[0:00] Please rise for the pledge.

[0:04] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:10] republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:16] justice for all.

[0:29] General information and recommendations. We are going to

[0:34] honor two young adults from the county worker who was named Eagle Scout. It's

[0:42] um an amazing accomplishment. They had a celebration for them on Saturday which I

[0:46] was supposed to attend and had something come up at the last minute and

[0:49] unfortunately could not. So, I wanted to make sure we celebrated them once again

[0:53] here tonight. Um, >> everybody here is Boy Scouts, Girl

[0:57] Scouts, >> Scouts of America, and it's been going

[1:00] on for so long. I think you might not understand that

[1:04] there's been 130 million scouts. Less than 2% of them earned the rank of

[1:10] Eagle Scout. So, that's an incredible accomplishment. And we're here tonight

[1:15] to talk a little bit about Stella, Stella Pellete, and Scott Buoie. So

[1:21] everybody get them around 10.

[1:25] [applause]

[1:34] [applause]

[1:40] [applause]

[1:46] Stellar is the first evil scout in the town of Wam. So

[1:50] congratulations on St. [applause]

[1:59] Also just found out Selfish Sweet Stella is a hockey player for the winter

[2:02] Vikings and I'm very passionate about that. Go Vikings. Um but I'll read a few

[2:10] things that Denise has prepared and then I'll say a few other things. But um over

[2:15] the years they've been involved in several service projects around Winthre.

[2:19] They helped move bricks from French Square so they could be repurposed for

[2:22] the Dean Winthrop House. They relocated some trees and plants from French Square

[2:27] um over to the grounds at the Winter House. They've done cleanouts, plantings

[2:31] at police and fire memorials and cemeteries as well as police station. Um

[2:36] they've served at Veterans and Memorial Day services, place flags on veterans

[2:40] gravestones. Stella's Eagle project uh conceived, designed, planned, and

[2:45] executed by her was to work with the DCR to build and install Sha uh Swallow and

[2:52] Kestrel houses uh in the Bell Ale Marsh. And Scott's Eagle project include

[2:58] cleaning, scraping, and painting the cafeteria at St. Michael's Parish. Do I

[3:02] have a job for you?

[3:06] [applause]

[3:11] look forward to graduation this spring. They're already looking to see how they

[3:16] can help the next generation of scouts. >> Uh and again, over 130 million scouts.

[3:22] Um they have to earn, I believe, 21 merit badges and 13 specific badges that

[3:27] they obviously have done. Um and just to think of of a couple of famous Eagle

[3:32] Scouts that you might not have heard that you might have heard of. Neil

[3:35] Armstrong, Eagle Scout. on the moon. Um Sam Walton, founder

[3:41] of Walmart Eagle Scout, President Gerald Ford, Eagle Scout, and Steven Spielberg,

[3:48] director Eagle Scout. So, you're in a pretty amazing company, but we do have

[3:53] citations here for you and I will read them both. And I will read Stella's

[3:59] first. Stella Pelletier, first women female Eagle Scout Troop 79. The town of

[4:05] Winth and the citizens of Winth are honored to congratulate you on achieving

[4:09] the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in scout. Since 2018, this

[4:14] distinguished achievement has been open to young women and you have made history

[4:18] as a member of Winter's first female Eagle Scout troop. Your dedication,

[4:23] leadership, and service to the scouting community are commendable, and we wish

[4:27] you continued success in your future endeavors and look forward to the

[4:31] positive impact that you will have as a role model, inspiring and guiding future

[4:36] scouts as they advance through the ranks. giving this sixth day of January

[4:40] 2026 at Winter, Massachusetts, Jim Military, town council president and

[4:44] council members Pat Costigan, Kim Dimes, Joseph Romano, Suzanne Swope, Paul Ren,

[4:50] Max Tinari, and Curt Molas. Congratulations.

[4:53] [applause]

[4:59] And also be it known that the town council here by office is

[5:03] congratulations to Scott Buoie, Eagle Scout Troop 75. The town of Win and the

[5:08] citizens of Winter are honored to congratulate you in achieving the rank

[5:12] of Eagle Scout, the highest ranking in scouting. an accomplishment that brings

[5:16] great pride not only to our community but also to the Boy Scouts of America.

