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Good evening, everyone. I am going to officially call the meeting of June 15th, 2026, to order. All members are present, except for Councillor Anderson.

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Town Clerk has this meeting been properly noticed? Yes, it has. Great. I'll ask that everyone please silence your electronic devices, however you do so, and then please rise if you are willing and able for the Pledge of Allegiance.

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I

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pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation

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under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

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Thank you. A note from me as chair, I ask that while we hold this space together, we treat every person here with respect and compassion as we work to serve out the duties of our town.

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Are there any adjustments to the agenda,

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Councillor Teemee?

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So I think the answer is maybe because I didn't get an answer back to my email.

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Are we going to be able to have a discussion about the Cousela piece during the manager's

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report?

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Yep.

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And is that the sort of discussion that allows for a motion or would that have to be included

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as an agenda item?

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The, we could do motions in between items, like if something was going to be added to the agenda.

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So after the manager's report.

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Wonderful, thank you, then, in this case, not at the moment.

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Okay,

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announcements of council, councilor Hicks.

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Thank you, I'd like to invite one of the leads on something that the town of Brunswick has been very lucky to have in that's movies in the park.

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It's an organization called Community in the Parks that runs movies in the park.

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And I'm sure a lot of you have attended at least one of those movies over the past several years.

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So Kathleen Fundoverk is one of the chairs of the organization.

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And she's here to talk a little bit about what is happening this summer.

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Hi, good evening.

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I'm Kathleen Fundoverk with Community in the Parks.

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And thanks for having me and for all the hard work that you guys do in our town as the council

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each year. Community in the parks is likely a name you all are not as familiar with. We are

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the nonprofit organization that hosts movies in the park every year. This is a beloved community

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building event that is celebrating our 15th year of free movies in Brunswick and we're kicking off

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our movie season this Thursday.

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But this evening, I'm here to introduce you all to community in the

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parks. Our mission is to provide free events to enrich community development and promote

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use of Brunswick's parks. Brunswick has 66 parks and public spaces. I just learned

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that today. That's a lot. We community in the parks have come across

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some gems that we are looking forward to highlighting with free events this summer in addition

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to our movies in the park on the third Thursday of June, July and August located at the vast

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pocket park of Nathaniel Davis Park this summer. We are collaborating all season-long with

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Sundara Yoga to host monthly events at Pennets Landing. This is a beautiful waterfront space

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in our community that so many of our town may have overlooked. Sundara will provide an instructor

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and create an environment of relaxing fun on the fourth Thursday evenings at 5.30, June 25th, July 23rd and August 27th.

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Additionally, at this same pinnets landing, community in the parks is hosting a one time incredible free dancing event.

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We are collaborating with Mary Meeting Adult Education and their professional dance instructors.

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We'll be providing an opportunity to have free dance lessons in both Chacha and Mamba on August 6th from 6 to 8.

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Community members can come try something that they've never done before. I'm definitely going to try it out.

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Or just show us what you've got if you already know how to do these audiences.

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We'll have our dance floor out on the lawn and beautiful classic twinkling lights and all the festive vibes of enjoying our parks in new and exciting ways.

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We'll also be providing some free treats, as always, to go along with the incredible experience.

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We hope to expand our dancing event further next year to every month with different types of dance styles offered.

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We at Community in the Parks could not do all of this without the town's commitment to the Parks and Rex Department.

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They do such hard work and come alongside us.

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we truly appreciate the parks and recs team for maintaining so many properties and being so helpful and

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accommodating when collaborating with us at community in the parks.

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They pretty much set up that movie, the tent, the tables, the lawns.

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It's amazing all the stuff that they do.

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And yes, we definitely have the vision of the flare, but we absolutely couldn't do it without them.

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So thank you for supporting them so that they can support us and that we can add new events.

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But we invite everyone to come and enjoy our traditional movie events, as well as our new yoga and dancing events this summer, and all of these events are free, and they're all open to the public.

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Thank you so much.

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Thank you.

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Real quick to find out for more information, you have a website, right?

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We have our Runswick Facebook page, which is...

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That's probably movies in the park.

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on Facebook.

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For Runswick.

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And it's Superman that's playing on Thursday.

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Superman will be playing this Thursday.

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The 2025 version.

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Okay.

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The new one.

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This is fantastic.

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So, yes.

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Movies in the park, Runswick is the Facebook page.

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And we have an Instagram page as well.

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And on our posters, there's a QR code

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that will take you directly to our Facebook page

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for all the other information that you need.

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Because we have lots of freebies that are movies,

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as many of you know.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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I'm going to ask the audience to please be mindful of the speakers.

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Councillor Wilson, did you have an announcement to make?

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Yeah, this isn't exactly Brunswick, but if you're interested in dogs at all, and I am,

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I've been in Breeder and it's shown, there are four days of dog shows at the Cumberland

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Fagground Stating next Thursday Friday Saturday and Sunday where there's an approximately

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500 dogs entered each day. These are dogs that are shown all up and down the east coast. I'm not showing anymore, but I'll be there working and it is free to go in and watch.

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So, Cumberland Fedgrounds, the show's static 8 in the morning and 400-500 dogs are entered all. So, it's a breach. So, if you're interested, hop on over. I will be there.

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Sounds good. Any other announcements on the side of the table?

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Not seeing any. An announcement that I will make just so we are all aware. So we've heard a lot from the community and from folks about our public works department projects that we are currently working on and

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been working on for several years at this point, and there's, I just want to level

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set with everyone and say, at the beginning of this, when we were initially thinking about

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public works, which was five, ten years ago at this point, before many of us, I believe,

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were sitting around this table, maybe Councillor Wilson was around, but both with staff and

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Councillors, it didn't rise to whatever occasion for people to decide that this need of the committee.

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And as you know, we all have task force for a lot of our major projects.

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So the Hawthorne School Building, the Fire Station Downtown, the Cape Ferber School, when it was built,

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the police department, the fire department building, all of these different projects we've had typically go through a process where there's a task force at least assigned to it.

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And so, though we were not the progenitors of this project, all those years ago, it is something that we are going to be implementing as of next meeting.

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So, coming before Council next meeting will be a charge to establish a task force to help shepherd the public works project phase 1A through the process, we'll have the charge language, which I'm sure will have discussion around, we'll have public comment on it.

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Currently the makeup looks like two staff members, three counselors, and two community members, which is typical for some of our other projects, same thing with the Hawthorne Task Force, so we're at the fire station, and so we are going to be bringing that forward to counsel for our next our July meeting, our first meeting in July, so I just wanted to give a preview of that.

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But I will say to you that something else that we've been working on is that we have identified a possible location for

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community gardens, for senior gardens.

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We are currently finalizing some of those details, so we will bring that as that information solidifies.

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We'll make sure to bring it, but it is looking like we have identified a location that is still in town that would be able to serve the same purpose.

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So I just want to give those updates here.

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I know that we'll talk a lot more about it next meeting,

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but I know that we've had a lot of public engagement.

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So I wanted to make sure that everyone was on the same page

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as to we hear you.

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We are trying to take the steps that are necessary

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to ensure that the town and the community

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are all getting their needs met together.

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So that will be coming next meeting.

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So, I will officially open our, oh, yes, Councillor O'Reilly.

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I was curious, because this was in a period where I was not on the council, and I was happily sitting at home.

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Actually, I think I might have been here for the meeting, actually, but when it was voted on last November to authorize,

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I think it was 4.7 million towards something, was there specificity as to what that was for, and does this committee

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the effect or change what that council subsequently at that point in time voted for?

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No, so what was voted on off the top of my field free to correct me was the salt shed,

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the fuel island, and the needs assessment and the planning of the next phase, essentially.

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And so this committee, your vision of this committee is that it would sort of work through those issues

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that had been now authorized by the council last year.

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particularly the planning part, right? I mean, that's what we really need to evaluate

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the needs assessment and, you know, work on the planning.

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Okay.

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Thank you.

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And depending on how it's structured, it would, depending on the long-term nature of the

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project, it might be around to make recommendations for the next phase, depending on how long

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it's here.

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Councillor Ayrker.

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What is the status of the needs assessment?

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The needs assessment, I'll turn it over to the time, Andrew.

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Well, I mean, it has been worked on, but we haven't rolled it out yet.

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I mean, we've been busy with other things, so that would be something that the task force would look at and work on perhaps a little bit more.

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And not trying to get in the weeds, just trying to understand where this process may be headed.

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Is that needs assessment going to be issued as a draft, or is it issued as a final?

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Well, that's an interesting question.

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I believe we will probably present it as final.

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And then often what happens is it is pumped back and said, you're not done.

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Go back and do more.

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We've had that experience.

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And so a final that will probably be more questions added to, is that it, you know, that's, I'm hoping it'll be final.

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How's that? But we'll see what the task force says.

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All right, thank you.

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Yeah, councilor Teaming.

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Just for clarity, I don't know what the process of the task forces for the police department or fire station was like.

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But so

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this task force that we're going to be hearing about next meeting a little bit about now apparently is that going to

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also encapsulate the decision of location or are we saying that the task force

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isn't charged with that at all and the you know limited number of people who worked on that decision

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And like that is behind us and we are past that point because, I mean, it seems to me like we've heard quite overwhelmingly from people that they are frustrated that they didn't have input on that decision of location.

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So I know I personally would think that the task force should be more or less a blank slate.

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look at this project and how we go forward from here because it really doesn't feel like people like

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phase 1a. So just figuring out how to do phase 1a via a task forest feels

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not particularly responsive to what we've heard from people. So we'll bring forth a charge

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and then that charge will be debated.

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Councillor Ellis? Yeah and I won't debate it here but I would say

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that in some ways my concern with my question was almost the opposite of that in that I also know

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I know that a part of that was because we have a fuel station that needs to be replaced within a time frame and I know there's some time to it, but I also know that sometimes these building committees, you think it's going to be a year and then the next thing you know it's six years later and you're getting off the school board and you still haven't gotten approval for the school building you're looking at and so I don't necessarily want to put us in a position where, from my perspective, where we are necessarily restarting entirely, that we're still honoring the fact that we've got to come for resolution

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at least from the DEP perspective on that fuel station within a set time.

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And that's not lost. So we will have plenty of time to get into the debate as to what that task force will look like. But the goal was just to communicate that we're aware. We're trying to do something. And this seems at least like a modest step towards being more inclusive of communities in that area to be able to have conversations around this because we realize that whoever established this process of the very beginning

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getting, which is before both our town staff and our counselors that are present, didn't

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do that step.

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And so we're trying to rectify that situation and don't it.

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So I'm going to keep moving us along to have one little thing.

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When you say it's something that's been happening, it's been in the plans.

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It's been in our CIP for a long time, is the point.

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So it's definitely been on the radar for a while and I just wanted to clarify that.

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And I also want to just to make a point that we are establishing this task force is not just a body that's going to debate.

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It's going to help us make a decision and my request for this Council, and I know Council's changed next year's Council's going to look different than this year's.

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But as we have proceeded on with some really big decisions in this year, we've dealt with some pretty meaty ordinances and

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And issues for our town, whether it's in the rural districts, whether it's moratoriums,

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ordinances to keep affordable housing available.

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We have really put our staff and our committees through a very high level of work and effort.

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And I first want to say, I really appreciate them.

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I appreciate our staff, I appreciate our committees, our task force, every group that's come together and

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and put together some really high quality products.

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And I know that when they get brought to the council, they also get scrutinized highly,

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which means that we have a, I call that a high quality council.

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And what I'm after for the next half of this calendar year as a council,

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is that we consider the fact that we have very high skilled staff and very qualified committee members who are producing these products,

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And the scrutiny is important, however, I don't want it to be overlooked that as a council, we do have a lot of confidence in the products that are being presented to us, and the work that's being done by our staff and by our committees.

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And I think sometimes it can look like we don't.

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And so maybe I don't want to speak for anybody else in this council.

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So I can't, I want to speak for myself that I think we have some really, we have some incredible work that comes in front of us and that we need to recognize that when we do get these issues brought to us with the work behind it to acknowledge that to find a way where we can maybe have a process so the workshop piece is going to be a critical piece over the next several months with these big things coming down the pike, this public works building campus is going to be

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one of them. So I'm really looking forward to a very productive process so that the council has weigh in an oversight.

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But it doesn't overshadow the enormous amount of work that comes from our staff and our committees.

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And I just wanted to be clear about that. Thank you for that time.

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Moving on to public comments. As a reminder, this is for non-agenda items only.

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So if you're here to speak on the mobile home park ordinance that will happen later today.

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I'll also remind folks that if there's an agenda item that says that we're setting a public hearing then we'll take public comments

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At the public hearing not while we're setting the public hearing just so folks don't hang out and get to that and be disappointed

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So non agenda items only three minutes per speaker we'll have 30 minutes at the beginning of the session if we need it

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We'll have 30 minutes at the end as well

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Please follow the code of conduct that's posted on either side of the room share your name town

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pronouns if you'd like and if you'd want to follow up, there is a response sheet over on the table

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that you can put your contact information.

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Without further ado, go ahead.

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Hi, my name is Owen McGrath and I live at 19 Water Street. I grew up on Water Street

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and the community parks and river mean a lot to me. My neighbors came by and showed me Rose

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Postor asking about saving the gardens. I'm here tonight to read a list of the questions my mom

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compiled from concerned citizens.

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I became interested after hearing about the petition.

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Right now it has 217 signers and 173 people have shared it.

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This is now a significant grassroots community movement.

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We thank the town council for hearing

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and addressing our questions.

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We hope to hear that you will pause the project

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to reconsider the plan.

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The water street area is a major asset to the town.

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Can you take the time now to discuss rezoning?

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The current site has no industrial growth potential, and according to the town's own

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zoning laws and restriction on dead end streets and downtown residential areas, it is already

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operating fuel pumps and a huge storage shed that are both outside of what is allowed.

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These are excused by municipal exemptions, but these are exemptions keeping industry where it isn't safe or healthy.

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Did you land on water street as the industrial site of public works mainly because of cost?

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Do you know any other towns where the public works industry is located on the waterfront?

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Do we want to be that town?

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We have noted in the engineering study of potential alternative sites that there is a lack of potential for future development at the industry road site.

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Well, it's town of Brunswick sees adjacent properties through imminent domain.

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Site 3 was noted to have room for future development. Could this site be reconsidered? Could Cressy Road?

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Would you be willing to take more time to reconsider the value of the parcel to the town?

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If developed in a way more befitting, this important downtown area is residential in recreational growth.

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Did you weigh the water streets parcels overall worth to the town for other possible uses?

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Considering its valuable waterfront, thereby taking into account the town's commitment to a healthy and safe downtown

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in a clean and accessible riverway.

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Did you take into account the historic landscape for why industry was originally placed along

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the river in the 1940s and 50s, and how much everything has changed along Water Street

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since? Did you discuss how since the 1960s, the street has been closed off, and now over

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a hundred times more residents and businesses and local and nationally recognized parts

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and waterways all coexist on a bustling dead end street. Brunswick's only access to the

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and now beautiful and restored Andrew Schoggen River.

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As we have noted, Water Street is a dead end street, and it is already at capacity or even over congested for continued public health and safety.

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Are you willing to pause to get data on the street's current public use and public safety and health needs?

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Including?

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I'll let you know that your three minutes have elapsed if you could wrap up, please.

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Yeah, and are you willing to pause to get data on the streets, current public use and the public safety and health needs, including a month-long count of pedestrian and vehicular traffic before keeping public works where it is.

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Thank you so much.

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I will remind folks that we will not be doing clapping tonight.

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Thank you.

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I want to make sure that all sides feel safe to be able to speak their minds, so we will not be doing clapping or booze or any of those things. Thank you.

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Continue.

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My name is Paul. We come, I live in Brunswick,

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the premises that form the foundation for this entire plan.

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The public works expansion are erroneous, we're being lied to.

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One of the main premises is site circulation.

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This is entirely theoretical, it's nonsense.

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All the proposed plan does is it takes the fuel depot from the end of the road and puts

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it up towards the middle of the road, the center of industry road. That accomplishes

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nothing.

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Another premise of this plan that is a complete fabrication is the idea of

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traffic conflict at the end of industry road. I've talked to the Brunswick Fire Department

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and they have told me that they have never had any problem fueling their trucks there.

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We need to know, among the questions that the person before me asked,

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we need to know exactly what the nature of this traffic conflict is.

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and we need this concept of site circulation described in a comprehensive manner.

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Another premise for the relocation of the fuel depot is that inclement weather could

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through problematic. That's why they need a roof over it apparently. That's what

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they contend. That's ridiculous. I don't think I've ever fueled a vehicle under a

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roof and I've never seen any pumps experiencing any particular difficulty

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from the weather. One thing that surprised me from right

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Pierce's presentation at the Staff Review Committee meeting was the present fuel pump

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isn't completely good condition, looks entirely modern, it was installed in 2009, correct?

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What I am proposing is the easy way out, relocating the fuel depot to the former leaf mulch pile site,

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retain the use of the salt shed, and put the senior gardens into trees, white pine, something fast growing.

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This would save $1,425,000 and both parties would get most of what they want.

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This is the most reasonable and responsible path forward for this project.

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Thank you, Mr. Wickham.

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Hi

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there, Donna Chale, Brunswick resident, time here representing Brunswick area indivisible.

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I have a few things first of all, I want to offer congratulations and

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Thanks to Fran Smith, Ali Burnett, Susan Karnes, everybody who worked on the election on Tuesday, they did an amazing job.

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We had a huge turnout, and everything went smoothly.

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I saw all the ballots are counted ahead of time, after time, in between time.

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I mean, they really work hard to make sure we have a fair and free election.

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And I really appreciate that work.

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The second thing I wanted to say is,

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Brunswick-Hury-Indivisible had the pleasure of tabling at the Pride Festival on Saturday.

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It was a wonderful event with lots of music, dancing, many, many community booths, people,

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and so kudos to the people who organized that.

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The last thing I want to say is a little less happy.

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I went on Saturday night to the concert for a cause at the UU church, and when I left I went

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down the concrete ramp outside the building, and at the end of the ramp was a homeless person sleeping.

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And I volunteer at the Warming Center and it turned out to be somebody I know.

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And I was thinking of Chief Stewart's visuals with tents and

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the needles and all those things, and I know it's a difficult population.

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But it's important to remember that these are people.

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This person who I know is a person who is thrilled when we have ice cream at the Warming Center.

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He's a guy who loves listening to Van Morrison, you know, something that I actually like too, old as I am.

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So, you know, it's important that we think that the people that we're serving, and I'm going to tell you, see if I can say this,

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to see this man, this very sweet man sleeping on the concrete outside the church just broke my heart.

293
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So I hope when we make decisions about the residents who maybe cause us a little more problem that we're compassionate.

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And we think a little bit about that.

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Thank you.

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My name is Mary Hepburn.

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I live at 13 Abbey Road.

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and I'm here to speak on behalf of the Community Garden on Water Street.

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I'm hearing tonight that this has been a long discussed plan in public works,

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but I just heard about it in April and was blindsided by it.

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As I went to People Plus, I'm the coordinator of the gardens,

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to find out who the interested people were for this year

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to get out the email about assigning plots and I was told you don't have the

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in any more.

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Well...

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That hit like a ton of bricks. We've been planning all winter on what we're going to plant and looking forward to that wonderful space. And I was told, well, the town is looking for other spots. And I thought, okay, I'm going to just be positive and we'll have a garden someplace else. Well, today I did hear from the town manager that there is a possible spot near the

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paying

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the settlement to a

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I am

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not sure what also

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it might mean

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unless 200 are

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I would like to think the

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The Neighborhood Association from Water Street, who made a presentation, what day was it

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last week when I came here to a meeting.

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And I was so impressed with their common sense, practical ideas about the fuel depot in

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that whole business in that area.

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And also the importance of what the community garden means to their neighborhood.

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And I hope that the town council will recognize what a gem they have and how much nicer it would be to have a community garden on that site than a fuel refueling place.

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And I hope you will take their ideas into serious consideration.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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My name is Kate Burns, I live on Water Street, and I'm here to, once again, express my

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opposition to the Public Works Development Plan Phase 1.

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I want to start just by saying this is not a case of not in my backyard because the

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truth is no one wants a municipal fuel station in their backyard, and I would venture to

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guess that includes all of you.

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So this isn't about resisting change, it's about making responsible thoughtful decisions

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for this community. At its core, this is the wrong use. In the wrong place, decided through the wrong process.

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This plan is wrong because it displaces the senior gardens, a much loved and deeply valued community resource.

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This space provides connection, purpose, and well-being for many residents.

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Losing it means losing something that has real lasting value to this community.

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It's also wrong because the site design itself is fundamentally flawed.

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It places a municipal fuel station extremely close to homes, including mine, and to the Family Focused Child Care Center.

335
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This is an incompatible use for a space defined by homes, families, children, and recreation.

336
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I understand that public works is trying to improve safety and operational flow within their own site, but this plan doesn't eliminate it, it just moves it.

337
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It shifts it directly onto a residential area and next to a childcare center.

338
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Improving internal operations shouldn't come at the expense of the surrounding community.

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Given the size and layout of this site, there's no clear reason the fuel station needs

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to be moved onto the senior gardens location.

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00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,980
It could remain on the southern end of the site closer to Route 1, where it's more appropriately

342
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situated and farther from residential and childcare areas.

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This plan is wrong because it wasn't guided by a true stakeholder philosophy.

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00:33:53,460 --> 00:33:59,340
The only clearly prioritized stakeholder in this process appears to be the Department of Public Works.

345
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Neighbors, families, community members, and environmental impacts were not meaningfully included.

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00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:10,040
It's also wrong because there are environmental risks that can't be ignored.

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This site sits near the Andres-Goggen, a fuel spill or runoff event could have serious long-term consequences.

348
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That level of risk should not be accepted without more scrutiny.

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It's wrong because the plan relies heavily on grandfathering.

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Without those allowances, this relocation would not meet current standards and would

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likely require additional environmental review and permitting.

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That alone should give us pause.

353
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And finally, this plan is wrong because the community was not involved early in the process.

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Despite the fact that Water Street is one of the most active areas in Brunswick, a project

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in such a high use area deserved early and transparent engagement.

356
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So, I'm happy to hear that you are taking the time to look at this further and involve

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the community, explore alternatives, and ensure that any final decision reflects the

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full scope of impacts not just operational needs.

359
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This is a decision that will define the space for decades, so please take the time to get

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it right.

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Thank you.

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Hi,

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good evening. My name is Ratana Sherman and I am a Brunswick resident and I am also

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a respiratory therapist who has spent many years caring for people with chronic lung disease.

365
00:35:37,170 --> 00:35:44,150
and other sealate health conditions I am here tonight because I am concerned

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about the proposed public works expansion and fuel station in our

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neighborhood.

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I understand that public works provides important services. This

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is not about opposing public works, it is about asking whether this is the right

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location. Over the years, Banswick has invested heavily in this area. We now

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have parks, gardens, adult parks, they care, liver access. The town has

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work hard to create a neighborhood where people want to live, walk, exercise, and list their

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families. Now we are being at to accept few storage, few deliveries, in crit trucks, traffic,

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noise, light and filter expansion plans in the middle of that community. We

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continue to hear that the project is grandfather but this neighborhood is not

376
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:21,880
the same as it was they kept ago. The question should not be what's what

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00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:28,280
acceptable in the past. The question should be what is appropriate for Brunswick

378
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today and in the future. As a health care professional, I am concerned about a long-term impact

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on resident children, seniors, and those who use this community space every day.

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I

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that would have less impact on homes, parks, gardens, recreation areas, and future development.

382
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Brunswick has invaded too much in creating a vibrant family-friendly community.

383
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To this turning is into a more industrial area for generation to come.

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Peace protect the neighborhood that the town has worked so hard to build.

385
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:36,880
Thank you for your time and consideration.

386
00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:38,260
Thank you.

387
00:38:38,860 --> 00:38:43,380
We will take the last two people in mind and then we'll be crossing that 30-minute threshold.

388
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So if folks want to make public comment, we'll have 30 minutes at the end of the session as well.

389
00:38:47,380 --> 00:38:50,100
to the last two folks who are in line right now, we'll take.

390
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:53,800
Richard Kip, 70 Waters Street.

391
00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:56,220
I have two quick questions.

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How much is our fire insurance going to increase down there by the moving of the fire pumps closer to our buildings, to our homes?

393
00:39:06,740 --> 00:39:12,980
And does the city have any way of compensating us yearly for that increase in our insurance?

394
00:39:13,940 --> 00:39:14,460
That's it.

395
00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:15,600
Thank you.

396
00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:16,240
Thank you.

397
00:39:16,240 --> 00:39:16,560
Thank you.

398
00:39:18,940 --> 00:39:19,480
Hi.

399
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I'm Andrew Kip.

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I've lived in Brunswick my whole life down on Water Street for the last 40 years.

401
00:39:27,220 --> 00:39:30,280
I'm just going to continue with Owen's questions that he had.

402
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:31,460
I've been reading.

403
00:39:32,720 --> 00:39:38,320
So basically, these are public safety and health concerns that some people have come up with.

404
00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:42,720
And are you aware of the pedestrians?

405
00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:51,700
that pedestrians have been hit by trucks and cars along Water Street, and that many citizens move slowly and carefully from

406
00:39:51,700 --> 00:39:55,420
Woodland Terrace and Brunswick Pre-School Learning Center.

407
00:39:56,820 --> 00:40:06,020
Are you aware of the traffic caused by the in, the church, the daycare, and other businesses that slow as public works operations and traffic?

408
00:40:06,620 --> 00:40:18,520
and are you aware of the many recreational festivals and tournaments that bring additional traffic to the parks and riverfront that are only accessed by water street from downtown and all major roadways.

409
00:40:20,740 --> 00:40:30,380
Over the decades, many residents have lived a long water street and through that time the recreational use of the area has increased dramatically.

410
00:40:30,380 --> 00:40:44,360
Could the town of Brunswick pause phase 1A to consider the ways to further improve recreational use of the area rather than increase industrial use in an area that is environmentally sensitive?

411
00:40:45,420 --> 00:40:48,600
What are the plans for the increased traffic in future phases?

412
00:40:51,660 --> 00:40:56,660
What mitigation has been planned for the impact of fuel spills or industrial runoff into

413
00:40:56,660 --> 00:40:57,460
the Anders Kagan?

414
00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:05,180
We have a clean river now, and do you want to subject our groundwater and the river to

415
00:41:05,180 --> 00:41:06,020
leaks and spills?

416
00:41:09,730 --> 00:41:16,090
Every time gasoline is dispensed volatile organic compounds and benzene are emitted, benzene is

417
00:41:16,090 --> 00:41:30,310
This carcinogenic has anyone calculated how much cancer risk this represents given the proximity to many houses and businesses including those occupied by elderly and vulnerable residents and the children at the adjacent daycare center.

418
00:41:31,470 --> 00:41:38,710
What light air and water pollution studies have been conducted on the site and projected for the additional phases of the project?

419
00:41:39,490 --> 00:41:43,350
Are you certain that the site is viable for the proposed use?

420
00:41:45,340 --> 00:41:56,140
Are you aware that there is a town, cemetery, and the towns of the town's poor citizens on the site that needs ongoing protection or would those graves be dug up in the construction?

421
00:41:58,860 --> 00:42:10,180
How can our community work together with the town council and town staff to make sure the senior gardens are saved and water street is safer for all people traversing it, our oldest and youngest?

422
00:42:11,580 --> 00:42:16,940
And the many underscores and visitors, including pedestrians, cyclists, dog walkers, community

423
00:42:16,940 --> 00:42:20,980
rowers, and their schools and families, soccer teams, etc.

424
00:42:24,140 --> 00:42:29,640
Keeping the senior garden area where it is is important, if anything, they should grow

425
00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:31,760
bigger and more trees be planted.

426
00:42:32,900 --> 00:42:34,900
The gardens, is that me, keeping?

427
00:42:35,700 --> 00:42:40,200
If you could take a second to wrap up your comment, I would appreciate it.

428
00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:46,540
The gardens absorb carbon and particulates from Route 1, keeping them also adheres to the town's climate action plan,

429
00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:57,300
which states, Brunswick will decarbonize town operations and involve improve infrastructure to reduce emissions and build resiliency to climate change impacts.

430
00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:00,800
Can we keep or grow these gardens where they are?

431
00:43:01,660 --> 00:43:05,280
And there were a few other questions, but we'll get to it at some point.

432
00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:06,280
Thank you so much.

433
00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:08,420
Thank you, everyone.

434
00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:10,060
We are going to move to the manager's report.

435
00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:12,480
Thank you, Chair McDonald.

436
00:43:13,120 --> 00:43:19,320
So, second meeting of each month, I do a quick review of the previous month's financials.

437
00:43:19,340 --> 00:43:23,900
General fund budget results, year to date.

438
00:43:25,260 --> 00:43:34,240
But as usual, nothing totally out of the ordinary, on the revenue side actually excise tax

439
00:43:34,240 --> 00:43:36,840
was lower than it was last year.

440
00:43:37,540 --> 00:43:40,880
But that is reversing a little bit of a trend that we've been seeing.

441
00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:48,680
But we're still expecting it to be about 500,000 more than budgeted for the total year.

442
00:43:50,860 --> 00:43:53,700
And state revenue sharing is also reversing the trend.

443
00:43:53,820 --> 00:43:56,320
I've been saying it has been coming in lower than expected.

444
00:43:56,520 --> 00:44:02,780
It came in higher in May than it was last May and higher than budgeted by $80,000.

445
00:44:03,540 --> 00:44:11,600
So all my doom and gloom throughout the winter, we may actually make the budget on revenue sharing, which would be really nice.

