:27,600
lot may qualify as a protected use ADU

2176
01:46:27,600 --> 01:46:30,639
an ADU that is non-conforming to zoning

2177
01:46:30,639 --> 01:46:33,520
shall be still qualified as a protected

2178
01:46:33,520 --> 01:46:36,239
use ADU if it otherwise meets

2179
01:46:36,239 --> 01:46:40,719
definition. So the amendment is half the

2180
01:46:40,719 --> 01:46:43,440
gross floor area of the principal

2181
01:46:43,440 --> 01:46:48,560
dwelling or whichever is smaller and

2182
01:46:48,560 --> 01:46:49,440
>> yes sir

2183
01:46:49,440 --> 01:46:50,400
>> that is correct

2184
01:46:50,400 --> 01:46:54,239
>> that's yes that's part one

2185
01:46:54,239 --> 01:46:58,000
this the same language is required

2186
01:46:58,000 --> 01:46:59,199
uh in 127

2187
01:46:59,199 --> 01:47:00,320
>> speak into the mic

2188
01:47:00,320 --> 01:47:01,920
>> I'm sorry I'm sorry I know

2189
01:47:01,920 --> 01:47:06,159
>> the same same u information is required

2190
01:47:06,159 --> 01:47:10,320
Ed in section 12511

2191
01:47:10,320 --> 01:47:11,920
C6

2192
01:47:11,920 --> 01:47:13,280
2 AI.

2193
01:47:13,280 --> 01:47:14,880
>> Yeah, we're we're get I'm getting I just

2194
01:47:14,880 --> 01:47:15,440
want to go.

2195
01:47:15,440 --> 01:47:16,080
>> Yes, sir.

2196
01:47:16,080 --> 01:47:17,600
>> I I want to go one at a time.

2197
01:47:17,600 --> 01:47:17,920
>> Yes.

2198
01:47:17,920 --> 01:47:19,679
>> So, that first is all set.

2199
01:47:19,679 --> 01:47:20,560
>> Yes, sir.

2200
01:47:20,560 --> 01:47:22,320
>> So, that's part of the amendment. And

2201
01:47:22,320 --> 01:47:27,280
the amendment also includes change

2202
01:47:27,280 --> 01:47:28,880
12516

2203
01:47:28,880 --> 01:47:30,960
C-2-

2204
01:47:30,960 --> 01:47:32,719
A-

2205
01:47:32,719 --> 01:47:35,760
I by adding the following text which is

2206
01:47:35,760 --> 01:47:38,880
red line up here. Protected use ADU

2207
01:47:38,880 --> 01:47:41,360
shall not be larger than a gross floor

2208
01:47:41,360 --> 01:47:45,520
area of 1/2 the gross floor area of the

2209
01:47:45,520 --> 01:47:49,119
principal dwelling or

2210
01:47:49,119 --> 01:47:52,560
whichever is smaller.

2211
01:47:52,560 --> 01:47:52,880
Yeah.

2212
01:47:52,880 --> 01:47:54,560
>> So that's your that's your amendment.

2213
01:47:54,560 --> 01:47:57,440
>> It begins with one half.

2214
01:47:57,440 --> 01:47:58,000
>> Yep.

2215
01:47:58,000 --> 01:47:59,199
>> Yes. Yep.

2216
01:47:59,199 --> 01:48:00,800
>> All right. So we have we have an

2217
01:48:00,800 --> 01:48:03,280
amendment on the floor that needs to be

2218
01:48:03,280 --> 01:48:06,239
second.

2219
01:48:06,239 --> 01:48:10,159
>> So we so we have a motion made. We have

2220
01:48:10,159 --> 01:48:13,440
an amendment made and seconded. Now

2221
01:48:13,440 --> 01:48:15,280
discussion about the amendment. We're

2222
01:48:15,280 --> 01:48:20,470
just talking about the amendment. Dana.

2223
01:48:20,480 --> 01:48:23,360
Rosco, South Main Street, member of

2224
01:48:23,360 --> 01:48:26,320
the planning board. So, uh, the planning

2225
01:48:26,320 --> 01:48:29,360
board is required to have, um, a public

2226
01:48:29,360 --> 01:48:33,280
hearing, um, before it proposes any, um,

2227
01:48:33,280 --> 01:48:36,480
change to zoning bylaws. Um, we held

2228
01:48:36,480 --> 01:48:39,280
that public hearing, um, back in

2229
01:48:39,280 --> 01:48:43,440
January. Um, Larry and Phyllis attended.

2230
01:48:43,440 --> 01:48:47,679
Um the objection um that they raised at

2231
01:48:47,679 --> 01:48:53,040
that time uh was uh that uh a property

2232
01:48:53,040 --> 01:48:57,280
owner could take a closet uh in their

2233
01:48:57,280 --> 01:49:01,840
house and turn it into an ADU. The um

2234
01:49:01,840 --> 01:49:04,880
state law is actually very clear uh on

2235
01:49:04,880 --> 01:49:09,280
defining the minimum requirements for an

2236
01:49:09,280 --> 01:49:13,520
ADU. It must have a bedroom. It must

2237
01:49:13,520 --> 01:49:17,520
have a separate kitchen and it must have

2238
01:49:17,520 --> 01:49:22,719
a separate bath. They uh they initially

2239
01:49:22,719 --> 01:49:28,880
um asked us to uh to require a minimum

2240
01:49:28,880 --> 01:49:34,320
square footage of 350 square ft. We

2241
01:49:34,320 --> 01:49:37,199
asked uh the Franklin Regional Council

2242
01:49:37,199 --> 01:49:40,639
of Governments that was advising us on

2243
01:49:40,639 --> 01:49:45,199
this and FR COG said that that was

2244
01:49:45,199 --> 01:49:46,880
illegal.

2245
01:49:46,880 --> 01:49:49,280
Phyllis and Larry don't believe that

2246
01:49:49,280 --> 01:49:52,560
that's illegal. They said that the

2247
01:49:52,560 --> 01:49:54,080
citation

2248
01:49:54,080 --> 01:49:58,400
uh that the FROG was using was specific

2249
01:49:58,400 --> 01:50:01,119
to one municipality.

2250
01:50:01,119 --> 01:50:05,760
Um, I I I honestly um the the planning

2251
01:50:05,760 --> 01:50:09,600
board really really really

2252
01:50:09,600 --> 01:50:14,719
talked and met and considered this um

2253
01:50:14,719 --> 01:50:18,960
and and could not find um really a

2254
01:50:18,960 --> 01:50:25,679
viable uh uh argument uh to to favor uh

2255
01:50:25,679 --> 01:50:30,800
this uh language. uh and and felt like

2256
01:50:30,800 --> 01:50:34,639
uh what our our intention was to make it

2257
01:50:34,639 --> 01:50:40,880
easier for uh staff uh and the fact that

2258
01:50:40,880 --> 01:50:46,159
uh lever uh and uh weightely uh uh have

2259
01:50:46,159 --> 01:50:49,360
not had a problem I don't think is

2260
01:50:49,360 --> 01:50:53,040
necessarily gerine to Sundance. So I I

2261
01:50:53,040 --> 01:50:59,750
would not um be in favor of this.

