2026-10-19 - Town Council

00:02Good evening everybody, the Town Council meeting, Monday,

00:04October 19, 2026.

00:06It is now 7.09 p.m. here

00:09in the Robert G.

00:10McKinnon Council Chambers.

00:12Agenda item number one, Pledge of Allegiance.

00:16I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

00:19United States of America, and to the republic

00:22for which it stands, one nation, under God,

00:25indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

00:34Two, roll call.

00:37Councilor Adams.

00:38Present.

00:38Councilor Kelly.

00:39Present.

00:40Councilor Daniel.

00:41Present.

00:41Councilor Grenier.

00:42Present.

00:43Councilor Klein.

00:44Present.

00:44Councilor Lazo.

00:45Present.

00:46Councilor Montigny.

00:47Present.

00:47Councilor Steeves.

00:48Present.

00:49Councilor Provost.

00:50Excused.

00:51Thank you.

00:51Thank you.

00:52Number three, consider and accept the meeting minutes

00:54of October 5, 2026.

00:56Second.

00:57Second.

00:58Thank you.

00:59Any discussion on amendments?

01:02None.

01:03All those in favor?

01:06Eight zero.

01:07Number four, subcommittee reports, Department of Public Works.

01:10Councilor Steeves.

01:11We have not met.

01:12All of the items were kicked to this

01:14agenda.

01:14Thank you, Councilor.

01:17Education and Human Services.

01:18Councilor Klein.

01:19We have not met.

01:21Okay.

01:22General Government.

01:23Councilor Montigny.

01:24We have not met.

01:26Planning and Development.

01:28Councilor Daniel.

01:29Thank you, Mr. Chair.

01:30Through you, we met last Thursday, October 15th,

01:32at which time items 13, 14, and 17

01:35through 20 were discussed.

01:36Our next meeting is tentatively scheduled for, I

01:39think it's Thursday, October 29th.

01:42Thank you, Councilor.

01:44Mr. Talmadge.

01:45Through you to those chairs of those other

01:47committees, please be advised we had numerous items

01:49come up on EHS, PPP, and General Government.

01:54So, Jeanette has put together the materials and

01:57will be seeking contact with you to schedule

02:00meetings next week for those.

02:02Thank you.

02:03Protection of Persons and Property.

02:05Councilor Kelly.

02:06Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

02:06Through you, we have not met since our

02:08last council meeting.

02:10We do not have one scheduled at this

02:12point.

02:13Thank you, Councilor.

02:14There are five Chairman's Announcements.

02:17I just wanted to congratulate the Town of

02:21Southbridge, appreciate from Senator Fatman and Representative Marcy

02:27that DESE awarded the Town of Southbridge, i

02:31.e. the school district today, with the Prism

02:343 Fiscal Year 2027 Continuation Grant in the

02:39amount of $261,632.

02:44So, congratulations to them for their continued education.

02:47I appreciate the representatives.

02:51That's good news.

02:53I think we had Prism 1, Prism 2

02:54as well.

02:55Prism, not Prism.

03:03I want to go over a citizen member

03:06came up last week, asked a couple questions

03:08on DPW on North Street all the way

03:11to Central Street, and I wanted to just

03:12give a quick summary if that individual would

03:16like to come up down the road and

03:18I can have more of an in-depth

03:19conversation, but I don't want to hold this

03:22hostage too long, but I wanted to at

03:24least address this, what their questions were.

03:30When it came to North Street, the Water

03:31Main Hydrant and Paving Summary.

03:35September 10, 2026, the DPW Director learned approximately

03:39100 linear feet of water main hydrant work

03:42remained incomplete on North Street.

03:44After meeting with the DPW staff, MassDOT, and

03:47the contractor, the Director chose to proceed with

03:50paving to Foster Street to protect the road

03:53through winter, stating that MassDOT did not pressure

03:56the town to make that decision.

03:58After the remaining utility work is completed, the

04:01affected section will need to be milled and

04:04repaved at an estimated cost of about $2

04:06,500.

04:07The final cost and responsibility for pavement have

04:09not yet been determined.

04:11For everything that they're going to do over

04:13there, DPW must also confirm the schedule for

04:15completing the Water Main Hydrant Sidewalk and Roadway

04:18Restoration Work Review and reviewing the contractor's responsibility

04:22and verify whether the paving was completed in

04:24a proper construction sequence.

04:27As far as the punch list for North

04:28Street, has been forwarded to Parlow, and the

04:32contractor reportedly began addressing manhole-related deficiencies on

04:36October 14, including other deficiencies.

04:39DPW Director also spoke with Mark Langlois on

04:43October 13, regarding a reported water pooling issue

04:46that may require drainage or roadway correction.

04:49A joint field review involving Parlow, the project

04:52manager at DPW, is expected to be scheduled,

04:55and they'll be doing that this week.

04:57To inspect the outstanding punch list items and

04:59evaluate the pooling concern, as I mentioned before,

05:02they're already starting work on the punch list.

05:03However, Parlow has not yet provided a complete

05:06repair schedule or estimated completion dates, causing the

05:09extent of the water pooling problem, the corrective

05:12work required, and a timetable for completing all

05:15the remaining repairs through that punch list.

05:17As far as Central Street is concerned, DPW

05:19has evaluated temporary winter paving for Central Street

05:22and coordinating with the project team.

05:24The appropriate treatment costs, responsibilities, and schedule remain

05:27undecided at this point in time.

05:29I do know the town manager has been

05:31in conversation with the DPW Director on this.

05:34Elm Street, at the Columbus Avenue that was

05:36brought up a couple weeks ago, precise paving

05:39sealed the pavement seam with tack coat and

05:43sand, and the DPW Director found the method

05:45acceptable.

05:45However, compliance with the town-frenching regulations and

05:49project specifications still need verification, and corrective work

05:53may be required based on the review itself.

05:59What I did talk to the DPW Director,

06:02and this was all precise paving, followed their

06:07DPU all the way through, and he was

06:09happy with the results at that point in

06:10time.

06:11And then 600 block National Grid gas work,

06:13National Grid, we talked about that towards Mill

06:16Street.

06:18The question was asked about National Grid, when

06:20they're going to be completed with that and

06:22when that repaving may take place.

06:24National Grid expects to finish gas work and

06:26temporary roadway repairs by early November.

06:29Before the winter, permanent restoration and planning for

06:32the spring of 2027, spring-summer of 2027

06:35coordination with the town, but the schedule and

06:37completion dates remain unconfirmed at this point.

06:40And then I did ask a question myself

06:42on the rail trail and the bridges.

06:45The bridges that were supposed to be done

06:46this year have been delayed until the spring

06:50of 2027 because of the staffing and logistical

06:52issues that they had or constraints that they

06:54had.

06:56DPW will need to finalize the construction schedule,

06:58staffing materials, safe access, and any interim safety

07:03measures as well while they're doing this.

07:05But we'll be looking at that here come

07:07next year, because I know there's been some

07:08concerns on the bridges.

07:10And I want to thank the town manager

07:11and the DPW Director for providing just a

07:14summary of what was happening.

07:15Like I said, if that individual citizen would

07:17like to come to me separately, I have

07:19absolutely no problem having a discussion with a

07:21more detailed list that I was provided earlier

07:26by the town manager and the DPW Director.

07:28So I thank them.

07:33Myself and the town manager have had long

07:35discussions and we'll be setting up, I mentioned

07:37this last time, a long-range plan for

07:39the fire department, police department, and the DPW,

07:42along with other things within the town, the

07:44staffing within the town hall.

07:46The intent behind this is to have a

07:47plan.

07:48Have a plan for any type of SAFER

07:50grant, have any plan for future financing of

07:54our first responders and the DPW and some

07:57of the staffing issues that we have within

08:00the town hall itself.

08:02This plan, it takes some time, and I

08:04appreciate the town manager working hard on that,

08:06along with some of the individual department heads

08:08that have already forwarded their recommendations at the

08:10look.

08:11The best thing that we can do is

08:13take a look at what do we have

08:15as a table of organization, which means the

08:17people, and as far as the table of

08:21equipment, which means the gear.

08:23And then how do we pay for that

08:24in the long range?

08:25We're not talking five months from now.

08:26We're talking five years from now.

08:28And if we don't have a plan as

08:29a town to grow with our public safety

08:32DPW work and all that kind of stuff,

08:34we're failing.

08:35So my intent here is to make sure

08:37that the town council gets a good brief

08:39this year on how it may look, especially

08:41when you have type of grants that are

08:43coming up.

08:43And we want to take a hard look

08:45at is this something we can afford, not

08:47just a year from now, because it's free,

08:50per se, free from the state.

08:52But we also want to make sure that

08:53we're able to pay for these individuals that

08:55maybe increase the staffing in two and a

08:57half years from now.

08:58So we want to make sure that happens.

09:00I know there's been other towns that received

09:01some of these grants and had to let

09:04those individuals go after two and a half

09:05years because they could not afford them, could

09:07not pay for them.

09:08I'm not sitting there saying they didn't have

09:10a plan, but the fact is they had

09:12to get rid of them, and why waste

09:14that time if we're not going to make

09:16sure we have a proper plan in place

09:17and hopefully be able to financially take care

09:20of that problem that we have as far

09:22as being shortchanged or short manpower, I should

09:25say.

09:27Myself, Councilor Montigny, have set up a meeting

09:29for the highway exit yet again.

09:31I will say this.