446
00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:16,780
The other thing, I don't know if you've looked at the reports at all,

447
00:44:16,780 --> 00:44:22,520
but the $2 million for the McCoy property, that cash was received in May.

448
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:26,040
So that is nice, that took a while.

449
00:44:26,220 --> 00:44:30,640
It was a conservation easement that was agreed upon by the council.

450
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:34,480
But these things take time, so the closing was in May.

451
00:44:35,180 --> 00:44:37,460
So that conservation easement has been signed now.

452
00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:38,740
Can I make a little note about that?

453
00:44:38,880 --> 00:44:39,000
Yeah.

454
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:44,140
The speaking of committees and task force and all these things,

455
00:44:44,140 --> 00:44:47,840
the McCoy Woods Task Force of the remaining 40 acres of

456
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:51,820
developed land that is for the town. That task force is

457
00:44:51,820 --> 00:44:57,020
essentially going to be later this fall is kind of the rough timeline for it.

458
00:44:57,420 --> 00:44:59,760
We want to get through the Hopper and Task Force.

459
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:29,120
First, understanding that we have all of these projects that are kind of happening, so we want to get through Hawthorne for us before that comes because staff capacity and, you know, timing of everything. So just to throw that out there as a caveat for this, because I know we talked about it when we put the easement on there that we were going to form that house for us, Councillor Ellis. That $2 million, as you mentioned, that's already been near Mark, is that correct, or is that, how did we pay for Columbus Drive? Like, wasn't the pass along for now? We didn't tie it directly, however.

460
00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:38,980
That is a nice trade-off, so that $2 million was appropriated from unassigned fund balance by the council, and this goes back into unassigned fund balance.

461
00:45:39,340 --> 00:45:46,800
So we are made whole by this, but the council did not specifically tie one contingent to the other.

462
00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:47,520
Nate, light up.

463
00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:51,880
Continue.

464
00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:59,640
And on the expenditure side, things are in line, even though we're in the 12th month of

465
00:45:59,640 --> 00:46:04,760
the year, we will of course be paying bills in July that relate to June, so we're not

466
00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:08,260
quite 11 months through the paying.

467
00:46:08,940 --> 00:46:13,200
We are trying to wrap up the fiscal year in the next two weeks.

468
00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:20,460
It's going to be fun and along these lines, I will point out that this is one of those

469
00:46:20,460 --> 00:46:26,240
months with an extra week in it, but the council does have a meeting.

470
00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:32,980
The last Monday in June, this is our annual end of year meeting, and it's when we'll do

471
00:46:32,980 --> 00:46:40,800
a few cleanup things, including look at the budget and see where the gaps are, where we

472
00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:44,280
and where we have overages and make some adjustments.

473
00:46:45,660 --> 00:46:46,540
Councillor Archer.

474
00:46:47,100 --> 00:46:51,220
Yeah, just a question back to the revenue and state revenue sharing.

475
00:46:53,070 --> 00:46:58,540
Any deeper insights to what's going on, why we thought it was going down and now it's

476
00:46:58,540 --> 00:46:59,220
going back up?

477
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:05,140
Well, I think May, what you're realizing is, so revenue sharing is income and sales tax,

478
00:47:05,140 --> 00:47:05,640
Yeah.

479
00:47:06,080 --> 00:47:10,540
And so what this distributed in May is probably income tax that was collected in April.

480
00:47:11,240 --> 00:47:18,280
So it does always sort of go up and down, every May is higher.

481
00:47:18,900 --> 00:47:24,580
This May was a little higher than last May and it's all timing.

482
00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:26,920
So we should-

483
00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:29,340
I'm not sure why there was a real lull in the winter.

484
00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:33,300
We'll look for the next month to see how it comes in.

485
00:47:33,400 --> 00:47:33,640
Yeah.

486
00:47:33,640 --> 00:47:33,700
Yeah.

487
00:47:33,940 --> 00:47:34,220
Exactly.

488
00:47:34,400 --> 00:47:35,380
We start to see a trend.

489
00:47:36,140 --> 00:47:36,220
All right.

490
00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:36,840
Thank you.

491
00:47:40,230 --> 00:47:44,530
So the next item on my report is about the Kasele Curbside collection.

492
00:47:45,570 --> 00:47:51,910
We've been, you know, as the council is aware, and we've heard from, um, certainly garbage

493
00:47:51,910 --> 00:47:52,470
to garden.

494
00:47:53,670 --> 00:48:01,170
The Kasele contract has a natural possible break in the middle of its 10-year period, and our

495
00:48:01,170 --> 00:48:06,290
assistant town manager, Assel, has written a memo and is going to make a little, is going

496
00:48:06,290 --> 00:48:07,410
to talk about it, he said of me.

497
00:48:09,520 --> 00:48:10,240
Yes, of me.

498
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:13,500
J. Astell assistant town manager.

499
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:16,760
As the town manager just said,

500
00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:19,580
I provided a memo in the packet regarding this issue.

501
00:48:19,580 --> 00:48:21,440
I'll just briefly summarize it.

502
00:48:21,720 --> 00:48:25,680
We have a 10-year contract that was negotiated in 2022

503
00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:29,820
with Kasella Waste to both hall.

504
00:48:30,360 --> 00:48:33,540
To hall our collected recyclables and trash

505
00:48:33,540 --> 00:48:37,320
from our curbside residents in Brunswick.

506
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:42,240
We also have a companion 10-year agreement with EcoMain

507
00:48:42,240 --> 00:48:49,320
important to receive materials on our behalf, both trash and recycling.

508
00:48:50,720 --> 00:48:52,600
Those materials are swapped.

509
00:48:53,100 --> 00:48:57,420
The materials that are collected here, curbside, and runs it go to the

510
00:48:57,420 --> 00:49:00,460
Kasella transverse station in West Bath, and then Kasella.

511
00:49:00,960 --> 00:49:05,660
And then Kasella grabs materials off from their more local routes

512
00:49:05,660 --> 00:49:13,560
in Portland and Westbrook area and delivers them to ecomain in our name so that's the swap.

513
00:49:15,160 --> 00:49:21,540
We did that because it made sense at the time based on the hauling cost to take collection

514
00:49:21,540 --> 00:49:28,780
trucks off from our residential curbside routes and drive them all the way to Portland to dispose of those materials.

515
00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:42,980
in that 10-year contract we provided a five, we at our, at our request put in a five-year

516
00:49:43,680 --> 00:49:50,980
and out at five-year and opt out at five years exclusive to us with years notice for us to

517
00:49:50,980 --> 00:49:57,160
exercise that, that right, the deadline for that is June 30th, so coming right up.

518
00:50:05,450 --> 00:50:06,350
Staff has been

519
00:50:06,350 --> 00:50:12,970
I'm looking at this probably for the last four and a half years since we actually initiated the existing contract.

520
00:50:13,410 --> 00:50:18,390
Sustainability committee has talked about this topic for the last couple of years off and on.

521
00:50:19,830 --> 00:50:30,910
It came more to the forefront back in April when garbage to garden which is a provides trash and

522
00:50:30,910 --> 00:50:38,510
Herbside Recycling Service in Bath that at that time was their only municipal contract in Maine for that type of collection.

523
00:50:39,250 --> 00:50:50,070
They had approached the Sustainability Committee and gave a presentation and asked that they provide a recommendation to the council that we opt out of our contract.

524
00:50:52,070 --> 00:50:58,570
We subsequently meeting town staff met with garbage to garden to discuss that topic.

525
00:50:58,570 --> 00:51:21,630
And then staff subsequently met with Cassela to also talk about that topic, both of those meetings took place in May and as the mental states, staff strongly recommends us remaining in our existing contract for the five years left in it, which would take us to 2032.

526
00:51:22,210 --> 00:51:39,530
at that time we'll investigate what the landscape looks like for trash and recycling collection services and if it makes sense to go out to bid, we would strongly recommend going out to bid at that time, but currently it

527
00:51:40,210 --> 00:51:48,390
to staff does not make sense to do so. There's no guarantee that we'll have bidders. If we do go out to bid, we have no guarantee of what that price would be.

528
00:51:48,390 --> 00:51:51,030
It could be lower, it could be higher.

529
00:51:51,750 --> 00:52:00,190
I provided a table in the memo that shows some recent examples of

530
00:52:01,270 --> 00:52:06,250
collections, curbside collections, residential curbside collections that were put out to bid and what the results were.

531
00:52:07,330 --> 00:52:16,270
In terms of who was bidding and what those prices were per stop just to give you a sense of the landscape and the context in which we're talking.

532
00:52:16,270 --> 00:52:27,070
You can see what our price is per stop, which is $118 per stop that is in line with most

533
00:52:27,070 --> 00:52:29,410
of the winning bids for those contracts.

534
00:52:29,810 --> 00:52:36,730
You can see the vast range of costs all the way up to more than $300 per stop.

535
00:52:38,630 --> 00:52:44,690
Each town is its own flavor and has different nuances to their collection requirements.

536
00:52:44,690 --> 00:52:49,550
the cost per stop in Bath, which was awarded last year to

537
00:52:49,550 --> 00:52:54,790
garbage to garden, is under $100 primarily because Bath is

538
00:52:54,790 --> 00:52:59,530
a compact community in comparison to Brunswick has about

539
00:52:59,530 --> 00:53:00,970
a third of the number of residents.

540
00:53:02,470 --> 00:53:06,550
Community like Lewiston, where the collection is more complicated,

541
00:53:06,550 --> 00:53:10,310
you'll see higher cost per stops in the $200 range.

542
00:53:10,310 --> 00:53:18,730
So, it just gives you the sense of where our number falls, and it is anything but clear

543
00:53:18,730 --> 00:53:23,930
that our current price per stop is out of whack, and that would make sense.

544
00:53:24,030 --> 00:53:30,310
We negotiated it four and a half years ago and or three and a half years ago, and the

545
00:53:30,310 --> 00:53:35,410
marketplace has only gone up in terms of labor costs.

546
00:53:35,410 --> 00:53:40,030
We know that from the municipality, we know our own personnel cost and what that looks like.

547
00:53:41,870 --> 00:53:43,650
Solid waste collection is no different.

548
00:53:44,730 --> 00:53:53,370
So to reasonably think that we'll obtain a better price, simply because two people might bid on the contract.

549
00:53:54,130 --> 00:54:01,570
Yeah, that might happen, but there's no guarantee of it, we have an existing contract, we know what our costs are going to be in the next.

550
00:54:02,530 --> 00:54:11,050
over the remaining five years of the contract and I think again staff's belief is we know

551
00:54:11,050 --> 00:54:17,850
what we have right now, it makes sense to us in terms of the current landscape and again

552
00:54:17,850 --> 00:54:23,490
at the expiration of this contract in 2032, I think we had looked to put it out to bid and

553
00:54:23,490 --> 00:54:26,190
see what companies are out there that are bidding.

554
00:54:26,190 --> 00:54:32,210
Garbage to Garden, as I mentioned, Bath was their first residential solid waste collection in

555
00:54:32,910 --> 00:54:39,250
trash and recycling in Maine. So they've been doing that for 11 months. They were just awarded the

556
00:54:39,250 --> 00:54:43,650
Scarborough bid that was from this spring. So that will be their second municipal contract.

557
00:54:44,950 --> 00:54:52,570
If they were going to bid on Brunswick five years from now, that's a pretty good track record to

558
00:54:52,570 --> 00:55:00,590
look at, certainly better than 11 months. I think I'll stop right there and I know there's

559
00:55:00,590 --> 00:55:05,930
probably questions, so let me turn it back over to Council.

560
00:55:08,410 --> 00:55:15,470
I'll just mention a couple other things in here. When I don't think I always keep bringing

561
00:55:15,470 --> 00:55:22,550
this up. When the town started collecting on private roads, there was an addition of 300

562
00:55:22,550 --> 00:55:28,130
stops that were added to the collection routes, and Cassela did not increase their rates at that time.

563
00:55:28,750 --> 00:55:31,470
And that was part of the partnership that we've been having.

564
00:55:31,950 --> 00:55:39,270
As Jay said, staff really doesn't feel that this is a prudent thing to open the contract at this point.

565
00:55:39,610 --> 00:55:47,390
When you have negotiated a contract four years ago, we know what has happened with prices.

566
00:55:47,390 --> 00:55:52,170
prices, we are very expecting that prices would be more.

567
00:55:53,430 --> 00:55:59,290
I also would always want to be sure that we are not just going by price.

568
00:55:59,610 --> 00:56:03,950
We really look at the track record of any contract we do.

569
00:56:04,450 --> 00:56:07,470
We ask for qualifications and references.

570
00:56:07,910 --> 00:56:13,490
We follow up on references and we would want to make sure that not only could we sign a

571
00:56:13,490 --> 00:56:17,470
contract for a given price, but that contract would deliver.

572
00:56:18,030 --> 00:56:20,330
And that is a big concern of mine.

573
00:56:20,390 --> 00:56:23,510
I would love to see garbage to garden succeed in Scarborough.

574
00:56:24,050 --> 00:56:25,610
That is going to be interesting.

575
00:56:26,210 --> 00:56:27,610
That's going to be a big lift.

576
00:56:27,790 --> 00:56:28,630
They're starting in July.

577
00:56:29,030 --> 00:56:31,650
They don't even have trucks yet, but they say they can rent them.

578
00:56:32,210 --> 00:56:41,230
So I think my recommendation of the council and it has been to staff is that we watch garbage

579
00:56:41,230 --> 00:56:49,950
to garden and we see what they do. They've had a challenge in bath. We've spoken to the staff

580
00:56:49,950 --> 00:56:55,490
and some of the people who live there. They're getting there. It's great. Like, if they've done

581
00:56:55,990 --> 00:57:00,310
garbage to garden, of course, is known for composting and they will say, we do, you know,

582
00:57:00,390 --> 00:57:06,510
we have the Boston contract. It is for composting and I think that's really what they're known for

583
00:57:06,510 --> 00:57:11,230
and they're getting into the trash and recycling, that would be good.

584
00:57:11,850 --> 00:57:17,470
The other thing that Jay doesn't emphasize is this unique swap arrangement we have.

585
00:57:19,550 --> 00:57:25,110
When we're talking about wanting to support eco-main to be in a partnership with eco-main,

586
00:57:25,550 --> 00:57:26,890
but it's far away.

587
00:57:27,570 --> 00:57:32,730
And just having the trucks on the road back and forth is not just cost, but it's an environmental

588
00:57:32,730 --> 00:57:33,450
question.

589
00:57:33,450 --> 00:57:41,710
And that was this swap arrangement where the trash and recycling from that area can go in equivalent amount.

590
00:57:42,470 --> 00:57:46,910
And, you know, some people at the time said, but it's our trash.

591
00:57:47,050 --> 00:57:48,690
We want our trash and you domain it.

592
00:57:49,150 --> 00:57:56,370
If you look at it from a regional perspective, it's better for everybody if our equivalent amount of trash goes.

593
00:57:58,070 --> 00:58:08,210
we have had no issues. This is the other piece. When I look at a problem, I say, do we have an issue here?

594
00:58:08,490 --> 00:58:16,550
We haven't heard any complaints from people. I did hear people think that Casselia isn't recycling properly,

595
00:58:16,710 --> 00:58:23,110
and I'm interested in that. I'm going to follow up on that, where that impression comes from. I've heard that,

596
00:58:23,110 --> 00:58:30,430
And I don't know why they have the same recycling procedures as eco-may, and they use the same

597
00:58:30,950 --> 00:58:35,350
resellers as my understanding, but I'm going to look into that a little bit more as well.

598
00:58:36,550 --> 00:58:40,530
So, anyway, my recommendation is not to open the contract at this time.

599
00:58:41,770 --> 00:58:45,650
I don't think we have a problem, and I don't think we would make it better.

600
00:58:48,290 --> 00:58:52,890
So, if Councillors have questions, that would be the time, and then after the Manager's report,

601
00:58:52,890 --> 00:59:00,130
Or if there's a motion that wants to be made that's contrary to what this town staff is recommending that would be the time to do so.

602
00:59:00,530 --> 00:59:01,570
Question from Councillor Teammate.

603
00:59:03,810 --> 00:59:15,990
Yeah, so what I had heard and I'd love to know more about this is, does the majority of Brunswick's trash end up at the Juniper Ridge landfill currently?

604
00:59:16,410 --> 00:59:22,370
I know there's a swap arrangement, but that is the actual destination for most of our literal trash, is that right?

605
00:59:22,370 --> 00:59:25,010
100% of our trash goes to Juniper Ridge.

606
00:59:25,510 --> 00:59:30,070
So even though Portland is a ways away, it's actually having to go all the way up to Old Town at the moment,

607
00:59:30,070 --> 00:59:34,890
which probably has much higher carbon emissions than driving them to Portland.

608
00:59:35,730 --> 00:59:38,310
I know we're not having to pay for the fuel by it.

609
00:59:38,490 --> 00:59:39,410
No, can I interject?

610
00:59:39,870 --> 00:59:43,550
So yes, 100% of our trash of our trash goes to Juniper Ridge.

611
00:59:43,550 --> 00:59:48,650
But we're taking an equivalent amount of trash that would be going to Juniper Ridge is instead going to Eco-Main.

612
00:59:48,910 --> 00:59:52,050
So, and that would be going from Portland all the way to Juniper Ridge.

613
00:59:52,050 --> 00:59:57,070
So the savings is actually saving a little bit more because trash would be going from

614
00:59:57,070 --> 00:59:59,910
Brunswick to Juniper Ridge as opposed to Portland to China.

615
01:00:00,560 --> 01:00:29,980
So I'll also say our trash goes first to Westbath, right, where it's consolidated with others. So it's not a single truck that is a single packer truck that's driving all the way up to general bridge, which is what it would have to be if garbage to garden were to do the collection, drive down. And that's what, what, because Selah would also have had to do if we wanted our trash to go to South Portland, they would have had to drive the packer truck down there. Right now, I mean,

616
01:00:29,980 --> 01:00:31,300
and you can describe it better than I can.

617
01:00:31,700 --> 01:00:33,380
I believe our trash goes to West Bath

618
01:00:33,380 --> 01:00:34,500
where it's consolidated.

619
01:00:35,920 --> 01:00:37,620
And is that more efficient?

620
01:00:37,860 --> 01:00:40,260
It's hauled in a larger quantity.

621
01:00:40,760 --> 01:00:42,900
Yeah, 100 cubic yard trailer, I would say.

622
01:00:45,070 --> 01:00:46,330
Other question I had.

623
01:00:46,750 --> 01:00:52,030
So the staff memo focuses on the concept

624
01:00:52,030 --> 01:00:56,870
of putting it out to bid and that I'm new here on the council.

625
01:00:57,050 --> 01:00:59,310
So that terminology is referring to getting

626
01:00:59,310 --> 01:01:03,490
competing bids for the same contract that we have, is that right?

627
01:01:04,050 --> 01:01:09,330
Like, what's different between, because what I've been hearing is a separate RFP process

628
01:01:09,330 --> 01:01:14,790
to hear what different companies might be able to do, which sounds different than putting

629
01:01:14,790 --> 01:01:15,410
it out to bid.

630
01:01:15,690 --> 01:01:15,930
Can you?

631
01:01:16,810 --> 01:01:25,570
Yeah, but what we do would be issue a request for proposals on a service scope that we write,

632
01:01:25,570 --> 01:01:28,710
So it would be based on what we likely, based on what we do right now.

633
01:01:29,370 --> 01:01:37,770
So we have a set of parameters that we would then issue out and prospective companies would bid on that service that we have described.

634
01:01:38,930 --> 01:01:43,610
And then the last part is one thing that came up at the Casela presentation.

635
01:01:44,570 --> 01:01:52,830
Before the Sustainability Committee, it was that they do offer curbside compost pickup as something that they could provide.

636
01:01:54,110 --> 01:01:58,610
You might, you know, this might be a question for Cassela, but would adding something like that,

637
01:01:59,330 --> 01:02:04,510
you know, be a separate contract or so we wouldn't have to cancel the current contract

638
01:02:04,510 --> 01:02:09,130
to add additional things to it as long as like both parties agreed.

639
01:02:09,790 --> 01:02:15,590
Yeah, if we wanted to do, let's just say a pilot program of residential curbside

640
01:02:15,590 --> 01:02:21,650
compost pickup probably weekly, which we've talked about in sustainability committee a couple of years

641
01:02:21,650 --> 01:02:26,190
years ago, yeah, that would be a standalone contract and it could be with anybody, it could

642
01:02:26,190 --> 01:02:30,350
be with Kasella, it could be with Garber's to Garden, it could be with Agricycle, which

643
01:02:30,350 --> 01:02:32,710
is who does our drop-off collection sites.

644
01:02:33,790 --> 01:02:36,870
So yeah, we wouldn't have to do anything with our existing contract.

645
01:02:37,410 --> 01:02:40,390
It would just be a standalone additional contract.

646
01:02:40,910 --> 01:02:41,250
Thank you.

647
01:02:43,090 --> 01:02:44,950
Councillor Hicks, and then I'll go to Councillor Arles.

648
01:02:45,430 --> 01:02:50,550
So the rate for this calendar, this fiscal year, you have listed.

649
01:02:50,550 --> 01:02:57,270
And so I imagine it goes up, so what we, what Cassel charges us for this, for this past year.

650
01:02:57,790 --> 01:03:02,710
So how, what is the percentage increase per year in the contract?

651
01:03:03,190 --> 01:03:09,590
It's based on the consumer price index and there is also a fuel escalator as well based on fuel prices.

652
01:03:10,410 --> 01:03:19,670
So would you imagine that any bid, any bid would or any response to an RFP would most likely include that type of increase?

653
01:03:19,670 --> 01:03:24,430
So they would use those rates for the annual increases.

654
01:03:24,970 --> 01:03:30,870
I know that the Scarborough bids both by Kacela and by Carbors-Shagard and

655
01:03:30,870 --> 01:03:33,310
he used a consumer price index as the escalator.

656
01:03:34,010 --> 01:03:37,230
So we're working, this is for the entire contract.

657
01:03:37,450 --> 01:03:46,290
We're working at this number plus any increase that's a standard across the board increase fuel and CPU.

658
01:03:46,290 --> 01:03:55,810
you. And then my other, just a comment, is the, the whole point that we use WestBaths

659
01:03:55,810 --> 01:04:01,390
transfer, or it's a transfer station, but it's also, is that a landfill as well in WestBath?

660
01:04:01,430 --> 01:04:06,610
And that's a transfer station. And so we're using WestBaths transfer station because Brunswick

661
01:04:06,610 --> 01:04:13,230
doesn't have a transfer station. And so I'm more interested, just for the record,

662
01:04:13,230 --> 01:04:41,570
I'm more interested in, I'm less interested in renewing a con or putting our contract at the bid, I'm more interested in figuring out how we might be able to get a transfer station in Brunswick, which is a much larger discussion, but I think that that will will always be in a pickle with our provider services, as long as we don't really have a way to consolidate our trash.

663
01:04:41,570 --> 01:04:46,330
We're going to be reliant on West Bath and that costs money as well.

664
01:04:47,510 --> 01:04:50,610
So I just really would like over the years, next few years.

665
01:04:50,890 --> 01:04:54,030
And then as we're talking about public works facility, I think there's a tie-in.

666
01:04:54,170 --> 01:04:58,290
I think we have a lot of public works, big idea jobs here.

667
01:04:58,410 --> 01:05:03,150
We have to really think holistically about how we're dealing with waste management and

668
01:05:03,150 --> 01:05:08,330
how we're doing our public works facilities.

669
01:05:08,850 --> 01:05:10,230
I think there's a lot of tie-in there.

670
01:05:10,230 --> 01:05:12,130
So just putting that out there as well.

671
01:05:12,370 --> 01:05:15,290
So thank you for the memo and explaining everything, Jay.

672
01:05:15,550 --> 01:05:16,190
Councillor O'Rillis.

673
01:05:17,470 --> 01:05:22,110
I just want to make sure that my understanding is correct on what we're talking about.

674
01:05:22,210 --> 01:05:29,050
If we are to opt out now, that in essence ends the services with Kasella in a year.

675
01:05:30,530 --> 01:05:37,210
And they're neither required to bid nor certainly required to continue at the same terms that

676
01:05:37,210 --> 01:05:38,030
they're paying today.

677
01:05:38,030 --> 01:05:40,450
So that would be one wild card in there.

678
01:05:42,290 --> 01:05:45,170
The other thing, you have rates in here per pick up.

679
01:05:46,010 --> 01:05:49,450
Is that actually how we pay or do we pay a set contractual rate

680
01:05:49,450 --> 01:05:51,950
and you just did the calculation to figure out the pick up, right?

681
01:05:52,190 --> 01:05:55,950
So if we add 400 homes, and actually take that number back,

682
01:05:56,090 --> 01:05:57,130
we're not adding 100 homes.

683
01:05:57,550 --> 01:06:00,050
If we added 10 homes to Brunswick in the coming year,

684
01:06:00,530 --> 01:06:03,130
that doesn't change what we're doing with that.

685
01:06:03,590 --> 01:06:07,470
Yeah, it's typical to break it down

686
01:06:07,470 --> 01:06:16,750
on a per stop basis however the contract is a lump sum if you will for actually trash collection

687
01:06:16,750 --> 01:06:21,490
and recycling collection and so there's actually two parts they're both the same they're identical

688
01:06:21,490 --> 01:06:26,970
because in Bonswick we have weekly collection of both and they happen simultaneous usually with a

689
01:06:26,970 --> 01:06:34,990
split body truck but guys it just for ease of comparison a number of stops matters because there's

690
01:06:34,990 --> 01:06:40,630
a lot of factors that go into the pricing equation, number stops and miles driven would factor

691
01:06:40,630 --> 01:06:47,590
in pretty heavily on that. And then final question. When we put this out to bid in 2022,

692
01:06:48,270 --> 01:06:53,770
how many competitive bids did we get in that process? We did not put it out to bid in 2022.

693
01:06:54,230 --> 01:07:00,570
We just negotiated off the back of existing contract. So when was the last time we put this out for

694
01:07:00,570 --> 01:07:06,710
competitive bit. I don't believe it ever has been okay. It may be at its inception in 2003,

695
01:07:08,970 --> 01:07:13,710
but I wasn't around then. I don't know if it was put out to it at any

696
01:07:13,710 --> 01:07:24,390
junk point between then and okay. I don't know. I do not believe it has been put out to it.

697
01:07:24,650 --> 01:07:27,490
So what are the things I would say? So out of the questions and into the observations,

698
01:07:27,490 --> 01:07:35,090
I would say with this, what concerns me is that we're basically pressed, if you will, to make a decision because it has to be made by June 30th.

699
01:07:35,850 --> 01:07:51,050
And if I were looking to do bidding on this, I would have wanted to have done a whole lot more homework leading up to this because I completely hear what the town manager is saying, which, you know, it's the burden of hand versus the two in the bush.

700
01:07:51,050 --> 01:08:20,890
And I don't know if there are any birds in that bush, and so I'm worried about that, and I'm worried that for me a decision tonight has to factor that in, because if we were to say, let's go with what the sustainability committee is suggesting over what town staff is saying, we're basically taking on that risk of, well, what will that look like, because in essence burning the contract, the burden of hand that we have today, and while I would definitely say,

701
01:08:20,890 --> 01:08:22,530
And I think there'll be some who might support this.

702
01:08:22,790 --> 01:08:27,310
I think 20, however many years it's been without a competitive bid is probably too long.

703
01:08:28,310 --> 01:08:33,930
I think I would love to see more regular cadence to that and maybe even policy around cadence to that.

704
01:08:35,030 --> 01:08:40,230
But to make a decision now under such a short time window without having a good understanding to that,

705
01:08:40,410 --> 01:08:46,790
I would not feel comfortable changing surfaces at this time because I do agree one of the most important things they do

706
01:08:46,790 --> 01:08:51,030
is actually pick up the trash and take it and make sure that it happens. And certainly

707
01:08:51,030 --> 01:08:54,590
price is a component of that. You could see that within the bids. I think there's only

708
01:08:54,590 --> 01:08:59,530
one town where the higher bidder beat out a lower bidder, right?

709
01:09:00,430 --> 01:09:05,310
Yeah, can I address that? So in Gorham, a couple of years ago, the two bidders were Casela

710
01:09:05,310 --> 01:09:12,930
and Alagash, which is a wind and based company. So it was a proximate to Gorham. They had

711
01:09:12,930 --> 01:09:17,650
No municipal contracts whatsoever, they bid on this, and the discussion in Gorham was,

712
01:09:17,770 --> 01:09:26,350
hey, here's a lower bidder, however, we have concerns that there's no track record on the company doing curbside residential collection.

713
01:09:26,650 --> 01:09:32,030
And if you're not in the business, you don't understand how complicated it is.

714
01:09:32,130 --> 01:09:38,430
I mean, it's a weekly task, you're reliant on trucks and personnel on those trucks.

715
01:09:38,430 --> 01:09:43,150
and it isn't a, you know, go hire a paving contractor,

716
01:09:43,150 --> 01:09:46,210
and for six weeks they're paving, and then you're done with it.

717
01:09:46,370 --> 01:09:50,390
It's every single resident is affected by this service every week.

718
01:09:51,070 --> 01:09:56,090
And to engor- the process that played out in Gorum,

719
01:09:56,090 --> 01:09:58,610
the conversation was like, yeah, we're going to go.

720
01:09:58,910 --> 01:10:01,490
We'd love to see more of a track record from Allicash.