[5:21] Your dedication, leadership, and service to both the scouting community and your

[5:25] hometown are truly commendable. We wish you continued success in all your future

[5:30] endeavors and look forward to the positive impact that you will have as a

[5:33] role model, inspiring and guiding future scouts as they advance through the ranks

[5:38] given the sixth day of January 2026 with the Massachusetts military council

[5:42] president and council members Pat and Kim Dimes, Joseph Romano, Suzanne Swope,

[5:47] Paul Ren, Max Tassinary and Kurt Mala. Congratulations to both of you.

[5:54] [applause] CONGRATULATIONS.

[6:03] [applause]

[6:09] [applause]

[6:14] » Try to squeeze

[6:23] sometimes.

[6:31] » [laughter]

[6:34] » Don't move. >> Don't move.

[6:38] » Don't move.

[6:43] » Suzanne, a little bit to your left. There you go. [laughter]

[6:49] » Okay, cool. Thank you. Thank you, [applause] guys.

[6:52] Awesome.

[6:58] All good stuff. All good stuff.

[7:11] » Okay. If we have none in public comment, we'll open it up.

[7:16] » John, please be first. Hi, John Morgan, precinct 4. And I'd

[7:21] like to welcome the new counselors and like my name is John Morgan, but I

[7:27] prefer John. I look forward in the future to talk to each and one of you.

[7:32] Uh, but I'd like to invite you to a commission on disabilities meeting. Our

[7:37] next meeting is on the 14th at 6 p.m. at the heart hearing. Uh just so you know

[7:43] that that our commission uh since since 2023 has done more

[7:50] uh for disability community than it's done in years before and I want to

[7:56] continue this but uh but we need everyone's help. Thank you.

[8:01] » Thank you. [applause]

[8:07] Welcome. Um you've been council for about a half an hour now. We've solved

[8:11] the flood problem. [laughter]

[8:15] » That's all I have to say. [applause] >> Celeste, [snorts]

[8:19] » Celeste Huitt, precinct one. Congratulations to everyone. Happy New

[8:23] Year. And my first official request. Um, back on December 12th, the climate

[8:28] commission did submit a formal request to town council. Um, imagine people have

[8:34] been a little bit busy since then and most likely have been waiting to

[8:37] assemble this crew. So, I'm just going to take the opportunity to read out the

[8:40] request. I can uh forward it to the updated town council um tomorrow at some

[8:46] point. Uh dear Win Town Council, Council President Lati, Town Manager Marino, and

[8:51] Town Clerk Twist, the Citizens Advisory Commission on Climate, CACC,

[8:55] respectfully urges that you put forth the attached recommendation for

[8:59] consideration during the January town council meeting. for your backgrounds.

[9:03] The ACC was appointed by the town of Winthor 16 months ago and has held

[9:07] public hearings monthly. During that time and within those meetings, we have

[9:10] developed a climate action plan in which we identified and prioritized the top

[9:15] eight hotspots within Winthre that are most presently and imminently impacted

[9:19] by flooding and climate concerns. We've invited peers and colleagues from the

[9:22] climate, energy, and environmental sectors to dig into issues and

[9:26] initiatives including uh Kristen Holmire from resilience manager for the North

[9:31] Suffach office of resilience and sustainability to discuss the Morton

[9:34] Street study. Uh Connor Option from Woods Hole Group presentation topic was

[9:39] Winthre's vulnerability to climate change and the feasibility report for

[9:43] the proposed Morton Street resilience project. Mothers out front presentation

[9:47] on recent climate legislation in Massachusetts. First public presentation

[9:51] of the Olympic climate tracker uh climate action plan tracker and tool

[9:56] that the CACC developed led by former town councelor John de Ross uh took

[10:00] place in uh November 2024. Is that my timer already?

[10:04] » No. [laughter] >> Um we had a presentation from wind

[10:09] working together highlighting Wind residents climate and related health

[10:12] concerns and their desire to proactively address them.