09:33When we first brought it up here last

09:35year, we were told that MassDOT and CMRPC,

09:40I should say more CMRPC, was not very

09:43interested on working on some type of highway

09:45exit plan within our community.

09:48But the last meeting we had, MassDOT got

09:51involved.

09:52So it was a great conversation not only

09:54from CMRPC, but MassDOT.

09:56And Councilor Montigny, Peg Dean, and myself will

09:59be sitting down taking a look at that

10:01and say this is a long, this is

10:03a very long thought out plan that's going

10:05to take years to do, but you got

10:08to start from somewhere.

10:09And people have been talking about this thing

10:10for decades.

10:11We'd like to see something actually happen or

10:14at least attempt it to happen, right?

10:18Charter review, the general government had made the

10:23recommendations to the town council at their last

10:26general government meeting.

10:27Take that serious.

10:28It will be brought up.

10:30Fortunately, some things have halted my progress towards

10:33it, but I will be working on it

10:34this week, okay, and getting that moved over

10:37to the town council.

10:38So I thank the general government for bringing

10:40that forward, and I have no problem having

10:41that argument here up at the dais.

10:46I will be working, as I stated before,

10:48on the abatements for the seniors and some

10:50of the disabled.

10:53We doubled up everything last year, and I

10:55think that town council that was here last

10:57year when we doubled that up, we did

10:58that with the veterans as well the year

11:00before that.

11:01There are other clauses in which, that we

11:04may be able to accept as a town

11:06to help the seniors within our community that

11:08own homes or in certain economic situations where

11:11we can help them out through our taxes,

11:13our direct taxes.

11:15And I think that's an obligation, at least

11:17for me, to make sure.

11:19I want to thank former councilor Shanier's wife,

11:22who brought it right to my attention a

11:24few years ago, and I've taken it to

11:25heart, and I plan on introducing something to

11:28the town council through the general gov later

11:30on this year, working with the assessor's office

11:32and the town manager.

11:34I did speak with the town manager about

11:36the opioid funds.

11:38I'm glad to hear that he's working on

11:40some type of committee to set that up

11:42so we can get that funds dolled out

11:44to the right organizations to help our community,

11:47and especially those in need of a little

11:50bit of help here and there, the best

11:51we can.

11:52So I'm looking forward to that.

11:57And I did enjoy, the other day I

11:59went to Ruth Wells Center for the Arts,

12:02and they had the haunted halls.

12:04It was pretty interesting.

12:06All I recommend is if anybody goes, it's

12:08all the way through the end of the

12:08month, if you go up to that third

12:10floor, man, you better pay attention, because something

12:13may jump out at you and scare the

12:15hell out of you.

12:16But it was a very good showing.

12:17Thank you to all the artists, and to

12:19Ruth Wells Center for the Arts for putting

12:22that on.

12:23Recently the Veterans Council of Southbridge did a

12:25resources day.

12:26We had 26 vendors.

12:27It was very well advertised, very well shown.

12:30I wish we had more veterans and surviving

12:32spouses and families.

12:34But, you know, it was the first year

12:35that it happened, and it was a very

12:38eye-opening experience where a lot of organizations

12:40within the state of Massachusetts is helping our

12:43local veterans, surviving spouses, and in some cases

12:45adult children through the court systems.

12:48And the last two items I have is

12:51the Veterans Day ceremonies at 1030 on November

12:5511th, right over at the World War Memorial

12:57Park.

12:57That's at, again, 1030.

12:58And for those veterans out there that we

13:02are having a luncheon, the Veterans Council of

13:04Southbridge at 1230 at the Wellsworth Hotel.

13:06But you have to RSVP, and I believe

13:08half the tickets are already, or seats have

13:10already been taken.

13:11So last year we had over 230 individuals

13:14attend the luncheon.

13:16So we're kind of expecting a little bit

13:17more.

13:18So if you are a veteran, don't wait

13:20until the last minute.

13:21Please RSVP.

13:23And for that, that's all I have for

13:25this evening.

13:26Mr. Town Manager, Jeniner City.

13:27Thank you.

13:28Through you, just a reminder that the curbside

13:31collection yard waste has begun this week.

13:33We'll continue for the next six weeks.

13:36And also that we are keeping the town

13:38yard drop-off location open and staffed at

13:40the current hours through the month until the

13:43end of the month, October 31st, which is

13:45different than what we had done in the

13:46past.

13:47So I thank Maritza and her team for

13:48doing that and working that through.

13:51I'll defer to Mr. Chenier on any South

13:53County health.

13:54I think that's what he's here to maybe

13:56present.

13:56No?

13:57All right.

13:58Just on the South County health that the

14:00town council put in to go into the

14:02health alliance, the Board of Health recently selected

14:04Chris Hart to be the designated representative as

14:06the voting member and Daniel Wozniak as the

14:08alternate.

14:09Chris attended the first meeting, which was held

14:11last Friday.

14:12Happy to report that the group approved that

14:14Southbridge receives hardware and software for both food

14:17inspections and housing inspections.

14:19So that's a great, I think it's around

14:21$7,000 worth of equipment that they'll be

14:24receiving to help in the inspections department for

14:28housing and food inspections and their reports.

14:32We got to the Central Mass Regional Communications

14:36Center.

14:37Again, that based on the approval of the

14:40town council, the paperwork was submitted.

14:42I will be attending the meeting on Wednesday

14:43in which they will vote to either accept

14:46us for the participation and then from there

14:49we'll provide further updates as once we're a

14:51voting member and get a report to council

14:53on the rest of that.

14:54Municipal Building Committee.

14:56I'm still looking for members to put their

14:58names in or we do have to get

15:00prioritized for a project here at the town

15:02hall and we need to get that done

15:06as soon as possible.

15:06So if you're interested, please contact my office.

15:09We just put out the winter equipment hiring

15:12for snow plowing and snow removal.

15:14We're seeking applications for various equipment.

15:17Hire for snow plow and snow removal for

15:19the fiscal year 27 winter season from the

15:22date of execution through June 30, 2027.

15:25Those proposals are up in my office.

15:28If anybody's interested, you know, anyone interested, please

15:30contact my office.

15:33In regards to the dangerous dog hearing and

15:36the order to euthanize the dog, we received

15:39notice late last week from Dudley District Court

15:41that the next event will occur on October

15:4327, 2026.

15:45So the individual did appeal that hearing.

15:46I have referred this matter to our legal

15:49counsel for follow-up and I'll keep the

15:51counsel apprised as to the next steps in

15:53regards to that order to euthanize.

15:56And finally, I have a department head meeting

16:00tomorrow.

16:00We will, believe it or not, begin our

16:03planning for fiscal year 28.

16:06So I'll be presenting the budget guidelines to

16:09our town departments to go for the operating

16:13budget, capital budgets, operational plans, their goals for

16:18the year, and the process will start.

16:22Tomorrow with that announcement, the budgets will be

16:25due to the town manager's office in December

16:28and then we'll go through the normal course

16:30to have the budget presented to town council

16:33by March.

16:35And with that, I believe that's all I

16:37have this evening.

16:37Thank you.

16:38Thank you, Mr. Town Manager.

16:39Next, I'd like to welcome Representative John Marcy

16:43and Senator Ryan Fatman, who will be represented

16:46by Amanda.

16:48As usual.

16:49As usual, yes.

16:50Didn't want to say that out loud.

16:52He's got a lot of things going on.

16:54He does, yes.

16:57Thank you, Mr. Chairman, through you to the

16:59counselors, everybody here and everybody at home.

17:02It's so great to be here with you

17:03guys again.

17:04Representative John Marcy and with Amanda Helyar from

17:08Senator Fatman's office.

17:10And this is some positive news.

17:13So I have a little story to tell

17:15and then a little presentation of something here.

17:18I'm excited to tell you all about it.

17:21So Revolution 250 is a nonprofit organization that

17:24wanted to recreate the conditions of what happened

17:28in 1776 during the birth of our nation.

17:32And Massachusetts is the only state in the

17:36Union that made copies of the Declaration of

17:40Independence and sent it via Pony Express, horse

17:43and buggy, you know, horseback, to send it

17:47to every town in the Commonwealth to be

17:50read and to be written into the town's

17:53records.

17:55They did that because they wanted everybody in

17:57every town to know what was happening nationally.

17:59Think about that.

18:00It's so easy to look something up on

18:02your phone now and people had to wait.

18:04There's something going on.

18:05We're becoming a country and all these towns

18:08got this only in the Commonwealth, which was

18:11super cool.

18:14So what this organization did was Amanda and

18:20I are the horse and buggy this time.

18:22We wanted to recreate this for the 250th

18:26birthday of the United States.

18:30Hold this up.

18:32And what you're looking at here is they

18:35gave this to all of the reps to

18:36bring to every town to be given to

18:41the town.

18:42So I was only given the document and

18:45I said, this has become a historic document

18:47in its own.

18:49It's made with the same linen paper formula

18:52that the original was made on, including the

18:55real one, in the same printing house in

18:59Salem, Massachusetts, on a replica Franklin press, the

19:03movable type kind.

19:04This is pressed, not printed.

19:07Right.

19:09So I didn't want to just hand this

19:11to Dave and Jack and all of you

19:14and say, here you go.

19:15So I took it upon myself with Senator

19:17Fatman to put this in a frame and

19:19make it a gift to the town so

19:21everybody can come and enjoy it.

19:23This is a, it's a declaration without the

19:26signatures because it hadn't been signed yet.

19:29Right.

19:29So this is, they wanted everybody to be,

19:31to understand, like I said, what was happening.