721
01:10:01,970 --> 01:10:05,210
The price looks great, however, because I was proven

722
01:10:05,210 --> 01:10:09,090
then through number of communities over a number of years,

723
01:10:09,650 --> 01:10:12,590
as well as other companies, not Aligash,

724
01:10:13,310 --> 01:10:16,330
that do that that have been a business for a while and know how to do this business.

725
01:10:17,010 --> 01:10:21,350
And yes, so that's why you see that one in particular and why I included it is,

726
01:10:21,810 --> 01:10:29,710
because it wasn't the low bidder but the discussion centered around ability to serve that contract.

727
01:10:30,290 --> 01:10:38,110
And so I guess I would just wrap up with saying, I mean, if we are going to put something to bid, I would love to see a longer lead time into getting into that.

728
01:10:38,250 --> 01:10:49,250
So I just want to reassure you that as Jay said, the last four months, Saf has been thinking about it, and certainly is trying to identify like we candidates.

729
01:10:49,790 --> 01:10:55,190
I mean, garbage to garden, volunteered themselves, waste management, you've looked at them, right?

730
01:10:55,190 --> 01:11:04,150
I mean, you obviously called aligash, so it isn't that we haven't identified other potentials.

731
01:11:04,550 --> 01:11:11,430
We just, and this has been the problem here, and hopefully we'll get better, is that there hasn't been competition.

732
01:11:12,790 --> 01:11:18,970
I would also just let me add one thing, which Councillor Ellis had talked about.

733
01:11:18,970 --> 01:11:24,550
But so if we exit the contract and we give notice by June 30th, we don't immediately

734
01:11:25,130 --> 01:11:26,350
put it out to bid.

735
01:11:28,190 --> 01:11:29,450
It would be too premature.

736
01:11:29,710 --> 01:11:33,630
Nobody's going to bid on it a year ahead of time because the market is volatile.

737
01:11:33,810 --> 01:11:37,390
Nobody knows what the costs are going to be next year and so traditionally you'd put

738
01:11:37,390 --> 01:11:44,350
a contract like this out to bid in January or February, the latest march for a July 1 start.

739
01:11:44,790 --> 01:11:48,830
So somebody that tells me today, I'm going to bid on this, I'm like, well you're not going

740
01:11:48,830 --> 01:11:52,510
have an opportunity to bid on it for eight months and I don't know what's going to happen and your

741
01:11:52,510 --> 01:11:57,050
intentions today might be yeah I want to bid on that but then I don't know like anything can fall

742
01:11:57,050 --> 01:12:03,530
through over the next eight months the landscape changes the market changes and again a lot of risk

743
01:12:03,530 --> 01:12:11,050
for potentially a little bit of reward if we were able to get lower bits. I'll jump to you in just one

744
01:12:11,050 --> 01:12:17,530
second just to provide a piece of clarity to the reason I did not put this as an agenda item as

745
01:12:17,530 --> 01:12:22,990
Chair because that's my kind of prerogative of doing so, is because I didn't think it was the best interest of the town to leave that contract.

746
01:12:24,370 --> 01:12:42,530
The information that I've been given from staff, the letter that we got from the sustainability committee that didn't have any concrete examples of any benefit that would come from switching providers did not give me any, I guess information that would lead me to believe that we should consider this item.

747
01:12:42,530 --> 01:12:59,150
The Sustainability Committee had about a three-minute conversation after a presentation that from a provider that they wanted us to do this, but there was no debate on the sustainability, like the merits of the sustainability efforts of both Cassala or garbage to garden.

748
01:12:59,730 --> 01:13:10,630
The letter that was sent to council only said we just don't like the swap, and that was the end of it, and that it might be better bidding way to a better number.

749
01:13:10,630 --> 01:13:18,350
And that's personally, as somebody who was in charge of the Appointments Committee for a long time or a couple of years was that that's not their charge.

750
01:13:18,670 --> 01:13:22,810
Their charge is to look at the sustainability efforts and none of that was brought forth.

751
01:13:23,330 --> 01:13:31,150
So given that we have no issue with our current provider, we weren't given any information to say otherwise as to why we should change providers.

752
01:13:31,650 --> 01:13:34,950
And that staff also didn't recommend it, that's why it didn't make the agenda.

753
01:13:34,950 --> 01:13:41,750
But I put it in the manager's report or asked to put it in the manager's report because I thought it was a good point of information for us to talk about so

754
01:13:41,750 --> 01:13:43,770
That's how we got to at least this point

755
01:13:44,370 --> 01:13:46,990
Just so we're all on the same page. Councilor weems

756
01:13:47,690 --> 01:13:52,410
Yeah, thank you chair McDonald. I'm going to protest that in the strongest possible way

757
01:13:54,290 --> 01:14:00,430
And have quite a bit to say on the substance of the matter, but I'm going to park that for now and

758
01:14:01,230 --> 01:14:03,070
just know that we are

759
01:14:03,070 --> 01:14:09,630
are in the manager's report and holding the rest of the agenda hostage while we actually

760
01:14:09,630 --> 01:14:18,170
have quite a discussion about this. So I would much prefer to put it on as an adjustment

761
01:14:18,170 --> 01:14:28,870
to the agenda and make that either I or some other council or make that suggestion at

762
01:14:28,870 --> 01:14:34,430
the end of the managers report so we can finish that. Decide whether we're going to add it to the

763
01:14:34,430 --> 01:14:42,270
agenda or not so we could continue if we decide to do it and if not, if not, not. Yep.

764
01:14:43,270 --> 01:14:46,750
Were there any questions that folks need before that? Yeah, Councillor Perl.

765
01:14:47,410 --> 01:14:55,170
Just I just want some clarification with the 300 private road collections. Are they driving down

766
01:14:55,170 --> 01:14:57,130
on the private roads to make the collections.

767
01:15:01,170 --> 01:15:30,990
I just as a person that owned a road that was private for a very long time, that that never happened. I don't understand why that's happening now without the private roads reimbursing the town for that. We made a change to our ordinance over a year ago where we initiated private road collection of curbside trash and recycling so that those private residents didn't need to bring it out to the road. However, the private road association

768
01:15:30,990 --> 01:15:44,950
need to, their road had to meet certain standards of hours, and also indemnification of the town, as well as our provider tooled out for that to happen.

769
01:15:47,210 --> 01:15:48,050
That's why.

770
01:15:52,220 --> 01:15:56,940
I have some real issues with that, but obviously I wasn't on the council then.

771
01:15:58,420 --> 01:16:03,820
Well, not seeing any questions will continue the matters report, and then we'll do the motion that I'm expecting.

772
01:16:04,160 --> 01:16:09,620
I have two questions, I'm happy to wait and have those during the item if we have an item.

773
01:16:10,740 --> 01:16:11,840
Sure, okay.

774
01:16:12,000 --> 01:16:15,840
Let's hold it next item on the matters report.

775
01:16:16,080 --> 01:16:23,220
So this one for Clerk Smith, as was said by one of the people in the public comment, the election was amazing.

776
01:16:24,020 --> 01:16:24,920
Good job.

777
01:16:25,520 --> 01:16:25,760
Thanks.

778
01:16:27,300 --> 01:16:30,840
You know, it takes a village to do an election.

779
01:16:31,220 --> 01:16:36,660
So I wanted to obviously think the first and foremost the voters of the community.

780
01:16:37,020 --> 01:16:39,040
We came out in record numbers.

781
01:16:39,920 --> 01:16:48,040
We had a 7,735 people vote, which is about 48% of our active voters.

782
01:16:48,300 --> 01:16:50,980
And quite certain we're probably a state leader.

783
01:16:53,080 --> 01:16:57,700
And the new location is awesome, so thank you, support of that.

784
01:16:58,720 --> 01:17:08,560
And again, I want especially to thank our election workers, my staff, who gave up a lot of time with their families to work extra time to make sure that the election ran smoothly.

785
01:17:10,760 --> 01:17:20,340
So having said that, we had a great election, but never seems to end, so I guess not thinking about the next one, which will be, and it'll obviously be a governance race in November.

786
01:17:20,340 --> 01:17:25,500
remember, but it's also an opportunity for people to take out nomination papers for

787
01:17:25,500 --> 01:17:27,500
a school board and town council.

788
01:17:28,440 --> 01:17:35,880
In this year, we have districts 5, 7, and one of the at large are up in both the town

789
01:17:35,880 --> 01:17:37,360
council and the school board.

790
01:17:38,520 --> 01:17:44,720
Nomination papers are going to be available beginning on Thursday, July 23rd.

791
01:17:44,980 --> 01:17:46,560
Doesn't mean you have to come in that day.

792
01:17:46,560 --> 01:17:49,940
But that's when you can begin to come in and get them.

793
01:17:50,760 --> 01:17:57,040
And they will do back on Tuesday, September 8th, so it gives you a good amount of time.

794
01:17:57,800 --> 01:18:07,960
If anyone has any questions, feel free to call our office, 725-6658, and we will be glad to answer any questions.

795
01:18:11,530 --> 01:18:13,450
Thank you, Clicksmith and the last.

796
01:18:13,450 --> 01:18:27,830
So, Tedford Housing was going to report, but they have asked to postpone, so we're going to go right to our next report, which is on the Restoration Advisory Board and David Page is here to present that report.

797
01:18:27,830 --> 01:18:28,950
Well,

798
01:18:47,720 --> 01:18:51,120
we're running a late, so I will keep it brief.

799
01:18:53,000 --> 01:19:08,520
I'm David Page. I'm the Council's representative to the Restoration Advisory Board that oversees working with the Navy, the conduct of the Restoration and Remediation and Reuse of the former

800
01:19:08,520 --> 01:19:14,240
Our forensic naval air station and we need three times a year.

801
01:19:15,220 --> 01:19:22,200
One of my duties in representing the town is to bring back and make present to the town

802
01:19:22,200 --> 01:19:31,100
a report on the high points of what happened with necessary materials to see the slides and

803
01:19:31,100 --> 01:19:31,700
so forth.

804
01:19:33,180 --> 01:19:41,660
This is the May 21st Restoration Advisory Committee which took place in these chambers.

805
01:19:42,740 --> 01:19:50,780
And one of the nice things the Navy did was that like the Brunswick Town Council, they

806
01:19:50,780 --> 01:19:58,040
allowed for public comment period, which is the first and they should be congratulated

807
01:19:58,040 --> 01:20:01,840
for that, and there were many, many comments from the public.

808
01:20:03,440 --> 01:20:10,460
Of note is that the Navy reported that the treatment of the Jordan Avenue well field

809
01:20:10,460 --> 01:20:17,100
for PFAS at the forensic top, some water district will be complete and online by the end

810
01:20:17,100 --> 01:20:24,680
of this year, and the other thing is that the Navy will be paying for the upkeep and operation

811
01:20:24,680 --> 01:20:34,080
and maintenance of this for 30 years, which is a statutory time, if needs be it will continue

812
01:20:34,080 --> 01:20:40,140
to be supported for another 30 years, I suppose, into eternity.

813
01:20:41,940 --> 01:20:48,940
The Navy also announced something important that they were putting in a new groundwater

814
01:20:48,940 --> 01:20:56,480
water extraction well to specifically treat PFAS contamination at a major

815
01:20:56,480 --> 01:21:03,200
hotspot, groundwater hotspot between sort of hanger four and that ponday the

816
01:21:03,200 --> 01:21:09,820
first of the chain of ponds. And this is using the same resin, the same

817
01:21:09,820 --> 01:21:17,280
material used to purify the water at the water district facility. So this will

818
01:21:17,280 --> 01:21:27,340
hopefully be online by this time next year and hopefully be the first of many because there's a big

819
01:21:27,340 --> 01:21:29,140
groundwater problem.

820
01:21:31,580 --> 01:21:37,100
One of the frustrations during the comment period which is perennial is the

821
01:21:37,100 --> 01:21:46,800
lack of the Navy sharing information freely in a timely way and we keep letting them know that

822
01:21:46,800 --> 01:21:59,100
that's true. The other big issue with residents has been the status of residential well testing

823
01:21:59,100 --> 01:22:07,940
by the Navy and there is a specific number of residential wells owners that the Navy

824
01:22:07,940 --> 01:22:14,660
is contacted by means of their process but that doesn't mean that all the wells that

825
01:22:14,660 --> 01:22:20,800
should be tested or being tested and there are a number of private well owners using private

826
01:22:20,800 --> 01:22:29,980
money to test their wells for PFAS and this will be an ongoing thing for some time to

827
01:22:29,980 --> 01:22:36,000
come. One of the areas of concern is Princess Point Road, where some of the residential

828
01:22:36,000 --> 01:22:47,420
wells have elevated levels of PFOA in particular, one of the two super fun listed PFOA species,

829
01:22:48,820 --> 01:23:01,360
the other being PFOAS, and they're both associated with far retardant A-TripleF firefighting

830
01:23:01,360 --> 01:23:03,940
foam, which is in use at the Naval Air Station.

831
01:23:03,940 --> 01:23:09,400
since the early 70s. That's over 50 years.

832
01:23:12,920 --> 01:23:20,340
The Navy is also taken over the study of the

833
01:23:21,160 --> 01:23:28,160
stormwater system, which is currently owned by Mera, but the Navy, you know, they inherited

834
01:23:28,160 --> 01:23:35,220
it from the Navy and the stormwater system is in poor shape. The Navy has been doing their

835
01:23:35,220 --> 01:23:46,760
own study. They found that it's a major source of groundwater containing PFAS that winds up

836
01:23:46,760 --> 01:23:54,460
going into surface water and into harpsilal cove eventually. And so they're going to, they're

837
01:23:54,460 --> 01:23:59,920
Their file report, which will hopefully be next year, will come with recommendations for

838
01:23:59,920 --> 01:24:01,700
mitigation by the Navy.

839
01:24:02,380 --> 01:24:04,560
So they're taking that in hand, which is good.

840
01:24:06,460 --> 01:24:21,860
And the other thing is that many of the people who spoke at the three-minute session, we're

841
01:24:21,860 --> 01:24:27,940
We're concerned about the lack of concern about human health related issues associated

842
01:24:27,940 --> 01:24:34,940
with PFAS in the groundwater and in the soil on the base.

843
01:24:35,600 --> 01:24:47,080
And the Navy said that their responsibility was basically the site and not whatever's

844
01:24:47,080 --> 01:24:50,580
on the site is going to do to human health or whatever.

845
01:24:50,580 --> 01:25:00,180
And that was the EEP's job to do that in EPA, and left it at that deep, now to my knowledge

846
01:25:00,180 --> 01:25:06,360
DEP had no position at that meeting concerning the human health issue.

847
01:25:06,560 --> 01:25:16,040
And hopefully with a new governor, we will have a more environment human health directed focus

848
01:25:16,040 --> 01:25:19,540
focus on this situation at Brunswick Landing.

849
01:25:21,280 --> 01:25:30,340
Finally, a personal thought, and that is that given the uncertainties in support by the current administration of,

850
01:25:30,480 --> 01:25:43,060
for PFAS remediation over the next few years, there's concern that Brunswick Naval Air Station may get lost in the shuffle because area-wise it's not a large facility,

851
01:25:43,060 --> 01:25:54,360
facility like Peace Air Force Base, and that we may wind up having the remaining properties

852
01:25:55,060 --> 01:26:01,600
transferred to public use with a contamination in place with land use controls placed on it.

853
01:26:01,680 --> 01:26:10,800
And I hope the town is very mindful of not getting stuck with something that they may regret

854
01:26:10,800 --> 01:26:13,640
at 30, 50 years from now.

855
01:26:14,320 --> 01:26:17,100
So that's my report, and I'll be happy to answer any questions.

856
01:26:17,660 --> 01:26:25,460
And again, I'm more than happy to receive any emails in particular from Council members

857
01:26:25,460 --> 01:26:30,840
who have specific questions about any matter concerning the base.

858
01:26:31,700 --> 01:26:32,580
Thank you.

859
01:26:33,140 --> 01:26:34,080
Questions of Council?

860
01:26:35,880 --> 01:26:36,480
Councillor Acker.

861
01:26:37,680 --> 01:26:38,680
Thank you, Dr. Page.

862
01:26:40,020 --> 01:26:53,500
Back on the tour that happened in the meeting back in May, which was really good, there were at least three major kind of investigations underway.

863
01:26:54,240 --> 01:27:04,560
I know the overall RI, but there was base-wide groundwater monitoring done last fall, and we're supposed to see a technical memo soon on that.

864
01:27:06,180 --> 01:27:11,800
Is that right? That's one piece. I'll give you all three. The second was they were

865
01:27:11,800 --> 01:27:16,160
going to be testing these private drinking water wells this spring, if I understood

866
01:27:16,160 --> 01:27:22,580
it right, because notice is it gone out. So they thought results might be around 30 to 60

867
01:27:22,580 --> 01:27:28,620
days later. So maybe we see those this fall. And the third piece was, if I heard it right,

868
01:27:28,620 --> 01:27:35,800
they were doing additional shallow and deep groundwater testing around hangar six this summer.

869
01:27:36,040 --> 01:27:44,740
So it seems like there's more activity finally, you know, finally in the workflow for them actually

870
01:27:44,740 --> 01:27:53,520
doing testing that's going to result in results that we can look at. So I just I wonder with you've

871
01:27:53,520 --> 01:28:00,220
been involved in this so long, I'm wondering what's your best guess on when we'll see this

872
01:28:00,220 --> 01:28:06,360
all come together. Is this a matter of later this year or is this years from now that

873
01:28:06,360 --> 01:28:12,060
we'll be able to see the data, the work they've been doing over the past nine months?

874
01:28:12,060 --> 01:28:17,120
Well, Council Hacker is very difficult to say.

875
01:28:18,600 --> 01:28:28,060
We're still waiting to see the data from 2022-2023 that was presented in May at the

876
01:28:28,060 --> 01:28:37,620
rad meeting in 2024, which the biota data was the study that showed the very high contaminant

877
01:28:37,620 --> 01:28:46,440
levels before some fish rendering, and the main CDC has issued a warning that the other

878
01:28:46,440 --> 01:28:54,700
fish basically in the near-brook-american extreme, the other ponds are unsafe to eat, and

879
01:28:55,200 --> 01:29:04,620
so we have seen the biota data from that because the main CDC got it, but we haven't seen

880
01:29:04,620 --> 01:29:07,760
any of the other data yet in numerical form.

881
01:29:08,440 --> 01:29:13,820
And so it kind of varies when the Navy, you know, kind of less things out.

882
01:29:13,820 --> 01:29:21,580
Hopefully, you know, we'll see, you know, the groundwater study memorandum that comes

883
01:29:21,580 --> 01:29:21,920
out.

884
01:29:22,240 --> 01:29:27,840
But, you know, it's not always done quickly.

885
01:29:27,840 --> 01:29:55,920
I think the studies that are currently underway, one of which is to identify the source of the contamination of the Brunswick-Topsim water district during avenue well field is very important because that's focuses on an area, the northern part of the base has not been gotten much attention for the Navy before.

886
01:29:55,920 --> 01:29:59,100
before 2022.

887
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:28,720
And so they're going at that, which is very good in the area around hangar six is I think is part of that study. In terms of the deep bedrock studies, again, they're sort of, they're doing sampling at certain locations, but they really have a information need.

888
01:30:28,720 --> 01:30:32,060
in the southern part of the base down by Prince's point,

889
01:30:33,040 --> 01:30:38,400
which they have not yet studied in any way at all.

890
01:30:39,760 --> 01:30:45,140
And because that aquifer originates from the north,

891
01:30:46,000 --> 01:30:49,100
and the time and pressure will get them,

892
01:30:49,240 --> 01:30:50,560
I'm sure, to do that.

893
01:30:51,080 --> 01:30:56,920
And the concern there is because originally in 1970,

894
01:30:58,200 --> 01:31:06,980
When the Navy required shoreline facilities to have the A-Triple F-based fire suppression

895
01:31:06,980 --> 01:31:13,560
systems that they had on vessels, in forensic naval air station, they started out with PFOA,

896
01:31:13,560 --> 01:31:28,760
the base of the atriple F, which was quickly superseded by 1975 with PFOS-based stuff.

897
01:31:28,960 --> 01:31:36,780
This is all 3M material, and what to do with, you know, many thousands and thousands

898
01:31:36,780 --> 01:31:45,580
of gallons of PFOA-based stuff, well, it got dumped at Site 11, which is near where

899
01:31:45,580 --> 01:31:52,380
you know, you visited there. It was the old fire training area. And that's kind of

900
01:31:52,380 --> 01:31:59,680
is working its way southward in the deep bedrock. So the whole thing is a more complicated

901
01:32:01,220 --> 01:32:11,800
story, then the Navy knows now, but they're doing it by their procedures and by their book.

902
01:32:12,760 --> 01:32:14,520
And they will get there sooner or later.

903
01:32:14,840 --> 01:32:23,200
So I'm not anticipating, you know, this RI and things to be wrapped up anytime soon, you

904
01:32:23,200 --> 01:32:25,980
know, probably not by 2030, certainly.

905
01:32:25,980 --> 01:32:27,060
Okay.

906
01:32:29,780 --> 01:32:36,380
I guess one other thing if I could just ask, one of the most important things I think is the private wells.

907
01:32:37,620 --> 01:32:43,580
So presumably when those get tested if they see hits there, then there'll be some immediate action.

908
01:32:43,860 --> 01:32:50,300
We may not know who's wells are taking action on, but presumably they don't wait to 2030 to do something about that.

909
01:32:51,780 --> 01:32:59,640
Well, the private wells the Navy's attesting are wells that meet certain Navy criteria for

910
01:33:00,260 --> 01:33:09,200
further testing and thereby no means all the wells that should be tested so that the

911
01:33:10,060 --> 01:33:14,980
Navy has their set procedure and I forget how many but it's not, I think it's 17, it's not

912
01:33:14,980 --> 01:33:29,260
a large number of wells, and that's why you have many people, many residents, using private

913
01:33:29,260 --> 01:33:35,580
funding from various sources, including their own pocket, to test their own wells.

914
01:33:35,580 --> 01:33:45,220
and so there's, Brunswick United in particular, is amassing a good database of information

915
01:33:45,220 --> 01:33:47,380
on residential wells.

916
01:33:51,630 --> 01:33:53,570
Any further questions, Councilor Weems?

917
01:33:54,470 --> 01:33:55,930
It's not a question.

918
01:33:56,130 --> 01:34:02,550
I'm just compelled to issue my, and I think maybe I can speak on behalf of the Council and

919
01:34:02,550 --> 01:34:11,710
the town, heartfelt thanks to Dr. Page for his consistent and tireless work on his

920
01:34:11,710 --> 01:34:19,010
over so many years, to the extent that the Navy is getting the message, and even at their

921
01:34:19,010 --> 01:34:24,550
own glacial pace, kind of doing things that make a little more sense, is because of the

922
01:34:24,550 --> 01:34:30,250
work of the good doctor and the Brunswick area citizens for a safe environment.

923
01:34:30,250 --> 01:34:35,190
And your role on that just been exemplary, and thank you very, very much.

924
01:34:35,570 --> 01:34:38,110
And thank you, Councillor Wayne.

925
01:34:38,230 --> 01:34:59,250
So I'd just like to conclude by thanking Town Manager Hensley because we have made a lot of progress as the town manager will verify in improving the rights and relationships of the town of Brunswick.

926
01:34:59,250 --> 01:35:06,830
vis-a-vis this ongoing process, in the past, the town of Brunswick was basically ignored

927
01:35:06,830 --> 01:35:13,430
by the Navy, ignored by the various regulatory agencies, and we are now kind of gotten

928
01:35:13,430 --> 01:35:24,170
in the loop, and just sort of expressing Brunswick's rights and needs in this whole process.

929
01:35:24,170 --> 01:35:39,390
Yes, it's a little late in the day, but it's also a large part due to LD 1637, which is the bill that reformed the mirror yet, not yet, but it's working on it.

930
01:35:40,190 --> 01:35:42,790
So, thank you, town manager.

931
01:35:44,470 --> 01:35:45,570
Thank you for your report.

932
01:35:48,140 --> 01:35:52,040
Before we move to public hearings, there may be a motion on the table, customer.

933
01:35:52,040 --> 01:35:52,800
Yeah,

934
01:35:57,950 --> 01:36:01,190
so I guess I'm motioning to add an agenda item for discussion.

935
01:36:01,850 --> 01:36:02,870
Item number 79.

936
01:36:03,290 --> 01:36:03,710
Thank you.

937
01:36:04,170 --> 01:36:13,350
So motion to add item 79, which is an action item to discuss the current disposal contract.

938
01:36:13,690 --> 01:36:14,790
Precisely, thank you, Chair.

939
01:36:15,250 --> 01:36:17,390
Okay, good.

940
01:36:18,050 --> 01:36:22,790
So it's a motion by Councillor Teami, is there a second, seconded by Councillor Weems.

941
01:36:23,130 --> 01:36:27,090
Is there any discussion, discussions limited to just whether or not we should add it to the agenda?

942
01:36:27,090 --> 01:36:35,900
I'm not seeing any discussion. I will call the vote. Councillor Ellis. Yes. Councillor

943
01:36:35,900 --> 01:36:42,040
Ecker. I'm going to recuse myself. Okay. Councillor Perrault. Yes.

944
01:36:43,540 --> 01:36:52,880
Councillor Hicks. Yes. Councillor Teemee. Yes. Councillor Weems. Yes. The Chair is

945
01:36:52,880 --> 01:36:55,200
As in no, the motion passes five to one.

946
01:36:55,900 --> 01:37:00,420
Moving on to public hearings, we're going to go to item number 74.

947
01:37:00,980 --> 01:37:22,860
The town council will hear public comments to adopt an ordinance authorizing the funding and acquisition of a new fire engine with total project costs not to exceed 1,250,000 plus any other cost authorized here under and further authorizing issuance of bonds and notes in the amount not to exceed 1,250,000 plus cost of issuance plus any of those.

948
01:37:22,860 --> 01:37:27,480
additional appropriation authorized here under, and we'll take any appropriate action.

949
01:37:28,260 --> 01:37:32,260
I'm going to open the public hearing and ask the town manager to introduce the item.

950
01:37:33,060 --> 01:37:34,140
Thank you, Chair McDonald.

951
01:37:34,700 --> 01:37:39,320
So in the packet is a memo from me that is more about the financing side of it.

952
01:37:39,500 --> 01:37:44,100
And there's a memo from Chief Brillant, which is about the actual acquisition and

953
01:37:44,100 --> 01:37:46,140
the fire engine.

954
01:37:48,140 --> 01:37:54,800
I know he has spoken to this council numerous times about it through the CIP process, and

955
01:37:54,800 --> 01:37:57,520
for the public hearing he's going to give a brief introduction as well.

956
01:37:58,180 --> 01:38:00,380
Good evening, Ken Bryant and the fire chief.

957
01:38:01,540 --> 01:38:02,760
Good to see everyone tonight.

958
01:38:04,900 --> 01:38:06,780
I know you've all seen it at least once.

959
01:38:06,880 --> 01:38:08,140
I actually came home.

960
01:38:08,800 --> 01:38:08,940
Oh.

961
01:38:11,610 --> 01:38:13,270
Councillor Wilson, we can hear you.

962
01:38:13,770 --> 01:38:14,170
Thank you.

963
01:38:21,000 --> 01:38:22,880
You've all seen this at least once.

964
01:38:22,880 --> 01:38:29,300
I'm going to run back through it to the slide show that from the CIP process, regarding the trucks.

965
01:38:30,200 --> 01:38:37,240
So we have two engines, engines one and three, they're twins, they're purchased in 2009 for 135,000 each.

966
01:38:37,980 --> 01:38:43,480
These numbers are accurate as of this morning during their weekly daily truck checks.

967
01:38:43,480 --> 01:38:55,900
Engine 1 of 94,370 miles, a little over 7,000 hours, and 94,637 for engine 3 with 7,200 plus hours.

968
01:38:56,740 --> 01:39:04,160
The given idea average is 30 to 33 miles per hour, so based on those hours, the wear and

969
01:39:04,160 --> 01:39:07,740
tear on the engine has the equivalent of just over 200,000 miles each.

970
01:39:08,820 --> 01:39:22,060
Just a little comparison, Engine 2, which was purchased in 2018 at about $200,000 more, is at $77,451 miles and $6,200 hours.

971
01:39:22,720 --> 01:39:35,720
I say that because part of the issue is that with these two trucks being, I'm not going to want to advance, there we go, both trucks were purchased at the same time, which was a good deal.

972
01:39:36,840 --> 01:39:48,100
The problem is that the process of replacing a truck about every seven to eight years or so it started a very bad ripple effect.

973
01:39:48,700 --> 01:39:51,220
So now we don't have that spread out.

974
01:39:51,760 --> 01:39:54,320
Those trucks are starting to catch up to each other very quickly.

975
01:39:55,260 --> 01:39:58,940
So we have age in use issues, electrical issues, corrosion issues.

976
01:39:59,640 --> 01:40:02,620
We're finding some parts.

977
01:40:02,620 --> 01:40:09,780
parts, those two engines we found out there were six trucks that that company built that

978
01:40:09,780 --> 01:40:13,460
had an independent front suspension that they no longer make.

979
01:40:14,880 --> 01:40:20,640
So to find parts for the actual suspension which we've had to do has not been easy and

980
01:40:20,640 --> 01:40:25,860
sometimes very expensive and sometimes very long weight period.

981
01:40:25,860 --> 01:40:34,980
So we're trying to fix some of those issues as well as spread the costs of truck replacements out just a little bit.

982
01:40:38,640 --> 01:40:43,400
And that's what I said, we're trying to spread that separation of the two trucks.

983
01:40:43,940 --> 01:40:46,840
Replacement schedule will be easier, not two trucks at the same time.