[10:15] um with focus on transit, changes in environment, emergency evacuation,

[10:20] presentation of the updated climate action plan by the CACC, town manager

[10:24] Marino and DW Director Kala who answered commissioners questions and thoughtfully

[10:29] reviewed progress towards ongoing and new work in each of the hotspots. uh

[10:33] Wendy Mar Page came in and did a solid waste and recycling man um presentation

[10:39] um as along with uh Dylan Patel regional coordinator for green communities

[10:44] program. Um we have proactive planning collaboration equitable coastal

[10:48] relocation in Massachusetts by speaker Elar Gilstein climate adaptation

[10:53] specialist from the NE conservancy. Um there's a lot here that we're only

[10:57] halfway through folks. I'm going to send this over but very pointedly um towards

[11:02] the end of this we did submit requests. We have worked very hard and um enga

[11:07] engaged on all levels in town have presented materials and invited

[11:11] different groups from town um and presented materials to town council and

[11:15] we have not um reached a point where we are willing to identify resources to

[11:21] commit to um some of our most pressing issues. And at the top of the list, we

[11:26] started focusing on Morton Street and we've circled back around and we're

[11:29] still on Morton Street. Um, we found ourselves where we had saw resources

[11:34] earmarked for engineering of solutions. Those are no longer on the table. So, we

[11:38] respectfully ask town council to review this request and to commit to um a vote

[11:45] on a proposal to set aside resources for Morton Street um and other flooding and

[11:50] infrastructure concerns. Um once again I will forward this to all you folks for

[11:55] your consideration in your review and we respectfully look forward to a response.

[12:00] Um within the body of this request we have also stated that we are suspending

[12:05] our meetings and some of our activity pending response and meaningful

[12:09] engagement from town council. Thank you so much. Happy new year. Welcome.

[12:12] » Thank you [applause]

[12:20] Marcelos. 365. Um,

[12:24] um, welcome all. Congrats. And I just want to extend an invitation for all of

[12:31] the new counselors and any existing and also members of the community to join us

[12:37] on the bridge um, on Saturdays from 10 to 12 um, to find out why we're there. I

[12:43] know a lot of people drive by or hear something on Facebook and they don't

[12:46] really understand what it's about. The best way to find out is come come and

[12:50] join us. Um you everyone is welcome there. Um you don't have to bring

[12:55] anything. We usually have drinks. We have warm jackets. We have like blankets

[13:00] now. Um it's very cold. Um and we have signs. But come and join us. Find out

[13:06] what we're actually doing and why. That's all. Thank you.

[13:10] » Thank you. [applause]

[13:17] » [clears throat] >> correspondence Denise

[13:21] » I did get a letter from Karen Chavez that she requested me to read council

[13:26] president Lati councilors Costigan dimes Romano rar nimlar I'm unable to be at

[13:31] tonight's council meeting but want to wish you all the best for successful and

[13:34] meaningful term of office I know you can all help to make one of a place that

[13:39] people want to live in and do business in council tassinary and swope I am sure

[13:44] we'll help you adjust to your new role in This council will be one of the best

[13:48] in the last 20 years. Council president, I know you will lead and direct this

[13:52] council. I have complete faith and trust in you. Please feel free to call me if I

[13:56] can be assistance to any of you. Good luck and God bless the town of Winter.

[13:59] Karen Chavez. And that was it.

[14:05] » Courts are non school department. School committee just met about 15

[14:11] minutes ago. Uh it was a very brief meeting. The only purpose of the meeting

[14:15] was to like the chair which they did. The chair of the winter school committee

[14:20] is Petri and the vice chair of the winter school committee is Gus Vuchi. So

[14:25] congratulations and congratulations to everyone newly elected on the school

[14:29] committee. Um and school committee is still in the middle of negotiations with

[14:34] the window teachers association. So those meetings are open. We can check

[14:38] the calendar I believe to see when the next meeting is. Um so stay tuned for

[14:44] more details on that. update on policy committee. We have not

[14:48] over the holiday town manager report was um

[14:54] sent out by the T Tony if you could just give a brief overview. And first of all,

[14:59] we want to wish Tony the best on a speedy recovery after a bad fall in his

[15:05] driveway and some black ice. >> Black ice and poor judgment. Don't go

[15:08] and walk the dogs at 5:30 in the morning.