2262
01:50:59,760 --> 01:51:02,560
» Okay. So So so basically

2263
01:51:02,560 --> 01:51:06,159
>> now now we need to address the moderator

2264
01:51:06,159 --> 01:51:08,800
>> and and now we're we're into a maximum

2265
01:51:08,800 --> 01:51:10,000
twominut response.

2266
01:51:10,000 --> 01:51:12,960
>> Uh Mr. moderator uh may I respectfully

2267
01:51:12,960 --> 01:51:18,320
say uh to uh Dana that uh some may I

2268
01:51:18,320 --> 01:51:19,600
respectfully say to Denny's we

2269
01:51:19,600 --> 01:51:21,360
mischaracterized some bits of that

2270
01:51:21,360 --> 01:51:25,840
meeting uh by a good deal but in fact

2271
01:51:25,840 --> 01:51:29,760
the law that we quoted to him and the u

2272
01:51:29,760 --> 01:51:31,920
the other town was dealing with is an

2273
01:51:31,920 --> 01:51:34,800
attorney general ruling uh it and it

2274
01:51:34,800 --> 01:51:37,599
doesn't say you can't have a minimum ADU

2275
01:51:37,599 --> 01:51:40,719
size it says you can't have a minimum

2276
01:51:40,719 --> 01:51:43,199
ADU size if you don't have a minimum

2277
01:51:43,199 --> 01:51:45,280
size for buildings for dwellings in

2278
01:51:45,280 --> 01:51:47,760
town. Sunland does not have a minimum

2279
01:51:47,760 --> 01:51:50,239
size for dwelling in town, meaning it

2280
01:51:50,239 --> 01:51:52,560
defaults to the state values

2281
01:51:52,560 --> 01:51:56,239
>> which is 100 square 150 square foot

2282
01:51:56,239 --> 01:51:57,520
minimum.

2283
01:51:57,520 --> 01:51:58,320
>> Thank you, Larry.

2284
01:51:58,320 --> 01:52:01,040
>> Thank you.

2285
01:52:01,040 --> 01:52:04,080
>> Um Jordan

2286
01:52:04,080 --> 01:52:07,119
um the minimum the when we said a closet

2287
01:52:07,119 --> 01:52:08,400
>> closer we can't hear you.

2288
01:52:08,400 --> 01:52:11,199
>> I'm sorry. Wow. Uh,

2289
01:52:11,199 --> 01:52:13,199
>> that's much better.

2290
01:52:13,199 --> 01:52:17,119
>> Yeah. When we said a closet, we were

2291
01:52:17,119 --> 01:52:21,360
talking about the state limit, which is

2292
01:52:21,360 --> 01:52:26,000
150 150 square ft for one room and 70

2293
01:52:26,000 --> 01:52:28,080
square ft for another. And we thought

2294
01:52:28,080 --> 01:52:31,199
that was very small. But again, they can

2295
01:52:31,199 --> 01:52:33,679
do that. Even if the even if it's

2296
01:52:33,679 --> 01:52:36,800
written the way it is, somebody can make

2297
01:52:36,800 --> 01:52:39,440
it that small. that's part of the state

2298
01:52:39,440 --> 01:52:46,719
law on it. Um, and we're looking to

2299
01:52:46,719 --> 01:52:51,040
uh we're looking to have limits

2300
01:52:51,040 --> 01:52:54,400
because ADUs are well I should be

2301
01:52:54,400 --> 01:52:58,560
answering um it right. We we did go to a

2302
01:52:58,560 --> 01:53:03,520
we went to a public meeting and the half

2303
01:53:03,520 --> 01:53:08,310
that we the the the

2304
01:53:08,320 --> 01:53:11,599
phrase that we're putting back in

2305
01:53:11,599 --> 01:53:14,560
was not was not addressed. They didn't

2306
01:53:14,560 --> 01:53:17,119
even say there were you know there was

2307
01:53:17,119 --> 01:53:19,119
no recording of the meeting that was in

2308
01:53:19,119 --> 01:53:22,880
a zoom or anything like that. So it's we

2309
01:53:22,880 --> 01:53:25,440
did bring up at the meeting the minimum

2310
01:53:25,440 --> 01:53:29,360
sizes and all that kind of stuff and

2311
01:53:29,360 --> 01:53:32,080
basically the only answer we got for

2312
01:53:32,080 --> 01:53:35,520
dropping that phrase was to

2313
01:53:35,520 --> 01:53:38,880
uh to help um administrative

2314
01:53:38,880 --> 01:53:44,960
duties and Grandby has the same uh building

2315
01:53:44,960 --> 01:53:47,840
inspector as Sunderland does. They're

2316
01:53:47,840 --> 01:53:49,520
doing them in Grandby. They're doing

2317
01:53:49,520 --> 01:53:54,159
them in Hadley. They're doing them in Sunderland.

2318
01:53:54,159 --> 01:53:55,920
There's like we said, there's already

2319
01:53:55,920 --> 01:53:57,119
two in Sunderland.

2320
01:53:57,119 --> 01:53:58,320
>> Thank you.

2321
01:53:58,320 --> 01:54:02,709
fellas.

2322
01:54:02,719 --> 01:54:04,880
» I like to spin around, too. Uh Doug

2323
01:54:04,880 --> 01:54:07,679
Fulton, uh 140 North Main Street, and

2324
01:54:07,679 --> 01:54:10,400
I'm also on the planning board. I just

2325
01:54:10,400 --> 01:54:14,800
briefly um do appreciate Larry and

2326
01:54:14,800 --> 01:54:16,719
Phyllis your participation in the

2327
01:54:16,719 --> 01:54:18,880
hearings and and meetings. We really do.

2328
01:54:18,880 --> 01:54:20,560
It's great. We're mostly lonely in the

2329
01:54:20,560 --> 01:54:22,159
meetings. Anybody who's been on meetings

2330
01:54:22,159 --> 01:54:26,639
knows how it goes. Um so having some um

2331
01:54:26,639 --> 01:54:28,639
further town participation is awesome.