19:36And there's a little description at the bottom

19:38of what it is so people know, okay,

19:39there's a declaration and walk right by it.

19:41But the intent is to hang this here

19:43in the town hall so people can come

19:45and look at it.

19:46And I'm just super excited to present it

19:49to you.

19:49This was, this is something that I've done

19:52in all of the towns, but I want

19:53this to be something special for Southbridge.

19:58So here you go.

19:59I'll just show it to the audience for

20:01people of those who are here.

20:10It is now time for me to read

20:12the decla...

20:13I'm just kidding.

20:14I just wanted to say it.

20:15We'll be right back.

20:16Brief words.

20:17I'm very grateful to be here on behalf

20:19of Senator Fatman to share this Declaration of

20:22Independence replica today.

20:24Its message serves as a continuous call to

20:27action.

20:27It is my hope that it remains a

20:29timeless piece of remembered history on these walls.

20:33Speaking of these walls and this hall, I've

20:36heard stories over the years of how this

20:38hall was once one of the most lively

20:40in the state, ushering in world-renowned artists.

20:43When the Glenn Miller Orchestra played here in

20:461939, my great-grandpa Armand DeAngelis was pulled

20:50off the lines of the lens design at

20:52American Optical and tasked as the architect to

20:55recreate these halls and recraft them with archways

20:58and painting and design.

21:01And I think of that, and it accommodated

21:03the beauty of a new performance space here

21:05for that time.

21:07Although this keepsake is not as grand in

21:11appearance as that of an orchestra stage, its

21:15message has remained unwavering for 250 years, and

21:18it's far more significant.

21:20I hope the Declaration's message of life, liberty,

21:22and the pursuit of happiness lives on for

21:24my future great-grandchildren and many generations beyond

21:28them to continue to cherish it.

21:29Really grateful to be here with you guys

21:31today.

21:32Thank you.

21:45You want to take a picture?

21:46Yeah, we can do it down here if

21:49you'd like.

21:49You can do that.

21:50Yeah.

21:51Okay.

21:52We'll take a five-minute recess.

21:59Okay, welcome back.

22:01I just want to thank John and Representative

22:03Marcy, Senator Fatman, Amanda, for the presentation of

22:08the Declaration of Independence, and it's pretty amazing.

22:10And we'll make sure we put it up

22:11in the halls within the town hall for

22:13everybody to see all residents And thank you

22:15guys so much for spending your night with

22:16us.

22:17Thank you All right number eight citizens forum

22:23Anybody would like to get up residents that

22:25would like to get up and speak on

22:26anything that is not on the agenda this

22:29evening Please just state your name and town

22:31you live in Thank You mr.

22:33Chair George and you trust the street here

22:37in South Ridge, and I'm here as a

22:39Chairman of the Board of Health In August

22:42the South Ridge Health Department and Board of

22:44Health acted on the statewide creative restrictions retailer

22:48notifications and follow-up inspections This report documents

22:53the South Ridge Health Department response to statewide

22:56restrictions concerning creative products including notification to local

23:01retail establishments removal of products from sales Follow

23:06-up inspections and the public health concerns associated

23:09with creative news In August of this year

23:12the Commonwealth of Massachusetts implemented a statewide emergency

23:15action Restricting creative products and declaring creative a

23:20schedule one controlled substance because the state Because

23:24the state action addressed the apical Restrictions on

23:28creative sales South Ridge relied on the statewide

23:30requirement rather than adopting a separate local Regulation

23:34addressing the same issues The Health Department focused

23:38on informing local retailers of the requirements and

23:41verifying compliance Creatum is a plant derived substance

23:47that can affect the brain and nervous system

23:50It's active compounds interreact with opioid receptors may

23:55produce stimulant like or opioid like effects depending

23:58on the product the amount consumed and the

24:01individuals response Potential health rate health risk associated

24:07with creative include dependence and withdrawal Repeated use

24:11can lead to a physical dependence craving and

24:14withdrawal symptoms when use is stopped gastrointestinal intestinal

24:20affects nausea vomiting compass consumption at the abdomen

24:26discomfort may occur Neurological effects dizziness drowsiness confusion

24:32and in serious cases seizures have been reported

24:36cardiovascular effects increased high rate elevated blood pressure

24:41May occur liver injury rare cases of serious

24:45liver damage has been associated with creative use

24:47most important Part of this is overdose and

24:52dangerous into reaction serious adverse effects including slow

24:56breathing Can occur particularly when creative is combined

25:00with alcohol opioids sedatives and other senses substance

25:06Uncertainty about product contents products can vary in

25:10potency and purity some concentrated products contain enhanced

25:16levels of 7-oh Which can have a

25:20potential opioid like effects The severity of these

25:26risks varies by product and individuals the potential

25:30for dependency serious adverse effects and unprecedented Product

25:35strength presents public health concerns particularly when the

25:38products are readily accessible to consumers The Southridge

25:42Health Department contacted local retailers Establishments to inform

25:47them of the statewide creative sales restriction Retailers

25:51were instructed to remove creative products from their

25:54stores and discontinue selling them in accordance with

25:57the recent state requirements Following the initial notification

26:02the Health Department conducted follow-up inspections at

26:05the retail locations previously Contacting during these inspections

26:10staff observed the creative products had been removed

26:12from the stores The follow-up inspections confirmed

26:16that the products were no longer present at

26:18the inspected locations at the time of the

26:20visits The Health Department's health outreach and follow

26:24-up inspections process confirms that inspection Inspected retail

26:29establishments had removed creative products from their shelves

26:33Rather than enacting a separate local ordinance addressing

26:36the same sales issues the town relied on

26:39the applicable statewide action The Health Department's response

26:43concentrated on communicating the requirements to real retailers

26:47documenting Compliance and addressing the attendant public health

26:52concerns Creating poses a potential risk to public

26:56health including the development of dependency withdrawal adverse

27:03Neurological and cardiovascular effects liver injuries and hazardous

27:07interreaction with other substance in Addition product potency

27:12and composition may vary substantially from one item

27:16to another In accordance with the statewide restriction

27:20the Southridge Health Department notified local retailers that

27:23creating products must be removed from seal Subsequent

27:27subsequent follow-up inspections verified the products had

27:30been eliminated from the retail location Collectively these

27:34actions demonstrate the department's effort to inform retailers

27:38of the state requirement can confirm compliance to

27:42inspection mitigate public health Motion to extend the

27:48time Just like to want to thank the

27:53Board of Health Chris and Dan for their

27:56effort in this gentleman came forward to the

27:59Board of Health in early August and the

28:01State Department of Public Health brought in these

28:05emergency regulations because of the declaring it a

28:09Schedule one Narcotic.

28:13It's a very bad.

28:14It was it was located in all the

28:16places in town that sells these things at

28:18the counters So when people went there, they

28:21bought it and they inhaled it.

28:23They snorted it They swallowed it and it

28:26was a very it's a very dangerous and

28:28almost Uncontrollable Addiction that it's very hard to

28:33come from so I want to thank the

28:34Board of Health for doing this and keeping

28:36the town Safe.

28:37Thank you.

28:38Thank you George mr.

28:43Cheney real quick.

28:44First of all, thank you for bringing it

28:45to our attention And I think that and

28:47I believe there's an individual that brought it

28:49to the Board of Health one night one

28:50evening And now you guys had a big

28:53discussion on I appreciate you guys listening to

28:55that I'm glad the Board of Health was

28:58on top of it I know the state

28:59came down with their regulations and findings and

29:02stuff like that But the fact is this

29:03town was already addressing it and I appreciate

29:06you guys going in the path You guys

29:08were going and so thank you for your

29:09time and your boards time as well as

29:11Dan.

29:12So, thank you Thank you very much.

29:14Thank you Sir, anybody else I would like

29:23to speak tonight That is not on the

29:25agenda Okay Seeing none number nine vote to

29:32accept the revised warrant for the November 3rd

29:342026 state elections Election as provided by the

29:39Secretary of the Commonwealth on October 15th 2026

29:42to replace the prior posted warrant signed on

29:45September 21st 2026 second first in a second

29:49discussion Mr. Town manager just real quick through

29:53you I was very specific about this agenda

29:55item with Maddie to say that it was

29:57just the Secretary of the Commonwealth that made

29:59the mistake Not us as a town council.

30:01So that's why it's a little wordy, sir

30:03Did Esther if we send us at all?

30:05So no, that's why we did cuz I

30:06had already done Council Steve's yeah I just

30:09wanted to just for the sake of the

30:10people out there because this is this is

30:12an extra question that's being added on The

30:14ballot and it's for specifically for the six

30:16Worcester District.

30:17However, it's not going to be in your

30:18red books So just for the sake I'm

30:20gonna quickly read the question It's a non

30:22-binding question that asks shall the representative from

30:25this district be instructed to a vote for

30:28legislation to create a statewide social housing authority

30:31Funded with the tax on the vacant properties

30:33and wealth and inheritance over five million that

30:36eliminates the role of landlords and guarantees all

30:39Massachusetts residents a universal right to publicly owned

30:42housing providing different you different Union built options

30:48for different needs Capping costs at 10%

30:51of one's monthly household income and placing this

30:53housing under tenants Democratic and management That's that

30:56that's the text of the question Thank you.

30:58Counselor any other discussion on this whatsoever?

31:02Yet, I'm town clerk Good to see you

31:05again I just want to let everybody know

31:07that early voting is taking place right now

31:09It started on Saturday the 17th and it's

31:11going to go right through to the 30th

31:13including this Saturday from 8 to 2 Thank

31:16you, and we're open from every day every

31:18day.