[15:11] » We wish you the best. And if you want to just update us on them also if you'd

[15:15] like to because there's definitely been um a lot of discussion out there. Real

[15:21] estate tax bills just recently went out >> and um you know there was some

[15:26] misunderstanding with the bills and the way they came storm but

[15:30] » you want to explain that or I'll be happy to but you can

[15:32] » I guess it was one of the items in my town manager report. Um yeah, what

[15:36] happened was is the not happened but um the way this happened is the we couldn't

[15:41] bill for the uh school override until we set the tax rate. Um which obviously is

[15:45] the first bill in January. So people got their standard you know last year's uh

[15:49] first two quarter bills based on what it was last year. Maybe your property value

[15:53] went up slightly um or not. Like so we took um and Sarah Johnson run some

[15:57] numbers today. We took our average home value in Winthre right now was $738,500.

[16:02] [snorts] So, we picked a random property out in

[16:05] the Shirley Street area. Um, their FY25 assessed value was 705,000. So, their

[16:11] total tax bill for last year was $7,275.60.

[16:16] That same home, uh, this is an offer tax bill, an actual tax bill, went their

[16:21] assessed value went up to $738,000 5 738,500, which was pretty close to

[16:26] the, um, assessed value for this year. Um, we're actually right on the money.

[16:31] And so for the first two quarters though, that house got built uh

[16:34] $1,818.90 for the first two quarters. We set the

[16:38] tax rate. So basically the full increase of the school override for your average

[16:43] home was around $950, you know, $1,000. That's what this happened to be, $951.

[16:48] Now that $951 is going to get added to the last two quarters. So everyone

[16:52] thinks that their tax bill is going up 25 30%, but in reality, it's just the

[16:56] whole increase of the annual bill is being built in two quarters. That will

[17:00] level out. So that same home got build for the third quarter $2,294

[17:05] for the bill same bill for the fourth quarter. Now next year when FY27 bill

[17:10] comes out uh their total taxes was $8,226.

[17:14] You divide that increase by four. Their new bill for the quarter will be

[17:18] $2,56.72 rather than the 2200 they got for the

[17:21] last two quarters. So it'll even out, but for these last two quarters it's

[17:25] going to be a little bit higher than it normally is. Um, in hindsight, we

[17:28] probably should have sent a letter saying that and with the tax bills,

[17:30] we'll do better job next time. But, you know, I didn't want anybody to think

[17:33] that there's any sort of shenanigans going on, but we did just that's the way

[17:36] it goes with these overrides. And keep in mind, like this doesn't include the

[17:40] fire station yet, which will come online, you know, in a few years, but

[17:43] there will be a little bit of interest that'll be built out like next year

[17:46] there'll be $147,000 in interest that will have to be built out. That'll add

[17:50] two or three cents to the tax rate, but, you know, that'll be minimal. But um you

[17:53] know this will happen in stages you know as we get further along probably fully

[17:57] vetted in FY28 but FY27 will have some of it FY28 and 29 will finish off the

[18:02] fire station. So everything's in line with what we said you know if you go on

[18:06] the DLS calculators and you put in the 1.45 million and the 3.5 million all

[18:12] these numbers are right in line with what the increases were you know for the

[18:15] average value home. So apologize for the confusion and certainly assessor's

[18:19] office has been fielding questions. My office has been fielding questions and

[18:21] if anybody has any more come on by but this is uh this will all you know come

[18:25] out in the wash once we hit to July's bill and everything will level out. So

[18:29] » and and just to understand a lot of people look at two and a half which has

[18:33] been around for almost 40 years now and so two and a half% is what the total

[18:38] levy for the town can go up. So if the town takes three bill three,

[18:44] » it's like3 billion dollars. Yeah. The total valuation.