2332
01:54:28,639 --> 01:54:31,440
We did hear the the concerns

2333
01:54:31,440 --> 01:54:33,760
um and we actually talked about them and

2334
01:54:33,760 --> 01:54:36,480
we went beyond that. We asked Furcog if

2335
01:54:36,480 --> 01:54:39,119
you could give us information about the

2336
01:54:39,119 --> 01:54:42,159
distribution of the housing sizes in

2337
01:54:42,159 --> 01:54:46,480
Sunderland. Um, and they it came back

2338
01:54:46,480 --> 01:54:48,080
because I you I think the one of your

2339
01:54:48,080 --> 01:54:51,119
main arguments and I did hear it is, you

2340
01:54:51,119 --> 01:54:53,520
know, a a what I'd call a t a tail

2341
01:54:53,520 --> 01:54:57,360
wagging the dog situation of the ADU um

2342
01:54:57,360 --> 01:54:59,760
being larger than the principal dwelling

2343
01:54:59,760 --> 01:55:02,159
unit uh somehow and and that's one of

2344
01:55:02,159 --> 01:55:04,719
the cases I think. Um

2345
01:55:04,719 --> 01:55:06,400
the other case would be developers

2346
01:55:06,400 --> 01:55:09,520
coming in by buying a lot and putting

2347
01:55:09,520 --> 01:55:12,320
two small

2348
01:55:12,320 --> 01:55:15,280
uh units on that lot while obeying all

2349
01:55:15,280 --> 01:55:18,080
our other zoning laws. I think for the

2350
01:55:18,080 --> 01:55:20,560
first case I mean again we looked we fur

2351
01:55:20,560 --> 01:55:24,480
came back did the distribution it's 2%

2352
01:55:24,480 --> 01:55:29,199
or less in Sunderland that are up to 900

2353
01:55:29,199 --> 01:55:32,960
square feet currently. Um, it's few,

2354
01:55:32,960 --> 01:55:35,119
very few and far between in this town.

2355
01:55:35,119 --> 01:55:36,960
So, it's not that's not really an issue

2356
01:55:36,960 --> 01:55:40,400
for us. And I'm not a developer, but I

2357
01:55:40,400 --> 01:55:41,599
think there's some in the room or there

2358
01:55:41,599 --> 01:55:43,840
were. Um, I don't think if they're

2359
01:55:43,840 --> 01:55:45,679
getting if they're buying a lot in

2360
01:55:45,679 --> 01:55:48,480
Sunderland and with our zoning laws and

2361
01:55:48,480 --> 01:55:50,560
the frontage that you need to have, what

2362
01:55:50,560 --> 01:55:53,840
they're putting in is uh effectively 2

2363
01:55:53,840 --> 01:55:58,400
ADUs or two 900 or less square foot

2364
01:55:58,400 --> 01:56:01,840
units. So it for those problems that we

2365
01:56:01,840 --> 01:56:04,960
don't see existing, then we're adding

2366
01:56:04,960 --> 01:56:07,760
this administrative burden and trying to

2367
01:56:07,760 --> 01:56:10,480
figure that and have and put that on our

2368
01:56:10,480 --> 01:56:13,360
building inspector. And I I personally

2369
01:56:13,360 --> 01:56:16,800
think that uh we actually have about

2370
01:56:16,800 --> 01:56:20,480
30ome% of the homes in Sunderland that

2371
01:56:20,480 --> 01:56:24,320
are 1,200 to 1,800 square ft who would

2372
01:56:24,320 --> 01:56:26,719
then be pro they would be prohibited

2373
01:56:26,719 --> 01:56:31,520
down to that half of the square footage.

2374
01:56:31,520 --> 01:56:34,159
Um while their neighbor who has a 2,000

2375
01:56:34,159 --> 01:56:37,119
square foot house wouldn't be uh in in

2376
01:56:37,119 --> 01:56:38,719
what they want to do with their ADU. And

2377
01:56:38,719 --> 01:56:42,960
I think putting that burden on them uh

2378
01:56:42,960 --> 01:56:46,159
isn't really equitable uh and and what

2379
01:56:46,159 --> 01:56:48,639
we want. And I so I think in that

2380
01:56:48,639 --> 01:56:51,679
situation, you know, I what the state

2381
01:56:51,679 --> 01:56:55,520
passed is something that that has to uh

2382
01:56:55,520 --> 01:56:59,119
work for 350

2383
01:56:59,119 --> 01:57:01,520
cities and towns in Massachusetts. Uh

2384
01:57:01,520 --> 01:57:03,360
Boston, I think, is excluded from that,

2385
01:57:03,360 --> 01:57:07,520
but all the other 350. Um, so of course

2386
01:57:07,520 --> 01:57:10,800
it's not going to be exactly right for

2387
01:57:10,800 --> 01:57:14,239
every town, which is why we made um a

2388
01:57:14,239 --> 01:57:16,320
couple of the changes the way we did. So

2389
01:57:16,320 --> 01:57:18,800
I would also be opposed to the

2390
01:57:18,800 --> 01:57:22,400
amendment. Thank you.

2391
01:57:22,400 --> 01:57:25,679
>> So at this time, Larry, I'm going to

2392
01:57:25,679 --> 01:57:29,920
we've been up a few times and talk. So

2393
01:57:29,920 --> 01:57:32,480
basically for for the moderator in town

2394
01:57:32,480 --> 01:57:34,560
meeting to address it, it has to meet

2395
01:57:34,560 --> 01:57:36,960
the corners of the they call it the four

2396
01:57:36,960 --> 01:57:38,480
corners.

2397
01:57:38,480 --> 01:57:41,760
The way it was presented, the amendment

2398
01:57:41,760 --> 01:57:44,560
met the requirements for an amendment to

2399
01:57:44,560 --> 01:57:47,840
be voted on by town meeting. So we're

2400
01:57:47,840 --> 01:57:49,760
not right now we're going to vote

2401
01:57:49,760 --> 01:57:53,360
specifically on the amendment.

2402
01:57:53,360 --> 01:57:56,080
only has to pass by a

2403
01:57:56,080 --> 01:57:58,320
majority vote.

2404
01:57:58,320 --> 01:58:00,880
So we are voting on the the amendment

2405
01:58:00,880 --> 01:58:03,760
and the amendment is

2406
01:58:03,760 --> 01:58:06,560
adding the words half the gross floor

2407
01:58:06,560 --> 01:58:10,159
area of the principal dwelling or

2408
01:58:10,159 --> 01:58:13,280
whichever is smaller. And that's under

2409
01:58:13,280 --> 01:58:16,239
12516B7

2410
01:58:16,239 --> 01:58:18,400
and 12516

2411
01:58:18,400 --> 01:58:24,480
C2 AI. adding the words after floor area

2412
01:58:24,480 --> 01:58:27,920
of 1/2 the gross floor area of the

2413
01:58:27,920 --> 01:58:31,360
principal dwelling or whichever is

2414
01:58:31,360 --> 01:58:37,760
smaller 950 ft whichever is smaller.