31:18The town hall is open.

31:20Thank you, ma'am.

31:21I appreciate your time.

31:21Thank you All

31:31the favor 8-0 All right number 10

31:40vote to authorize the DPW water department transfer

31:42$3,000 from account 6 1 0 4

31:455 0 Dash 5 8 3 0 0

31:480 dash 9 1 2 5 0 We're

31:51sort of fun to account 6 1 0

31:534 5 0 dash 5 7 4 0

31:580 0 insurance premium to fund the line

32:00Item for the cost for FY 27 that

32:03exceeded anticipated FY 27 premium Second mr.

32:08Towne manager.

32:08Thank you.

32:09This is a result of every year.

32:11They do an audit on different properties and

32:13Adjust our premiums, so we thought we had

32:16the right Configuration, but they don't get it

32:20to us till after we have adopted the

32:22budget.

32:22So the need for these transfer They Mr.

32:25Towne manager any discussion?

32:27Questions, sir.

32:28Was there a specific property?

32:30This is if this is affecting I Could

32:32be improvements to the water filtration plant.

32:35They do the assessment about buildings.

32:37So they didn't give us a specific.

32:39Okay The discussion all those in favor 8

32:44-0.

32:44Thank you 11 vote to transfer $24,500

32:49for the water stabilization fund number 0 8

32:524 5 to the water capital project 6

32:554 8 8 9 Lemoine Hill Road water

32:58main project.

32:59Oh second.

33:00Thank you.

33:01Mr. Towne manager.

33:01Thank you This project was presented during our

33:04FY 27 budget cycle And at the time

33:08we stated we will wait till we get

33:10the Actual bids in so that with the

33:12money would stay in stabilization as opposed to

33:13being transferred into a capital account so we

33:15can gain some interest while it was in

33:17that stabilization account and Steve did the Request

33:22for that.

33:23So this will be the money transferred from

33:25the water stabilization to the water capital project

33:27Then we'll next motion will be to actually

33:29engage the services for this engineering study That's

33:33the reason for that also Steve's I'm just

33:34a group to follow up on this one

33:35is once we do this work I'm assuming

33:38that LeMoyne Hill will be repaid because it's

33:40in terrible shape.

33:41I believe that is the plan.

33:43Okay.

33:43Good.

33:45Oh And also clarification since this is a

33:47stabilization fund requires two quarters three to two

33:49thirds.

33:49Oh, yes, mr.

33:50Towne man.

33:51Thank you again.

33:52I've said this a couple times It's a

33:54special purpose Stabilization fund that only requires a

33:58simple majority Okay All right, any other discussion

34:03on this all those in favor 8-0

34:08Number 12 vote to enter into an agreement

34:10with time bond for professional engineering services in

34:13the amount of $24,500 from LeMoyne Hill

34:17Road water main projects to be paid from

34:19the water capital project number six four eight

34:22eight nine LeMoyne Hill Road water main project

34:25allow town manager sign all related paperwork.

34:27So second.

34:28Well, mr.

34:28Towne manager.

34:29Thank you DPW director and mr.

34:32Gregoire both here.

34:33We got in this this would be the

34:34engineering to fund the engineering scope For that

34:38project so then we can go out to

34:40bid So this would be the engineering portion

34:41only and that is the quote we got

34:43from time bond Who's our engineering firm that

34:45we utilize for these projects?

34:47Thank you.

34:47Any discussion all those in favor 8-0

34:5213 vote to authorize the transfer requests in

34:55the amount of $750 from account 0 0

34:571 1 7 5 dash 5 7 1

35:001 0 planning conferences meet slash meetings to

35:04account 0 0 1 1 7 5 Dash

35:075 3 4 0 0 0 planning telephone

35:10for department cell phones Allow the town manager

35:14sign all related paperwork.

35:15Come on saying thank you councillor Daniel Thank

35:19you.

35:19Mr. Chair for you.

35:20This was voted unanimously by B and D

35:24Any other discussion on this all those in

35:27favor 8 0 7 I'm sorry I'm sorry.

35:35All those in favor.

35:36Yes 7 against Staying.

35:41Yeah.

35:41No I'm voting.

35:43No, okay.

35:44Okay, so we have a 7 1 0

35:48Council client is voting.

35:49No.

35:50Thank you Number 14 vote to authorize the

35:55transfer request the amount of $630 from account

35:58number 0 0 1 1 8 0 dash

36:015 7 1 1 0 economic development conference

36:04slash meetings to account 0 0 1 1

36:078 0 dash 5 3 0 0 0

36:110 economic development specialized services allow the town

36:14manager sign all related paperwork.

36:16Oh Second.

36:18Well Okay, councillor Daniel, thank you.

36:21Mr. Chair through you.

36:22This also was voted unanimously to move forward

36:24to town council Any other discussion?

36:27I will mention That all the conferences that

36:31I have have gone up this year by

36:33like three four hundred bucks just to go

36:35to a conference One one lump sum that

36:38was not even budgeted for from last year.

36:40We just got notified So I'm sure this

36:42is kind of happening around there.

36:43So all those in the direction I'm sorry

36:47Council is this transfer because conference costs have

36:51gone up or is this because of the

36:52CDBG situation?

36:55Through you as articulated in the transfer request.

36:57This was CDBG.

36:59Yeah Okay, all those in favor opposed 7

37:061 council client opposed Number 15 Vote

37:16to enter an agreement with tie and bond

37:18for continuation of ms4 and PD.

37:21Yes permit number ma are 0 4 1

37:271 6 1 and s WMP or stormwater

37:30management plan report for fifth for year 8

37:34fiscal year 26 to be submitted to EPA

37:37and made it or MADP in the amount

37:40of $10,000 to be paid from project

37:43number 9 1 3 1 stormwater plan 5

37:46-18 Allow town managers sign all related paperwork.

37:50I will second.

37:52Thank you.

37:52Mr. Town manager This is part of the

37:55stormwater plan that over multiple years Doing a

37:58complete review on the stormwater because we have

38:01various accounts I'm trying to go through all

38:04those stormwater and then we'll be reviewing with

38:07the Department of Public Works in regards to

38:09that, but this is our year 8 general

38:11permit that needed to be updated And this

38:14just came forward.

38:16So We're trying to get this approved So

38:21that we can submit the report to them

38:22We also have an amp asset management plan

38:25through time bond through stormwater ms4.

38:28This is all related to send us for

38:30That report we had a grant for that

38:32But this is specific to the multi-year

38:33reports that we have to do and I'm

38:35still trying to unpack Where the reports are,

38:37but we'll be working with the DPW To

38:40bring that current and bring it forward Thank

38:43You, Mr. Tom as a discussion on this

38:46Council client.

38:47Okay.

38:47Um, can you just explain what the ms4

38:49and NPD?

38:52Yes, what is that project?

38:54I'll defer the Department of Public Works, but

38:56it is a stormwater plan We have to

38:58have a stormwater plan.

39:00So It's the annual permit that we have

39:03to renew For stormwater, it's a requirement of

39:07the state We've been working with time bond

39:09over a number of years in regards to

39:11the scope Anything else out there for the

39:13Department of Public Works?

39:14Thank you Anything from DPW director Any other

39:21questions for the DPW director?

39:24Okay, very well All those in favor opposed

39:308-0 Number 616 vote to enter

39:40an agreement with Oxbow Associates in the amount

39:42of $15,000 perform a habitat utilization study

39:46assessment required by National Heritage to fulfill the

39:49MESA or MESA requirements related to the dredge

39:53and of reservoir number three project to be

39:56paid from account number six one zero four

39:58five dash five Eight three zero zero zero

40:01dash two seven five eight three water technical

40:04support capital Allow the town manager sign all

40:06related paperwork.

40:07No one second.

40:08Okay, Mr. Man thank you, so as we're

40:13aware the water department through Steve Gregoire has

40:16been working on a proposal to dredge the

40:22reservoir real and To improve water quality and

40:26all that as part of that we're going

40:28through the processing and permanent process and There's

40:33additional assessment of endangered species that has to

40:36be completed for the next phase I will

40:39defer to DPW and Steve for any technical

40:42questions, but this was we had already done

40:45at one Assessment on it.

40:47This is additional requirement by them To go

40:50the next phase.

40:51So I think I I did all right

40:54with that Steve.

40:55Okay, if any other questions I'll defer directly

40:57to Steve on that Thank You, Mr. Town

41:00manager Any discussion on this?

41:04All right.

41:04All those in favor big zero All right

41:1017 vote to accept the Massachusetts downtown initiative

41:13for $23,000 to complete a parking study

41:16in the downtown area allow the town manager

41:18sign all related paperwork Tomo second Thank You

41:22councillor Daniel.

41:23Thank You.

41:23Mr. Chair through you 1718 and 19 are

41:26all involving grants that were to be accepted

41:28by the town We voted unanimously for all

41:32three of those grants to be accepted.

41:34Thank you.

41:35That's a Daniel a discussion on that Although

41:39council steves, you know, just a quick clarification

41:40that during the course of the discussion at

41:42P&D Peg mentioned that this this particular

41:45study actually has been at the state is

41:46now requiring us to do something about pedestrian

41:50safety and Mobility as far as it goes.

41:54It's not really a parking study So I'm

41:57like I understand that that needs to get

41:59done in our downtown because there's a lot

42:00of unsafe sidewalks like that, but That's just

42:04a observation.