984
01:40:46,840 --> 01:40:56,840
Remember, right now the tower, which has already been ordered, and we're waiting for it to be built and it's closer to 28 before it'll be arrived, that's a little over $2 million.

985
01:40:58,700 --> 01:41:09,200
These engines were asking to spend no more than $1.2 million in change and that gives you an idea since 2018 now we're over a million dollars.

986
01:41:10,020 --> 01:41:20,860
The prices are going up with everything across the country so we're trying to spread that out, we're trying to get that replacement which used to be a 25-year replacement for a fire truck, an engine.

987
01:41:22,220 --> 01:41:31,900
The way we're using them now, for us, 25 years is just too long, it's too long, and we need to spread that out, and we need to cushion that a little bit.

988
01:41:32,960 --> 01:41:37,580
And there are other option would be to consider adding a fourth engine to the fleet.

989
01:41:37,840 --> 01:41:43,800
Again, there's a big expense, not just in the truck and the maintenance, but also the equipment to put on it.

990
01:41:43,800 --> 01:41:51,000
If we take a truck out of service, we can't just quickly load, unload 1,000 feet of large

991
01:41:51,000 --> 01:41:52,780
jam and hose and put it on the other truck.

992
01:41:53,520 --> 01:41:58,060
The air packs, all the hand tools, all the small adapters and those types of things.

993
01:41:58,380 --> 01:42:02,400
We already move some of that equipment around but we don't, the larger stuff, the hose

994
01:42:02,400 --> 01:42:03,220
and that we don't.

995
01:42:03,620 --> 01:42:07,620
So adding a fourth truck to the fleet, I don't know if that's really in the cards at this

996
01:42:07,620 --> 01:42:07,920
time.

997
01:42:08,640 --> 01:42:26,160
I'd rather CS purchase the engine now and try to move one of the other twins out a little bit further over the next couple of years so we can get some separation in our capital projects for a vehicle replacement, I think we can go one more slide.

998
01:42:27,520 --> 01:42:33,900
So our purchasing options, you know, customized truck would take upwards to three to four years depending on where you go.

999
01:42:33,900 --> 01:42:41,300
So when this process started, as I said in the memo, I worked with the local vendor who is E1,

1000
01:42:41,400 --> 01:42:48,440
which we have mostly E1s in our fleet, and they have a new series, which is a almost

1001
01:42:48,440 --> 01:42:53,420
fully customized truck, but not completely, so it's customizable to a certain extent,

1002
01:42:53,540 --> 01:42:56,040
but has limited options when you do that.

1003
01:42:57,020 --> 01:43:02,980
And that is the vehicle that I spoke about in the memo that the vendor turned around and ordered

1004
01:43:02,980 --> 01:43:07,560
as a demo, which is only 12 to 14 months turnaround.

1005
01:43:10,060 --> 01:43:15,520
And so, with that in mind, we're also working with a second vendor, Pierce manufacturing

1006
01:43:15,520 --> 01:43:21,060
to come up with a price to see who's the best price and the best deal for the town.

1007
01:43:22,480 --> 01:43:28,800
I would just tell you that if it is Pierce, by time you order a truck, there'll be in the

1008
01:43:28,800 --> 01:43:33,940
same process of that 12 to 14 months from the order date, which wouldn't be until after July.

1009
01:43:35,260 --> 01:43:41,920
So, a lot of moving parts here, we're just trying to do the best thing for the town and the best thing for the department.

1010
01:43:42,540 --> 01:43:44,100
And I would open it up for questions.

1011
01:43:44,780 --> 01:43:46,780
Thank you, are there any questions of council?

1012
01:43:49,500 --> 01:43:50,160
Councilor Ellis.

1013
01:43:50,620 --> 01:43:53,160
Just clarity on operational procedures with this.

1014
01:43:53,440 --> 01:44:00,500
My understanding is this will move to a vote eventually that we would be voting to authorize the move forward on that.

1015
01:44:00,500 --> 01:44:03,240
But the actual bonding won't hit until we have receipt of this.

1016
01:44:03,280 --> 01:44:03,940
Is that accurate?

1017
01:44:05,140 --> 01:44:09,840
Yes, typically we don't issue the debt until we actually have to pay for something.

1018
01:44:10,760 --> 01:44:15,720
Or often we will advance the funds and then issue the debt when it is most

1019
01:44:15,720 --> 01:44:17,320
the advantageous to do that.

1020
01:44:17,680 --> 01:44:21,660
So are we looking at maybe a one to two year from now budget impact?

1021
01:44:22,000 --> 01:44:26,860
Is that I'm modeling it as 2728, which might be ambitious.

1022
01:44:27,360 --> 01:44:28,940
Maybe it would be 2829.

1023
01:44:28,940 --> 01:44:34,140
Okay. Thank you. Other questions of council?

1024
01:44:36,250 --> 01:44:36,930
Councilor Timmy?

1025
01:44:38,250 --> 01:44:45,010
So with the idea of staggering the replacements, does it seem like we're going to get another

1026
01:44:45,010 --> 01:44:52,650
seven years out of one of those two? By my math that would have like 300,000 miles on

1027
01:44:52,650 --> 01:44:57,790
it by then? Hopefully that, if this all goes right, that truck

1028
01:44:57,790 --> 01:44:59,830
would be these, become these third line.

1029
01:45:20,540 --> 01:45:29,780
And I guess on the other side of that, the, you know, by putting those extra miles on this new truck, it's also going to potentially wear out faster than.

1030
01:45:29,780 --> 01:45:32,720
And it otherwise would, is that fair?

1031
01:45:32,800 --> 01:45:36,840
Yes and no, we're already doing that with our engine too.

1032
01:45:37,600 --> 01:45:40,220
And we used to have the three trucks were staggered.

1033
01:45:40,420 --> 01:45:44,200
So you had front line, second line, third line.

1034
01:45:44,960 --> 01:45:50,720
But now that we have the two stations and we're split up, and we have running two engines really first due,

1035
01:45:51,400 --> 01:45:54,940
depending on what side of town they're on, we're rocking up the miles.

1036
01:45:55,200 --> 01:45:57,460
Plus we are busier than we were 20 years ago.

1037
01:45:57,460 --> 01:46:01,900
So it's just, that's just the simple facts.

1038
01:46:02,540 --> 01:46:02,720
Yeah.

1039
01:46:03,920 --> 01:46:05,480
Any further questions of council?

1040
01:46:09,390 --> 01:46:13,730
Not seeing any, I'll open the floor to public comment on this item.

1041
01:46:13,890 --> 01:46:17,890
So if you'd like to speak on this item, remember that you have three minutes, share your name in town.

1042
01:46:18,070 --> 01:46:18,990
You just come up to the podium.

1043
01:46:21,760 --> 01:46:24,060
No, come up to the mic before I do it.

1044
01:46:24,160 --> 01:46:26,720
Never super simple quick, but yeah, simple quick.

1045
01:46:26,840 --> 01:46:27,440
Thank you, Chief.

1046
01:46:29,160 --> 01:46:31,600
Well, he spoke about front suspension.

1047
01:46:31,600 --> 01:46:33,260
You have to say your name in town of residence.

1048
01:46:33,260 --> 01:46:33,560
Okay.

1049
01:46:34,020 --> 01:46:35,740
Brunswick, Dennis Westman.

1050
01:46:35,940 --> 01:46:36,240
Thank you.

1051
01:46:37,200 --> 01:46:40,180
He spoke about front suspension and

1052
01:46:40,180 --> 01:46:41,760
the availability of parts.

1053
01:46:42,420 --> 01:46:46,620
Is it, my question is, when looking at this,

1054
01:46:47,200 --> 01:46:52,920
can you look at history of a company's availability of things becoming

1055
01:46:52,920 --> 01:46:58,640
obsolete or no longer available to make repairs versus the other company?

1056
01:46:59,400 --> 01:47:05,300
And it would seem you don't want to have a really heavy paperweight sitting in the firehouse.

1057
01:47:05,820 --> 01:47:07,020
That's what I'm getting at.

1058
01:47:07,420 --> 01:47:08,360
Thank you.

1059
01:47:08,400 --> 01:47:15,560
I'd actually like to address in a couple of different ways but the basic thing is we recognize

1060
01:47:15,560 --> 01:47:18,540
the issue when we ordered engine two.

1061
01:47:18,920 --> 01:47:23,820
Engine two has a solid front end, not independent front suspension, which is what the real issue was.

1062
01:47:24,540 --> 01:47:27,540
So that's pretty standard across the industry.

1063
01:47:29,380 --> 01:47:32,440
Any other members of the public that would like to speak on this matter?

1064
01:47:34,540 --> 01:47:40,560
Not seeing any in the room, not seeing any hands on Zoom, I will bring it back to Council for a motion.

1065
01:47:44,010 --> 01:47:49,050
Would we like to close the public hearing, would we like to suspend our rules to vote on this tonight?

1066
01:47:49,730 --> 01:47:50,730
Can I get a show of hands for you?

1067
01:47:51,370 --> 01:47:52,490
No hands, okay, cool.

1068
01:47:52,790 --> 01:47:55,050
So now I will entertain a motion, Councilor Hicks.

1069
01:47:55,950 --> 01:48:24,190
I move to adopt an ordinance authorizing the funding and acquisition of a new fire engine with total project costs not to exceed one that $1,250,000 plus any other cost authorized here under and further authorizing issuance of bonds and notes in an amount not to exceed $1,250,000 plus costed issuance plus any additional appropriation authorized here under.

1070
01:48:24,750 --> 01:48:29,330
motion by Councillor Hicks, seconded by Councillor Timmy. Any further discussion on the motion?

1071
01:48:31,190 --> 01:48:36,130
Not seeing any, I will call the vote. Councillor Ellis. Yes. Councillor Ecker. Yes.

1072
01:48:36,330 --> 01:48:40,350
Councillor Brawl. Yes. Councillor Hicks. Yes. Councillor Timmy. Yes. Councillor Weems.

1073
01:48:40,490 --> 01:48:45,750
Yes. Councillor Wilson. Yes. And the Chair is a yes, those unanimous of the council, the motion passes.

1074
01:48:46,690 --> 01:48:51,390
Thank you. Thank you. Moving on to item number 75, the town council will hear

1075
01:48:51,390 --> 01:48:57,670
public comments to adopt the proposed ordinance Chapter 10 Article 4 mobile home parks and will take any appropriate action.

1076
01:48:57,950 --> 01:49:03,910
I'm going to open the public hearing and I'm going to ask the Economic and Community Development Director Costello to introduce the item.

1077
01:49:04,350 --> 01:49:14,790
Thank you Chair McDonald. I am very happy to be here after a long period of study, robust study and almost two years working with the housing committee,

1078
01:49:14,790 --> 01:49:20,390
working with staff, our legal representation, so we've got Lewis Gray here, but

1079
01:49:20,390 --> 01:49:24,570
Kristen Collins as well, and our community. You can see there's a lot of people

1080
01:49:24,570 --> 01:49:30,550
here who have spent a lot of time and effort providing input for what I

1081
01:49:30,550 --> 01:49:36,630
hope is a final draft for your consideration. Next slide please. So what I'm

1082
01:49:36,630 --> 01:49:41,570
going to do, we've continued to get input up until the last minute here. Our last

1083
01:49:41,570 --> 01:49:47,970
input was at 3.30 this afternoon, but what we're going to do is first talk about what happened

1084
01:49:47,970 --> 01:49:52,570
in the session for setting the public hearing. And I'm just going to review the things that

1085
01:49:52,570 --> 01:49:59,250
were agreed upon by the council. The second draft is a red line draft that I'm also that

1086
01:49:59,250 --> 01:50:05,970
had input in between those times was also in the packet. So I think that the committee has had

1087
01:50:05,970 --> 01:50:10,330
a chance to look at it, but I just think it's important that I review what those changes are.

1088
01:50:11,650 --> 01:50:20,870
So first, in section 10, 120, we replace the word, particularly with uniquely.

1089
01:50:21,310 --> 01:50:28,570
And this was an important change because this asset class is very much unique compared

1090
01:50:28,570 --> 01:50:30,370
to other asset classes, as you know.

1091
01:50:31,110 --> 01:50:37,630
They rent their lots and then they own their own homes, mobile homes that are on those lots.

1092
01:50:37,630 --> 01:50:43,070
This ordinance is very specific, just a lot of rents, and to this particular asset class.

1093
01:50:43,330 --> 01:50:49,690
So we made that change in Section 10122 under definitions of affordability threshold.

1094
01:50:49,950 --> 01:50:58,350
We added in the words the notice of to further clarify what is the CPI or the Consumer Price Index U urban.

1095
01:50:58,590 --> 01:51:00,410
So that is for the Northeast region.

1096
01:51:00,410 --> 01:51:10,690
We added that because it's very important that the notice of relates to when the landlord

1097
01:51:10,690 --> 01:51:15,850
can send out notices of increase because they have to line up with the state law that

1098
01:51:16,410 --> 01:51:17,670
requires 90 day notifications.

1099
01:51:18,210 --> 01:51:18,830
So we added that.

1100
01:51:20,370 --> 01:51:24,430
Also in section 10122 the definition lot rent.

1101
01:51:24,430 --> 01:51:29,210
And we removed public from the reference third party utility service.

1102
01:51:29,530 --> 01:51:32,530
We had a lot of conversation back and forth about that.

1103
01:51:34,390 --> 01:51:41,290
In section 10123 under Mobile Home Park Rent Review Board, in B we increased the board

1104
01:51:41,290 --> 01:51:42,570
members from three to five.

1105
01:51:43,170 --> 01:51:46,090
We thought that was better so that we could have a quorum.

1106
01:51:47,010 --> 01:51:53,330
In D, we removed language giving the board authority to adopt bylaws and added proposed so that

1107
01:51:53,330 --> 01:51:58,070
the town council can review and provide input to the guiding documents before enactment

1108
01:51:58,890 --> 01:52:08,950
and we remove the option for mediation. In section 10-1-24 increase in lot rent we added equal

1109
01:52:08,950 --> 01:52:14,610
in reference to the opportunity for tenant comment and rebuttal at a hearing and the word

1110
01:52:14,610 --> 01:52:21,430
tenants for additional clarification and then finally the last thing that happened at the setting

1111
01:52:21,430 --> 01:52:27,910
the public hearing in section 127 inspection and enforcement and F related to the rights

1112
01:52:27,910 --> 01:52:33,810
of tenants we added disincludes but is not limited to prohibiting tenants from distributing

1113
01:52:33,810 --> 01:52:39,070
pamphlets, handouts or other type of literature relating to the rights of tenants and establishing

1114
01:52:39,070 --> 01:52:42,830
contact with other tenants by knocking on doors and or bringing doorbells.

1115
01:52:43,550 --> 01:52:45,470
So that was what happened at the public hearing.

1116
01:52:45,470 --> 01:52:53,770
In between the public hearing and between setting the public hearing and this actual public

1117
01:52:53,770 --> 01:53:02,590
hearing, we had a lot of input from counselors, just mostly clarifications, but these are

1118
01:53:02,590 --> 01:53:06,470
the ones that the staff brought to this draft.

1119
01:53:07,850 --> 01:53:08,470
And are we on that?

1120
01:53:09,270 --> 01:53:09,390
Okay.

1121
01:53:09,970 --> 01:53:15,450
In section 121, applicability and effective date, this article shall take effect.

1122
01:53:15,450 --> 01:53:21,350
on September 1st, 2026, and no increase in mobile home park lunch will be approved to take

1123
01:53:21,350 --> 01:53:26,870
effect before December 1st, 2026, and let otherwise exempt under this article.

1124
01:53:27,250 --> 01:53:37,250
Now, we had a work session, a town council workshop right before this town council meeting,

1125
01:53:37,710 --> 01:53:43,130
and there was a change to that section as well, and so now the town council would like it

1126
01:53:43,130 --> 01:53:53,250
to read. We've added in a sentence. It's the second sentence, so this article shall apply to all parcels in Brunswick utilize as a mobile home park as defined.

1127
01:53:53,930 --> 01:54:03,250
This article shall take effect 30 days after adoption, notwithstanding Section 10124 of this article which will take effect on September 1st, 2026.

1128
01:54:03,850 --> 01:54:11,090
And no increase in mobile home park grant shall be approved to take effect before December 1st, 2026 unless otherwise exempt from this article.

1129
01:54:11,090 --> 01:54:34,610
Now, why we included that statement is because the council would like this to be in effect immediately in 30 days, but the part that will not be in effect is with respect to the lot rent increase because we do have to have the rent board set up for that, so we would like to provide time to be able to do that.

1130
01:54:35,290 --> 01:54:42,530
And also, we, there was another reason, I think that was the primary reason, but basically

1131
01:54:42,530 --> 01:54:46,270
we need to be in a position so that the board is up and running to be able to address

1132
01:54:46,270 --> 01:54:53,690
those potential hearings, or if somebody comes forward with a change.

1133
01:54:55,070 --> 01:55:04,370
Okay, so then under section 10-122 definitions in the affordability threshold.

1134
01:55:05,070 --> 01:55:13,850
This is one where we actually were listening to some of the landlords and also thinking

1135
01:55:13,850 --> 01:55:19,070
about the CPI and what CPI would be reasonable.

1136
01:55:20,170 --> 01:55:26,470
The CPI often lags and so the reason we said last published is because sometimes it could

1137
01:55:26,970 --> 01:55:31,150
be a couple of months and we set this January 1 timeframe.

1138
01:55:32,670 --> 01:55:42,370
What we'd like to do is give a little bit of time to, because when this becomes actually

1139
01:55:42,370 --> 01:55:49,470
enacted, and after the rent increases September 1st is the notification, then they can't

1140
01:55:49,470 --> 01:55:52,770
actually put forward that rent increase till December 1st.

1141
01:55:53,250 --> 01:56:00,150
That would mean that if they go with the January 1st published date, it would almost be a

1142
01:56:00,150 --> 01:56:02,630
year old, and we think that might be a little too punitive.

1143
01:56:03,170 --> 01:56:07,970
So we would like to say if there are any rent increases that are coming forward in 2026,

1144
01:56:07,970 --> 01:56:11,190
that that date would be then moved to June 1st.

1145
01:56:11,250 --> 01:56:14,810
That would be the CPI, you that they, the landlords could use.

1146
01:56:17,270 --> 01:56:20,350
Under landlord, we replaced ordinance with article.

1147
01:56:20,530 --> 01:56:22,150
That was just a technical change.

1148
01:56:23,150 --> 01:56:27,070
And a lot rent, we removed landlord paid utility costs or offsets.

1149
01:56:28,530 --> 01:56:33,150
Under section 10123 Mobile Home Park review board,

1150
01:56:33,630 --> 01:56:37,330
we changed relevant experience to familiarity

1151
01:56:37,330 --> 01:56:41,210
and housing, mobile home park, or financial regulatory issues.

1152
01:56:41,950 --> 01:56:48,210
We thought that was a really good addition to the expertise that we need on the rent review board.

1153
01:56:48,390 --> 01:56:54,070
It was bought forward by Councillor Weems, and I think it's a really important factor in a great change.

1154
01:56:54,890 --> 01:57:01,510
We clarified the last sentence to no person having any ownership or employment role for a landlord and no tenant.

1155
01:57:02,330 --> 01:57:05,670
And we took out mobile home, may serve as a member of the board.

1156
01:57:05,670 --> 01:57:14,010
Our legal staff felt pretty strongly that we, it would be a conflict of interest for landlord or

1157
01:57:14,010 --> 01:57:22,030
tenant of any kind of asset to be on the mobile home review board so that was a change there.

1158
01:57:22,890 --> 01:57:28,510
And then in section 10, 124 increase in lot rent, that was again just a lower case I.

1159
01:57:28,870 --> 01:57:34,910
In G, we added in the provision for an accommodation of a mediation with the landlord pursuant

1160
01:57:34,910 --> 01:57:42,730
to the state law. So that was something that was taken out previously. Again, we had Councillor

1161
01:57:42,730 --> 01:57:49,570
Weems talking to staff. I think we thought it was a reasonable thing to include the option

1162
01:57:49,570 --> 01:57:55,550
or of mediation. And that would be on the state level. And many of you know and many of

1163
01:57:55,550 --> 01:58:00,830
even the community members here know that that's a very high bar. And I want to be clear, the state

1164
01:58:00,830 --> 01:58:01,950
date does not have rent stabilization.

1165
01:58:02,730 --> 01:58:06,290
What they have is a model ordinance for people to follow.

1166
01:58:06,510 --> 01:58:13,850
They have a 90 day notification of rent increases, but they do not have, they don't have

1167
01:58:13,850 --> 01:58:14,650
rent stabilization.

1168
01:58:16,430 --> 01:58:21,970
So we, but they do have a bar for mediation and they do make a provision for mediation.

1169
01:58:22,550 --> 01:58:30,630
Should, should you be over their threshold, which is CPI plus one, and it has to be 51

1170
01:58:30,630 --> 01:58:36,870
1% of residents in a mobile home park which we feel is a very high difficult bar to meet.

1171
01:58:37,670 --> 01:58:41,610
But nevertheless, if they are able to meet that and they do want to go to mediation,

1172
01:58:42,310 --> 01:58:47,010
we wouldn't want to preclude that from happening and we would wait for that.

1173
01:58:47,330 --> 01:58:52,050
When I say we, I mean the rent board on their final decision to see the outcome of the mediation.

1174
01:58:52,270 --> 01:58:58,050
So I think we added that back in and I think that's, so that's one of the things we're proposing.

1175
01:58:58,050 --> 01:59:05,210
And then finally section 10-127, inspection and enforcement, we added in clarifying language

1176
01:59:05,890 --> 01:59:11,630
related to tenant retaliation, and we added in impedes a tenant from OR.

1177
01:59:12,050 --> 01:59:18,450
So I think that was just a clarifying statement that we wanted to make sure was accommodated.

1178
01:59:20,230 --> 01:59:27,030
So I'm happy to, I have a full schedule of the things that need to happen, and you'll

1179
01:59:27,030 --> 01:59:30,310
I'll see that if you can just take that to the next slide.

1180
01:59:31,810 --> 01:59:34,310
Okay, let me first talk about this.

1181
01:59:35,050 --> 01:59:40,510
So the schedule does include an amendment to the moratorium, which is another item that's

1182
01:59:40,510 --> 01:59:43,870
going to come before you tonight that's in new business.

1183
01:59:45,430 --> 01:59:51,190
And it has just a couple of changes, but the most important change, or the most I guess meaningful

1184
01:59:51,190 --> 01:59:55,850
change, is that a provision to exempt the rocks, the resident-owned communities.

1185
01:59:56,450 --> 01:59:59,910
The resident-owned communities are already set up, they're by-laws.

1186
02:00:00,000 --> 02:00:29,780
Let them up so that they have a democratic process, but also that they have a motivation, or I should say they have a disincentive, for not for raising their rents because they have a loan through the state. And that there's provision in there as well as in their bylaws that they need to maintain rents for low to moderate income residents. So they already have that, you know, guideline to follow.

1187
02:00:29,780 --> 02:00:59,760
And also they've got we would like them to be able to have some increases pretty quickly because as you know they they have this big long but when we also supported that on the local side with the state and so they need to be able to make their debt service which is coming up in August so we'd like to go through that exemption process staffs recommending that that be considered and again we'll talk about that more later we also just changed a reference to tenant and

1188
02:00:59,760 --> 02:01:04,720
we placed it with lots because it's really about the lots and not the tenants in the ordinance.

1189
02:01:04,720 --> 02:01:07,700
We want to make sure the lots remain affordable.

1190
02:01:09,520 --> 02:01:13,320
So the next slide, I can stop there and take any questions.

1191
02:01:13,540 --> 02:01:16,940
I know there were a lot of questions in the workshop, but if there are any questions, or I can

1192
02:01:16,940 --> 02:01:23,800
go on to this very detailed schedule of what needs to happen, if that's-

1193
02:01:23,800 --> 02:01:25,140
Councillor Tini, you have a question?

1194
02:01:25,140 --> 02:01:45,620
Yeah, I just, I didn't ask about it in the workshop, but the removal of the part about landlord paid utilities or offsets will that impact like one of the concerns is the like meter fee that is being charged in bay bridge to people who are, you know, getting that public water.

1195
02:01:46,440 --> 02:01:52,020
am I remembering right that that's why that was in there originally and do we still think

1196
02:01:52,020 --> 02:01:57,280
that that that they're protected from that meter of fee going up you know out of the

1197
02:01:57,280 --> 02:01:57,500
blue.

1198
02:01:57,740 --> 02:02:04,680
So that was our that is what our attorney Kristen stated that that would not be included

1199
02:02:04,680 --> 02:02:05,100
in law.

1200
02:02:05,200 --> 02:02:08,200
And I just want to say is there anything more about that that okay.

1201
02:02:09,700 --> 02:02:15,460
So I'm understanding correctly that basically this will not protect residents from

1202
02:02:15,460 --> 02:02:18,960
So surprise increases in the meter fee that they're paying.

1203
02:02:22,780 --> 02:02:30,800
So our tenant attorney's opinion was that that fee, that $9 fee, is covered with this ordinance.

1204
02:02:32,160 --> 02:02:32,300
Yes.

1205
02:02:33,980 --> 02:02:41,040
Yeah, there's a section under law rent that talks about administration and she believes that that's an administrative fee and so it's covered.

1206
02:02:41,040 --> 02:02:42,040
Yeah,

1207
02:02:45,960 --> 02:02:50,800
okay, so any other questions on the changes, the proposed changes?

1208
02:02:51,100 --> 02:02:51,580
Councillor Ellis.

1209
02:02:52,240 --> 02:02:56,340
Yeah, and this is just more of a note because I was curious and looked it up the most recent

1210
02:02:56,340 --> 02:03:03,820
New England one was published for May and just for a frame of reference, it was a 4.6% rate

1211
02:03:03,820 --> 02:03:04,380
in May.

1212
02:03:04,700 --> 02:03:10,000
And so what June will be, nobody knows, but again, there's somewhere in that range.

1213
02:03:10,580 --> 02:03:11,060
Thank you.

1214
02:03:13,620 --> 02:03:14,360
Continue on.

1215
02:03:14,360 --> 02:03:22,540
Okay, so tonight, a couple things we'd like to consider happening, not actions for the

1216
02:03:22,540 --> 02:03:28,460
town council, would be that the public hearing and enactment of the ordinance with these

1217
02:03:28,460 --> 02:03:34,080
proposed changes, and to set a public hearing on the exempt, the rocks being exempt from

1218
02:03:34,080 --> 02:03:37,700
the moratorium for July the 6th.

1219
02:03:37,740 --> 02:03:43,480
And so, and then discussing a new termination date of September the 1st, and that would line

1220
02:03:43,480 --> 02:03:51,780
up with the notifications of the rent notice as I have in there currently expires on November

1221
02:03:51,780 --> 02:03:58,560
11th. So that is what we were hoping to do tonight. And then if the public, if you agree

1222
02:03:58,560 --> 02:04:04,180
to do that, then the public hearing would be on July the 6th. On the 15th, that would

1223
02:04:04,180 --> 02:04:10,520
be 30 days from today, the mobile home park would take effect. And with that new amendment

1224
02:04:10,520 --> 02:04:17,700
that we've proposed, or that came out of the workshop, that would cover everything but the rent increase.

1225
02:04:18,820 --> 02:04:27,200
And then on July 22nd, I have told both landlords and tenants that there's going to be more public input.

1226
02:04:27,900 --> 02:04:35,900
And that is on the rules of procedure. That is going to be how this board works.

1227
02:04:35,900 --> 02:04:42,260
and there's a charge, and there are submission requirements and basically a procedure for evaluation.

1228
02:04:43,660 --> 02:04:48,980
The Finance Subcommittee of the Housing Committee has begun work on that.

1229
02:04:49,660 --> 02:04:55,600
And we're looking at multiple ordinances and charges and procedures.

1230
02:04:56,120 --> 02:05:02,260
And we will put together a first draft with the help of our obviously legal representation.

1231
02:05:02,260 --> 02:05:06,680
and then we will bring that to the next housing committee meeting in July.

1232
02:05:07,860 --> 02:05:09,500
So that is what that date is.

1233
02:05:10,060 --> 02:05:11,800
And we will get more feedback.

1234
02:05:12,120 --> 02:05:17,860
And I've said to the landlords and tenants, please provide input.

1235
02:05:18,000 --> 02:05:19,660
We would really appreciate that.

1236
02:05:20,660 --> 02:05:22,340
We're all learning about that.

1237
02:05:22,540 --> 02:05:26,160
And there may be some unforeseen consequences that we're not aware of

1238
02:05:26,160 --> 02:05:27,840
that we would like to accommodate.

1239
02:05:28,760 --> 02:05:39,980
And then after we have that, then we would come to the town council, as you know, that was a change in the proposed ordinance that we would then bring that to the town council and get their review and input.

1240
02:05:40,740 --> 02:05:52,920
And then that would go back if they approved those words. And then we would get kind of a final draft and kind of be off and running with our with our new committee, at least in terms of our guiding documents.

1241
02:05:52,920 --> 02:06:02,420
Then on August 3rd we'd set the public hearing to repeal the moratorium and then on August

1242
02:06:02,420 --> 02:06:07,720
10th the Appointments Committee would interview application, applicants, excuse me, for the

1243
02:06:07,720 --> 02:06:08,440
rent review board.

1244
02:06:08,640 --> 02:06:14,300
We are already on top of if this gets goes forward tonight working on social media about

1245
02:06:14,300 --> 02:06:14,520
that.