2415
01:58:37,760 --> 01:58:40,000
Without seeing any other additional

2416
01:58:40,000 --> 01:58:42,080
question cards, we are voting on the

2417
01:58:42,080 --> 01:58:44,239
amendment. All those in favor of the

2418
01:58:44,239 --> 01:58:46,080
amendment,

2419
01:58:46,080 --> 01:58:48,719
green cards.

2420
01:58:48,719 --> 01:58:51,119
All those opposed to the amendment red

2421
01:58:51,119 --> 01:58:53,119
cards.

2422
01:58:53,119 --> 01:58:55,920
The moderator will declare that the

2423
01:58:55,920 --> 01:59:01,520
amendment fails. Now we go back to but

2424
01:59:01,520 --> 01:59:04,880
that is in moderator and town meeting

2425
01:59:04,880 --> 01:59:07,920
land. That's how an amendment should be

2426
01:59:07,920 --> 01:59:10,320
offered. The discussion was great

2427
01:59:10,320 --> 01:59:14,000
discussion by both parties of of why we

2428
01:59:14,000 --> 01:59:18,400
did it. the changes and the questions of

2429
01:59:18,400 --> 01:59:21,760
the that was outstanding. So right now

2430
01:59:21,760 --> 01:59:25,040
the vote on the amendment fails. We are

2431
01:59:25,040 --> 01:59:26,960
going to the article 10 the original

2432
01:59:26,960 --> 01:59:29,920
article 10. All those in favor of

2433
01:59:29,920 --> 01:59:32,639
article 10 which is the original bet

2434
01:59:32,639 --> 01:59:34,960
presented by the planning board hold up

2435
01:59:34,960 --> 01:59:38,159
your green cards.

2436
01:59:38,159 --> 01:59:42,239
This is 2/3. All those opposed red cards

2437
01:59:42,239 --> 01:59:44,480
declare 2/3.

2438
01:59:44,480 --> 01:59:48,070
Article passes.

2439
01:59:48,080 --> 01:59:50,400
» Article 11.

2440
01:59:50,400 --> 01:59:53,440
>> I motion we move article 11.

2441
01:59:53,440 --> 01:59:59,910
>> Second.

2442
01:59:59,920 --> 02:00:01,840
» So this is the article that sets the

2443
02:00:01,840 --> 02:00:04,239
revolving account limits for all of our

2444
02:00:04,239 --> 02:00:06,000
town departments. Um certain town

2445
02:00:06,000 --> 02:00:07,679
departments need to be able to bring in

2446
02:00:07,679 --> 02:00:09,360
fees and then spend those fees on

2447
02:00:09,360 --> 02:00:11,360
expenses throughout the year. Um and so

2448
02:00:11,360 --> 02:00:13,280
they have revolving accounts for them.

2449
02:00:13,280 --> 02:00:14,800
uh the state requires us to set limits

2450
02:00:14,800 --> 02:00:16,560
on those and those are what are

2451
02:00:16,560 --> 02:00:19,199
presented here.

2452
02:00:19,199 --> 02:00:22,550
Any conversation?

2453
02:00:22,560 --> 02:00:24,639
Any questions? Without seeing any yellow

2454
02:00:24,639 --> 02:00:27,440
cards?

2455
02:00:27,440 --> 02:00:30,159
All those in favor of article 11, raise

2456
02:00:30,159 --> 02:00:32,560
your green cards.

2457
02:00:32,560 --> 02:00:36,080
Opposed on article 11, red cards

2458
02:00:36,080 --> 02:00:38,560
declare unanimous.

2459
02:00:38,560 --> 02:00:42,800
Now, articles 12 through 17 are what we

2460
02:00:42,800 --> 02:00:45,520
call consent articles. This is allows

2461
02:00:45,520 --> 02:00:48,320
the town to do its normal business. So,

2462
02:00:48,320 --> 02:00:53,840
we take 12 through 17 as in unison. A

2463
02:00:53,840 --> 02:00:55,280
motion.

2464
02:00:55,280 --> 02:00:58,320
>> I move articles 12 through 17.

2465
02:00:58,320 --> 02:01:02,390
>> Second.

2466
02:01:02,400 --> 02:01:08,070
Any discussion on the consent articles

2467
02:01:08,080 --> 02:01:11,040
without hearing or seeing any yellow

2468
02:01:11,040 --> 02:01:12,560
cards?

2469
02:01:12,560 --> 02:01:14,000
All those in favor of the consent

2470
02:01:14,000 --> 02:01:16,800
articles

2471
02:01:16,800 --> 02:01:21,350
oppose red.

2472
02:01:21,360 --> 02:01:27,510
Declare it unanimous.

2473
02:01:27,520 --> 02:01:33,199
Now, article 18 is a citizen's petition.

2474
02:01:33,199 --> 02:01:36,480
>> I motion we move article 18

2475
02:01:36,480 --> 02:01:39,440
>> seconded. And at this time, I'd like the

2476
02:01:39,440 --> 02:01:41,520
citizen that put in the petition to

2477
02:01:41,520 --> 02:01:45,350
speak on the petition.

2478
02:01:45,360 --> 02:01:48,880
» Uh Will Sllin, 34 South Main Street. I

2479
02:01:48,880 --> 02:01:51,520
have a 3 and 1/2 minute read for the

2480
02:01:51,520 --> 02:01:55,119
petition. I want to before that I want

2481
02:01:55,119 --> 02:01:57,280
to thank you all for coming and staying

2482
02:01:57,280 --> 02:02:00,000
and hearing this. And I want to also

2483
02:02:00,000 --> 02:02:03,360
reiterate appreciation to folks on the

2484
02:02:03,360 --> 02:02:05,599
stage and those on the floor who have

2485
02:02:05,599 --> 02:02:08,239
put all the time and work into uh being

2486
02:02:08,239 --> 02:02:11,040
ready for tonight. Uh running town

2487
02:02:11,040 --> 02:02:12,800
government's pretty complicated. It's

2488
02:02:12,800 --> 02:02:14,960
not getting any simpler. and I'm very

2489
02:02:14,960 --> 02:02:16,880
grateful to have uh people like

2490
02:02:16,880 --> 02:02:21,520
yourselves who spend a lot of time uh to

2491
02:02:21,520 --> 02:02:29,189
help our town run. So, thank you.