42:05I came from the meetings.

42:06Okay.

42:06Thank you.

42:07Thank you.

42:07Yeah, just as a point of clarification I

42:09think there's a lot of discussion about that

42:11but walkability And pedestrian safety also goes with

42:15the parking study So where you park in

42:17relation to the other areas and how do

42:19you get to cross the businesses in downtown

42:21a section?

42:22So I think we can articulate all that

42:24into a parking study as well As the

42:26walkability from a particular parking spot how far

42:29is it as it's safe Is it safe

42:30to cross Elm Street is it safe to

42:32cross Main Street?

42:33So I think that's part of it As

42:36well, so I think it does go into

42:37the parking as well.

42:38Thank you.

42:39Thank you.

42:39Mr. Town manager for the discussion all those

42:43in favor 8-0 18 vote to accept

42:48the community planning grant for a hundred twenty

42:50five thousand dollars to complete the environmental review

42:52of the urban renewal plan Amendment allow town

42:55manager sign all related paperwork.

42:56So move Counselor Daniel, I know you already

43:00recommended.

43:01Okay, good to go any other discussion on

43:03that All those in favor 8-0 19

43:09vote to accept the mass development grant for

43:12five hundred thousand dollars for a site readiness

43:14and fifty thousand dollars for technical assistance Of

43:1730 Mill Street allow the town manager to

43:19sign all related paperwork No move second.

43:22Thank you.

43:23I know that was recommended by the planning

43:24development subcommittee any discussion on that Councillor Klein

43:29I'd like to make a motion to amend

43:32the language in the agenda item to vote

43:35to accept the mass development site readiness grant

43:37in the amount of 500,000 for 30

43:40Mill Street and acknowledge an additional 50,000

43:42in Technical assistance services provided directly by mass

43:46development at no cost to the town Authorize

43:49the town manager to sign all related documents.

43:52Thank you.

43:53So we got a second discussion on the

43:55amendment No discussion on the amendment all those

44:00in favor of the amendment 8-0 Sharon,

44:04do you have it all?

44:08You can provide that to us to make

44:10sure I Am that now the motions on

44:15table as amended any discussion on the motion

44:18as amended All those in favor 8-0

44:2620 Vote to authorize partnering with Worcester Polytech

44:31Institute to host an interactive qualifying project To

44:34do research on behalf of the Southbridge planning

44:37board regarding the data center moratorium Discussion on

44:43that I know Counselor Daniel, this was voted

44:46to 0-1.

44:47There was one abstention on this vote to

44:49move it forward in a positive manner Thank

44:51You councillor Klein.

44:53I'd like to Move this to agenda item

44:56number 20 to 25 since we haven't actually

44:59voted on the moratorium.

45:00I don't know how we can vote on

45:02WPI to be doing working on the moratorium

45:05if we haven't voted on it.

45:06So just a point of clarification We won't

45:08be voting on the moratorium tonight by our

45:10Charter states the next general regularly scheduled meeting

45:13after our third reading That's why we amended

45:17it from what it was originally myself and

45:20Tom manager I addressed that with the town

45:22manager on Thursday night.

45:23We fixed that issue According to our Charter

45:26there is a specific Specification in there that

45:30it has to go at the next regularly

45:31scheduled the vote will have to go at

45:33the next generally regularly scheduled town council meeting

45:36Okay, so do we need to move the

45:39agenda item until after we vote on the

45:41moratorium and a different night You do you

45:43want to postpone for the next regularly scheduled

45:45meeting?

45:46Is that what you look?

45:47Well, I'm not sure how we can vote

45:48to partner with WPI if we don't have

45:50a moratorium to vote on So your motion

45:53would be to postpone to the next regularly

45:55scheduled meeting.

45:56So I have an amendment You have a

45:59second discussion on that Counselor Daniel, I'm wondering

46:03if first off if this is a time

46:05-sensitive issue and secondly the planning board is

46:08looking for Help the way I understand it

46:12regarding The issue of Data centers and and

46:18the issues surrounding the construction of a data

46:20center and how they exist in town Some

46:24wondering and perhaps someone can help me Clarify

46:28this is there Is there any reason to

46:33delay this when the planning board is is

46:35who's looking for the information to begin with

46:37and Would would it still serve them?

46:42Appropriately in terms of giving them necessary information

46:46Thank You counsel counselor Klein So I'd like

46:49to make a motion to amend the agenda

46:51item to vote to authorize partnering partnering with

46:53Worcester Polytechnic Institute to host An interactive qualifying

46:57project to do research on behalf of the

46:59South Bridge planning board period Okay Point of

47:04order.

47:04Mr. Chairman.

47:04Is there a Amendment on the floor to

47:07a postponement on the floor right now There

47:09there currently is yeah, but there you can

47:12second do a second amendment within that same

47:15motion So we're motioning to postpone and then

47:18amending.

47:18Yep Okay, they're gonna have to change that

47:21or vote it down one or the other.

47:23Can I speak to the first motion?

47:25So we're nope.

47:27Did anybody second?

47:28No.

47:29No, so nobody's second.

47:30We're still on the house.

47:31I can Excuse me for a minute.

47:33Thank you.

47:34I'll second council Dan.

47:36Do you second that second emotion motion amendment

47:38to the motion?

47:40All right discussion on that All right, so

47:45can you state your name in town you're

47:47in my name is Christine master John I

47:49live in South Bridge for the past 15

47:51years and I just want to express Somebody

47:55told me I could come up at this

47:56point My understanding was because you were going

48:00to put this in a moratorium Okay, and

48:03that's great.

48:03But my understanding of data centers is First

48:07of all, this town is too slow.

48:09It's too small.

48:10I'm sorry second of all, no so Worcester

48:14and 30 other towns have moratoriums Because it's

48:20gonna take a lot of water It's gonna

48:23have the fans.

48:23It's going to only employ ma'am I

48:26just want you to understand when you come

48:28up here to speak and this is I

48:29understand that I just want to speak What

48:31I want to say.

48:32Yeah, that's I understand and I respect that

48:34but we're all actually on a motion at

48:36this point in time Okay, I'm so on

48:38the agenda that this I could come up

48:41here now Yeah, because it doesn't matter I

48:44wasn't going to bring it up unless you

48:45were going to bring it up and and

48:47I don't go to town meetings all the

48:48Time since I'm the only one that's saying

48:51something.

48:51I'd like you to hear that.

48:53There are 30 other towns towns where we're

48:56a little city a little town that have

48:58moratoriums because Number one, it's gonna use a

49:02lot of water ma'am.

49:03Number two Let me just finish this really

49:06quick you may bring it up This is

49:11not right, excuse me Point of order at

49:14this point time is the fact that we're

49:16speaking on something on the agenda, right?

49:19Whoever gave you that information may have misspoken

49:22now We will be talking we will be

49:24doing the third reading Right where you can

49:27bring that up if you'd like to in

49:28your opinion Absolutely.

49:30So once we do the third opinion, please

49:32come on up here.

49:33We'd ask you to come up here But

49:35at this point time we're talking about the

49:37polytech at this point time the time in

49:40or to go into it.

49:41Okay, okay The reason I came up is

49:45because somebody said this might be a good

49:46time.

49:47Yes, ma'am I understand that and I

49:48all do respect and just one more thing

49:50that Working with Western Polytech means working on

49:54the data center.

49:55So forgive me if I can come up

49:57again.

49:57Absolutely.

49:58Yes, ma'am Yes, ma'am Okay, we're

50:03on that second amendment of that councillor Montague,

50:07thank you, mr.

50:08Chairman, um, I was gonna say at the

50:12very beginning of this item that the very

50:14first thing that the previous speaker said made

50:16sense we could move this to the end

50:18of the meeting because It makes sense not

50:20to vote on this if there's no moratorium

50:22yet So, I mean in the flavor of

50:25common sense and like just regular discussion It

50:28would make sense for us to just move

50:29this but just to speak to the Worcester

50:32Polytech thing You know I think the whole

50:35point of the moratorium is over and in

50:37there to be able to do research and

50:38stuff like that and the Planning boards asking

50:40for people to the packet that we got

50:43that explained Worcester Polytech outlined that they were

50:47to be looking for what people had to

50:49say good things about data centers and bad

50:51things about data centers so That they could

50:53report this information back to the planning board

50:56I'm just kind of saying that because it

50:58seems like there's a lot of confusion now

51:00in the public and I Hate to be

51:03the only counselor trying to clarify things.

51:04I'm sorry, but yeah Personally, I support moving

51:08this to 24 a so that we can

51:10talk about Worcester Polytech after we approve the

51:13moratorium Sorry, I don't want to speak for

51:15you guys.

51:15But yeah, thanks.

51:17I thought we weren't voting on the moratorium

51:23You're not voting on the moratorium after the

51:25third reading on agenda number 24, right you're

51:28not voting on no 20 20 You're not

51:32voting on the moratorium tonight 21 and 23.

51:35No, it will not be and the 24

51:38Again, the Charter states in there after after

51:41the third reading We can only vote at

51:44the next regular on the bylaw on a

51:47next regularly scheduled town council meeting Oh, so

51:49everybody out on Facebook thinks the moratorium is

51:51going through tonight including me.

51:53So Counselor just so you know, that's why

51:55we amended the agenda tonight to take the

51:58legal language out of it So we would

52:00not vote on it this evening What bylaw

52:02have we ever had in the past where

52:04we had to wait till the fourth meeting

52:06to do this?