1246
02:06:14,640 --> 02:06:19,580
We're going to start to market like we really want to get the right people and have a lot

1247
02:06:19,580 --> 02:06:23,980
of good applicants so that we can have a really, really, really strong board with great expertise,

1248
02:06:24,140 --> 02:06:30,360
hopefully across those three areas that are in the ordinance. So that's going to start that

1249
02:06:30,360 --> 02:06:35,400
process right away, at least trying to get the word out. August 17th, then we'll have the

1250
02:06:35,400 --> 02:06:42,800
public hearing to repeal the moratorium. And then at that time, hopefully the council can make

1251
02:06:42,800 --> 02:06:49,340
appointments to the rent review board. Then in August, we would have the first meeting of the

1252
02:06:49,340 --> 02:06:54,620
rent review board and then September 1st is when the moratorium expires and then that

1253
02:06:54,620 --> 02:06:57,560
would be the first notification of lot rent increases.

1254
02:06:58,720 --> 02:07:03,980
And then October 15th would be the first time that the rent board could actually have

1255
02:07:03,980 --> 02:07:13,700
a hearing should, you know, the tenant spring forward or the landlord spring forward, a challenge

1256
02:07:13,700 --> 02:07:19,040
to the CPI, meaning that they would like to increase the rent for whatever reason.

1257
02:07:19,800 --> 02:07:24,420
And the burden of the proof would be on the landlords regarding that.

1258
02:07:24,600 --> 02:07:29,720
Or if the tenants say that this notification is above the CPI,

1259
02:07:30,120 --> 02:07:34,440
or they have a question about that, that would be another thing that would be come to the board.

1260
02:07:34,960 --> 02:07:37,920
So that's the complicated schedule.

1261
02:07:38,160 --> 02:07:42,680
I hope it's a little bit clear there, but these are the steps that we need to take to move forward.

1262
02:07:42,680 --> 02:07:44,160
with the ordinance.

1263
02:07:47,830 --> 02:07:50,350
Thank you for your presentation.

1264
02:07:50,950 --> 02:07:52,890
In summary, lots of moving pieces.

1265
02:07:53,510 --> 02:07:54,450
Councillor Perl.

1266
02:07:55,310 --> 02:07:55,830
Question.

1267
02:07:56,230 --> 02:07:57,810
Question concern.

1268
02:07:57,870 --> 02:08:11,890
My only thought is if we are voting to repeal the moratorium before we actually know if there's viable candidates for the board.

1269
02:08:11,890 --> 02:08:26,170
If everything gets repealed and we don't have a board, then we wouldn't be in a position to have hearings as of October 15th.

1270
02:08:26,190 --> 02:08:31,630
That's my concern with repealing it prior to knowing if there's candidates.

1271
02:08:33,550 --> 02:08:45,830
So we would set the public hearing on August 3rd, August 10th, the Appointments Committee would meet to interview people and they would have whatever information we would need at that point.

1272
02:08:46,210 --> 02:08:48,750
But you're already setting the public hearing.

1273
02:08:50,250 --> 02:08:52,050
But we can vote it down.

1274
02:08:52,190 --> 02:08:56,750
Yeah, or we can just hold it to the next meeting as well, because public hearings we typically are.

1275
02:08:57,330 --> 02:09:04,270
As long as we're not locked in because I want to make sure that we haven't put in motion something that we can't stop thank you

1276
02:09:04,270 --> 02:09:09,270
Yeah, typically we wave our rules during public hearings to vote tonight rather than wait the extra

1277
02:09:10,050 --> 02:09:12,690
Meeting and we could just wait the extra meeting if we need to

1278
02:09:12,690 --> 02:09:16,630
Councillor Ellis actually in that same vein because I was having similar

1279
02:09:17,310 --> 02:09:21,210
Very hopeful that this is all gonna work out. There's been a lot that's been done well here

1280
02:09:21,210 --> 02:09:26,490
But then worrying about what if not like but I do agree that August 3rd

1281
02:09:26,750 --> 02:09:31,570
is an important day, too, because let's say the trains off the tracks at that point in time.

1282
02:09:32,130 --> 02:09:37,010
If we need to extend the moratorium and I'm very hopeful that we would not need to do that.

1283
02:09:37,550 --> 02:09:41,930
But that's the last moment in time that we could, in essence, do that as well, right?

1284
02:09:42,210 --> 02:09:52,370
Or does the moratorium continue until November, so that date of sort of last recall on having to set it to continue?

1285
02:09:52,370 --> 02:09:55,910
I'd also not in this meeting, but would love to see what that date is, too.

1286
02:10:00,460 --> 02:10:05,130
You can only do it twice. Yeah. Yeah. Come on up.

1287
02:10:08,380 --> 02:10:17,480
Can the moratorium be extended again if need be? Yeah. So the answer is yes, the moratorium can be extended for another 100-day, 80-day period, if necessary.

1288
02:10:17,700 --> 02:10:27,120
Obviously, you wouldn't need the entirety of that 100-day days, so long as the town is making progress towards finding a solution, and the, you know, emergent need still exists.

1289
02:10:27,120 --> 02:10:34,640
And I think we won't need that, I'm hopeful we won't need that, but at what point in time do we need to make that call such that that meeting on August 3rd right now says

1290
02:10:34,640 --> 02:10:43,160
Set a public hearing hearing to repeal it. What's the date that we would need a public hearing to renew it if we're sitting at that point thinking we're not ready?

1291
02:10:43,340 --> 02:10:44,840
Not until November.

1292
02:10:45,880 --> 02:10:48,060
No, November's when it's gone away. There's days.

1293
02:10:48,400 --> 02:10:56,740
It'll be the last meeting in October, and we don't need a 30-day notice or anything like that for extensions because we learned that the last time around.

1294
02:10:56,740 --> 02:11:01,440
That's right so we can just do it whenever it's like yeah, okay very good thank you pretty quick turn around on that one

1295
02:11:01,440 --> 02:11:03,540
Thank you, and and we won't need it

1296
02:11:03,540 --> 02:11:12,220
Yeah, and you know this is an aggressive schedule, but we are we are very cognizant of the fact that there have been no rent increases for almost a year

1297
02:11:12,220 --> 02:11:14,660
It will be right to up to November so

1298
02:11:15,880 --> 02:11:18,840
We're looking at both sides. We're trying to weigh all of this

1299
02:11:19,540 --> 02:11:21,540
Are there any other questions of council?

1300
02:11:21,540 --> 02:11:22,620
I

1301
02:11:24,920 --> 02:11:29,440
will not see any questions, I will open the floor to public comment at this time.

1302
02:11:29,700 --> 02:11:37,260
So you can come up as a reminder, three minutes, state your name and town, follow the root code of conduct on either side of the room.

1303
02:11:46,620 --> 02:11:54,600
Thank you, my name is Dennis Westman, I live in Baybridge for over 20 years.

1304
02:11:55,300 --> 02:11:59,800
There is four generations of my family that live in that park.

1305
02:12:01,980 --> 02:12:11,950
and it is very concerning. I, as a senior, my father-in-law, as a senior, my wife is a senior.

1306
02:12:12,830 --> 02:12:16,870
We're very concerned. Our grandchildren live in that park.

1307
02:12:20,010 --> 02:12:27,650
Great grandchildren live in that park. My father-in-law even takes one of my granddaughters to work.

1308
02:12:27,650 --> 02:12:34,750
work, he lost his wife about three and a half months ago she died in that park, she was

1309
02:12:34,750 --> 02:12:35,990
on hospice there.

1310
02:12:37,210 --> 02:12:40,630
And it's very distressing, this whole situation.

1311
02:12:41,370 --> 02:12:48,970
The fact that we're not going to be on the board that was just discussed, it distressed

1312
02:12:48,970 --> 02:12:55,710
me to hear the conversation because, you know, because of conflict of interest.

1313
02:12:55,710 --> 02:13:02,870
I understand that but just to be in that limbo is very distressing.

1314
02:13:05,970 --> 02:13:10,550
My father-in-law wouldn't be here tonight, he wouldn't hear half of you who were speaking.

1315
02:13:11,630 --> 02:13:14,830
I've been in these meetings before with him, he couldn't hear.

1316
02:13:15,490 --> 02:13:17,090
It's cold in this room by the way.

1317
02:13:20,800 --> 02:13:23,700
It is summer outside, but not in this room.

1318
02:13:27,510 --> 02:13:36,290
The water issue, I have heard from a source that works for this town and I'm not going to throw anybody under the bus.

1319
02:13:37,190 --> 02:13:49,850
But there are some people in the park that struggled with having the meter's work and the meters were yanked and the lines were put back together and let's be quiet about it.

1320
02:13:49,850 --> 02:13:58,370
Okay, and that's come to me by reliable source, and I will not destroy somebody's career who works for this town.

1321
02:14:01,260 --> 02:14:10,440
That needs to be looked into, I believe, everybody, if we're going to get a water bill, everybody that lives there should get a water bill.

1322
02:14:12,520 --> 02:14:19,900
I personally feel that the covenant, the lease that we had for

1323
02:14:19,900 --> 02:14:23,020
For many of us, water was included.

1324
02:14:24,600 --> 02:14:29,820
I know I'm not supposed to bring this up, but I can't help but think that that covenant

1325
02:14:29,820 --> 02:14:32,880
has been violated and we've been violated.

1326
02:14:37,000 --> 02:14:37,940
So I

1327
02:14:40,560 --> 02:14:42,080
appreciate the hard work.

1328
02:14:43,340 --> 02:14:46,360
There's a great deal of compassion in that park for one another.

1329
02:14:47,700 --> 02:14:53,400
There's a lot of people that are doing their level best to make the park look nice, curbside.

1330
02:14:53,400 --> 02:14:59,800
I go about picking up litter, I take my neighbor's garbage can back because she can't.

1331
02:15:00,000 --> 02:15:28,720
Get out. She's on oxygen. And the next, another neighbor next door without cost cuts her yard. My wife goes over and sits with her, buys her things that she gets from Walmart that gets delivered to the house items that she asked for just to be a companion with our neighbors. If you could wrap up your statement just because you're three minutes. I just, it is emotional. I'm sorry. It's just,

1332
02:15:28,720 --> 02:15:31,800
First, we have to do what is equitable.

1333
02:15:32,540 --> 02:15:41,820
I know that the cost of living, there are a lot of people who couldn't even afford to come to this meeting tonight.

1334
02:15:42,920 --> 02:15:44,000
They have no means.

1335
02:15:45,280 --> 02:15:46,080
Thank you.

1336
02:15:51,610 --> 02:15:52,630
A good evening.

1337
02:15:53,110 --> 02:15:54,230
My name is Dana Fields.

1338
02:15:55,430 --> 02:16:03,150
First, I want to say thank you for giving the tenants of Brunswick Mobile Home Parks an opportunity to share our thoughts.

1339
02:16:03,150 --> 02:16:07,750
Prior to the council's vote on the mobile home rent stabilization ordinance.

1340
02:16:08,630 --> 02:16:13,970
My husband and I have lived in Baybridge Mobile Home Park for 26 years, and

1341
02:16:13,970 --> 02:16:19,970
I have to say that I have never seen the rent increase so rapidly and by such a large amount.

1342
02:16:20,990 --> 02:16:29,930
26 years ago, we were looking for affordable housing so that our young girls could stay in the Brunswick school system.

1343
02:16:33,050 --> 02:16:48,590
I feel that out of state investment firms, purchasing Brunswick mobile home parks for the sole purpose of huge profits to their shareholders, that the town of Brunswick's affordable housing is diminishing and rapidly.

1344
02:16:49,210 --> 02:16:58,590
I am all for businesses making a profit but not a killing and definitely not off the backs of the most vulnerable Brunswick residents.

1345
02:16:58,590 --> 02:17:04,090
The ordinance is thorough and addresses all issues that the tenants now face.

1346
02:17:04,510 --> 02:17:10,310
Not only does it establish rent stabilization but it also implements maintenance standards

1347
02:17:10,540 --> 02:17:13,330
to protect homeowners health and safety.

1348
02:17:13,870 --> 02:17:18,870
These controls will allow my husband and I to continue to live in Baybridge estates and

1349
02:17:18,870 --> 02:17:22,790
maintain a quality of life that each and every one of us deserve.

1350
02:17:24,130 --> 02:17:27,370
Councillor Ellis, you represent my district.

1351
02:17:27,370 --> 02:17:33,150
I voted for you November 25, and I also spoke to you afterwards and

1352
02:17:33,150 --> 02:17:36,890
mentioned that I voted for you for your campaign promises.

1353
02:17:37,390 --> 02:17:41,430
You mentioned that 90% of your district is mobile home park tenants.

1354
02:17:42,290 --> 02:17:47,470
It is my hope that you follow through with those promises as your bio states,

1355
02:17:47,850 --> 02:17:52,250
that you are ready to work with the council to keep Brunswick safe, affordable,

1356
02:17:52,250 --> 02:17:56,750
available, fun, and welcoming for all, for everyone.

1357
02:17:57,550 --> 02:18:05,730
Lastly, I want to say that my husband and I really appreciate all the hard work, the town council, and the housing committee have put into this ordinance.

1358
02:18:06,250 --> 02:18:10,010
And I hope this ordinance is adopted with flying colors, thank you.

1359
02:18:10,510 --> 02:18:10,930
Thank you.

1360
02:18:14,620 --> 02:18:17,060
Good evening, my name's David Oliver.

1361
02:18:17,580 --> 02:18:24,800
I live on Baybridge Road at Baybridge estates, and I just want to give a heartfelt thank you.

1362
02:18:24,800 --> 02:18:38,420
to the housing committee, the town councillors and the folks doing all the groundwork for the broken bridge tenant union.

1363
02:18:39,000 --> 02:18:41,080
You've got us to where we are today.

1364
02:18:41,800 --> 02:18:46,440
I think it's a vast improvement of where we were a year ago, and thank you.

1365
02:18:47,080 --> 02:18:47,940
Thank you.

1366
02:18:47,940 --> 02:18:48,900
I'm

1367
02:18:52,800 --> 02:18:54,540
Lori Centenayow and I live in Baybridge.

1368
02:18:54,860 --> 02:19:02,640
I first contacted, actually, Manager Hensys, the first person I had contact with, about

1369
02:19:03,220 --> 02:19:08,780
almost two years ago, and then Councillor Eckers responded to an email that I wrote.

1370
02:19:09,440 --> 02:19:16,260
And then I spoke to Clerk Smith and we got this ball rolling a long time ago in our first

1371
02:19:16,260 --> 02:19:20,520
meeting with Councillor Watson and director here.

1372
02:19:20,520 --> 02:19:29,500
There is she, Carol. She's out there anymore. Anyway, there's been a lot of work that's

1373
02:19:29,500 --> 02:19:36,840
gone into this. I'm glad to have spoken with a lot of you. And I really appreciate that

1374
02:19:36,840 --> 02:19:43,880
everybody has listened. I really appreciate Councillor Alice and Councillor Teami for

1375
02:19:43,880 --> 02:19:47,740
all the work that they've done on this. And of course, everybody that's on that housing

1376
02:19:47,740 --> 02:19:54,400
committee, Kosofero, who came into the middle of this, and it's been a lot of work on

1377
02:19:54,400 --> 02:20:01,500
everybody's part, and this will help people in this neighborhood just actually not to

1378
02:20:01,500 --> 02:20:02,920
be terrified anymore.

1379
02:20:03,680 --> 02:20:04,260
That's big.

1380
02:20:04,980 --> 02:20:05,300
Thank you.

1381
02:20:05,960 --> 02:20:06,660
Thank you.

1382
02:20:12,180 --> 02:20:12,640
Hi.

1383
02:20:12,760 --> 02:20:13,340
I'm Masha Good.

1384
02:20:13,440 --> 02:20:16,800
I'm a resident of the neighbors also, been there almost 30 years now.

1385
02:20:18,920 --> 02:20:27,520
water was always part of our lot rent and it's frankly shocking to suddenly have to pay for it and

1386
02:20:27,520 --> 02:20:32,900
everything residents went through while those meters were being installed and some froze and some

1387
02:20:32,900 --> 02:20:38,960
burst and some had their skirting not returned it was it was a real trial and tribulation I'm glad we've

1388
02:20:38,960 --> 02:20:45,900
gotten to the other side where most of them are now working but in the meantime this town I'm so

1389
02:20:45,900 --> 02:20:52,700
proud to be a part of Brunswick. We're a town that cares for our residents. We're doing

1390
02:20:52,700 --> 02:20:57,380
things that other towns are saying, oh no, no, we can't do that. We're afraid. Let the state do it.

1391
02:20:58,300 --> 02:21:04,560
You counselors are really important to us. We often feel left behind, but we want to thank you for

1392
02:21:04,560 --> 02:21:10,280
what you're doing and what thousand committee is doing to help us. Now that I'm being told I have

1393
02:21:10,280 --> 02:21:16,440
the pay for water and a lot rent. That's a lot for a senior on a fixed income. Many are struggling

1394
02:21:16,960 --> 02:21:27,480
with trying to afford upkeep on our properties and medication and anything else that we need to do.

1395
02:21:28,140 --> 02:21:33,860
But this more torium help to immensely is giving us all time to think and dig in. You folks have

1396
02:21:33,860 --> 02:21:38,460
in lovely and generous with your ears and your time listening to our needs.

1397
02:21:39,640 --> 02:21:44,180
The lot rent increases, the fact that you're working at a lower percentage that they won't

1398
02:21:44,180 --> 02:21:51,420
be able to junk us up by $65 a month in the future is a huge help.

1399
02:21:52,720 --> 02:21:57,980
Limiting these lot rent increases will help toward the unexpected bills that we get now.

1400
02:21:57,980 --> 02:22:03,460
know, we really appreciate that you're thinking about health and safety along in this ordinance.

1401
02:22:04,220 --> 02:22:10,360
Limiting the lot increases helps seniors like us to stay in our homes, rapidly rising

1402
02:22:10,360 --> 02:22:15,640
lot rent has made it difficult to also budget upkeep and rising property taxes.

1403
02:22:16,280 --> 02:22:22,060
We appreciate the Canadian's work with your ordinance and it helps us to buy time.

1404
02:22:22,940 --> 02:22:27,400
And I'm sorry, I have a paralyzed vocal cord so I run short on breath, but thank you

1405
02:22:27,400 --> 02:22:27,920
for listening.

1406
02:22:28,760 --> 02:22:29,360
Thank you.

1407
02:22:32,880 --> 02:22:36,920
Hi, I'm Erica Geisen, Baybridge Estates and Broken Bridge

1408
02:22:36,920 --> 02:22:37,480
Tenant Union.

1409
02:22:38,360 --> 02:22:41,700
I'm probably going to cry after you vote just for warning.

1410
02:22:43,540 --> 02:22:49,700
I just want to thank everybody here for your curiosity, for your questions, for your interest

1411
02:22:49,700 --> 02:22:50,280
in this.

1412
02:22:52,220 --> 02:22:55,400
Baybridge is the largest mobile home park in the state.

1413
02:22:56,240 --> 02:22:57,840
Maplewood is among the top.

1414
02:22:57,840 --> 02:23:05,720
We have more mobile home residents than any other town in the state.

1415
02:23:06,460 --> 02:23:10,740
So I'm really grateful that this is finally coming to pass.

1416
02:23:11,480 --> 02:23:15,940
It has been a very, very long road and I'm really looking forward to moving on to lots

1417
02:23:15,940 --> 02:23:19,620
of the other things that have been on my to-do list and my agenda.

1418
02:23:19,820 --> 02:23:23,100
So I appreciate your time and your work on this.

1419
02:23:23,320 --> 02:23:23,960
Thank you very much.

1420
02:23:24,420 --> 02:23:25,160
Thank you.

1421
02:23:25,160 --> 02:23:26,140
I

1422
02:23:32,030 --> 02:23:52,070
am Melissa McCarthy, I am the current board president of Blueberry Fields Cooperative, and I just wanted to take a minute to thank the housing committee for listening to us when we urge you to consider that rocks already have our bylaws and parliamentary procedure to protect us from other park situations.

1423
02:23:52,070 --> 02:24:14,410
And we just want you to know that we do support this ordinance with that amendment because all residents of Mobile Home Park communities should be able to come and get help if they feel they're not being treated safely valued for the no gouging of the rent.

1424
02:24:14,870 --> 02:24:21,310
And I just wanted you to know that we are in support of this with those amendments, thank you.

1425
02:24:21,310 --> 02:24:22,230
Thank you.

1426
02:24:26,780 --> 02:24:31,400
Carol O'Donnell, Brunswick resident and chair of the housing committee.

1427
02:24:31,840 --> 02:24:41,240
First of all, I want to thank you, Jennifer, for your compliments to the work of the staff and the housing committee, or committees in general.

1428
02:24:41,980 --> 02:24:54,400
A lot of work has gone into this whole process, I would say, not just the ordinance itself, but the whole process over many, many months.

1429
02:24:54,400 --> 02:25:06,500
with lots of input from landlords and tenants and interested citizens from housing committee members.

1430
02:25:06,760 --> 02:25:17,580
We had a lot of very good discussion about how we wanted to, what kinds of things we wanted to see in the ordinance.

1431
02:25:18,900 --> 02:25:24,320
So, I personally want to thank everybody on the Housing Committee, all of you on the

1432
02:25:24,320 --> 02:25:28,320
town council, everybody who's given feedback.

1433
02:25:29,340 --> 02:25:32,300
I'd like to see this come to fruition.

1434
02:25:32,600 --> 02:25:35,240
I would love to see this come to fruition tonight.

1435
02:25:38,810 --> 02:25:47,170
Staff has a lot of other things that they are working on and they've devoted a lot of time

1436
02:25:47,170 --> 02:25:54,590
to this particular issue, it would be nice to be able to move on, go to the next thing that we need to cover,

1437
02:25:55,930 --> 02:26:03,990
and in the process, protect one of our most affordable housing options in our town.

1438
02:26:04,630 --> 02:26:14,510
There's lots more I can say about housing affordability, about how many people in our town are challenged economically,

1439
02:26:14,510 --> 02:26:19,670
but I will save that for another time, so thank you very much.

1440
02:26:19,870 --> 02:26:20,310
Thank you.

1441
02:26:25,080 --> 02:26:25,600
Hello.

1442
02:26:26,080 --> 02:26:27,020
I'm Kristen Haynes.

1443
02:26:27,160 --> 02:26:31,740
I rent on Columbia Avenue and I am one of the chairs of the Brunswick Renter's organization.

1444
02:26:32,200 --> 02:26:36,580
I'm here today in support of Baybridge residents, especially the tenant union.

1445
02:26:37,040 --> 02:26:40,560
They've done incredible work, especially with the members of Council who have been supportive of them.

1446
02:26:40,740 --> 02:26:43,080
I want to commend all of you for the work that you did on this ordinance.

1447
02:26:43,380 --> 02:26:47,840
It's a really important step, I think, in protecting tenants in this really

1448
02:26:47,840 --> 02:26:53,540
sort of terrifying rentier capitalism era that we find ourselves and but I also want to echo

1449
02:26:53,540 --> 02:26:59,600
a previous comment that it's a shame to I think remove tenants from the review board. I understand

1450
02:26:59,600 --> 02:27:05,700
there's this idea of conflict of interest but there's so few opportunities for tenants to be

1451
02:27:05,700 --> 02:27:11,780
represented and who better to know what's going on in the park and to comment on the fairness of these

1452
02:27:11,780 --> 02:27:17,180
measures than those tenants. So I would encourage folks to reconsider that but I also respect what Carol

1453
02:27:17,180 --> 02:27:22,920
Carol said about the timeliness of this, so I just wanted to throw that out there, but again, thank you so much for your work.

1454
02:27:23,300 --> 02:27:27,780
Thank you. Is there anybody else in the room that would like to speak before I go to Zoom?

1455
02:27:31,010 --> 02:27:34,690
Not seeing anyone, I'm going to go to Zoom, we have Carol Rest.

1456
02:27:40,600 --> 02:27:48,740
Good evening. I want to thank you, the town committee, for really taking into the interest and the residents here in Bearridge.

1457
02:27:48,820 --> 02:27:52,580
Carol, can I pause you for one second and just have you say your name in town of residents please.

1458
02:27:52,580 --> 02:28:00,080
Okay, my name is Carol Bruce and I live in Bay Bridge of States, lived here for 16 years.

1459
02:28:00,080 --> 02:28:06,020
I actually had a house in Brunswick and I downsized to affordable housing here.

1460
02:28:07,620 --> 02:28:14,980
And I just want to thank the town council, certainly there was anxiety level that was really

1461
02:28:14,980 --> 02:28:25,040
unprecedented about a year ago. Certainly, you have eased that anxiety quite a bit. It's

1462
02:28:25,040 --> 02:28:31,680
nice to know that there's a lot of eyes on this situation and I'm so thankful that the

1463
02:28:31,680 --> 02:28:38,640
town is really getting involved with the residents here. It is a beautiful community and we do

1464
02:28:38,640 --> 02:28:44,860
You help one another as Mr. Westman said, there are generations that have lived in here.

1465
02:28:45,280 --> 02:28:46,480
I knew Harry Crooker.

1466
02:28:47,460 --> 02:28:52,980
He certainly was a family man and that's what he really wanted this part to be built on,

1467
02:28:53,080 --> 02:28:57,140
was family and unity and cooperation and love.

1468
02:28:58,280 --> 02:29:06,300
It reminds me of the Scripture that says, you know, oppression, when there's oppression

1469
02:29:06,300 --> 02:29:08,140
and it can drive a wise one crazy.

1470
02:29:08,900 --> 02:29:13,360
But when seeing how the town of Brunswick is really involved

1471
02:29:13,360 --> 02:29:15,980
with the residents of this community

1472
02:29:15,980 --> 02:29:18,180
it certainly gives us some security

1473
02:29:18,660 --> 02:29:20,460
and we can sleep better at night.

1474
02:29:20,860 --> 02:29:24,820
Just knowing that there's a set of eyes on this situation

1475
02:29:24,820 --> 02:29:28,740
not just the residents here in Big Bridge.

1476
02:29:29,040 --> 02:29:31,480
So I want to thank you all very, very much

1477
02:29:31,480 --> 02:29:34,860
for the hard work that you have put in and behalf of us.

1478
02:29:35,500 --> 02:29:38,380
Thank you, I have Shirley Watson.

1479
02:29:38,940 --> 02:29:39,220
And

1480
02:29:46,520 --> 02:29:52,520
I would just like to take a minute to thank all of the members of the housing committee, as well as the town council.

1481
02:29:53,160 --> 02:29:57,280
Shirley, could I get you to say your name in town of residence please?

1482
02:29:57,860 --> 02:29:59,500
Sure, Shirley Watson.

1483
02:30:00,000 --> 02:30:29,440
34, Franklin Parkway in Brunswick. Thank you. I would just like to take a moment to thank the housing committee as well as all of the members of the town council for all of your extensive work in the last couple of years and putting this ordinance together. I look forward to it being passed tonight because it's definitely needed. I actually feel like I can hopefully maintain my home going forward.

1484
02:30:29,440 --> 02:30:43,020
I was really unsure I'd ever be able to, the way things were going in this park with the law rents and everything else, but I have renewed hope that I can continue to live here because I enjoy living out here. Thank you very much.

1485
02:30:43,340 --> 02:30:47,160
Thank you. Is there anybody else on Zoom that would like to speak?

1486
02:30:48,840 --> 02:30:53,120
giving a second just because hands the hand button can be hard to find I got

1487
02:30:53,120 --> 02:30:54,240
Cheryl Goliak

1488
02:30:56,450 --> 02:31:03,170
maybe hand went up for a second yeah there we go I got Cheryl

1489
02:31:03,170 --> 02:31:08,030
Goliak make sure to introduce yourself in town of residence please yeah

1490
02:31:10,940 --> 02:31:11,380
can

1491
02:31:11,380 --> 02:31:16,260
you hear me we can all right I just I'm just chiming in and watching this whole

1492
02:31:16,260 --> 02:31:21,400
thing and I want to give a big high five to everybody over at the Baybirds kind of

1493
02:31:21,400 --> 02:31:27,420
union and for the housing committee and for your town councilors this is you know

1494
02:31:27,420 --> 02:31:33,060
been a really long road I'm hoping you know that it all gets a nice good positive

1495
02:31:33,060 --> 02:31:38,380
vote and we can move forward but I've really been impressed at how everybody has

1496
02:31:38,380 --> 02:31:45,440
come together and listen to one another and work hard on an overall complex issue

1497
02:31:45,440 --> 02:31:51,840
So that's why I'm here. I'm just simply here to say the same thank you all everybody

1498
02:31:51,840 --> 02:31:56,860
that involved for your hard work on this. Thank you representative Goliak of

1499
02:31:56,860 --> 02:31:57,260
Brunswick.

1500
02:31:59,400 --> 02:31:59,860
Any,

1501
02:32:04,200 --> 02:32:07,220
is there anybody else on Zoom that would like to speak?

1502
02:32:09,720 --> 02:32:09,880
Not

1503
02:32:09,880 --> 02:32:17,050
seeing any. So we got one more in the room that's run into the podium. Please don't

1504
02:32:17,050 --> 02:32:18,250
I don't forget to introduce yourself,

1505
02:32:18,510 --> 02:32:19,170
Under Town of President.

1506
02:32:19,470 --> 02:32:21,690
Yeah, and I am going to get this right.

1507
02:32:21,830 --> 02:32:23,710
I am Representative Poppy Arford.

1508
02:32:23,950 --> 02:32:25,450
I live in Brunswick, Maine.