2492
02:02:29,199 --> 02:02:32,239
With that said, uh this article is a bit

2493
02:02:32,239 --> 02:02:36,320
of a criticism. So, here I go. In 2018,

2494
02:02:36,320 --> 02:02:38,159
annual town meeting authorized the

2495
02:02:38,159 --> 02:02:39,760
select board to aggregate the

2496
02:02:39,760 --> 02:02:41,679
electricity load of Sunderland residents

2497
02:02:41,679 --> 02:02:44,400
and businesses and enter into agreements

2498
02:02:44,400 --> 02:02:46,880
to purchase electric energy services

2499
02:02:46,880 --> 02:02:49,840
independently or with other towns. It

2500
02:02:49,840 --> 02:02:52,480
was expected but that by aggregation and

2501
02:02:52,480 --> 02:02:54,080
going through a competitive bidding

2502
02:02:54,080 --> 02:02:56,080
process that the town would secure

2503
02:02:56,080 --> 02:02:58,480
supplier rates lower than that offered

2504
02:02:58,480 --> 02:03:00,880
by Eversource. It would also provide

2505
02:03:00,880 --> 02:03:03,040
rateayers town approved options to

2506
02:03:03,040 --> 02:03:04,719
purchase energy greener than that

2507
02:03:04,719 --> 02:03:07,040
supplied by Eversource.

2508
02:03:07,040 --> 02:03:08,639
The first third three three-year

2509
02:03:08,639 --> 02:03:11,440
contract was secured in 2020, not long

2510
02:03:11,440 --> 02:03:13,679
after the ink dried on that contract,

2511
02:03:13,679 --> 02:03:15,440
Eversource's rates increased

2512
02:03:15,440 --> 02:03:18,719
substantially on into 2022.

2513
02:03:18,719 --> 02:03:22,080
Assuming approximately 1500 rateayers in

2514
02:03:22,080 --> 02:03:24,960
Sunderland, savings on average was about

2515
02:03:24,960 --> 02:03:28,719
$800 per rateayer. The program delivered

2516
02:03:28,719 --> 02:03:31,440
beautifully as promised and was a silver

2517
02:03:31,440 --> 02:03:34,239
lining during a very difficult period.

2518
02:03:34,239 --> 02:03:36,080
All those involved, particularly members

2519
02:03:36,080 --> 02:03:37,440
of the select board and the energy

2520
02:03:37,440 --> 02:03:39,360
committee, deserve credit for making

2521
02:03:39,360 --> 02:03:41,760
those savings possible.

2522
02:03:41,760 --> 02:03:44,080
Now it's 2026.

2523
02:03:44,080 --> 02:03:45,920
A recent decision by the select board

2524
02:03:45,920 --> 02:03:47,679
was the catalyst to bring this article

2525
02:03:47,679 --> 02:03:49,840
forward. Having an opportunity to

2526
02:03:49,840 --> 02:03:52,000
default the rate payers into an option

2527
02:03:52,000 --> 02:03:53,760
more affordable than Eversource's

2528
02:03:53,760 --> 02:03:55,599
current rate, the board voted to default

2529
02:03:55,599 --> 02:03:58,080
the rate payers into a more expensive

2530
02:03:58,080 --> 02:04:00,320
option that further exceeded

2531
02:04:00,320 --> 02:04:04,080
Massachusetts mandates for green energy.

2532
02:04:04,080 --> 02:04:06,159
This is not town money that is being

2533
02:04:06,159 --> 02:04:08,320
spent and without some explicit

2534
02:04:08,320 --> 02:04:10,159
authorization, it shouldn't be the

2535
02:04:10,159 --> 02:04:12,880
select board's choice to increase and

2536
02:04:12,880 --> 02:04:15,040
direct a private citizen spending to

2537
02:04:15,040 --> 02:04:18,080
fulfill a perceived public priority.

2538
02:04:18,080 --> 02:04:20,880
The utility bills go to the individual

2539
02:04:20,880 --> 02:04:23,199
rate payer and the bills are paid from

2540
02:04:23,199 --> 02:04:25,599
each individual's bank account. If

2541
02:04:25,599 --> 02:04:27,840
expenses exceed an individual's ability

2542
02:04:27,840 --> 02:04:30,480
to pay on time, Eversource doesn't send

2543
02:04:30,480 --> 02:04:32,639
a note to the town. It's the individual

2544
02:04:32,639 --> 02:04:35,760
rateayer who is on the hook. I made a

2545
02:04:35,760 --> 02:04:38,000
survey at the website of the Colonial

2546
02:04:38,000 --> 02:04:40,400
Power Group, the vendor that provides

2547
02:04:40,400 --> 02:04:42,800
the electricity supply options for towns

2548
02:04:42,800 --> 02:04:44,239
participating in the municipal

2549
02:04:44,239 --> 02:04:47,199
aggregation program. And there was a

2550
02:04:47,199 --> 02:04:49,119
handout. You might have seen it on the

2551
02:04:49,119 --> 02:04:52,719
way in. Of 10 towns, Sunderland and its

2552
02:04:52,719 --> 02:04:54,639
nine neighboring towns that work with

2553
02:04:54,639 --> 02:04:57,040
Colonial Power Group, Sunderland

2554
02:04:57,040 --> 02:04:59,440
currently has the most expensive default

2555
02:04:59,440 --> 02:05:02,800
option. Sunderland also has the most

2556
02:05:02,800 --> 02:05:05,119
expensive, lowest cost option of those

2557
02:05:05,119 --> 02:05:08,080
10 towns. And finally, Sunderland is

2558
02:05:08,080 --> 02:05:10,320
currently one of just two of those towns

2559
02:05:10,320 --> 02:05:12,320
that defaults their rate payers to an

2560
02:05:12,320 --> 02:05:15,199
option other than the least expensive

2561
02:05:15,199 --> 02:05:17,119
one available.

2562
02:05:17,119 --> 02:05:18,960
The select board will benefit from this

2563
02:05:18,960 --> 02:05:21,440
article should it pass or fail. If it

2564
02:05:21,440 --> 02:05:24,239
passes, the board has clear instructions

2565
02:05:24,239 --> 02:05:26,320
by a vote directly from the floor of

2566
02:05:26,320 --> 02:05:28,480
annual town meeting to default the

2567
02:05:28,480 --> 02:05:30,880
rateayers into the most affordable rate

2568
02:05:30,880 --> 02:05:33,840
that meets the state mandates and the

2569
02:05:33,840 --> 02:05:36,159
more expensive energy mixes become the

2570
02:05:36,159 --> 02:05:39,360
options. If the article fails, then the

2571
02:05:39,360 --> 02:05:41,280
select board's decision to raise the Sun

2572
02:05:41,280 --> 02:05:43,840
Sunderland's rates will by default be

2573
02:05:43,840 --> 02:05:46,880
affirmed at an annual town meeting. I

2574
02:05:46,880 --> 02:05:48,800
submit that the Sunderland rateayers

2575
02:05:48,800 --> 02:05:50,719
should have the benefit of the lowest

2576
02:05:50,719 --> 02:05:52,960
cost option that meets the state

2577
02:05:52,960 --> 02:05:55,199
mandates for their electricity as the

2578
02:05:55,199 --> 02:05:57,520
default and the opportunity to spend

2579
02:05:57,520 --> 02:06:00,159
more on greener options if that is their

2580
02:06:00,159 --> 02:06:02,960
priority. I will be voting yes on this

2581
02:06:02,960 --> 02:06:06,639
article. Thank you very much.