52:07Yeah, I refer you to the chart.

52:08I mean you've been on the council with

52:10me for like four absolutely Yeah, I mean,

52:13I just think it's super misleading to these

52:15citizens that they think there's a moratorium tonight

52:17and there's not Thank You Counselor you just

52:20got out further discussion.

52:22Could you read off the discussion are the

52:24the agenda?

52:25Sorry the motion the second amendment on the

52:27motion again So we can clarify before we

52:33vote on it Vote to authorize partnering with

52:41Worcester Polytechnic Institute to host an interactive qualifying

52:44project to do research on behalf of Southbridge

52:46planning board period Okay, so that's that's your

52:51second.

52:52That's the second amendment.

52:54Yes Yes, yes there was Counsel Larson, it's

53:02a quick discussion.

53:03I I'm in favor of having somebody come

53:07in and assist with the Data centers, but

53:11I'm not sure.

53:12Why would you break it part of the

53:14part of a bylaw It's not So it's

53:21being a substitute motion So I'm misunderstood.

53:24There's a second amendment.

53:25There's a second amendment to this motion which

53:28councillor Klein just read off I understand the

53:30Polytech Okay to partner up with Polytech I

53:35I'm in favor of it I just Didn't

53:38think it'd have to be in the motion.

53:39I thought that would have been common practice

53:42To look for help at the planning board.

53:44Yes level.

53:45So I just want to point a clarification

53:47during the planning board process They did bring

53:49up this this P&D I believe it

53:52was at planning development said they really didn't

53:55vote They just looking for the town council

53:57support through a vote that way they would

54:00go through it.

54:01Okay, that answer your question All right.

54:03We have first second on that second amendment

54:05of the motion Any any further discussion on

54:10that?

54:12All those in favor Actually, we'll do one

54:16two, three, four, five six seven all those

54:20opposed Councillor Martini opposes that passes now that

54:26motion to postpone it is now on the

54:29table If I'm correct, right that is now

54:33on the table along with Supporting this or

54:37going forward with this, correct The motion postponing

54:43is on the table any discussion on that

54:48To the next meeting to the next meeting.

54:51Yes.

54:52All right a discussion I think I think

54:57I think I seconded the motion, correct Hi,

55:04yes, if I could just encourage the council

55:07to follow up on chairman Adams logic the

55:12P&D meeting mentioned that the Recommendation was

55:16to get the town council's endorsement that the

55:19planning board pursue the WPI project to do

55:25research on data centers that it would be

55:27great to bring it to town council as

55:29a show because of all the public outcry

55:32against data centers It would have been a

55:34show of support that we were trying to

55:37pursue help objective outside help But they do

55:41not need the town council's approval.

55:43It's non but there's no there's no contract

55:46to sign per se So if the town

55:48wanted to at this point just allow the

55:50planning board to go forward with partnering with

55:53WPI Like the motion stated that seems appropriate

55:57and then related to the time sensitivity they

56:00are lining up their cohorts and the Semester

56:05timelines whether they would go immediately or they

56:07would wait until the spring So knowing whether

56:10or not they're going to proceed with us

56:11is helpful to them So I would say

56:13approving it sooner than later.

56:15It seems like an appropriate vote Thank You,

56:18mr.

56:18Dean Any further discussion on postponement on the

56:22amendment to postpone?

56:24All right, all those in favor Yeah, one

56:28two against Wait, we got one two Yeah,

56:37no, we already did four for the postponement.

56:39We got here, too All right, we go

56:41through this one more time all those for

56:43the postponement of this motion All those in

56:47favor Postponement to all right all those opposed

56:57All right Some on ting the house or

57:01lava.

57:02Oh my god guys.

57:03All right.

57:03Good to go Thank you for trying to

57:05get this educated appreciate that.

57:06All right, it fails Okay.

57:09Now the motion on the table as amended

57:12Can you please counsel a client read that

57:14one time off sure Vote to accept them.

57:19I'm sorry wrong one Vote to authorize partnering

57:28with Worcester Polytechnic Institute to host an interactive

57:31Qualifying project to do research on behalf of

57:34the South Ridge Planning Board period.

57:36Thank you Any discussion on that?

57:40All those in favor of the motion as

57:42amended House look at this eight zero passes

57:49Thank you counselors.

57:51I appreciate it.

57:52All right Yeah, so we're gonna go into

57:56number 21 members to the town of South

57:59Ridge zoning bylaws section 10.1 definition by

58:03adding the definition of a data center don't

58:05need a first and a second.

58:06This is the third reading Data Center a

58:12facility or campus consisting of one or more

58:14buildings primarily used for housing operating and co

58:17-locating network computer systems servers data storage systems

58:22and telecommunications equipment Primary land use intent of

58:26the facility is a remote processing continuous management

58:29physical storage and global dissemination of digital data

58:33Information or high-performance artificial intelligence model training

58:37and machine learning computation This definition explicit explicitly

58:41applies to hyperscale data centers enterprise data centers

58:46co-location facilities edge data centers server farms

58:50Modular or containerized data systems in cryptocurrency or

58:54blockchain mining operations Only where such activity constitutes

58:59the principal use of the premises This definition

59:02excludes standard localized IT rooms server closets or

59:07computer infrastructure that is secondary subordinate and Customarily

59:12incidental to an otherwise permitted use on the

59:15property For example standard server room supporting an

59:18individual office building medical complex school or retail

59:22store Thank You counselor at this time entertaining

59:27motions or amendments to this definition Okay Thank

59:33you very much the summary.

59:35I just want to read this in summary

59:38On this definition the proposed amendment to the

59:41section 10.1 of the zoning bylaw establishes

59:43a clear definition of what constitutes a data

59:46center in the town of Southbridge The definition

59:48includes large-scale facilities used for data storage

59:51processing artificial intelligence Cryptocurrency mining and other related

59:55technologies It also makes clear that the ordinary

59:58computer system and server rooms used by businesses

1:00:01schools hospitals and other Facilities are not considered

1:00:05data centers under the definition The purpose of

1:00:08this amendment is to ensure that the town

1:00:09can properly identify and regulate data center facilities

1:00:12under zoning bylaws if So decided by the

1:00:18council this amendment establishes the definition only and

1:00:21proposed a temporary moratorium Addressed separately.

1:00:25All right, that's the summary.

1:00:27All right So we've made the amendment and

1:00:34I should have asked for any amendments at

1:00:35this point in time for it So I

1:00:38don't see any amendments for this motion as

1:00:40far as the bylaws So I apologize on

1:00:42that I should have asked that first.

1:00:44So that was number 22.

1:00:45There is no amendments at all All right

1:00:50Move on to 23 The members of the

1:00:54town of Southbridge only bylaws section 8 special

1:00:56regulations by adding a new section 8.1

1:01:001 temporary moratorium for data centers.

1:01:02This is the third reading would any council

1:01:04like to read councillor Daniel?

1:01:06Thank You.

1:01:06Mr. Chair Section 8 special regulations is hereby

1:01:12amended by adding the following new section 8

1:01:14.1 1 8.1 1 temporary moratorium for

1:01:18data centers 8.1 1.1 Moratorium, there

1:01:23shall be a 365 day moratorium on the

1:01:26permitting construction expansion conversion Establishment or operation of

1:01:31any data center in the town This moratorium

1:01:34shall begin on the first day following the

1:01:36town council's adoption of this zoning bylaw 8

1:01:39.1 1.2 No applications during the moratorium.

1:01:44No app no application permit special permit site

1:01:48plan Variants building permit zoning permit or other

1:01:53land use approval shall be accepted Processed or

1:01:56approved for a data center 8.1 1

1:01:59.3 Pending applications any pending application for a

1:02:04data center shall be stayed during the moratorium

1:02:078.1 1.4 Purpose the town council

1:02:11hereby finds that the rapid development Expansion and

1:02:15high density high density operational characteristics of data

1:02:19centers and data center campuses present unique unprecedented

1:02:23and accelerating demands on municipal infrastructure public utilities

1:02:28and the local environment as Such the purpose

1:02:31of this temporary moratorium is to establish a

1:02:34reasonable Defined and limited period during which the

1:02:37town can pursue the review and approval of

1:02:40new data center applications This pause is vital

1:02:43to enable the town planning board Conservation Commission

1:02:46and local utility authorities to a conduct independent

1:02:50studies on the cumulative impacts of data center

1:02:53resource consumption on the local aquifer municipal water

1:02:57work water networks and electrical grid capacity be

1:03:02Developed comprehensive performance standards regarding multi frequency sound

1:03:07emissions low frequency hum mitigation Visual screening and

1:03:13Architectural integration C Review and update the town

1:03:17master plan to ensure that future data center

1:03:20sightings are confined to appropriate zoning overlays that

1:03:23protect residential neighborhoods and natural resources and D

1:03:27Formulate specific ratepayer and environmental protections to ensure

1:03:32that any future Center develop data center developments

1:03:35do not impose unfair fiscal burdens or resource

1:03:39Degradation upon the residents and businesses of the

1:03:43town Eight point one one point five extension

1:03:48the moratorium may be extended twice for up

1:03:51to 180 days each by the town council

1:03:54if Determines that additional time is necessary to

1:03:57complete studies Develop performance standards review and update

1:04:01the town master plan or adopt appropriate Regulations

1:04:05and zoning bylaws to ensure the protection of

1:04:08residents businesses natural resources and the environment The

1:04:13moratorium may be extended by the town council

1:04:15if presented presented with evidence-based justification from

1:04:19the Board of Health planning board Conservation Commission

1:04:23water department or utility authorities eight point one

1:04:27one point six severability if any section subsection

1:04:32paragraph sentence clause Phrase or provision of this

1:04:36temporary moratorium bylaw is for any reason held

1:04:39to be unconstitutional unlawful invalid or unenforceable by

1:04:44a court of competent jurisdiction Such decision shall

1:04:48be confined strictly to the specific provision directly

1:04:50involved in the controversy and the remaining portions

1:04:53of this bylaw Shall continue in full force

1:04:56and effect Thank You councillor, that's the third

1:05:01reading 24 vote to the following any amendments

1:05:05here at this point of time.