1509
02:32:26,270 --> 02:32:28,030
And I just had to stand up because,

1510
02:32:28,770 --> 02:32:32,170
as I was listening to every, I realized how incredibly

1511
02:32:33,530 --> 02:32:36,590
progressive and thoughtful and intelligent

1512
02:32:37,890 --> 02:32:41,090
and the amount of hard work and commitment

1513
02:32:41,090 --> 02:32:43,670
that's gone into this particular measure

1514
02:32:43,670 --> 02:32:48,670
And the whole passage of it tonight, I just have to thank everybody.

1515
02:32:49,290 --> 02:32:56,350
I want to thank this Army, I just were so fortunate to have the people sitting around this horseshoe.

1516
02:32:56,650 --> 02:33:05,370
And I also want to thank the residents because over the last couple of years, even though I don't have the privilege of representing the tenants in Bay Bridge.

1517
02:33:05,730 --> 02:33:10,730
I do have the privilege of representing the tenants at blueberry fields.

1518
02:33:10,730 --> 02:33:26,990
And so I've had relationships first-hand much opportunity to witness their courage and their commitment to improving their community, not just for themselves, but for one another.

1519
02:33:27,610 --> 02:33:35,270
And it's gone to the point with blueberry fields where I said to my husband, you know, we might want to include this in our retirement plan.

1520
02:33:35,270 --> 02:34:03,070
And I'm just so impressed by the commitment and the courage of the people who are living in these mobile home parks, and they have stood up against in situations where their rights were definitely being denied and they may or may not have been threatened, but they felt that they were being threatened, and still they persevered, and that's really why we're here tonight.

1521
02:34:03,070 --> 02:34:05,030
And I just really want to thank everybody.

1522
02:34:06,010 --> 02:34:06,910
Thank you.

1523
02:34:07,590 --> 02:34:10,930
Any last folks wanting to comment on this?

1524
02:34:13,540 --> 02:34:16,680
Not seeing any, I will bring it back to council.

1525
02:34:18,200 --> 02:34:20,800
I'm going to close the public hearing to bring back council.

1526
02:34:21,080 --> 02:34:23,860
Would council like to vote on this issue tonight?

1527
02:34:24,140 --> 02:34:25,420
Show of hands if you would like to.

1528
02:34:26,440 --> 02:34:31,920
Hands hands hands, looks like a majority is wanting that's while entertain a motion.

1529
02:34:33,040 --> 02:34:38,800
Councilor Ellis, I'd like to make a motion to adopt the proposed ordinance chapter 10 article

1530
02:34:38,800 --> 02:34:46,260
4, mobile home parks. Motion by Councillor Ellis, seconded by Councillor Teami. I know there

1531
02:34:46,260 --> 02:34:52,880
was a couple there, sorry. We'll battle with that. Yeah, discussion on the motion. Would anybody

1532
02:34:52,880 --> 02:34:57,880
like to speak? Yeah, Councillor Perrell. I'd just like first to say thank you to Sally and Carol.

1533
02:34:57,880 --> 02:35:07,480
All I came in late into this, but I really appreciate all the hard work that you did steering the housing committee.

1534
02:35:07,840 --> 02:35:14,600
I am so thankful that I am part of the housing committee and what a great time to be a part of the housing committee.

1535
02:35:15,560 --> 02:35:27,000
I'm just, I'm so proud of what we're doing tonight in Brunswick and this is, I hope we can find a way to move this out into the greater community and

1536
02:35:27,000 --> 02:35:31,220
and help more residents, but I'm very, very proud of us tonight.

1537
02:35:35,050 --> 02:35:35,930
Other discussion?

1538
02:35:39,710 --> 02:35:44,730
Just to clarify, so we added, can I have the motion there?

1539
02:35:45,170 --> 02:35:50,790
Would you accept language that just as as presented to the end of your motion?

1540
02:35:51,330 --> 02:35:53,770
Because tonight there was a couple of amendments that happened.

1541
02:35:53,890 --> 02:35:55,130
I just want to make sure everything's captured.

1542
02:35:55,250 --> 02:35:57,070
So you just want to, yes, or do you want me to repeat it?

1543
02:35:57,810 --> 02:35:59,670
You can repeat it if you want.

1544
02:35:59,670 --> 02:36:07,930
Motion to adopt the proposed ordinance chapter 10 article for mobile home parks as presented still second in okay cool

1545
02:36:07,930 --> 02:36:12,630
Just wanted to make sure that we're all above board and we we've captured all the things that we needed to capture

1546
02:36:14,290 --> 02:36:19,390
Yep, because that was presented by the director cool any further discussion

1547
02:36:20,990 --> 02:36:22,730
I'll just give one

1548
02:36:22,730 --> 02:36:28,990
Shout out in heartfelt thanks to the mobile home park residents for engaging in this civic process

1549
02:36:29,690 --> 02:36:38,230
It is not an easy one, and it is definitely a challenge to understand all the different

1550
02:36:38,230 --> 02:36:43,010
nuances that we are kind of battling with and working with both staff and working with

1551
02:36:43,010 --> 02:36:45,030
council and trying to get your needs met.

1552
02:36:45,630 --> 02:36:50,470
I have, you know, appreciated the meetings that I've had with all of you, especially Marie

1553
02:36:50,470 --> 02:36:50,930
Kimlory.

1554
02:36:52,050 --> 02:36:57,990
I've heard, just from the workshop that we had last year at this point, just going to

1555
02:36:57,990 --> 02:37:01,290
and being stopped by, oh, you're this person.

1556
02:37:01,630 --> 02:37:03,330
And like, being able to hear your story,

1557
02:37:03,470 --> 02:37:04,390
because your story matters.

1558
02:37:04,450 --> 02:37:06,530
And making sure that your needs are being met

1559
02:37:06,530 --> 02:37:09,430
as a community and that you feel safe and proud

1560
02:37:09,430 --> 02:37:11,690
to be in Brunswick is a priority of mine.

1561
02:37:12,830 --> 02:37:14,170
I told the story in the workshop,

1562
02:37:14,490 --> 02:37:15,750
I didn't grow up in a mobile home park,

1563
02:37:15,750 --> 02:37:17,010
but I did grow up in a mobile home.

1564
02:37:17,090 --> 02:37:20,910
So I do have an affinity or experience

1565
02:37:21,590 --> 02:37:23,350
with what that is like.

1566
02:37:23,530 --> 02:37:25,850
And so I appreciate all of your advocacy

1567
02:37:25,850 --> 02:37:27,190
that you brought to this process.

1568
02:37:27,190 --> 02:37:32,230
So thank you for for for being part of it. I'm going to go ahead and call the vote

1569
02:37:33,110 --> 02:37:38,990
Councillor Ellis. Yes. Councillor Acre. Yes. Councillor Perrault. Yes. Councillor Hicks. Yes.

1570
02:37:39,270 --> 02:37:44,670
Councillor Teaming. Yes. Councillor Weems. Yes. Councillor Wilson. Yes. The chair is a yes.

1571
02:37:44,870 --> 02:37:48,130
That is unanimous of the council. Thank you so much. Thank you.

1572
02:37:56,910 --> 02:38:03,730
Okay, we are going to keep on moving here folks, yeah,

1573
02:38:11,170 --> 02:38:13,410
let's just take I'm gonna let's

1574
02:38:13,410 --> 02:38:16,830
take a five minute recess, we're gonna take a five minute recess while folks recess.

1575
02:47:02,540 --> 02:47:32,340
Thank you, everyone. We are going to pick up where we left off at New Business. Item number 76, the town council will consider approving an update to the Personnel Policy, and we'll take any appropriate action. I'm going to turn this over to the humans. Resource Director, to risk go to introduce the item. Good evening. Can you hear me? My close enough to like. All right. Before discussing the specific revisions, I want to provide a little background regarding the Personnel Policy. Historically, the town's Personnel Policy,

1576
02:47:32,340 --> 02:47:38,100
was adopted as an ordinance while it provided a formal process for changes.

1577
02:47:38,380 --> 02:47:43,820
It also made the document difficult to update as employment laws, benefit programs, and

1578
02:47:43,820 --> 02:47:45,840
operational practices evolved.

1579
02:47:46,420 --> 02:47:51,780
Over time, portions of the ordinance became outdated because even relatively minor administrative

1580
02:47:51,780 --> 02:47:54,980
changes required the full ordinance amendment process.

1581
02:47:55,640 --> 02:48:01,480
Last year, some of you will remember the council undertook a comprehensive review and approved

1582
02:48:01,480 --> 02:48:05,120
of transitioning the personnel ordinance to a personnel policy.

1583
02:48:05,940 --> 02:48:11,160
One of the primary goals of that effort was to create a more practical and responsive framework

1584
02:48:11,160 --> 02:48:16,140
that would allow the town to review and update personnel provisions on a regular basis rather

1585
02:48:16,140 --> 02:48:21,180
than waiting until a significant changes accumulated before bringing that forward.

1586
02:48:22,160 --> 02:48:28,040
As a result, we intend to bring forward any necessary personnel policy revisions annually.

1587
02:48:28,040 --> 02:48:42,680
This allows us to remain current with changes in state federal law, maintain consistency with negotiated collective bargaining agreements, address operational needs, and ensure that our policies continue to reflect current employment practices.

1588
02:48:43,820 --> 02:48:47,260
The revisions before you tonight are consistent with that goal.

1589
02:48:47,940 --> 02:48:56,020
There are targeted updates intended to improve administrative efficiency, maintain compliance with state federal requirements.

1590
02:48:56,920 --> 02:49:00,700
and align the policy with current town practices.

1591
02:49:01,840 --> 02:49:09,120
The primary revisions include clarifying that employee expense reimbursements will be made

1592
02:49:09,120 --> 02:49:15,520
through ACH to the employee's direct deposit account on file instead of going through an

1593
02:49:15,520 --> 02:49:16,780
accounts payable process.

1594
02:49:19,140 --> 02:49:24,980
Expanding the education reimbursement program to include prior learning assessments.

1595
02:49:26,650 --> 02:49:37,190
Eliminating compensatory time for exempt employees and replacing that benefit with an additional week of vacation for employees who currently receive that benefit.

1596
02:49:38,270 --> 02:49:44,990
Updating the vacation schedule effective July 1, 2027 by adding an additional week at each level.

1597
02:49:45,450 --> 02:49:55,750
This continues a transition that has already been implemented for several bargaining units and will make non-union employees the fourth employee group moving to that structure.

1598
02:49:57,110 --> 02:50:04,590
Updating, family and medical leave act provisions to better align with main paid family and medical leave requirements.

1599
02:50:06,110 --> 02:50:23,090
Revising the main paid family and medical leave section to recognize the town's ability to utilize a state approved private plan and clarifying the use of accrued paid leave to supplement paid family medical benefits if employees make that choice.

1600
02:50:24,550 --> 02:50:31,930
Updating urm paid leave provisions to reflect recent changes in mean law, including increasing

1601
02:50:31,930 --> 02:50:38,850
the allowable carryover and clarifying how the town satisfies the EPL requirements through

1602
02:50:38,850 --> 02:50:44,750
existing sick leave and vacation benefits for regular full time and benefit eligible part

1603
02:50:44,750 --> 02:50:45,470
time employees.

1604
02:50:46,830 --> 02:50:53,130
We also revise the travel and mail reimbursement procedures by implementing a per-dem approach

1605
02:50:53,130 --> 02:50:58,390
for multi-day travel and clarifying reimbursement standards for other business travel.

1606
02:50:59,210 --> 02:51:04,110
Overall, these changes are administrative in nature and are intended to keep the personnel

1607
02:51:04,110 --> 02:51:08,950
policy current, compliant, and consistent with our operations and employee benefit practices.

1608
02:51:09,710 --> 02:51:14,810
I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about the revisions before you tonight.

1609
02:51:15,210 --> 02:51:19,130
Thank you so much. Are there any questions of Councilor

1610
02:51:22,170 --> 02:51:22,430
Alice?

1611
02:51:24,850 --> 02:51:30,050
My only question would be, again, this is unfair, I should have asked before, but are any

1612
02:51:30,050 --> 02:51:32,450
of these, and this would just be ballpark, so I'm not looking for specifics.

1613
02:51:32,910 --> 02:51:37,830
Are any of these like cost impacting, and the reason I asked is the one that stood out

1614
02:51:37,830 --> 02:51:42,510
for me immediately was, and probably may or may not be, but the vacation accrual, right,

1615
02:51:42,590 --> 02:51:47,090
like we're adding a benefit in a way that may or may not cost the town something.

1616
02:51:47,090 --> 02:51:54,550
And I know that was a pretty rigorous discussion when we discovered that we had people with years of vacation built up or time built up.

1617
02:51:55,090 --> 02:52:01,630
If you were to look at these, are there any on here that I should be concerned are adding significant costs to our payroll structure?

1618
02:52:02,410 --> 02:52:04,370
In this employee group, no.

1619
02:52:04,870 --> 02:52:05,010
Okay.

1620
02:52:05,630 --> 02:52:10,390
In our 24-7 or shift operations, we have to backfill those positions.

1621
02:52:10,390 --> 02:52:19,990
Most of our non-union employees in this group, we don't have to hire overtime or backfill by providing that extra week of vacation.

1622
02:52:20,850 --> 02:52:23,370
But that doesn't mean that there's no impact at all.

1623
02:52:24,170 --> 02:52:33,410
You're giving people more time off, so they have to figure out how to balance how they're going to get their workload done in the time allotted to them.

1624
02:52:33,410 --> 02:52:38,550
And I guess my question was more so I gave that as an example, but you gave about 10 or 12 different things

1625
02:52:38,550 --> 02:52:44,370
Are any of those like major costs from your perspective or from the town managers whoever might be able to?

1626
02:52:45,630 --> 02:52:52,750
Budgetary, no, I think the administrative cost is the burden and staff and administrative time to administer these programs.

1627
02:52:53,010 --> 02:52:55,630
Okay, but we don't really have a choice.

1628
02:52:55,790 --> 02:52:59,190
Yeah, sadly for you, you can't bill for that extra, right?

1629
02:52:59,190 --> 02:53:08,610
So as you know, the main paid family medical leave requires a 1% of all of our salaries be paid toward that.

1630
02:53:08,990 --> 02:53:21,750
So that has already had a budgetary effect and it does, it is something half of that percentage gets paid by the employee, half by the employer.

1631
02:53:22,210 --> 02:53:27,030
So yes, that was absorbed into the budget already a year ago, more than a year ago.

1632
02:53:27,030 --> 02:53:40,510
And part of what brought forth, adding the language for us to exercise our right for a private plan is because that actually came in cheaper than the state's 1% that could be shared between the employer and employee.

1633
02:53:41,250 --> 02:53:50,310
So for us exploring and going with a private plan, we've actually realized some savings in the initial rollout period of this program.

1634
02:53:53,060 --> 02:53:54,440
Other questions of council?

1635
02:53:54,440 --> 02:53:55,060
Council Director.

1636
02:53:56,080 --> 02:54:01,940
But along the same lines as Councillor Ellis with the first thing around the vacation

1637
02:54:01,940 --> 02:54:02,620
accrual.

1638
02:54:03,700 --> 02:54:11,720
So adding additional week, this is for people who are non-union.

1639
02:54:13,120 --> 02:54:20,340
So are there non-union employees that were in town hall that got the benefit of going

1640
02:54:20,340 --> 02:54:24,740
going down to the 36-hour week that are in this category?

1641
02:54:25,860 --> 02:54:26,380
Yes.

1642
02:54:26,760 --> 02:54:27,080
Okay.

1643
02:54:27,700 --> 02:54:34,260
Something that might help to clarify too, when we were talking the elimination of compensatory time,

1644
02:54:34,900 --> 02:54:37,500
I don't know if you want to talk about how they kind of tie in with that occasion.

1645
02:54:39,220 --> 02:54:45,460
Well, in the initial getting rid of comp time and giving the additional week as vacation in this

1646
02:54:46,280 --> 02:55:03,960
2026 period is to standardize, it's nobody's getting anything extra, it's the same amount of time for the same amount of employees, we're just putting it all into one bucket instead of maintaining separate buckets for different employees within the non-union group.

1647
02:55:10,080 --> 02:55:12,140
Does that answer the question?

1648
02:55:12,140 --> 02:55:15,760
So was it not about comp time and more about the vacation table?

1649
02:55:16,800 --> 02:55:19,980
Right, so that's effective with this coming July.

1650
02:55:20,280 --> 02:55:23,880
It's just turning the comp time into vacation, it's a one-for-one trade.

1651
02:55:24,840 --> 02:55:34,660
The change that would take effect next July, a year from now, that is more in line with what we have been negotiating with unions.

1652
02:55:35,760 --> 02:55:39,080
Our vacation tables are behind the times.

1653
02:55:39,080 --> 02:55:45,500
We're finding that our surrounding communities all start with three weeks of vacation.

1654
02:55:46,160 --> 02:55:50,700
Starting with two weeks of vacation, when you start a job, it just doesn't happen anymore.

1655
02:55:51,460 --> 02:55:56,980
So this is something that has been really pushed for by our staff, particularly in the unions.

1656
02:55:57,840 --> 02:56:03,640
And then, so as Jody said, this is three unions have already done that.

1657
02:56:04,040 --> 02:56:07,460
This would be the non-union people bringing that in line.

1658
02:56:07,460 --> 02:56:12,400
Okay, and just to reiterate, we don't see this having any cost impact.

1659
02:56:14,600 --> 02:56:15,040
Correct.

1660
02:56:15,480 --> 02:56:16,500
I mean, no dollars.

1661
02:56:17,400 --> 02:56:22,200
Obviously, anytime you're giving vacation, there's people who aren't here.

1662
02:56:22,200 --> 02:56:22,620
There's no opportunity.

1663
02:56:22,980 --> 02:56:27,180
However, what we're finding, vacation is good for people, right?

1664
02:56:27,440 --> 02:56:31,280
I mean, we're actually, I mean, we sometimes have a problem.

1665
02:56:31,760 --> 02:56:33,540
And I'm a bad example of this.

1666
02:56:34,620 --> 02:56:37,320
Where, you know, I'm not as effective if I don't have a break.

1667
02:56:37,320 --> 02:56:46,820
And so this is kind of the thing that we are thank you to Jody, who is really trying to look out for our well-being in lots of ways, so.

1668
02:56:47,540 --> 02:56:48,840
All right, thank you.

1669
02:56:49,780 --> 02:56:51,400
Further questions of Councilor Ellis?

1670
02:56:51,660 --> 02:57:03,700
I'm just going to add on to that, I find it amazing, and this week's a perfect example of it, personally, hopefully my employer is not watching, but personally, this is a four day work week for me because of the Juneteenth holiday that we have at the end of the week.

1671
02:57:04,180 --> 02:57:11,240
I can affirm that we will get just as much work done this week, as we would have had it been a five day week.

1672
02:57:11,460 --> 02:57:14,600
And what happens is the days in between sometimes get more stressful.

1673
02:57:15,340 --> 02:57:22,440
But I think at this level of staff, people know what they need to get done, and it's going to get done in that time.

1674
02:57:23,440 --> 02:57:28,860
I think it may be different if you have hourly people where you're working, doing a specific rot task.

1675
02:57:28,860 --> 02:57:34,920
but, sadly, people at this level tend to grind hard, I guess, is what I would say.

1676
02:57:36,480 --> 02:57:41,580
Councillor Hicks. As far as cost savings, my thought is, this

1677
02:57:41,580 --> 02:57:45,660
is about retention, staff retention, and I think it's a lot cheaper to retain staff

1678
02:57:45,660 --> 02:57:51,040
than it is to recruit and train them. Couldn't have said it better myself.

1679
02:57:52,820 --> 02:57:58,840
I have one question just because I don't know explicitly what it entails around the

1680
02:57:58,840 --> 02:58:05,740
education reimbursement program? Like, what is, can you explain that a little bit about what the prior learning assessments, like what is that?

1681
02:58:06,140 --> 02:58:25,540
Yeah, so at pretty much all of your accredited institutions you can go through a process which you can do a portfolio process to exhibit to a professor that you have already met the competencies in the course to gain college credit.

1682
02:58:25,540 --> 02:58:35,320
And it's a much more affordable option than what we reimburse per credit hour for college education.

1683
02:58:35,940 --> 02:58:42,300
So it seemed like it wasn't intentional for the policy to exclude it, but

1684
02:58:42,300 --> 02:58:44,680
it did not address how that would be handled.

1685
02:58:45,480 --> 02:58:51,140
And it actually, when employees utilize that process, it's saving the town money.

1686
02:58:51,140 --> 02:58:57,680
a three credit course at the University of Maine system is between 1200 and 1500.

1687
02:58:59,420 --> 02:59:03,820
And we did an MOA for a prior learning assessment and

1688
02:59:03,820 --> 02:59:05,700
the total cost of that was under $300.

1689
02:59:06,980 --> 02:59:08,160
Got it, thank you.

1690
02:59:08,800 --> 02:59:10,400
Any further questions of council?

1691
02:59:13,770 --> 02:59:16,810
Not seeing any questions, I'll open the floor for public comment.

1692
02:59:17,070 --> 02:59:18,870
Is there anybody that would like to speak on this item?

1693
02:59:21,230 --> 02:59:22,590
Not seeing anyone in the room.

1694
02:59:22,590 --> 02:59:28,290
I'm not seeing any hands up on zoom. I am going to bring it back to council for a motion.

1695
02:59:29,490 --> 02:59:32,930
Councillor Teami. I'd like to motion to approve updates to the

1696
02:59:32,930 --> 02:59:36,090
personnel policy. Motion by Councillor Teami. I'm going

1697
02:59:36,090 --> 02:59:43,650
to second this one. Any discussion on the motion? Not seeing any? I'll call the vote. Councillor

1698
02:59:43,650 --> 02:59:47,870
Ellis. Yes. Councillor Ecker. Yes. Councillor Perolle. Yes. Councillor Hicks. Yes.

1699
02:59:47,870 --> 02:59:55,210
Councilor Teaming. Yes. Councilor Weems. Yes. Councilor Wilson. Yes. The Chair is a yes of his unanimous of the council. Thank you, Jody.

1700
02:59:57,840 --> 02:59:59,040
Moving on to

1701
03:00:01,750 --> 03:00:23,350
Item number 77, the town council will consider setting a public hearing for Monday, July 6, 20, 26 to adopt the attached amendments to the comprehensive plan and we'll take any appropriate action. I'm going to turn this over to Dillman Planner Dillman. Planner Dillman, Planner Dillman works. Thanks. Principal Planner Dillman, thank you.

1702
03:00:27,970 --> 03:00:32,710
All right, we'll just pull up the slide deck commentarily. Great.

1703
03:00:32,710 --> 03:00:37,350
All right, good evening, Jimmy Dielman, principal planner in the town planning and development office.

1704
03:00:37,770 --> 03:00:43,650
Tonight, I'll provide a brief overview of proposed amendments to Brunswick's 2025 comprehensive plan.

1705
03:00:44,070 --> 03:00:48,850
That staff have prepared in response to comments received from the state's review of the plan.

1706
03:00:50,030 --> 03:00:55,110
And at the conclusion of this item, staff are requesting that the council schedule of public hearing on these amendments.

1707
03:00:55,890 --> 03:00:56,350
Next slide.

1708
03:00:56,350 --> 03:01:07,240
I'm just going to make a quick adjustment that this is rather than the item saying July 6th, it's the July 20th meeting.

1709
03:01:07,240 --> 03:01:07,900
That's right, correct.

1710
03:01:08,280 --> 03:01:11,020
Okay, just to clarify before you get to that point.

1711
03:01:11,260 --> 03:01:11,780
I'll continue on.

1712
03:01:12,040 --> 03:01:12,180
Thanks.

1713
03:01:13,360 --> 03:01:17,920
So first I'll provide some background for the benefit of everyone watching this evening.

1714
03:01:18,600 --> 03:01:28,280
As the council will recall, the comprehensive plan was adopted last December and subsequently submitted to the main office of community affairs.

1715
03:01:28,280 --> 03:01:33,700
also known as MOCA for review with the Growth Management Act and state rules.

1716
03:01:34,420 --> 03:01:48,580
After approximately three months of state review, MOCA provided the town with a determination letter identifying missing elements and seeking also clarifications that were needed for consistency with state requirements.

1717
03:01:49,560 --> 03:01:55,680
Based on discussions with MOCA, we understand this is a common and fairly routine step that many municipalities

1718
03:02:00,900 --> 03:02:09,910
experience. Importantly, many of the requested revisions are technical in nature. In some cases,

1719
03:02:09,990 --> 03:02:16,150
they involve updating data, correcting information, and adding required content. In other cases,

1720
03:02:16,250 --> 03:02:21,550
they involve incorporating state policies and strategies that are required under the review

1721
03:02:21,550 --> 03:02:28,310
criteria. So staff have also proposed the limited number of additional revisions, such

1722
03:02:28,310 --> 03:02:35,750
as clarifying language with factual updates. I'm providing additional context as well

1723
03:02:35,750 --> 03:02:43,710
as providing cross references within the document. And so these amendments were drafted and presented

1724
03:02:43,710 --> 03:02:56,910
to the Comprehensive Plan Updates Steering Committee on May 27th and a unanimous vote was received recommending that these changes be amended into the plan.

1725
03:02:57,950 --> 03:03:08,810
Next slide. So real quick, what is a Comprehensive Plan? The plan serves as Brunswick's Long Range Policy Guide and Community Vision Document.

1726
03:03:08,810 --> 03:03:15,630
It establishes goals and priorities, and helps guide future decisions related to growth.

1727
03:03:16,370 --> 03:03:23,770
It is also legally significant, because main law requires zoning ordinances to be consistent with an adopted comprehensive plan.

1728
03:03:24,350 --> 03:03:37,010
In addition, maintaining a state consistent comprehensive plan provides various financial and administrative benefits, including eligibility and

1729
03:03:37,010 --> 03:03:41,370
competitive competitiveness for certain state funding programs.

1730
03:03:42,130 --> 03:03:42,710
Next slide.

1731
03:03:45,180 --> 03:03:46,700
Moving on to the proposed amendments.

1732
03:03:47,320 --> 03:03:52,160
The most significant update is the addition of the state's policies and strategies.

1733
03:03:54,090 --> 03:03:58,820
Those total 38 new policies and 68 strategies.

1734
03:04:00,590 --> 03:04:08,300
So this accounts for a substantial portion of the revisions and is intended to ensure that the plan is fully addresses the state's

1735
03:04:08,300 --> 03:04:30,980
requirements, additional state requested updates include revisions to the habitat mapping using current data and other parts of the plan and appendix creation of a new regional coordination program section and the addition of several required maps and supporting data within the appendix.

1736
03:04:30,980 --> 03:04:36,920
So, again, these were the changes that were intended to primarily address the state review

1737
03:04:36,920 --> 03:04:41,820
comments to ensure consistency with the Growth Management Act.

1738
03:04:42,740 --> 03:04:42,940
Next slide.

1739
03:04:44,800 --> 03:04:50,200
So then in addition to the state, to addressing states, the state's comments, staff proposed

1740
03:04:50,200 --> 03:04:51,340
several other updates.

1741
03:04:52,260 --> 03:04:58,560
First, it was important to the committee and staff to include a memorial acknowledgement

1742
03:04:58,560 --> 03:05:10,620
Honoring Vice Chair Fred Kerber, who dedicated many years to Brunswick's comprehensive planning efforts and will be missed as the implementation of the plan moves forward.

1743
03:05:11,660 --> 03:05:20,220
Staff have also proposed clarifications regarding transitional areas, additional cross references to maps and supporting information,

1744
03:05:21,420 --> 03:05:30,180
updated natural resource references, watershed labeling, and several factual and technical

1745
03:05:30,180 --> 03:05:30,780
corrections.

1746
03:05:33,460 --> 03:05:39,380
These revisions do not substantially, substantively alter the vision goals in policy direction

1747
03:05:39,380 --> 03:05:40,840
established by the comp plan.

1748
03:05:41,900 --> 03:05:45,660
They just provide, they're intended to provide more clarity, accuracy, and usability.

1749
03:05:46,440 --> 03:05:47,320
Next slide.

1750
03:05:47,320 --> 03:05:56,420
But so key takeaways of these amendments, first, that the majority of the revisions are

1751
03:05:56,420 --> 03:06:01,580
technical and state driven, second, the largest amendment is the incorporation of the states

1752
03:06:01,580 --> 03:06:08,700
required policies and strategies, third, the revisions improve quality accuracy and completeness

1753
03:06:09,260 --> 03:06:13,380
of supporting information contained in the plan and appendix.

1754
03:06:13,380 --> 03:06:17,920
And finally, these amendments position Bronzwick to receive a favorable

1755
03:06:17,920 --> 03:06:22,040
state consistency determination last slide.

1756
03:06:24,440 --> 03:06:30,820
So next steps include the planning board reviewing the proposed amendments on June 23rd,

1757
03:06:30,820 --> 03:06:34,540
followed by a town council meeting public hearing.

1758
03:06:35,280 --> 03:06:42,900
And as the Chair noted, we are requesting that it be July 20th instead of July 6th.

1759
03:06:44,440 --> 03:06:46,800
So with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

1760
03:06:47,320 --> 03:06:48,760
Are there any questions of council?

1761
03:06:55,770 --> 03:06:56,270
Any questions?

1762
03:06:57,870 --> 03:07:01,350
I'm not seeing any as a reminder because we are setting a public hearing.

1763
03:07:01,450 --> 03:07:04,650
We don't take public comment on that so I will entertain a motion.

1764
03:07:07,650 --> 03:07:08,410
Councillor Weems.

1765
03:07:09,110 --> 03:07:09,350
Yes.

1766
03:07:10,310 --> 03:07:12,150
Please make sure to include the 20th.

1767
03:07:12,750 --> 03:07:13,850
Come on, my car.