[18:46] » So the valuations it's based on that. So a person's tax could potentially in a

[18:53] year where there's reevaluations, which we did. The evaluations could go up. The

[18:57] tax rate again could only be fixed at 2 and a half% increased over the levy from

[19:02] last year. But some people might see a 1% increase. Some people might see a 4%

[19:07] increase depending on how their homes got valued. But the homes are not

[19:10] reassessed every single year. So that's just, you know, once every five or 10

[19:14] years. >> Yeah, we did one in 2022. We'll do

[19:16] another one in 27. Um the one one thing to keep in mind too is that this this

[19:21] year sort of a perfect storm, right? But this year was based off of um fiscal

[19:25] year 24's real estate values where if everybody remembers postco, you know,

[19:29] the real estate values were going crazy. People were putting in offers on homes

[19:32] 50 60 $70,000 over asking, no home inspections. So, you know, that was a

[19:36] really inflated real estate market, which is, you know, driving up the home

[19:39] values a little bit as well. So, >> and further on your report,

[19:43] » uh, just the fire station, uh, you gave a little update before in your, uh,

[19:47] state of the town speech there and, uh, we are going to start the demo. They

[19:50] took the last window out today and, uh, the demo will start shortly for

[19:54] anybody's interested. They are, as we talked about before, they're using a

[19:57] large, much larger machine than they normally would. And it has for

[20:00] essentially just a big pair of scissors on the end of it and they're going to be

[20:02] cutting the buildings up into sections rather than jackhammering. So, it's how

[20:06] they take bridges down. It's a similar machine that they used to take bridges

[20:09] down. So, it's going to be if you're into that sort of thing, it'll be pretty

[20:11] neat to watch cuz it'll come out in really, really large chunks rather than

[20:15] And the reason they did that was so we didn't have a lot of it's in a really

[20:18] residential area, so they wanted to make sure that they uh minimize the impact of

[20:22] the neighbors and try to keep the noise down. So, um, but that'll kick off soon.

[20:25] And, um, we also finally, as we got the permit, the, um, the dredging over at

[20:30] Fisherman's Bend is going to kick off. Uh, they started out there this week.

[20:32] They start pulling the material out and, um, our DPW crews will be hauling it

[20:37] away, but um, Northeast Mosquito Control is doing the dredging there as well. So,

[20:40] we got a lot of good stuff going on. I'm certainly open to answering your

[20:44] questions. >> Matt, Council Test, thank you, Mr.

[20:48] President. Uh, thank you, Mr. Manager. Sorry to hear about the ankle. That's

[20:52] not uh we we we get worried when we see you laid out because

[20:57] » No, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. >> Um there's a question on the demolition

[21:02] of [clears throat] the middle school. Have we had a response to our request

[21:05] for the release of the $2 million earmark from the acts of 2024? Do we

[21:10] make that request being on an agenda?

[21:13] » We're working on the letter. I finally got the actual numbers from um the

[21:16] request is going in. It hasn't officially gone in yet, but it will go

[21:19] in. But I did talk to our finance chair and the A&E secretary and um we're

[21:24] accounting and fin secretary rather and it is going to be going in. Um you know,

[21:29] one of the concerns they have and I have is that you know, one of the boxes that

[21:32] they have to check off is, you know, is the town in compliance with our laws and

[21:35] that could be an issue with the 3A issue, but we'll find out. But um we're

[21:38] definitely putting the requests in and we're working the political back

[21:41] channels to try to get some support for it.

[21:43] » Okay. >> Thank you.

[21:45] » You're welcome.

[21:49] All right. Um, old business. We have none. New business.

[21:54] There's a motion here. We'll explain in a bit. A motion that the town council

[22:00] consider consider all interns of the town of Winter be considered special

[22:05] municipal employees of the town or take any other action relative there too. Um,

[22:10] we'll ask for a vote on that and just explain it. Uh we have interns that work

[22:15] here that might work for the state, might uh might be legislative aid,

[22:19] whatever. They do internships here. They're not allowed to be an employee of

[22:23] the town. They'd have to be considered a special employee. So this is an an

[22:28] exemption for some kids that are doing internships that, you know, might work

[22:33] at the state house or whatever. So it's uh not a big deal. It's just something

[22:37] that we want to make sure we're doing properly. So, um, if we're willing to

[22:42] take a motion, if we're willing to get a second for the motion and discuss it

[22:45] now, if not, we can put it off probably next meeting.