2582
02:06:06,639 --> 02:06:10,400
>> Any additional comments, questions?

2583
02:06:10,400 --> 02:06:13,679
Okay, just so we go into it, Mr. Mr.

2584
02:06:13,679 --> 02:06:17,360
Sillin and I talked before and I limited

2585
02:06:17,360 --> 02:06:20,400
Mr. Sillin to 3 minutes and 30 seconds

2586
02:06:20,400 --> 02:06:24,719
approximately. So any debate I want to

2587
02:06:24,719 --> 02:06:26,880
hold the same thing 3 minutes and 30

2588
02:06:26,880 --> 02:06:37,270
seconds. Aaron,

2589
02:06:37,280 --> 02:06:40,079
thank you. Aaron Falbo, 422 Ammeris

2590
02:06:40,079 --> 02:06:41,920
Road. I'm also a member of the

2591
02:06:41,920 --> 02:06:44,400
Sunderland Energy Committee. I just

2592
02:06:44,400 --> 02:06:46,159
wanted to point out that the handout

2593
02:06:46,159 --> 02:06:49,599
that Mr. Sillin referred to has 10 towns

2594
02:06:49,599 --> 02:06:52,480
listed. The actual aggregation con

2595
02:06:52,480 --> 02:06:54,800
consists of 16 towns. So there is some

2596
02:06:54,800 --> 02:06:57,599
data missing that's in front of you and

2597
02:06:57,599 --> 02:06:59,440
I'm not sure that it holds that

2598
02:06:59,440 --> 02:07:02,239
Sunderland is the most expensive. Let me

2599
02:07:02,239 --> 02:07:05,760
go back to how the aggregation was

2600
02:07:05,760 --> 02:07:08,560
created, why it was voted on the way it

2601
02:07:08,560 --> 02:07:10,239
was.

2602
02:07:10,239 --> 02:07:15,599
In 2019 in June we the energy committee

2603
02:07:15,599 --> 02:07:19,119
conducted a survey in town. We didn't

2604
02:07:19,119 --> 02:07:22,079
presume to know what residents wanted in

2605
02:07:22,079 --> 02:07:24,239
terms of this aggregation. So we

2606
02:07:24,239 --> 02:07:27,040
conducted a survey uh this was now seven

2607
02:07:27,040 --> 02:07:28,320
years ago. I don't have the exact

2608
02:07:28,320 --> 02:07:31,520
numbers, but I can tell you about 60%

2609
02:07:31,520 --> 02:07:34,079
of the respondents of that survey said

2610
02:07:34,079 --> 02:07:37,280
we wanted the most renewable energy we

2611
02:07:37,280 --> 02:07:41,280
could get at a price point at or below

2612
02:07:41,280 --> 02:07:44,320
every source's price. A small handful of

2613
02:07:44,320 --> 02:07:46,560
people said, "We want the most renewable

2614
02:07:46,560 --> 02:07:48,239
energy could get regardless of the

2615
02:07:48,239 --> 02:07:51,679
price." Another small handful said, "We

2616
02:07:51,679 --> 02:07:53,840
want the cheapest energy we can get

2617
02:07:53,840 --> 02:07:56,800
regardless of the renewable content." So

2618
02:07:56,800 --> 02:07:59,520
the greatest majority said we want as

2619
02:07:59,520 --> 02:08:01,840
much renewable energy as we can get but

2620
02:08:01,840 --> 02:08:04,480
at a a reasonable price and that's

2621
02:08:04,480 --> 02:08:06,480
exactly what the energy committee has

2622
02:08:06,480 --> 02:08:09,119
endeavored to do. When we adopted the

2623
02:08:09,119 --> 02:08:12,960
aggregation program I said at this body

2624
02:08:12,960 --> 02:08:17,119
at town meeting said we do not control

2625
02:08:17,119 --> 02:08:20,880
every source's price rate. They adjust

2626
02:08:20,880 --> 02:08:23,520
their price every six months.

2627
02:08:23,520 --> 02:08:25,520
The aggregation contract was typically

2628
02:08:25,520 --> 02:08:28,960
two years or three years um providing

2629
02:08:28,960 --> 02:08:31,760
price stability which was also a a

2630
02:08:31,760 --> 02:08:35,840
beneficial feature. So during most of

2631
02:08:35,840 --> 02:08:37,679
the aggregation years that we've been a

2632
02:08:37,679 --> 02:08:40,159
part of this project as Mr. Sen pointed

2633
02:08:40,159 --> 02:08:42,560
out the price has been lower than ever

2634
02:08:42,560 --> 02:08:44,560
sources and we saved the town's

2635
02:08:44,560 --> 02:08:47,119
rateayers over $2 million over the

2636
02:08:47,119 --> 02:08:49,440
course of the aggregation while also

2637
02:08:49,440 --> 02:08:54,000
providing additional renewable energy.

2638
02:08:54,000 --> 02:08:56,000
There have been points and one of them

2639
02:08:56,000 --> 02:08:59,679
was in the last um 6 months whenever

2640
02:08:59,679 --> 02:09:01,840
Sourc's rate dipped below our

2641
02:09:01,840 --> 02:09:04,239
aggregation rate. They happened to go

2642
02:09:04,239 --> 02:09:06,079
out to bid. Ever Source went out to bid

2643
02:09:06,079 --> 02:09:08,719
at a time when the market was at a

2644
02:09:08,719 --> 02:09:11,360
minimum. If they had gone out to bid

2645
02:09:11,360 --> 02:09:13,440
even a couple weeks later, they would

2646
02:09:13,440 --> 02:09:15,360
have had to pay a much bigger price.

2647
02:09:15,360 --> 02:09:19,199
They got very lucky. Um, and at that

2648
02:09:19,199 --> 02:09:21,760
point, we came to the select board to

2649
02:09:21,760 --> 02:09:24,239
notify them and the residents of Sunland

2650
02:09:24,239 --> 02:09:26,400
that now the aggregation rate was higher

2651
02:09:26,400 --> 02:09:28,320
than Eversource's rate. We gave them

2652
02:09:28,320 --> 02:09:31,920
information how they could change their

2653
02:09:31,920 --> 02:09:33,920
supplier back to Eversource if that's

2654
02:09:33,920 --> 02:09:37,679
what they wanted to do. So in some the

2655
02:09:37,679 --> 02:09:40,079
energy committ committee has been doing

2656
02:09:40,079 --> 02:09:42,400
what we interpreted the people of this

2657
02:09:42,400 --> 02:09:45,360
town wanted us to do. The mission of the

2658
02:09:45,360 --> 02:09:48,079
energy committee itself is to guide the

2659
02:09:48,079 --> 02:09:51,760
town toward a renewable energy future.