1768
03:07:14,090 --> 03:07:20,210
I would like to move to set a public hearing from Monday, July 20th, 20th, 20th, 20th, 26th,

1769
03:07:20,210 --> 03:07:23,430
to adopt attached amendments to the comprehensive plan.

1770
03:07:23,930 --> 03:07:26,530
Motion by Councillor Weems, seconded by Councillor Acker.

1771
03:07:27,410 --> 03:07:28,810
Any discussion on the motion?

1772
03:07:30,730 --> 03:07:31,410
Councillor Weems.

1773
03:07:32,010 --> 03:07:32,810
Yes, just one.

1774
03:07:34,090 --> 03:07:44,330
On one of the slides, you brought forth the requirement to state use the term transitional

1775
03:07:44,330 --> 03:07:55,570
or transitional area for our medium density area in the practical sense, and you said on the slide it was not a growth area.

1776
03:07:56,330 --> 03:07:58,430
In the practical sense it is a growth area.

1777
03:07:58,930 --> 03:08:02,710
I don't want to make that clear to anyone who might still be listening.

1778
03:08:03,450 --> 03:08:04,650
That's a good clarification.

1779
03:08:04,650 --> 03:08:15,650
Yeah, we were asked by the state just to clarify the terminology where it could be confusing with other, in other state, law, places.

1780
03:08:16,930 --> 03:08:22,290
So transitional is a different term defined by the state than a designated growth area.

1781
03:08:23,030 --> 03:08:25,170
Transitional areas can still have growth.

1782
03:08:25,330 --> 03:08:29,490
It's just that the designated growth area is a much higher intensity of growth.

1783
03:08:30,870 --> 03:08:31,390
Thank you.

1784
03:08:31,890 --> 03:08:32,750
Councillor Hicks.

1785
03:08:33,370 --> 03:08:38,390
I noticed there's a lot of referencing to regionalization and

1786
03:08:38,390 --> 03:08:42,850
working with regional, you know, surrounding towns on a lot of these goals.

1787
03:08:44,730 --> 03:08:49,010
I'm looking forward to hearing a little bit more at the next, at the hearing,

1788
03:08:49,310 --> 03:08:58,950
about how the state suggests that if there's any state mechanisms to help with that regionalization approach,

1789
03:08:58,950 --> 03:09:17,330
which it's difficult, especially we're usually the hub, and it's the towns around us that are the ones who need our resources and it becomes hard to maybe have a mutual regional approach.

1790
03:09:17,730 --> 03:09:27,670
So I don't want to get too far in the weeds about that, but I do think it's a massive theme that the state wants added to the comp plan.

1791
03:09:27,670 --> 03:09:37,590
and I wanted to hear more about how realistic that would be for the planning department and for the town to really take.

1792
03:09:38,070 --> 03:09:38,870
Happy to provide that.

1793
03:09:39,250 --> 03:09:39,430
Thanks.

1794
03:09:40,410 --> 03:09:41,750
Any further questions of council?

1795
03:09:43,950 --> 03:09:50,370
Not seeing any, or I guess discussion because we already have a motion, so any further discussion.

1796
03:09:51,710 --> 03:09:53,170
Not seeing any, I'll call the vote.

1797
03:09:53,390 --> 03:09:53,830
Councillor Ellis.

1798
03:09:54,190 --> 03:09:54,310
Yes.

1799
03:09:54,590 --> 03:09:55,090
Councillor Eckert.

1800
03:09:55,310 --> 03:09:55,530
Yes.

1801
03:09:55,750 --> 03:09:56,230
Councillor Perrault.

1802
03:09:56,410 --> 03:09:56,570
Yes.

1803
03:09:56,570 --> 03:10:16,470
Councilor Hicks, Councilor Timi, Councilor Memes, Councilor Wilson, the Chair is a yes those unanimous that the Council of the motion passes moving on to item number 78, the town council will consider setting a public hearing on Monday, July 6th, 2026 to adopt amendments to the Mobile Home Park, lot rent moratorium and will take any appropriate action.

1804
03:10:16,590 --> 03:10:21,710
I'm turning this back over to the economic and community development director Costello to talk about this item.

1805
03:10:21,710 --> 03:10:22,490
So

1806
03:10:26,110 --> 03:10:31,910
I am here as I mentioned earlier with the schedule that part of what we need to do

1807
03:10:31,910 --> 03:10:39,430
the town council actions and next step is to amend the moratorium and so we're here

1808
03:10:39,430 --> 03:10:48,490
to ask for you to set a public hearing on this amendment which has been pulled up there.

1809
03:10:48,490 --> 03:10:54,770
It does two things, basically it brings the moratorium in line with the proposed ordinance

1810
03:10:54,770 --> 03:10:58,990
removing the reference to the current tenants because it's really about the lots.

1811
03:10:59,570 --> 03:11:09,990
So on the next page, if you can scroll down Larry, it strikes the tenant and it adds in

1812
03:11:09,990 --> 03:11:14,830
the word lots, so it strikes out that portion that talks about the tenants.

1813
03:11:15,450 --> 03:11:23,530
And then the second thing that it does is that it exempts the rocks from the moratorium.

1814
03:11:24,850 --> 03:11:30,250
And that is just a line written in to accommodate that.

1815
03:11:30,650 --> 03:11:33,110
And just as a reminder, rock is a resident-owned community.

1816
03:11:33,210 --> 03:11:34,070
Resident-owned communities.

1817
03:11:34,310 --> 03:11:39,230
So those are the two changes that we would like to propose.

1818
03:11:39,970 --> 03:11:40,350
Great.

1819
03:11:40,530 --> 03:11:41,370
Are there any questions?

1820
03:11:41,750 --> 03:11:42,470
Any questions?

1821
03:11:42,470 --> 03:11:43,030
questions of council.

1822
03:11:46,400 --> 03:11:53,800
Not seeing any questions. We do not have public comment because we're setting a public hearing so I will entertain a motion. Councillor Teemey.

1823
03:11:56,100 --> 03:11:57,240
Councillor for all.

1824
03:11:57,680 --> 03:12:08,940
It's okay. I'd like to make a motion to set a public hearing for Monday, July 6, 2026 to adopt amendments to the mobile home park lot rent moratorium.

1825
03:12:09,440 --> 03:12:11,640
Motion by Councillor for all. Second by Councillor Teemey.

1826
03:12:12,320 --> 03:12:14,500
is there any discussion on the motion?

1827
03:12:16,820 --> 03:12:18,320
Not seeing any? I'll call the vote.

1828
03:12:18,580 --> 03:12:24,960
Councillor Ellis. Yes. Councillor Hicks. Yes. Councillor Weems.

1829
03:12:25,380 --> 03:12:29,700
Yes. Councillor Wilson. Yes. And the chair is a yes. That is unanimous of the council.

1830
03:12:29,960 --> 03:12:34,960
The motion passes. Thank you. Moving on to item number 7-9,

1831
03:12:38,340 --> 03:12:41,360
which is a, oh gosh,

1832
03:12:41,360 --> 03:12:50,520
Oh, item just directing town staff to terminate the contract with our current waste per- oh, do you have the exact language?

1833
03:12:51,340 --> 03:12:58,020
There we go. Item number 79, which is an item to discuss the current trash and recycling collection contract.

1834
03:12:58,780 --> 03:13:07,020
There we go. I'll turn this over to, I suppose, Councillor Timmy since you brought this forward.

1835
03:13:08,760 --> 03:13:16,960
Yes, in accordance with the rules, I'm declaring my potential conflict of interest so I'm going to step down and step into the audience.

1836
03:13:17,340 --> 03:13:18,120
Thank you so much.

1837
03:13:20,100 --> 03:13:21,300
Councillor Tv's.

1838
03:13:21,700 --> 03:13:30,680
All right, this is something that came up first to me in the Sustainability Committee almost two months ago.

1839
03:13:30,680 --> 03:13:49,860
And seemed like it was worth discussing more fully with the opportunity to potentially make motions on the matter so that we didn't keep interrupting the manager's report back basically and holding all of our residents hostage while we did so.

1840
03:13:55,500 --> 03:14:01,140
So discussion around this, is there any further points assistant town manager that you did

1841
03:14:01,140 --> 03:14:07,600
not, we're not able to cover during your initial presentation?

1842
03:14:08,560 --> 03:14:11,080
I don't think I have any other civilian points to make.

1843
03:14:11,260 --> 03:14:12,680
I'll just wait and see if there's any questions.

1844
03:14:13,140 --> 03:14:13,280
Okay.

1845
03:14:13,560 --> 03:14:14,900
So discussion, who would like to start?

1846
03:14:18,100 --> 03:14:18,580
Councillor Peroll?

1847
03:14:18,580 --> 03:14:27,940
Well, I'd just like to say the process, I think was a little flawed in that, like Councillor

1848
03:14:27,940 --> 03:14:35,140
Ellis made a point that he felt like there wasn't enough time to even discuss it as

1849
03:14:35,140 --> 03:14:43,820
a council because we have until June 30th to let Casela know whether or not we were going

1850
03:14:43,820 --> 03:14:50,820
want to go, you know, terminate that contract and go out to bid and so I think it would

1851
03:14:50,820 --> 03:14:57,640
have been more appropriate to bring it to the council when there was time to do it.

1852
03:14:58,760 --> 03:14:59,960
That being said,

1853
03:15:00,000 --> 03:15:29,080
And I think the points about in regards to the one particular vendor or business that was hoping to get our business, I do believe it would be prudent to have caution in going with them right now. And I'm saying that without knowing what the bids would have better or anything like that. But I think that I think-

1854
03:15:29,900 --> 03:15:36,680
A better discussion a few months ago and tonight, I agree with Councillor Teami that it

1855
03:15:37,500 --> 03:15:44,080
should have been Council's decision as to how to move forward with it.

1856
03:15:44,700 --> 03:15:50,260
So just as a point of clarity, so Council typically does not negotiate contracts.

1857
03:15:51,440 --> 03:15:57,740
Council typically, like staff does all of our contracting and so this was not something

1858
03:15:57,740 --> 03:15:59,360
that would typically come before council.

1859
03:15:59,900 --> 03:16:04,560
The only reason that we talked about in the manager's report is because we received

1860
03:16:04,560 --> 03:16:09,380
a few communications, one from a committee who didn't actually request the council to

1861
03:16:09,380 --> 03:16:09,660
do it.

1862
03:16:09,700 --> 03:16:11,500
They requested that town staff do it.

1863
03:16:12,340 --> 03:16:16,700
And I responded to them saying, hey, if you have a formal recommendation, you want us

1864
03:16:16,700 --> 03:16:20,460
to consider based on your charge, please present that to us.

1865
03:16:20,540 --> 03:16:21,100
And they did not.

1866
03:16:22,100 --> 03:16:24,220
They never sent any type of follow-up there.

1867
03:16:24,220 --> 03:16:28,780
The second part of that is that nobody in all of those communications, I did not receive

1868
03:16:28,780 --> 03:16:32,100
any communication from my counselor, saying that they wanted to see something different.

1869
03:16:33,500 --> 03:16:35,000
So that's why it did not.

1870
03:16:35,380 --> 03:16:40,740
We had a discussion around, I said, this is what the sustainability, there was one counselor

1871
03:16:40,740 --> 03:16:42,500
who said that they wanted to see something.

1872
03:16:44,400 --> 03:16:50,760
But to me, that doesn't rise to a threshold that would trigger me overstepping staff responsibility

1873
03:16:50,760 --> 03:16:52,360
to bring something to counsel.

1874
03:16:53,240 --> 03:16:55,940
So that's just why what the process that I went on.

1875
03:16:55,940 --> 03:16:57,820
No, I understand that.

1876
03:16:59,100 --> 03:17:10,340
From someone just coming in and hearing from different groups, I guess, is the best way

1877
03:17:10,340 --> 03:17:13,820
to put it during over the last couple of months.

1878
03:17:13,820 --> 03:17:19,760
like it seemed like it was something that might have risen to the point.

1879
03:17:22,140 --> 03:17:29,040
I also do, we never as a council approve any contracts, I mean, because I would assume

1880
03:17:29,040 --> 03:17:35,920
that, ultimately, if we go into a contract with some organization or some business, that

1881
03:17:35,920 --> 03:17:37,900
it would be ultimately never?

1882
03:17:39,080 --> 03:17:44,780
I'm struggling to think of a time when we were bringing a contract to council for approval.

1883
03:17:45,000 --> 03:17:51,380
It would be appropriation of money, but then the execution of the contract would be a staff responsibility.

1884
03:17:52,600 --> 03:17:53,460
Thank you for that.

1885
03:17:54,140 --> 03:17:54,920
Councillor Rillis.

1886
03:17:55,180 --> 03:17:58,960
In that regards, and I do appreciate that boundary, if you will, on this.

1887
03:17:59,120 --> 03:18:05,360
But if we were to see, for example, if we had a trash collector that wasn't doing service and

1888
03:18:05,360 --> 03:18:10,540
we were hearing from our constituents, it would be our responsibility to bring that back and to advise staff.

1889
03:18:10,980 --> 03:18:13,460
These are issues we're having with the contractor you've bought.

1890
03:18:14,200 --> 03:18:18,860
And I'm not going to complain about this, but Cassela did throw away three of my lids and I had to buy three new lids.

1891
03:18:18,920 --> 03:18:25,620
But that was literally five years ago, but I haven't let it go yet, so I now have red lids because I know which ones are mine.

1892
03:18:26,220 --> 03:18:29,940
But that being said, it is our responsibility to keep you advised.

1893
03:18:29,940 --> 03:18:38,660
And what I would also say that I'd like to see just from this perspective is what are our policies around these contracts because I do think that that is a part of our purview.

1894
03:18:38,920 --> 03:18:43,280
It worries me that we haven't negotiated or put it out to bed ever.

1895
03:18:43,820 --> 03:18:53,360
I agree with your assessment that from my perspective right now in looking at these prices, I don't know, one, I don't feel like I have enough information.

1896
03:18:53,360 --> 03:18:58,300
but two, I don't know as to where it's gonna get us a better price on this

1897
03:18:58,300 --> 03:19:03,260
anyways, and I think there's a potentiality that it might actually get us a

1898
03:19:03,260 --> 03:19:09,860
worse price even with the current vendor that we have today. And so that being

1899
03:19:09,860 --> 03:19:15,040
said, as we approach the end of this five-year contract where we have to do a new

1900
03:19:15,040 --> 03:19:20,060
one anyways, I think for me that's the more appropriate time to take that risk for

1901
03:19:20,060 --> 03:19:26,140
that and we're only what five years away from that is that six yeah and I would hope that you guys

1902
03:19:26,140 --> 03:19:33,120
would be begin looking at bids a year or two before that would be my assumption but for me I voted

1903
03:19:33,120 --> 03:19:37,600
to have this discussion just so that there were members who wanted to have it but I'm supportive of

1904
03:19:37,600 --> 03:19:43,280
staff's decision in regards to this contract right now and open to the concept of hearing more about

1905
03:19:43,280 --> 03:19:47,860
alternative vendors as they they come about because the other thing that's interesting with this and

1906
03:19:47,860 --> 03:20:09,180
I think Councillor TV touched on this, this particular one that came forward to us offers a service that we're not doing today, and so those types of things are worth sometimes considering, as you know, I asked about curbside leaf collection, I like during the fall, is that something, it's a, those types of things I do think sort of fit under our umbrella, but contracts, if that's not us, then, yeah, how'd I go?

1907
03:20:10,780 --> 03:20:12,860
Councillor, did you have a response?

1908
03:20:13,180 --> 03:20:19,680
Yeah, I just wanted to mention the reason we didn't put it out to bid in 2022 and the reason

1909
03:20:19,680 --> 03:20:24,920
we directly negotiated with our current vendor is the landscape coming out of COVID for acquisition

1910
03:20:24,920 --> 03:20:32,880
of vehicles was in 18 to 24 a month lead time and unless there's a big enough company that

1911
03:20:32,880 --> 03:20:39,160
It had an inventory of trucks already sitting unused that they could devote to a collection

1912
03:20:39,840 --> 03:20:44,840
area, the size of ours, you know, there's not a lot of companies that can do it.

1913
03:20:45,420 --> 03:20:50,040
There's a lot of, I wouldn't say there's a lot, there are some smaller companies, but

1914
03:20:50,040 --> 03:20:56,780
none of them have a fleet, the size that they could just step in with four to six month

1915
03:20:56,780 --> 03:21:00,620
lead time and take on a contract this size.

1916
03:21:00,620 --> 03:21:06,340
So that was why we made the decision then yeah, and it'll be very interesting as you said. It's kind of

1917
03:21:06,860 --> 03:21:12,000
I had a former colleague once say to me the road west is paved with many a dead pioneer

1918
03:21:12,720 --> 03:21:18,400
You don't want to be a pioneer you want to be a fast follower and so in as much as this garbage to gardens

1919
03:21:18,980 --> 03:21:22,120
Is stepping up in a fairly large way in Scarborough without trucks?

1920
03:21:22,120 --> 03:21:26,140
I'm gonna be very curious to see how they step up to that need and whether they meet it

1921
03:21:26,140 --> 03:21:30,600
I would say the issue that you're talking about. I don't know garbage trucks. I haven't priced them or tried to buy it

1922
03:21:30,620 --> 03:21:36,260
recently but I could tell you cars in general that was the case COVID-2 it's why I drive a silver car

1923
03:21:36,260 --> 03:21:41,800
because it wasn't even built when I bought it but that's still the situation in the market today

1924
03:21:41,800 --> 03:21:47,120
and so I'll be very curious to see how they deliver on their promises to Scarborough.

1925
03:21:49,080 --> 03:21:57,680
Councillor Tini? I had a couple of questions that came up for me. One that was mentioned was the

1926
03:21:57,680 --> 03:22:01,760
experience that Bath had like kind of teething pains after switching.

1927
03:22:02,520 --> 03:22:09,720
I also just want to emphasize, I'm not approaching this by thinking that we need to go with a particular vendor.

1928
03:22:09,920 --> 03:22:15,220
I'm really actually my thing isn't even about price, it's really about like services that are available.

1929
03:22:15,560 --> 03:22:24,600
But what are you able to speak as to like what issues they had in Bath when they switch to provider?

1930
03:22:24,600 --> 03:22:35,700
I won't mention specifics, I'll just say that there's with any service of this size, there's going to be like that initial learning curve.

1931
03:22:36,500 --> 03:22:46,620
There's, we have 136 miles of roads and 8,000 stops right now because they've been doing it.

1932
03:22:46,620 --> 03:22:51,260
And they know all the intricacies and nuances of those routes.

1933
03:22:52,100 --> 03:22:54,520
And somebody coming in cold just, they just can't know.

1934
03:22:54,680 --> 03:23:01,680
And so no matter who it is, even if it's a seasoned company, the crew that they're

1935
03:23:01,680 --> 03:23:05,660
going to put in Brunswick, because never worked in Brunswick before, unless they're going

1936
03:23:05,660 --> 03:23:07,400
to try to poach gasella workers.

1937
03:23:09,880 --> 03:23:15,120
And, but yeah, there's just, there's just going to be that natural learning curve that anybody

1938
03:23:15,120 --> 03:23:18,560
but he's going to go through, and I don't know how long it'll be.

1939
03:23:18,720 --> 03:23:23,360
I know that the path experienced it for the first six months for sure.

1940
03:23:23,800 --> 03:23:28,180
And but it probably wasn't unforeseen.

1941
03:23:28,480 --> 03:23:31,640
Like it's just the nature of the beast for something like that.

1942
03:23:31,880 --> 03:23:37,140
The collection happens every day, so there's bound to be problems.

1943
03:23:37,800 --> 03:23:42,360
The other part, because you talked about some other contracts, I believe,

1944
03:23:42,360 --> 03:23:44,920
from other town so it sounds like you've looked at those.

1945
03:23:46,600 --> 03:23:53,920
We obviously have this fuel adjustment in there and obviously right now that's a particular

1946
03:23:53,920 --> 03:23:57,740
note and it certainly doesn't look like that's changing at any time in the near future

1947
03:23:57,740 --> 03:24:02,360
because what I'm hearing is going to take like a decade for all of that fossil fuel infrastructure

1948
03:24:02,360 --> 03:24:04,780
to get rebuilt that's been destroyed.

1949
03:24:07,160 --> 03:24:12,040
Do all of the other contracts have a fuel adjustment like that?

1950
03:24:12,800 --> 03:24:24,660
I know what I've heard from, you know, garbage to garden, but it's in an email, so it like doesn't really mean anything when it comes to the actual proposal that might be delivered.

1951
03:24:25,460 --> 03:24:33,900
But like, have you seen in their others and can sell as others, like, do they all end up having a fuel surcharge or what's the deal with that?

1952
03:24:33,900 --> 03:25:03,520
I don't know across the board how many have them, I would say it's not atypical, not even not just for this type of collection but in other contracts as well, for services that utilize heavy equipment in particular, and for our fuel adjuster it's after prices of diesel go above a certain point and there's like a percentage adjustment to it so it isn't just always

1953
03:25:03,520 --> 03:25:11,420
there, the market has to do something and yeah right now world events are such as they

1954
03:25:11,420 --> 03:25:17,120
are that that's in place right now but yeah I can't speak to you other contracts all other

1955
03:25:17,120 --> 03:25:22,980
contracts I know that Kisella in particular I think in most of their recent contracts they

1956
03:25:22,980 --> 03:25:30,140
do have that but I don't know others but almost all of them peg their annual increases to CPIU

1957
03:25:30,140 --> 03:25:32,320
So that is a standard practice.

1958
03:25:32,800 --> 03:25:33,320
Thanks.

1959
03:25:34,700 --> 03:25:35,660
Other discussion?

1960
03:25:36,100 --> 03:25:36,660
Councilor Weems.

1961
03:25:37,160 --> 03:25:37,560
Yes.

1962
03:25:37,920 --> 03:25:39,060
Thank you, Chair McDowell.

1963
03:25:40,240 --> 03:25:52,740
So I'm going to step into it and just acknowledge there are just a lot of people know that in my family's a tradition to have a little statue of Don Quixote on the desk.

1964
03:25:52,740 --> 03:26:04,640
to guide our everyday activities that I'm going to kind of move into that territory here and exercise of how not to win friends and influence people.

1965
03:26:07,900 --> 03:26:16,820
And so to start that off, the Sustainability Committee didn't just come forward with a kind of off-the-cuff recommendation here.

1966
03:26:16,820 --> 03:26:21,860
So we've been, I was on it, at one point I was the chair of it.

1967
03:26:23,580 --> 03:26:26,000
We've been discussed, so we use weed.

1968
03:26:26,240 --> 03:26:29,880
This has been under discussion at the Sustainability Committee for years,

1969
03:26:30,340 --> 03:26:33,060
dating back to before the contract was negotiated.

1970
03:26:34,100 --> 03:26:34,560
So it's not,

1971
03:26:36,700 --> 03:26:39,760
and they did deliver a specific recommendation to us,

1972
03:26:40,260 --> 03:26:46,360
if it was keeping with their charter to look at sustainability issues,

1973
03:26:46,360 --> 03:26:50,360
including economic sustainability and make commentary about that.

1974
03:26:51,600 --> 03:27:01,020
But more to the current point, I want to give credit to the staff for what's a very unusual,

1975
03:27:01,300 --> 03:27:06,940
not unique, but very unusual element in the current contract,

1976
03:27:07,600 --> 03:27:10,340
which is the five-year opt-out.

1977
03:27:10,480 --> 03:27:14,480
An opt-out at the town's discretion for our convenience.

1978
03:27:14,480 --> 03:27:21,240
You can negotiate a lot of contracts and try to get that and you can't get it in many contracts.

1979
03:27:22,060 --> 03:27:25,580
So it was really a stroke of brilliance to get that in the contract.

1980
03:27:27,980 --> 03:27:40,100
So, with that backdrop, I think that we, as council and staff,

1981
03:27:42,300 --> 03:27:47,470
are in danger of really

1982
03:27:47,470 --> 03:27:59,350
missing a significant opportunity to potentially improve the recycling and trash system and also

1983
03:27:59,350 --> 03:28:02,570
to save taxpayer dollars in the process.

1984
03:28:04,130 --> 03:28:08,530
And that's because we have the opt-out provision in the contract.

1985
03:28:09,190 --> 03:28:16,570
If we must this opportunity now, we really have to launch an effort going forward to examine

1986
03:28:17,270 --> 03:28:24,190
all the possibilities and actions in the solid waste management realm for the future.

1987
03:28:24,190 --> 03:28:32,150
And many people talked about tonight, it's a very important thing to go forward to whatever

1988
03:28:32,150 --> 03:28:32,850
happens tonight.

1989
03:28:32,970 --> 03:28:38,950
And I can certainly read the TLA's and we're not going to do much of anything tonight

1990
03:28:38,950 --> 03:28:41,370
under the current opt-out provision.

1991
03:28:42,330 --> 03:28:51,090
But I do have to say that the terms of the contract that created that include that opt-out provision

1992
03:28:51,090 --> 03:29:14,230
and Jay put it in his memo, Assistant Town Manager, that this opt-out was included in the contract in the town's request to provide flexible protection at the halfway point of the 10-year contract in case the market for collection service has changed substantially.

1993
03:29:14,230 --> 03:29:26,330
So the market for collection service has changed substantially by the evidence that we've heard about new competitors that are interested in interactively solicitating the business.

1994
03:29:26,790 --> 03:29:43,290
So I think the risk of whether there are any other birds and the bushes are extremely low, because we know there are, and they're, and they're saying they have looked at our situation

1995
03:29:43,290 --> 03:29:45,670
and are ready to provide a better deal.

1996
03:29:51,530 --> 03:29:55,880
So they have an opportunity in front of us

1997
03:29:55,880 --> 03:29:57,560
to improve our situation.

1998
03:29:57,840 --> 03:29:59,980
I think by own experience in business.

1999
03:30:00,000 --> 03:30:29,720
Business tells me that the risk, there are no guarantees. We don't know whether there are any bitters. But in fact, there's no guarantees. There is a very high probability that there will be multiple bitters or people submitting proposals. And the result of that will almost certainly not certainly be a better deal for the town of Brunswick. However, you want to characterize

2000
03:30:29,720 --> 03:30:38,420
a better deal, better service, more broad objectives being that lower price, we're in a position

2001
03:30:38,420 --> 03:30:43,900
that somebody was smart enough to put in the contract for just this reason and we ought

2002
03:30:43,900 --> 03:30:44,560
to exercise.

2003
03:30:47,220 --> 03:30:52,540
That's pretty much the end of my commentary on it. If there was an opportunity,

2004
03:30:52,540 --> 03:30:57,860
I would make a motion, but I'm not going to suggest that at the moment. I do understand

2005
03:30:57,860 --> 03:31:12,500
the distinction between approving a contract and approving the money for a contract, but I think it's kind of a difference without a distinction, without a difference, or whatever expression has said.

2006
03:31:14,760 --> 03:31:22,000
Certainly of this magnitude, this is a amount of money that is seven figure contract per year.

2007
03:31:23,000 --> 03:31:26,180
So we're talking about large stakes here.

2008
03:31:27,420 --> 03:31:34,100
and so there's a point of view on it anyway for anyone who wants to to consider.

2009
03:31:37,320 --> 03:31:37,820
Councillor Ellis?

2010
03:31:38,320 --> 03:31:42,640
I was just going to say Councillor Weems is far more learned in this particular arena

2011
03:31:42,640 --> 03:31:49,740
than I am and I will wholly acknowledge that but I might argue the point that garbage to

2012
03:31:49,740 --> 03:31:56,520
gardens in this area hasn't significantly changed the mark yet because they're not demonstrating

2013
03:31:56,520 --> 03:32:02,660
that they're at the scale of a company like a Kasella or a WM or somebody along those lines.

2014
03:32:02,880 --> 03:32:08,660
And to me, that's the concern, that they haven't demonstrated that they're big enough to say they're significant.

2015
03:32:09,540 --> 03:32:12,680
The other analogy, I think you'll appreciate this more than many others on the council.

2016
03:32:13,480 --> 03:32:15,900
Sometimes the opt out isn't always a good thing.

2017
03:32:16,460 --> 03:32:18,260
If you don't know this, I'm a Metz fan.

2018
03:32:18,840 --> 03:32:22,280
They opted out of Nemo, they opted out of Kitalanzo, and

2019
03:32:22,280 --> 03:32:26,160
And they opted out of Edwin D as the season for better options.

2020
03:32:26,920 --> 03:32:29,560
And I think they have the worst record in baseball this year.

2021
03:32:29,780 --> 03:32:34,960
And so sometimes that ability to opt out isn't always what you think it's gonna be.

2022
03:32:35,480 --> 03:32:40,640
And so for me, if this had been a company that had many more communities in the town of Maine,

2023
03:32:40,760 --> 03:32:43,760
I would agree with you, or in the state of Maine rather.

2024
03:32:44,160 --> 03:32:48,140
But to me, they're still getting their feet wet in these communities.

2025
03:32:48,820 --> 03:32:54,620
And, you know, Bath is really the only place they've had anything for how many months now, a few months.

2026
03:32:55,400 --> 03:33:02,280
I just don't like being with a service that's so relied upon, like, trash collection, I worry about risking that.

2027
03:33:02,400 --> 03:33:09,220
I mean, I know how, God, I'm gonna get killed if she hears this, but my wife rides, I mean, if I forget to take the trash out on Thursday, right?

2028
03:33:09,320 --> 03:33:11,880
Like, people don't like it when their trash is not picked up.

2029
03:33:11,880 --> 03:33:15,540
And, to me, that's the risk that we run with this.