[22:50] » I have a second. >> Second.

[22:51] » Second by council tachary. Any discussion? Denise, would you like to

[22:56] weigh in on this to just if I didn't describe it exactly perfect?

[22:59] » No, that's exactly perfect how you described it. And we also we've already

[23:03] done this for the committee members. >> It's for the same reasoning for that. So

[23:07] this will cover mostly everyone that knows the non memberships of the

[23:11] committees. So we're good. [cough] >> Any other discussion? Seeing

[23:15] [clears throat] none, all those in favor say I.

[23:17] » I have.

[23:21] » Now the town council every year uh we vote on a vice president and

[23:27] [clears throat] this is per the charter. Nothing has

[23:30] changed. There's a question on the ballot last year that didn't pass. So

[23:33] even if it did, nothing would change in this runaround. This is a one-year

[23:37] position. Um, the role of the council vice president is to take over in the

[23:42] event that the council president [cough and snorts] is unable to perform

[23:45] his or her duties. Um, so I will open up nominations.

[23:52] » Motion to nominate Suzanne Swope for vice president of council.

[23:56] » There's a motion from council dimes to nominate council swoop. Is there a

[24:01] second? >> Second by council man. Any other

[24:05] nominations? Seeing none, I will close nominations

[24:11] and I will ask if anyone has anything they'd like to say about Council Swope

[24:16] before we vote. All right, I'll ask for a roll call

[24:22] vote, please. [snorts] >> Council Tineri,

[24:26] » yes. >> Council Costigan,

[24:28] » yes. >> Council Dimes,

[24:30] » yes. >> Councilor Romano,

[24:32] » yes. Council Swope. >> Yes.

[24:36] » Council Rearen. >> Yes.

[24:37] » Council Malar. >> Yes.

[24:39] » President Lati. >> Yes. Congratulations.

[24:42] » Congratulations. [applause]

[24:53] » Public is back.

[24:57] » Yes. Wendy. >> Hi. I'm Wendy Malar. Precinct

[25:00] [clears throat] 2. Just want people to know that we have a couple of things um

[25:04] happening this week and next. Please put your bare, very naked Christmas trees

[25:10] out on your trash day. And this is the first year we're doing it. But we are

[25:14] collecting your string lights that no longer work right at the DW in a bin and

[25:20] they're being recycled. So you don't have to put them in the trash. Please

[25:23] don't put them in the recycling bin. And we're getting more things out of our

[25:27] waist stream. >> Nice job. Thank you.

[25:34] [applause]

[25:38] » Same public relations. We have um a handful

[25:42] of committee openings now with uh different councils getting elected that

[25:46] were on different boards and such. Um we have openings on the board of license,

[25:52] board of appeals, conservation committee, board of registars.

[25:57] So, if um anybody out there is interested, please feel free to drop me

[26:01] an email at the council clerk. Um council discussion

[26:07] um which I'll probably put on the next agenda, but

[26:12] I'd like to appoint some liaison to committee to keep the town council up to

[26:16] date, especially maybe uh policym committee. So basically to have a

[26:21] representative from the council at a board of appeals hearing or at a we we

[26:26] try to do committee report updates. We're just getting updates as we see

[26:30] them through the minutes. Sometimes it's better. It might be um better

[26:34] information for the public. So we're looking potentially I'll probably be

[26:38] putting it on the agenda of the next meeting to have liaison from the council

[26:41] to be on for example uh conservation or planning board or board of appeals or

[26:47] such policy making committees like board license. Uh so gets us a little bit more

[26:52] detailed information in more timely manner and get us the ability to

[26:56] translate that to you guys. So that will be on the next agenda. Uh we are right

[27:02] on schedule. Young scouts are still here. I can't believe they stayed. Thank

[27:07] you very much. >> Do I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion by

[27:11] councilmano. Second by vice president swoke. Any discussion? Seeing none, all

[27:15] those in favor say I. No.

Winthrop Town Council Meeting - January 6, 2026

Transcript