2660
02:09:51,760 --> 02:09:54,880
If this U petition were to pass, that

2661
02:09:54,880 --> 02:09:56,880
would no longer be the case because the

2662
02:09:56,880 --> 02:09:58,400
cheapest

2663
02:09:58,400 --> 02:10:02,639
default would necessarily be the minimum

2664
02:10:02,639 --> 02:10:05,440
renewable energy required by law. That's

2665
02:10:05,440 --> 02:10:08,239
not what the energy committee is set up

2666
02:10:08,239 --> 02:10:10,719
to do and that's not what we interpret

2667
02:10:10,719 --> 02:10:13,440
the will of the town to be. So that's

2668
02:10:13,440 --> 02:10:15,760
why I would urge you to vote against

2669
02:10:15,760 --> 02:10:17,679
this petition.

2670
02:10:17,679 --> 02:10:19,360
>> Thank you, Marin. Are there any more

2671
02:10:19,360 --> 02:10:20,960
comments?

2672
02:10:20,960 --> 02:10:22,560
I just want to add one one thing and

2673
02:10:22,560 --> 02:10:24,960
Erin kind of um touched on this but uh

2674
02:10:24,960 --> 02:10:27,679
the aggregate rate is not the default

2675
02:10:27,679 --> 02:10:29,280
rate for people who are in town on

2676
02:10:29,280 --> 02:10:31,040
Eversource is the def it's you have to

2677
02:10:31,040 --> 02:10:32,719
opt into it and then you can also opt

2678
02:10:32,719 --> 02:10:34,480
out of it at any time and opt back in

2679
02:10:34,480 --> 02:10:36,239
and opt back out and opt back in and so

2680
02:10:36,239 --> 02:10:38,960
if Eversource does dip below the cost of

2681
02:10:38,960 --> 02:10:40,159
the aggregate you can switch to

2682
02:10:40,159 --> 02:10:41,679
Eversource and then it dips back up and

2683
02:10:41,679 --> 02:10:43,360
you can switch back to the aggregate. Um

2684
02:10:43,360 --> 02:10:45,199
so it does give that flexibility there.

2685
02:10:45,199 --> 02:10:48,000
So, it's not um a pure straight you're

2686
02:10:48,000 --> 02:10:49,599
locked in for some period of time and if

2687
02:10:49,599 --> 02:10:50,880
it if if it ever sort of drops down

2688
02:10:50,880 --> 02:10:52,639
below, you're losing money. Um you do

2689
02:10:52,639 --> 02:10:54,000
have the ability to be able to switch

2690
02:10:54,000 --> 02:10:58,310
back and forth between the two.

2691
02:10:58,320 --> 02:11:01,520
» Mr. Sillin,

2692
02:11:01,520 --> 02:11:06,320
>> I uh answer to the uh the handout. Um I

2693
02:11:06,320 --> 02:11:10,239
don't know what towns are in the uh

2694
02:11:10,239 --> 02:11:13,040
aggregate pool. I just took a map out

2695
02:11:13,040 --> 02:11:15,440
and took the nearest towns to Sunderland

2696
02:11:15,440 --> 02:11:18,800
and not all of them are in colonials uh

2697
02:11:18,800 --> 02:11:22,079
operating uh you know bidding process.

2698
02:11:22,079 --> 02:11:24,560
So I don't know what you know I've seen

2699
02:11:24,560 --> 02:11:27,520
15 towns, 12 towns, 16 towns. These are

2700
02:11:27,520 --> 02:11:29,599
the towns that just are around us. And

2701
02:11:29,599 --> 02:11:33,119
so what I said might not be true for all

2702
02:11:33,119 --> 02:11:37,040
the towns in the uh the whatever we're

2703
02:11:37,040 --> 02:11:45,360
aggregated with, but it is true for the nearest towns to us. um in terms of

2704
02:11:45,360 --> 02:11:47,679
sort of the priorities or the philosophy

2705
02:11:47,679 --> 02:11:50,719
that I think is appropriate for the

2706
02:11:50,719 --> 02:11:53,679
situation where the town is um

2707
02:11:53,679 --> 02:11:57,440
essentially managing uh a program for

2708
02:11:57,440 --> 02:12:00,000
private citizens with their own money.

2709
02:12:00,000 --> 02:12:02,320
Regardless of the result of a survey,

2710
02:12:02,320 --> 02:12:07,119
you still have a number of people who uh

2711
02:12:07,119 --> 02:12:10,320
don't want to have been opted up to a

2712
02:12:10,320 --> 02:12:13,199
higher rate. So, somebody's got, you

2713
02:12:13,199 --> 02:12:16,159
know, sets up and and and for years the

2714
02:12:16,159 --> 02:12:18,079
town has defaulted to the lowest rate of

2715
02:12:18,079 --> 02:12:22,400
those that were made available. Um,

2716
02:12:22,400 --> 02:12:25,440
then when you change the next year and

2717
02:12:25,440 --> 02:12:27,599
you say you want to opt it up to uh

2718
02:12:27,599 --> 02:12:28,960
you're going to use a higher rate,

2719
02:12:28,960 --> 02:12:30,400
you're going to use that more aggressive

2720
02:12:30,400 --> 02:12:33,119
green rate, the people have to pay

2721
02:12:33,119 --> 02:12:35,360
attention to this and and opt back down

2722
02:12:35,360 --> 02:12:38,000
again. the the way it should work when

2723
02:12:38,000 --> 02:12:40,239
you're spending private people's money

2724
02:12:40,239 --> 02:12:43,280
is uh just like the public bidding

2725
02:12:43,280 --> 02:12:45,920
process if it meets state requirements

2726
02:12:45,920 --> 02:12:49,679
you take the lowest bid. So the idea

2727
02:12:49,679 --> 02:12:52,560
should be in my opinion that if the town

2728
02:12:52,560 --> 02:12:54,159
is going to have this program where

2729
02:12:54,159 --> 02:12:56,480
people have been co-opted into it, take

2730
02:12:56,480 --> 02:12:59,520
the lowest bid. And I think Aaron, you

2731
02:12:59,520 --> 02:13:02,400
can have uh Aaron could have the other

2732
02:13:02,400 --> 02:13:05,040
options be very aggressive, very green,

2733
02:13:05,040 --> 02:13:07,920
and if he's right, people will op up to

2734
02:13:07,920 --> 02:13:10,880
those uh to those options. People

2735
02:13:10,880 --> 02:13:15,440
shouldn't be forced to opt down to uh uh

2736
02:13:15,440 --> 02:13:17,840
to save money. That's all. If you want

2737
02:13:17,840 --> 02:13:20,000
to spend money, it's an option to go up.