2030
03:33:15,700 --> 03:33:22,400
And I don't feel comfortable with this particular partner that they're big enough to get over that comfort scale with me.

2031
03:33:22,460 --> 03:33:28,340
If it had been WM or somebody who maybe had more presence, I would feel potentially different.

2032
03:33:29,840 --> 03:33:30,460
Councilor Reames.

2033
03:33:30,680 --> 03:33:34,920
Just a quick rebuttal or a commentary, it's not even a rebuttal.

2034
03:33:34,920 --> 03:33:42,140
First of all, I'm in Councilor Timmy's camp here that I'm not a shield for any particular company here.

2035
03:33:42,580 --> 03:33:46,600
It is one of the companies that expressed interest.

2036
03:33:47,420 --> 03:33:54,640
And it's likely, I think, that you might see some bidders or proposals in the category

2037
03:33:54,640 --> 03:34:01,700
you just mentioned, waste management is out there, they're interested in business and main, and there are others.

2038
03:34:03,540 --> 03:34:16,220
So that's part of that, and I think that in a practical sense, if we actually did take the opt out, cancel the contract.

2039
03:34:17,560 --> 03:34:24,580
Let me just run a scenario here that I think is more likely than not by quite a large probability.

2040
03:34:26,300 --> 03:34:30,320
As for proposals, we'd get several,

2041
03:34:32,450 --> 03:34:40,330
we would then have a choice and they'd be arrayed on a price basis and a service basis, make a judge judgment.

2042
03:34:41,570 --> 03:34:47,070
And if we were, and Kasella would be in the pile, they would definitely submit a contract proposal.

2043
03:34:47,070 --> 03:34:53,230
There is an any doubt in my mind that they would, they've been fighting for the keep this business ever since they got it.

2044
03:34:53,230 --> 03:34:55,750
and they're going to keep fighting to keep it.

2045
03:34:57,510 --> 03:35:02,770
I think the practical worst case in this is we get a prayer price out of Kasele for the same service.

2046
03:35:06,820 --> 03:35:08,440
And that opportunity is in front of us.

2047
03:35:08,600 --> 03:35:14,520
It may not be enough to be persuasive tonight because of the process by which we've gotten here tonight.

2048
03:35:15,760 --> 03:35:19,060
But and I would understand that if that's with the council besides.

2049
03:35:20,540 --> 03:35:21,280
Councillor Hicks.

2050
03:35:21,280 --> 03:35:35,740
Was there, was I, did I hear that we had asked Kasella to consider, as someone's put it sharp in their pencil and come back with some cost saving opportunity or

2051
03:35:37,220 --> 03:35:50,480
adding to services or something to that effect to make the arrangement, that we have a little more favorable, I don't know if you caught that.

2052
03:35:50,480 --> 03:35:51,820
I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

2053
03:35:51,960 --> 03:35:52,300
Yeah, sure.

2054
03:35:52,720 --> 03:35:57,700
Was, did we ask Cassetta to come back with some elements or

2055
03:35:57,700 --> 03:36:05,940
something to add to our contract to make it a little bit more favorable to us as part in lieu of

2056
03:36:06,460 --> 03:36:09,900
canceling the contract and putting this out to bid?

2057
03:36:10,740 --> 03:36:14,240
I get three different conversations with them about it.

2058
03:36:15,060 --> 03:36:16,920
Did they come back with something or?

2059
03:36:17,240 --> 03:36:17,340
No.

2060
03:36:17,340 --> 03:36:17,920
No.

2061
03:36:18,120 --> 03:36:20,240
I mean, we had a conversation, they explained why they didn't.

2062
03:36:20,500 --> 03:36:20,940
Yeah, okay.

2063
03:36:21,660 --> 03:36:21,760
Okay.

2064
03:36:23,160 --> 03:36:28,600
So to be clear, what I believe what we asked was, could you give us a discount?

2065
03:36:29,380 --> 03:36:33,460
I mean, we didn't ask specifically for other services just to be clear.

2066
03:36:33,760 --> 03:36:39,680
And they didn't feel comfortable negotiating outside of contract and, you know, against themselves.

2067
03:36:40,380 --> 03:36:47,020
And they said, no, what they would like to do is have more discussion about how to be part

2068
03:36:47,020 --> 03:36:54,040
of our overall solution, what else they could do for us. So, that was their reply. They

2069
03:36:54,040 --> 03:36:57,300
ended up sending it to me, for some reason. You were the one?

2070
03:36:57,520 --> 03:37:01,840
Right. The answer wasn't, no. It was a more fleshed out response.

2071
03:37:03,060 --> 03:37:03,620
Councillor Wilson?

2072
03:37:05,000 --> 03:37:15,140
Yeah. Thank you. I agree. I would love to see us be able to go to garbage gardener, whatever

2073
03:37:15,140 --> 03:37:21,640
that's called I don't think they're ready for a town this size yet and as has been mentioned

2074
03:37:21,640 --> 03:37:28,920
a little bit trash pickup and it's happening the way it ought to it is very important to

2075
03:37:28,920 --> 03:37:35,600
the whole town in many many ways especially when we get to winter but anyhow I also agree

2076
03:37:35,600 --> 03:37:45,120
that the council doesn't that we hire staff to do some of this and and we hire them

2077
03:37:45,120 --> 03:37:51,240
because we think they qualify. I'm going to go with the staff. But I would love to see the

2078
03:37:51,240 --> 03:37:57,820
more of the garbage to garden stuff go on. Definitely would like to see. But I don't think they're

2079
03:37:57,820 --> 03:38:02,940
ready for a town this size. And I think there's a lot of little stuff going on on the side. We'll

2080
03:38:02,940 --> 03:38:08,760
keep working towards it in my mind. But that's it. Councillor Tina.

2081
03:38:08,760 --> 03:38:17,450
And yeah, first I want to just name that as somebody who is a garbage dumpster provided by her landlord.

2082
03:38:18,410 --> 03:38:27,310
I don't have the same skin in the game as some other people, and I do recognize that I still, I want everything to work well.

2083
03:38:28,390 --> 03:38:39,810
I have a totally different approach that I think might be a reasonable outcome here, which doesn't involve canceling the contract or

2084
03:38:39,810 --> 03:38:46,590
changing the services right now, we have a sustainability committee and one of its charges is

2085
03:38:48,110 --> 03:38:55,410
handling, planning out how waste streams should work in Brunswick and advising the council on that.

2086
03:38:55,930 --> 03:39:00,230
And I think I don't know the exact wording of what this motion would be but it also doesn't have

2087
03:39:00,230 --> 03:39:05,470
to happen tonight because it doesn't involve canceling the contract. I think that we should

2088
03:39:05,470 --> 03:39:33,050
I would request the sustainability committee to figure out what they think a longer term plan for solid waste in Brunswick should be and come back to us with that, including the concepts of a transfer station, including whether we should have some sort of compost pilot program, all of that stuff, whatever they think we should be thinking about at this point.

2089
03:39:33,050 --> 03:39:39,750
Because the contract is gonna end in six years, 2032 feels like it's a million years away,

2090
03:39:40,030 --> 03:39:43,790
but I'm sure in 2032, 2026 is going to feel like yesterday.

2091
03:39:46,130 --> 03:39:52,070
And we want to make sure that we are approaching that decision in 2032,

2092
03:39:52,330 --> 03:39:59,210
not just with an idea of what is like the cheaper option that we know is going to follow through,

2093
03:39:59,210 --> 03:40:03,850
or what little tweaks can we do to the existing contract?

2094
03:40:04,070 --> 03:40:08,910
But rather, what are we looking for and who can we go to?

2095
03:40:09,070 --> 03:40:14,450
And what do we need to ask for to actually have the services that match what

2096
03:40:14,450 --> 03:40:18,350
Brunswick needs, especially with the Climate Action Plan in mind, because it

2097
03:40:18,950 --> 03:40:20,790
touches on a lot of these different ideas.

2098
03:40:22,590 --> 03:40:27,230
So I guess we could talk about that and have some sort of outcome,

2099
03:40:27,230 --> 03:40:29,070
come maybe at one of the future meetings?

2100
03:40:29,510 --> 03:40:31,870
Yeah, I can at least talk with the town manager

2101
03:40:31,870 --> 03:40:33,830
about to see at our next meeting

2102
03:40:33,830 --> 03:40:36,550
like what if we need a appropriate fund

2103
03:40:36,550 --> 03:40:40,250
so that all of the nuance would encompass with that.

2104
03:40:40,890 --> 03:40:41,690
Thank you, Chair.

2105
03:40:41,930 --> 03:40:42,050
Yeah.

2106
03:40:42,910 --> 03:40:45,550
I guess like two points that I would just like to throw out there.

2107
03:40:45,830 --> 03:40:48,370
One is like my own process point

2108
03:40:48,370 --> 03:40:50,570
and then the other half is like my feelings.

2109
03:40:51,010 --> 03:40:55,810
So process point, unless Councillors care about an issue

2110
03:40:55,810 --> 03:40:59,630
that you're hearing about that I'm not going to put it on the agenda and the only reason

2111
03:40:59,630 --> 03:41:03,170
the only way that I know that you care about an issue is that if you tell me you do.

2112
03:41:03,910 --> 03:41:10,610
The only thing that I have received was sustainability committee thing that didn't direct directly

2113
03:41:10,610 --> 03:41:15,250
to council or directed to staff and I said bring us something and we'll consider it and

2114
03:41:15,250 --> 03:41:18,590
that didn't happen so that's why this is not on the agenda. I did have one Councillor

2115
03:41:18,590 --> 03:41:23,250
reach out to me I'm still figure out where that barometer is I don't necessarily think one

2116
03:41:23,250 --> 03:41:26,150
and counselors enough to bring it before nine counselors.

2117
03:41:27,190 --> 03:41:29,350
And so, you know, and maybe that's wrong of me,

2118
03:41:29,630 --> 03:41:31,430
but I can, you know, work on that.

2119
03:41:31,570 --> 03:41:34,410
But unless I know that you care about this issue

2120
03:41:34,410 --> 03:41:35,630
because you're hearing from people,

2121
03:41:35,730 --> 03:41:38,470
then I'm not gonna opt to put it on the agenda

2122
03:41:38,470 --> 03:41:40,130
to go against what the norm is.

2123
03:41:40,490 --> 03:41:42,670
So that's process wise, just over the table,

2124
03:41:42,810 --> 03:41:45,370
like how I worked through this system.

2125
03:41:46,670 --> 03:41:50,110
Feelings wise, so like my actual feelings on this issue

2126
03:41:50,110 --> 03:41:55,430
you is that nothing that I bought in 2022 is cheaper than when I bought now.

2127
03:41:56,470 --> 03:42:04,130
So I don't know how contract is going to become cheaper compared to four years ago,

2128
03:42:04,470 --> 03:42:06,170
like the same system that we're using.

2129
03:42:07,650 --> 03:42:11,770
I assume that if we open this contract, we're going to actually open the scope because it

2130
03:42:11,770 --> 03:42:15,150
sounds like we want to try composting, like we want to try the leaf pickup, we want to

2131
03:42:15,150 --> 03:42:16,010
try all these things.

2132
03:42:16,010 --> 03:42:25,730
And we just got out of the most controversial, most divided budget season that I've seen on council.

2133
03:42:26,710 --> 03:42:31,890
And so all of these other things that we're going to tack on to this wish list are going to cost a lot more money.

2134
03:42:32,570 --> 03:42:34,810
Which I would love to have composting.

2135
03:42:34,910 --> 03:42:36,670
I don't pay for composting because I can't afford it.

2136
03:42:37,030 --> 03:42:39,630
So if we had curbside composting, I know I would compost.

2137
03:42:39,830 --> 03:42:43,410
That would advance our sustainability initiatives, but is that something the town wants to take on?

2138
03:42:44,430 --> 03:42:49,150
That's a question, like for us to talk about, but that is a budgetary driver and we just

2139
03:42:49,150 --> 03:42:51,750
got through all I heard was, you know, the budget.

2140
03:42:53,050 --> 03:42:57,450
The last point of note that I'll throw in here, that really Councillor Hicks brought

2141
03:42:57,450 --> 03:43:04,970
up to me and the town manager during our conversation around this at one of our meetings, is that this

2142
03:43:04,970 --> 03:43:09,450
contract would end the same year that we're hiring a new town manager.

2143
03:43:10,330 --> 03:43:17,210
And that new town manager is going to be the person that's going to get the tens of thousands of calls when their trash is not picked up properly.

2144
03:43:18,270 --> 03:43:24,490
And so thinking ahead about, you know, 2027 is going to be done here soon.

2145
03:43:24,690 --> 03:43:31,610
Like we're already barreling towards 2027 and we know that we have, we're going to be losing our town manager at the end of next year.

2146
03:43:31,610 --> 03:43:39,250
that this is when that contract would be going, when we have someone new, because it's not for another year that we would implement this.

2147
03:43:39,870 --> 03:43:50,590
And so I have concerns, Councillor Hicks brought it up of this transition point, but I have concerns of the town manager pool that's out there.

2148
03:43:50,890 --> 03:43:57,530
I've read a lot, I've heard from Councillors about the availability of town managers and the capability of town managers.

2149
03:43:57,530 --> 03:44:07,550
I saw our first process and how it went and how we ended up with an internal hire because of our pool, also the qualifications of our internal hire.

2150
03:44:07,790 --> 03:44:13,370
Not discounting that, but it was later in the game that we were able to convince you.

2151
03:44:15,250 --> 03:44:23,230
But all I'm saying is this is a big portion of what we do as the town, and it's not going wrong right now.

2152
03:44:23,230 --> 03:44:27,230
Like, yes, there's some lids, they get thrown away.

2153
03:44:27,550 --> 03:44:31,310
And so I'm scared to take this unknown step.

2154
03:44:31,510 --> 03:44:35,670
Like, I would love for garbage garden to be at the capability that I think that they would be able to take this on.

2155
03:44:35,790 --> 03:44:39,890
Like, I would love for all these other providers, and to get this wish list done that we would love to have.

2156
03:44:40,170 --> 03:44:49,830
But I'm also really hesitant to set up a new person with that, I guess, charge because it's going to fault it.

2157
03:44:49,950 --> 03:44:51,070
They're the ones that are getting the calls.

2158
03:44:51,070 --> 03:44:56,150
I see like every decision that we make here, when I meet weekly, there's always someone

2159
03:44:56,150 --> 03:44:59,970
in talking to tab and like, there's always somebody that is...

2160
03:45:00,000 --> 03:45:28,440
It's unhappy about the things that we're doing, and the amount of calls that we would get if trash is not a consistent and reliable thing, is not something that would go well for us and a new town manager that we would hopefully try to welcome. So, those are my feelings, portions of things, of just like why I have no knock against this process, like I would have been happy if there was something that was flushed out that gave me points as to X, Y, and Z.

2161
03:45:28,440 --> 03:45:34,040
but everything to this point has led contrary to opening up.

2162
03:45:34,620 --> 03:45:37,000
So that's why I've arrived at the conclusion I've gotten to.

2163
03:45:38,080 --> 03:45:38,680
Councillor Ailes.

2164
03:45:39,160 --> 03:45:42,300
Who is our Sustainability Committee representation today?

2165
03:45:43,180 --> 03:45:43,760
Councillor Teenie.

2166
03:45:46,100 --> 03:45:46,580
Okay.

2167
03:45:47,280 --> 03:45:53,420
So I'm more curious because this is brought up for me having not served on all these committees

2168
03:45:53,420 --> 03:45:55,460
and frankly still going to raise the new guide card here.

2169
03:45:55,460 --> 03:46:07,900
What is the mandate of that committee, because again, I do agree that it probably intersects with trash in some way, but I wouldn't necessarily see that as being like negotiation of the full trash contract.

2170
03:46:07,900 --> 03:46:17,320
It's how are we sustainable in our practices, and so hearing about that as a thing would be what I would want to hear maybe in the future more about.

2171
03:46:17,320 --> 03:46:21,100
So, briefly, it's the history of the committee.

2172
03:46:21,300 --> 03:46:29,360
It actually started out as that trash solid waste and it still actually has, in its charge, specifically solid waste.

2173
03:46:29,520 --> 03:46:33,900
It just also has in its charge the implementation of the climate action plan.

2174
03:46:34,200 --> 03:46:39,040
And it definitely should not be handling the negotiation of a contract that would be totally out of its scope.

2175
03:46:39,580 --> 03:46:46,780
I'm just saying it would be nice for them to sort of like look at what we should be looking for in our near future.

2176
03:46:47,620 --> 03:46:54,880
I may or may not be empathetic to composting, you know, it's just like I went bussing, but they all have costs and so I know like with that

2177
03:46:54,880 --> 03:47:00,620
I would see that as a more reasonable, the sustainability committee is recommending that we go to composting because

2178
03:47:01,260 --> 03:47:05,460
this is the base cost of it or something like that. That would be what I would have expected more from that committee

2179
03:47:06,360 --> 03:47:08,560
And it felt like this became a much larger

2180
03:47:09,860 --> 03:47:15,880
Conversation, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna grab these last couple and we're gonna wrap up this conversation and councilor weems

2181
03:47:15,880 --> 03:47:29,000
Yes, I'm going to take you up on your offer here, or not an offer per se, but what better gift for a new town manager?

2182
03:47:29,260 --> 03:47:30,380
Think I had two years.

2183
03:47:30,980 --> 03:47:33,140
Think I had two years.

2184
03:47:33,400 --> 03:47:45,640
What better gift for a new town manager who's here on the fifth or six months of his or her job than to have a well thought out either.

2185
03:47:45,640 --> 03:47:50,840
or list of options or even proposed strategic plan

2186
03:47:50,840 --> 03:47:54,700
in solid waste management to chew over

2187
03:47:54,700 --> 03:47:57,620
and fix and improve and implement.

2188
03:47:58,560 --> 03:48:02,400
Then so I think that we should set our sales somehow

2189
03:48:03,140 --> 03:48:05,980
on working on this series over the next two years,

2190
03:48:05,980 --> 03:48:08,220
whoever does it so that town manager gets

2191
03:48:08,220 --> 03:48:09,340
the benefit of that work.

2192
03:48:10,160 --> 03:48:12,420
Councillor Hexson, then we'll go to public comment,

2193
03:48:12,620 --> 03:48:14,680
which we have a public member would like to speak.

2194
03:48:14,680 --> 03:48:34,740
So, going back to the history of that committee, that committee was very involved in putting that committee set with J and John Eldridge and members of that committee, I should say, I was a chair of that committee at that time, or post whatever.

2195
03:48:34,740 --> 03:48:41,700
But, so the history of that contract has a lot of the, what was the recycling and

2196
03:48:44,820 --> 03:48:46,200
sustainability committee's fingerprints.

2197
03:48:46,940 --> 03:48:53,780
And that's why, you know, part of them coming back, kind of revisiting it is because

2198
03:48:53,780 --> 03:48:56,700
it was what they had been very, very involved in.

2199
03:48:56,940 --> 03:48:58,060
So that's part of why.

2200
03:49:01,100 --> 03:49:01,700
All right.

2201
03:49:01,860 --> 03:49:03,740
I'm going to go to public comment.

2202
03:49:04,600 --> 03:49:06,100
We've got a member from the public.

2203
03:49:06,100 --> 03:49:09,800
You've got to see your name, your town of residents, and you've got three minutes.

2204
03:49:10,120 --> 03:49:10,680
Good evening.

2205
03:49:11,120 --> 03:49:17,980
My name is James Ecker, I'm a resident of Brunswick, and I want to tell you, this is an issue I do care a lot about.

2206
03:49:19,720 --> 03:49:30,240
I stand before you as a local citizen with 35 years experience working in the Solid Waste Collection, recycling and disposal industry.

2207
03:49:30,240 --> 03:49:34,400
I know a lot about this and about the issue.

2208
03:49:35,580 --> 03:49:39,300
I was on the sustainability committee for the better part of five years.

2209
03:49:39,500 --> 03:49:44,040
I think there's three Councillors here who are chairs of this committee at various times.

2210
03:49:44,300 --> 03:49:46,440
So there's a lot of history here.

2211
03:49:47,180 --> 03:49:50,400
And I am not up here to change anybody's mind tonight.

2212
03:49:51,600 --> 03:49:57,100
I do want to maybe illuminate a couple points that I think are really important to consider.

2213
03:49:58,380 --> 03:50:16,320
First off, I hope it's not lost on anyone, someone brought it up, but this contract, I believe the town manager can correct me if I'm wrong, but for a multi-year contract, this is about a million dollars a year, and it's probably the largest contract service we do that's a multi-year contract, does that sound right?

2214
03:50:16,320 --> 03:50:28,510
Yes, for that size, I mean we also, you know, we have auditors and other sort of professional services, but that is one of the largest contracts.

2215
03:50:28,510 --> 03:50:33,470
Of course, we also, our largest contracts are usually our road contracts.

2216
03:50:33,790 --> 03:50:45,430
But in terms of this, to put it in perspective here, we, by the time this is over, it'll be 30 years since this contract has seen competitive bid.

2217
03:50:45,430 --> 03:51:11,170
And as a taxpayer, I don't know what's going on in this town over the past 30 years that these things this particular one has not seen competitive bid, but I think it's a challenge to the town and to staff to make darn sure that we do the planning beforehand to make sure this goes out to competitive bid because it's almost unheard of in the solid waste industry that something that would go that long.

2218
03:51:12,110 --> 03:51:21,690
So second, I'm going to get oriented here a little bit, I think Councillor Timmy spoke

2219
03:51:21,690 --> 03:51:28,770
to it, but about doing a Solid Waste Management Plan, we did one.

2220
03:51:28,930 --> 03:51:31,930
We did one back in 2020-2021.

2221
03:51:32,230 --> 03:51:40,170
There is a plan and parts of that plan got executed not perfectly well, but the fact that

2222
03:51:41,010 --> 03:51:59,330
We wanted to get our trash recycling down to Eco-Main that having that happen was part of that plan, so that plan I think is on this sustainability committee website, it's worth looking at, dusting off, we don't have to start from square zero, and quite frankly, you don't have a lot of options in Maine.

2223
03:51:59,910 --> 03:52:06,610
The key thing is we were trying to keep our trash out of landfill, so that's a starting point there as well.

2224
03:52:06,610 --> 03:52:22,730
So the last point I'd make, well one other point, one thing that was different about the proposal that came before you is they were going to do what we originally wanted to do.

2225
03:52:22,830 --> 03:52:34,010
That was part of the proposal was to pick up our trash and recycling here and bring it down to eco-main, try to explain the swap to a citizen what's going on.

2226
03:52:34,010 --> 03:52:36,730
And it's very complicated.

2227
03:52:37,050 --> 03:52:43,630
In theory, it kind of works, but I will challenge someone earlier who said,

2228
03:52:44,150 --> 03:52:48,690
we're just displacing one person's stuff that might have gone to the landfill with someone else's.

2229
03:52:49,010 --> 03:52:49,750
That's not true.

2230
03:52:49,870 --> 03:52:52,290
I can tell you stuff goes all over the place every day.

2231
03:52:52,810 --> 03:52:55,110
You never know exactly where trash is going to go.

2232
03:52:55,210 --> 03:52:58,970
Those decisions get made by the solid waste companies if they own it.

2233
03:52:59,410 --> 03:53:00,870
Then they're going to decide where it go.

2234
03:53:00,870 --> 03:53:05,510
One day it may be cheaper to take it to e-command, next day it may go up to Jennifer Reds, you don't know.

2235
03:53:06,290 --> 03:53:10,110
The last thing I make is this is really the biggest point of the night, I think.

2236
03:53:11,550 --> 03:53:18,430
From my perspective, what I've seen happen here over the last 10 years is, on this particular issue,

2237
03:53:19,790 --> 03:53:24,890
we talk about planning, we do planning. We don't get down to the hard business of trying to figure out

2238
03:53:24,890 --> 03:53:30,150
how to something gets done until last minute. To go to even someone mentioned earlier,

2239
03:53:30,150 --> 03:53:34,550
You know, three or four months before, you know, this contract's end, we put it out to bid.

2240
03:53:35,050 --> 03:53:37,270
That is not the way you put out a solid waste contract.

2241
03:53:37,550 --> 03:53:42,650
You have to start a year before, and there's a process to go through.

2242
03:53:42,790 --> 03:53:47,410
Many towns do it, we don't have to reinvent the wheel, we can use a template from another town.

2243
03:53:48,130 --> 03:53:53,730
But I highly, highly encourage that kind of planning, both the broader planning that Councillor

2244
03:53:53,730 --> 03:53:59,330
So our team he was talking about, the idea of a transfer station to be more than an idea.

2245
03:53:59,610 --> 03:54:10,770
We missed the boat on that one long ago, decisions were cast that we just missed the boat on it because we weren't thinking far enough ahead and planning for who's going to do your services.

2246
03:54:11,470 --> 03:54:19,510
So I'd really encourage for this size contract, we start really like seriously in the next couple of years and

2247
03:54:19,510 --> 03:54:24,970
And councils are going to change, staff's going to change, there's going to have to be some consistency through it.

2248
03:54:25,350 --> 03:54:28,930
And I don't know what that is, whether that's to the sustainability committee with staff,

2249
03:54:29,490 --> 03:54:35,110
but we should work to that plan because this is a very important part of the town's sustainability plan.

2250
03:54:35,630 --> 03:54:38,090
It's our largest multi-year contract.

2251
03:54:38,450 --> 03:54:40,510
It's worth doing some planning around.

2252
03:54:41,330 --> 03:54:42,290
That's all I have to say.

2253
03:54:42,710 --> 03:54:43,190
Thank you.

2254
03:54:45,300 --> 03:54:47,400
Would anybody like to make a motion?

2255
03:54:47,400 --> 03:54:49,700
or are we completed with this item?

2256
03:54:51,780 --> 03:54:54,240
Currently no motion, because this is a discussion item.

2257
03:54:58,990 --> 03:54:59,530
Not seen.

2258
03:55:00,590 --> 03:55:04,330
I'll make the doomed motion, just to do it.

2259
03:55:04,450 --> 03:55:05,050
Councillor Tini.

2260
03:55:07,650 --> 03:55:12,710
I motion to direct staff to cancel the contract with Kasella

2261
03:55:12,710 --> 03:55:18,230
for a solid waste pickup and initiate an RFP process

2262
03:55:18,230 --> 03:55:22,250
Yes, to determine all of our options.

2263
03:55:22,750 --> 03:55:24,590
Motion by Councillor Teemee, is there a second?

2264
03:55:26,190 --> 03:55:29,450
Councillor Weems, seconded by Councillor Weems, further discussion on the motion?

2265
03:55:31,580 --> 03:55:32,540
Oh, Councillor Perl?

2266
03:55:32,900 --> 03:55:39,420
I'd just like to say, if this was six months ago before World Events are what they are,

2267
03:55:39,720 --> 03:55:48,020
I would have totally taken the chance, but I think that we would be putting us down a road

2268
03:55:48,020 --> 03:55:50,820
that it's going to cost us more in the long run.

2269
03:55:52,280 --> 03:55:53,120
I agree.

2270
03:55:54,780 --> 03:55:55,880
I will call the vote.

2271
03:55:56,780 --> 03:55:57,300
Councillor Ellis.

2272
03:55:58,080 --> 03:55:58,180
No.

2273
03:55:59,260 --> 03:56:00,140
Councillor Perral.

2274
03:56:00,360 --> 03:56:00,600
No.

2275
03:56:01,580 --> 03:56:02,380
Councillor Hicks.

2276
03:56:02,580 --> 03:56:02,720
No.

2277
03:56:03,620 --> 03:56:04,500
Councillor Chimie.

2278
03:56:04,780 --> 03:56:04,940
No.

2279
03:56:06,880 --> 03:56:07,680
Councillor Wheeling.

2280
03:56:08,180 --> 03:56:08,380
Yes.

2281
03:56:09,200 --> 03:56:10,080
Councillor Wilson.

2282
03:56:11,220 --> 03:56:11,560
No.

2283
03:56:12,920 --> 03:56:16,960
The chair is in no. The motion fails 6 to 1.

2284
03:56:23,460 --> 03:56:26,760
All right, moving on to consent agenda. You may come back, Councillor Acker.

2285
03:56:28,080 --> 03:56:28,860
Thank you, town staff.

2286
03:56:30,900 --> 03:56:33,260
Consent agenda. Is there any questions with the consent agenda?

2287
03:56:36,780 --> 03:56:41,980
Not seeing any questions. Does somebody want to make a motion to approve the consent agenda?

2288
03:56:46,440 --> 03:56:50,680
Councillor Hicks go for it. I move to approve the consent agenda.

2289
03:56:51,300 --> 03:56:58,120
Motion by Councillor Hicks, seconded by Councillor teeny. Any discussion? Seeing any,

2290
03:56:58,280 --> 03:57:04,880
this is a show of. So all those in favor, show of hands. All those opposed.

2291
03:57:04,880 --> 03:57:09,980
So that passes from 6 to 1.

2292
03:57:13,070 --> 03:57:16,410
No, 7 to 1, because Councillor Eckers back, sorry.

2293
03:57:17,710 --> 03:57:19,190
Do I have a motion to adjourn?

2294
03:57:20,610 --> 03:57:21,770
Move to adjourn.

2295
03:57:22,250 --> 03:57:23,970
By Councillor Hicks, is there a second?

2296
03:57:24,110 --> 03:57:25,310
Seconded by Councillor Weems.

2297
03:57:25,730 --> 03:57:27,010
All those in favor, show of hands.

2298
03:57:27,690 --> 03:57:28,750
That is unanimous.

2299
03:57:28,850 --> 03:57:30,230
Thank you and good night, everyone.