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So, we'll call to order. I don't think

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we need a formal roll call visual

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confirmation. All five present. Um,

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we'll move right on to communications.

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Are there any members of the public or

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otherwise that would like to make a

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comment during public communications?

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>> I have any comments.

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>> Ah, okay. Thank you. Just for the

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record, um I'll indicate that council

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member Gold has indicated to me that he

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will be recusing as you move into close

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session is a real uh property interest

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conflict which is recognizing.

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>> Great.

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>> Thank you.

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>> I am I'm going to mention that right at

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the top here. Uh so tonight, thank you.

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I am speaking as a private citizen

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tonight because I'm recusing myself from

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the close session. Um, I'm here to talk

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about the parcel that runs along the

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east side of Interstate 280 that you're

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going to be discussing in a few minutes.

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Sadly, this public comment session will

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be the only opportunity that I or any

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other interested party doesn't look like

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there are any, um, will have to provide

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input to our elected officials. So, my

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first question for you is where did this

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issue even come from? When you sit on

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that side of the room, you're supposed

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to know pretty much everything that's

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going on in the town.

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Um, but I never heard of this possible

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land deal before I got an email from the

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town just 4 days ago. Who authorized

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this? What's behind this? And why is

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this discussion being held behind closed

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doors? This could have been done at our

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regular town council meeting. It's not

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like tonight's agenda is so jam-packed

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that we couldn't have squeezed this in,

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mayor.

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Um, but shouldn't our citizens know that

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we're contemplating such a consequential

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act? This is a big deal. Uh, but my

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larger point is why are we doing this at

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all? Who wants this? From what I can

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tell, there's just one person in our

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entire town who's interested in doing

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that, and that's Chris Shaw. And he's

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not an elected official. People voted

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for you. They didn't vote for him. You

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set the agenda, not him. And the reason

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I took the time to put this little

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speech together, which by the way runs 3

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minutes and 40 seconds if I do it right,

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um, is that the four of you are about to

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open up Pandora's box

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because once you start discussing the

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terms and the price of a parcel, the

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last chapter of this story is going to

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be a painful repetition of the

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contentious housing element hearings we

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had in this very room a little over a

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year ago. I'm sure you all remember

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that. You're going to be forced by the

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state to build a bunch of apartment

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buildings on a 22acre parcel. That's not

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a secret. That's the plan. Chris Shaw

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said so in the San Francisco Chronicle

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that's sitting in front of you right

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now. This article that I had sent to you

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this afternoon.

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It starts by talking price and terms and

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the dominoes then start to fall. It's

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going to be a bargain price now that

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Calrans has been strong armed by Senator

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Becker, who did so, by the way, without

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any of us asking him to. So, be prepared

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to be peppered with endless

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uncomfortable questions. How can you

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possibly pass up this bargain? Closing

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that Pandora's box is not going to be so

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easy. This is a blunder, I think, of

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epic proportions with major consequences

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for our town. I know I'm prone to

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hyperbole. I don't think I'm

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exaggerating here.

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If we learned anything from the last

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housing cycle, it's that the only

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leverage HC has over us is forcing us to

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build on parcels that we own and we

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control. That's the lesson we learned.

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If we own parcels, Raundo and High Road

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and anything else, they can force us to

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do stuff. In this case, what how many

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times did I hear people say Sacramento

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is holding a gun to our heads?

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You probably all said that. I know. I

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heard Chris say that many times. Our

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town's one saving grace is that we own

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so few parcels, most of them are

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unbuildable. Do you really want to give

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HCD an additional 22 acres to use

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against us? And owning this parcel is

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hardly going to be free. Right now, we

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get 100% of the recreational and scenic

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benefits of this parcel for zero cost

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and zero liability. It's all on CALR.

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Why would we want to change that? So,

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what I'm asking you to do is hit the

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pause button and first determine if

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Woodside should be acquiring any surplus

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lands before we go off halfcock

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negotiating price and terms before this

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Kines's out of control. And if our

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citizens don't want it, we should tell

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Calrans, "Thanks, but we're not buyers

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at this time." That's the right answer.

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A little caution costs you absolutely

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nothing, but it will spare everyone a

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lot of turmoil and stress. But if this

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discussion about acquiring this parcel

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goes any further, the dominoes are

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surely going to start to fall. And don't

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be surprised when you find yourself

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forced to go out against our citizens

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and put a bunch of apartment buildings

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there. I'm sure you'll complain that

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Sacramento is holding a gun to our head

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again, but the unfortunate truth is that

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you gave them 22 acres of ammunition.

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Good governance and transparency. Two

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things Woodside prides itself on is

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first finding out if our citizens want

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or need additional lands and the

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consequences of those. Thank you and

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thank you for the accommodation on time.

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>> Of course. Thank you, Mr. Gold. Any

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other public comments? Mr. Burrow.

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>> Uh David Burrow, 135 Sheridan Way. Uh

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thank you. I would I'm here really to I

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uh when I found out about the uh topic

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for this meeting, I was quite surprised.

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Uh again, as Paul, I had not aware of

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any prior discussions about the town's

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interest in acquiring land. And um I'm

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not aware of any pressure that

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Sacramento is putting on us to do

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something that would cause us to want to

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do this. And uh if we want to do this

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just in case, that's not a very good

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reason. And I think the one thing you

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should think about is as Paul mentioned

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is that when you see and and and maybe

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there's a legal reason why it's reads

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out the way it does in the agenda, but

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when it looks like you're negotiating,

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it looks like the decisions already been

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taken that we're interested in buying

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land. And again, I think you you you

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know, this has the risk of, you know,

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losing a lot of trust that I think the

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town has in the in the council, in the town staff and in the processes

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that we followed in the past. I can't

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think of another issue in, you know, in

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my time where something caused me to

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wonder, you know, what is really going

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on? Can we is this really a transparent

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organization that is going to seek input

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before it takes action? And so whether

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or not that it you know is it was really

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what you maybe you were just trying to

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find out what the price was and there

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was no other way to do it. But if that

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was if it was anything more than that

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then you you're really you know starting

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to break the bonds of trust with uh with the town residents and and I and I think that's a a sad thing if that

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happens. And I would certainly encourage

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you to think hard about uh how you're

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presenting how this looks and whether

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you meant it to look that way or not I

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don't know. Uh but it does look that way

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and you should be aware of that and uh

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maybe maybe we'll find out someday soon

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why that was worth it for you to take

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that step or maybe you were just awkward

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and not doing it in a proper way. I

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don't know what the cause was but um but

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anyway I just wanted to add that to the

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to Paul's comments. Thank you very much.

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>> Thank you Mr. Burrow. Any other Yes.

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>> Have one hand raised in Zoom. Thomas,

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I'm going to allow you to talk.

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» Yes. Good evening. I um share Paul's and

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view that this is really happening too

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quick without any real discussion or

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prior information to the rest of the

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public of the town of Woodside. I don't

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understand why this is on the agenda.

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um it's very confusing and a little

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unnerving considering the the costs of

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considering something of this scale. So

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I strongly advise

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the council to terminate this and not to

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go forward without

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more discussion and involving the

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community that you serve. Thank you very

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much.

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>> Thank you Thomas.

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Jen, anything else? Okay, thank you all.

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We're going to close uh communications

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and move into the close session. So,

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we'll just give it a