1:05:06Is there any council?

1:05:07I would like to make amendment to this.

1:05:09I just like to bring up a point

1:05:10on the eight point one one it says

1:05:16Eight point one one point one moratorium the

1:05:20moratorium shall begin the first day following the

1:05:23town council's Adoption of the zoning bylaw which

1:05:26is in conflict with the Charter 12 dash

1:05:314 dash 1 Which says it will it'll

1:05:34go in in 14 days And from what

1:05:37I understand the intent back then when that

1:05:39was done was to allow time for citizens

1:05:43to petition That might have to be looked

1:05:47at So we would like to amend this

1:05:49at this point in time because you'd like

1:05:51me to amend it to adopt to strike

1:05:53This moratorium shall begin the first first day

1:05:57following the town council's adoption and adopt Adopt.

1:06:02I don't have it on me chat the

1:06:03charter 12 for one which says 14 days

1:06:13How about if we where it says this

1:06:16moratorium shall begin No later than 14 days

1:06:20following the town council's adoption of the zoning

1:06:22bylaw sounds no doubt good for me.

1:06:24Okay?

1:06:25Any So we have an amendment here.

1:06:29So I need a second on that.

1:06:30What's that?

1:06:30Yes.

1:06:31Okay discussion on that bylaw Okay, it is

1:06:3614 days I think it's under referendums And

1:06:39it does specifically state in there any bylaws

1:06:42that are created has to wait 14 days.

1:06:44Thank you council Lazo Yeah, go ahead.

1:06:48Thank you.

1:06:48Mr. Chairman.

1:06:49Just to go a step further It's during

1:06:50those 14 days that registered voters could file

1:06:53a petition with the town clerk To force

1:06:55a referendum vote.

1:06:56They need 5% of Registered voters, but

1:07:00that is what the 14 days he's talking

1:07:02about.

1:07:02No, I appreciate that more clarification on it

1:07:05Absolutely, and I know we brought it up

1:07:08before but I appreciate council Lazo bringing it

1:07:10up and yourself in the explanation councillor Steve's

1:07:12Um, I think I brought this up enough

1:07:13in the first reading.

1:07:14Um, is there any capacity for us to

1:07:17actually do this?

1:07:19The way it was originally written on the

1:07:21meeting the day following as an emergency motion

1:07:25Considering considering we need to get this done

1:07:27fairly soon Well, you know We want to

1:07:29put we want to protect our community From

1:07:30the possibility of getting one of these things

1:07:32sliding in in the next week or two

1:07:33So it's up to the town.

1:07:35I mean a town council if they believe

1:07:37that it's a emergency Is there is there?

1:07:40I'm not sure.

1:07:41Is there a provision for allowing us to

1:07:42do that?

1:07:43I Don't know There's nothing in the charter

1:07:49that would allow us to do that So

1:07:52I think charter is pretty clear as council

1:07:55allows Oh brought up that upon passage of

1:07:58a bylaw there's a It takes effect 14

1:08:04days.

1:08:05I'm looking at that after passage So I

1:08:07don't say I don't see any way to

1:08:08I mean not in our charter anyway to

1:08:11make it effective immediately and override the charter

1:08:16Thank you for the clarification Counselor Daniel Thank

1:08:19You.

1:08:19Mr. Chair through you When this first came

1:08:21up in front of the planning and development

1:08:23subcommittee, it was stated at that point that

1:08:26this would take some time to work work

1:08:29through to work through the process that there

1:08:31were very specific requirements of the charter and

1:08:35of the state in terms of what we

1:08:37can do under our home rule our home

1:08:38rule charter and At that point I said

1:08:43we need to make sure that we dot

1:08:44our I's and cross our T's because this

1:08:46is such an important Issue to the town

1:08:48and I'm just glad to see that we

1:08:51are Looking at making sure that we dot

1:08:53our I's and cross our T's and getting

1:08:55it through.

1:08:56I know people are very Not upset but

1:09:01involved in this and it means a lot

1:09:04to the town and I understand that the

1:09:06town is anxious to see this Get through

1:09:09and I am as well.

1:09:10I want to see this get through But

1:09:12we do need to do it, right?

1:09:13I'd rather do it right the first time

1:09:15then get caught and have to come back

1:09:17and fix it and Something slipped through while

1:09:19we're trying to fix it in that time

1:09:20frame.

1:09:21So I think that the catch that Counselor

1:09:25Lazo made the catches that we've made in

1:09:27terms of other amendments that were made to

1:09:29the bylaw that you can see here That

1:09:32are subscripted in red Are appropriate and necessary

1:09:36and follows the proper procedures so that we

1:09:39do it, right the first time Thank You

1:09:41counsel Discussion on the amendment that counselor Lazo

1:09:46brought forward.

1:09:47Okay, all those in favor of that amendment

1:09:518-0.

1:09:52Okay.

1:09:53There was also I want to bring up

1:09:54point of clarification on there I understand if

1:09:57we look at that it and counselor Steve's

1:10:00you had brought it up already as far

1:10:02as the Changing Conservation Committee.

1:10:05Yeah, which is under eight point one one

1:10:07point five to Commission We never voted on

1:10:10that.

1:10:11So like would you like to make an

1:10:13amendment to it?

1:10:14Yes, so the amendment to change under eleven

1:10:17eight point one one point five the last

1:10:19very sentence says Moratorium may be extended by

1:10:22the town council or presented with evidence-based

1:10:25justification from the Board of Health Planning Board

1:10:28Conservation committee and we're going to strike that

1:10:31with Commission and add Commission to it, right?

1:10:33So that's the amendment.

1:10:34Yes All right, I need a second on

1:10:37that amendment good very well any discussion on

1:10:39that amendment whatsoever Okay, all those in favor

1:10:43of that amendment Thank you 8-0 now

1:10:46ma'am.

1:10:48I'd like you to if you wanted to

1:10:50come up here and speak, please please do

1:10:51so I

1:11:04Can you just state your name and tell

1:11:05me that Christine master John So everything I'm

1:11:12listening to at 830 after a 20-hour

1:11:16day is It just seems you want to

1:11:18move forward move forward move forward.

1:11:20I mean, and I don't know that I'm

1:11:21understanding that correctly And again, it was said

1:11:25that there was going to be a moratorium

1:11:27on Facebook, which is why I came just

1:11:30to second that type of thing, so It

1:11:35is my understanding and I'm not an architect.

1:11:37I'm not a Transformer.

1:11:39I'm not you know, but I have I

1:11:41know a lot about a lot of things

1:11:42and I know that sometimes like every all

1:11:47the work we're doing in the sit in

1:11:48the Town right now with the streets and

1:11:52everything is great, right?

1:11:54It's going to be great, but it's very

1:11:55disruptive right now So I have no idea

1:11:57where you can or think or if that's

1:12:00even come into action of where this would

1:12:03be this data center, but what I know

1:12:06about data centers from my Searching and and

1:12:13and just looking at different things from different

1:12:15towns is that there are 30 towns We

1:12:19are not a city, right?

1:12:20We're a town and I write Okay, so

1:12:23that are pulling back on the moratorium do

1:12:26I mean what going into moratorium because of

1:12:28the size?

1:12:30so these transformers in In the data center

1:12:34are my understanding from my research are huge.

1:12:38They're huge Transformers because I know someone that

1:12:41builds transformers.

1:12:42I'm so I could take a lot of

1:12:43information in from different places get heated very

1:12:47fast So you have the fans on the

1:12:49top and you have a lot of water

1:12:52I don't know enough about electricity, but you

1:12:54definitely are using water which uses electricity I'm

1:12:57assuming going in to cool these data centers

1:13:00and As far as jobs, it's one or

1:13:04two people It's not a lot of people

1:13:06and it's going to be high-end people

1:13:09that probably don't even I'm sorry live in

1:13:11this town To support, you know, I mean

1:13:14it'd be great if you know Once a

1:13:16month you had to be cleaning and you

1:13:17had people that came in and clean, you

1:13:19know But people that need jobs in this

1:13:21town, let's say but I don't believe it's

1:13:23anything like that and I also think that

1:13:27Since Worcester, which is more of a city.

1:13:30They put it in moratorium So there's a

1:13:32lot of towns and a few cities that

1:13:34are smaller and I feel like You know,

1:13:38you can talk to Worcester Polytech and that's

1:13:40fine But you need to talk to somebody

1:13:42else who maybe has another side to it

1:13:44and see and really put some thought into

1:13:47this Before ripping up some area where you're

1:13:50going to put this in and just head

1:13:51on like this has to happen Why does

1:13:53this have to happen?

1:13:54Why does it have to happen for taxes?

1:13:57I mean, I'm not asking you don't have

1:13:59to ask But you can say something if

1:14:01you want, but why does it have to

1:14:02happen, you know so fast so that would

1:14:05be my concern Do you have anything else

1:14:10No, he wants to say something.