2738
02:13:20,000 --> 02:13:22,800
You don't force people to have to opt

2739
02:13:22,800 --> 02:13:25,920
down to save money. And a lot of people

2740
02:13:25,920 --> 02:13:29,440
don't even know about the program. Um,

2741
02:13:29,440 --> 02:13:33,119
and there's people who uh are very busy.

2742
02:13:33,119 --> 02:13:34,639
You know, they're down they're getting

2743
02:13:34,639 --> 02:13:36,239
down toward the finish line. They've

2744
02:13:36,239 --> 02:13:38,159
only got a certain amount of money. They

2745
02:13:38,159 --> 02:13:39,760
don't have time to follow what's going

2746
02:13:39,760 --> 02:13:42,639
on uh with the energy program, but they

2747
02:13:42,639 --> 02:13:44,480
got to pay the bills and they're trying

2748
02:13:44,480 --> 02:13:46,159
to get to the finish line with having a

2749
02:13:46,159 --> 02:13:48,079
little bit left. So, those are the

2750
02:13:48,079 --> 02:13:52,560
people too think about. They're not even aware of a poll. Thank

2751
02:13:52,560 --> 02:13:53,199
you very much.

2752
02:13:53,199 --> 02:13:56,079
>> Thank you, Mr. Sing.

2753
02:13:56,079 --> 02:13:58,719
>> Okay. So, one of the questions you

2754
02:13:58,719 --> 02:14:00,719
you'll notice in the article, it says

2755
02:14:00,719 --> 02:14:02,719
move that the vote and it talks about

2756
02:14:02,719 --> 02:14:06,560
that this is a nonbinding

2757
02:14:06,560 --> 02:14:09,440
resolution.

2758
02:14:09,440 --> 02:14:12,560
It's nonbinding because although the

2759
02:14:12,560 --> 02:14:15,280
town meeting is a legislative body, the

2760
02:14:15,280 --> 02:14:18,480
legislative body makes re cannot tell

2761
02:14:18,480 --> 02:14:22,639
the select board what to do, but it can

2762
02:14:22,639 --> 02:14:25,840
make recommendations. So that's why it

2763
02:14:25,840 --> 02:14:30,870
says nonbinding.

2764
02:14:30,880 --> 02:14:33,360
All right.

2765
02:14:33,360 --> 02:14:35,199
All those

2766
02:14:35,199 --> 02:14:37,840
that are in favor

2767
02:14:37,840 --> 02:14:40,960
of the citizens petition, please raise

2768
02:14:40,960 --> 02:14:47,510
your green cards.

2769
02:14:47,520 --> 02:14:49,920
All those opposed,

2770
02:14:49,920 --> 02:14:53,679
raise your red cards.

2771
02:14:53,679 --> 02:14:56,320
The moderator declares

2772
02:14:56,320 --> 02:14:59,599
the no vote,

2773
02:14:59,599 --> 02:15:04,079
carries the motion, so it's voted no.

2774
02:15:04,079 --> 02:15:06,639
At this time, the town clerk the town

2775
02:15:06,639 --> 02:15:08,800
clerk has some very important words of

2776
02:15:08,800 --> 02:15:20,390
wisdom for us all.

2777
02:15:20,400 --> 02:15:22,960
I move the meeting adjourned to meet at

2778
02:15:22,960 --> 02:15:25,199
to the polling place in the community

2779
02:15:25,199 --> 02:15:27,760
room at the Sunderland Public Library,

2780
02:15:27,760 --> 02:15:30,239
20 School Street in Sunderland on

2781
02:15:30,239 --> 02:15:34,560
Saturday the 2nd day of May, 2026 from

2782
02:15:34,560 --> 02:15:36,880
8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to act on the

2783
02:15:36,880 --> 02:15:38,560
following.

2784
02:15:38,560 --> 02:15:41,119
The elected offices assessor one for

2785
02:15:41,119 --> 02:15:42,960
three years, select board one for three

2786
02:15:42,960 --> 02:15:44,800
years. Board of Health one for three

2787
02:15:44,800 --> 02:15:47,840
years. Library trustee, three for three

2788
02:15:47,840 --> 02:15:50,719
years. Moderator, one for one year.

2789
02:15:50,719 --> 02:15:53,360
Planning board one for five years.

2790
02:15:53,360 --> 02:15:55,920
Riverside Cemetery Trustee one for three

2791
02:15:55,920 --> 02:15:58,400
years. Sunderland Elementary School

2792
02:15:58,400 --> 02:16:01,040
Committee two for three years. And

2793
02:16:01,040 --> 02:16:03,599
Frontier Regional School one for three

2794
02:16:03,599 --> 02:16:05,599
years.

2795
02:16:05,599 --> 02:16:07,199
Question one. Shall the town of

2796
02:16:07,199 --> 02:16:08,960
Sunderland be allowed to assess an

2797
02:16:08,960 --> 02:16:11,520
additional 800,000 in real estate and

2798
02:16:11,520 --> 02:16:14,159
personal property taxes for the purpose

2799
02:16:14,159 --> 02:16:16,400
of funding the operating budgets of the

2800
02:16:16,400 --> 02:16:18,719
town and the public schools for the

2801
02:16:18,719 --> 02:16:24,790
fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026

2802
02:16:24,800 --> 02:16:27,119
and upon closure of the polls to

2803
02:16:27,119 --> 02:16:29,760
dissolve the meeting.

2804
02:16:29,760 --> 02:16:30,560
>> So second.

2805
02:16:30,560 --> 02:16:32,719
>> So that's a motion.

2806
02:16:32,719 --> 02:16:34,880
>> Do we have it? Motion made

2807
02:16:34,880 --> 02:16:35,679
>> second. I did

2808
02:16:35,679 --> 02:16:36,800
>> and seconded.

2809
02:16:36,800 --> 02:16:37,359
>> Thank you.

2810
02:16:37,359 --> 02:16:37,920
>> Yep.

2811
02:16:37,920 --> 02:16:42,080
>> Any further discussion about going home?

2812
02:16:42,080 --> 02:16:44,479
>> Okay. All those that want to uh dissolve

2813
02:16:44,479 --> 02:16:47,280
after the town election next Saturdays,

2814
02:16:47,280 --> 02:16:51,990
raise your green cards. Opposed.

2815
02:16:52,000 --> 02:16:53,679
You almost got that red card up, didn't

2816
02:16:53,679 --> 02:16:56,479
you? Declare it unanimous. Thank you

2817
02:16:56,479 --> 02:16:58,559
everyone. Thank you. Great discussion.

2818
02:16:58,559 --> 02:17:02,200
Thank you so much everybody.