1:14:11Yeah, I understand the council wants to say

1:14:13some I just want to make sure you

1:14:14have the opportune time to speak No, I

1:14:16think that's right and I just saw you

1:14:18understand.

1:14:18I really appreciate You coming up here and

1:14:22as you stated it's not It's not the

1:14:24favorite thing in the world for some of

1:14:26us to come up here and speak in

1:14:27front of an audience The fact that you

1:14:30did I appreciate that a lot and thank

1:14:33you for your time and your knowledge and

1:14:35your concern as a citizen Thank you.

1:14:37Thank you councillor Steeves.

1:14:38Thank you for your time to address what

1:14:40she just said a second ago Just to

1:14:41clarify I know I don't think any of

1:14:43us are are Particularly in favor of data

1:14:45centers the idea of doing this moratorium is

1:14:47specifically so we can look into what they're

1:14:49at the impacts are And I think there's

1:14:52a lot there's a lot of data out

1:14:54there.

1:14:54I know I've got a I've developed a

1:14:55very long list of Stories about various data

1:14:59horrors.

1:15:00I'm not particularly in favor of them at

1:15:02all I don't think we personally need them

1:15:05because I think they're designed for AI and

1:15:06and Spying and all kinds of other stuff

1:15:09that we do not need we've got we've

1:15:10got more than enough data already But that's

1:15:14that's just speaking for myself I think that

1:15:17the whole idea of doing this moratorium would

1:15:19allow the town to actually do the necessary

1:15:21research so we can see what the Actual

1:15:24facts are out there so that when we

1:15:28do come up with something in a year

1:15:30or two years That that the moratorium will

1:15:33allow us to do the research We can

1:15:35actually have enough evidence to say this is

1:15:37why we're doing this and I personally hope

1:15:40that comes out This is why we're saying

1:15:42no period end of decision end of this

1:15:44discussion, but that's my personal view Thank You

1:15:47counselor Just real mr.

1:15:50Stoddard if you want to just counselor Montigny

1:15:52go ahead and then mr.

1:15:53Stoddard.

1:15:54Yeah, thank you And I just wanted to

1:15:56ask a question to you or maybe to

1:15:58the town manager or somebody who can answer

1:16:00this question Moratorium aside because I'm just using

1:16:07my glasses to assume that next meeting we're

1:16:10gonna approve this.

1:16:11Okay, but Just for the record it if

1:16:15let's pretend there was no moratorium and somebody's

1:16:17coming in planning to put a data center

1:16:19somewhere Like correct me if I'm wrong, please

1:16:23do That never comes before the council if

1:16:26somebody wants to go put a data center

1:16:28at the AO or something or wherever anybody

1:16:31who's thinking like that goes to planning board

1:16:34and the state and like literally that I

1:16:37just want to be quite clear the town

1:16:39council has Absolutely, no say we will never

1:16:42get a vote in front of us This

1:16:43is vote to allow them to build more

1:16:45to build the data center.

1:16:47That's not how it works.

1:16:48Is that my correct?

1:16:49Yeah, we don't approve the data centers in

1:16:52this town like we don't I mean, okay,

1:16:54counselor Lazo My my thing is this what

1:16:57we're doing here is getting ahead of it

1:17:00Okay, it's precautionary.

1:17:02You are now as a council Writing the

1:17:05bylaw and working with the town Planning board

1:17:11which have the regulations once these regulations are

1:17:15in now the planning board might come back

1:17:17to us After they get a hold of

1:17:19WPI and they have the moratorium and they're

1:17:23going to study this thing and they're going

1:17:25to say what's the Best model of a

1:17:27bylaw in the zoning.

1:17:29Can we create at that point there?

1:17:32I'm a betting man that you will have

1:17:34Something coming out of planning board back to

1:17:37the council.

1:17:38But once we finalize it, it's all the

1:17:41planning board So we have no say in

1:17:43approving a data center ever up here It

1:17:45will never come up here because we are

1:17:47not the authority to approve data centers in

1:17:49this time The planning board the planning board

1:17:51is the town council can only try to

1:17:53protect the people by stopping moratoriums right now

1:17:56This is literally the most protection we can

1:17:59give our citizens.

1:17:59The town council cannot do Anything more except

1:18:03maybe write more bylaws to push the whole

1:18:05thing out I just want to make make

1:18:06it make it perfectly clear that we are

1:18:08literally doing everything we possibly can for these

1:18:10citizens Yes, and we and we don't have

1:18:12the ability to shoot a data center down

1:18:13after this moratorium If there's no other bylaws

1:18:16written in those two years, we have no

1:18:17way of stopping it after the moratorium.

1:18:19Yeah, there's um, I mean There's I'm gonna

1:18:21let local council Vice chair speak on this

1:18:27a little bit too as well But that's

1:18:29a good question that you're bringing up in

1:18:30a great point to bring up as well.

1:18:32Thank you Yeah, okay, thank you through you

1:18:37mr.

1:18:37Chairman so One of the things that we

1:18:41do have to approve of bylaws and zoning

1:18:43bylaws, all right, so we do have the

1:18:45power to to legislate More we can we

1:18:52can put All sorts of restrictions and in

1:18:55fact one of the that's the main purpose

1:18:57of the moratorium really is to is to

1:19:01Do the research and find out what?

1:19:05What?

1:19:06You know what bylaws we need in order

1:19:09to protect the town That said is also

1:19:13when you're looking at these very very large

1:19:15-scale facilities Those have to be both can

1:19:19only be approved at the state level all

1:19:21right, and They have to go through I

1:19:25can't remember the name of the Commission, but

1:19:27but there's a specific Commission that that this

1:19:31that that that these they would have to

1:19:33go through in order to For in the

1:19:38state would have to approve it one of

1:19:40the things that the stools at the state

1:19:42has given the towns is The requirement that

1:19:47if a data center company the company that

1:19:50wanted to do an AI hyperscale data center

1:19:55They wanted to do that here in town

1:19:56they would have to have host community agreements

1:20:00With all right, not only with with basically

1:20:04all the players that would include utility companies

1:20:06that would include it would include Count you

1:20:10know maybe the top that the town itself

1:20:13But basically all the stakeholders would have to

1:20:15have they'd have to have a host community

1:20:16agreement In order to in order to get

1:20:19that even to even in front of the

1:20:22Commission So the state has already put in

1:20:24some some pretty Pretty effective tools that we

1:20:29can we can utilize, but we also have

1:20:31of course our power as council All right,

1:20:34we have to approve bylaws zoning bylaws as

1:20:37well now the planning board Helps us in

1:20:40that regard and they they can you know

1:20:42they will they can draft bylaws and they

1:20:44can they can Propose bylaws, but it's the

1:20:48town council that has to approve any bylaws

1:20:51and like I said the moratorium is Specifically

1:20:54designed so that we can research and figure

1:20:57out what what specific restrictions We need to

1:21:03put in place in order to protect our

1:21:04town perfect.

1:21:06Thank You councillor councillor.

1:21:07Is that a good question?

1:21:09Yeah, we're doing everything we can for the

1:21:10citizen.

1:21:11I just want to appreciate that that you

1:21:12brought that up councillor Klein You had your

1:21:14hand raised.

1:21:14It's what I want mr.

1:21:17Stoddard.

1:21:17You've been patient up there.

1:21:18Please stay your name townie Already know but

1:21:22for the record Alright, I want to talk

1:21:24to WPI.

1:21:25My name is Rick Stoddard.

1:21:26I live in South Bridge None of the

1:21:28comments I have tonight were generated by any

1:21:30type of a our artificial intelligence It's strictly

1:21:33my personal notes in my notes app on

1:21:35my phone These are my thoughts and my

1:21:38thoughts only WPI is a welcome partner to

1:21:42look at the good the bad and the

1:21:44ugly of having a data center built in

1:21:45South Bridge We are hoping to see a

1:21:48fair transparent process that takes into account all

1:21:51aspects of the town Good.

1:21:54What will it provide us the bad?

1:21:57What will it take from us the ugly

1:21:59who really benefits from this?

1:22:02The information we seek should not come from

1:22:04only one source, but from multiple sources We

1:22:07need to see a comparison of studies to

1:22:09make sure this is a fair transparent and

1:22:11equitable process I really believe WPI is not

1:22:15the only group we can find willing to

1:22:17take on a project of this nation We

1:22:20are getting WPI because someone knew someone else

1:22:24WPI is full of brilliant minds But we

1:22:27also need to remember these are students and

1:22:29not as yet professionals in their fields of

1:22:32study It should be the job of the

1:22:34planning board and the town council to find

1:22:36at least one other source of information We

1:22:39are seeking as a town These sources need

1:22:42to be sought in a timely fashion because

1:22:44the clock is ticking The community is watching

1:22:48We all hope the planning board and town

1:22:49council will make a concerted effort to keep

1:22:52the community Updated and informed with WPI's progress

1:22:56and the board's progress to find additional sources

1:23:00Counselors, you all know what the citizens of

1:23:02South Bridge want the people could not be

1:23:06cleared We don't want data centers.

1:23:09We don't want unregulated artificial generative intelligence No

1:23:14data centers not in South Bridge Thank You,

1:23:18Mr. Stoddard Any other discussion on this any

1:23:26other amendments before we move along Just to

1:23:28make sure I cover all the base any

1:23:30other amendments within this portion over here So

1:23:33I'm gonna read a quick summary of this

1:23:36this proposed amendment to section 8 of the

1:23:39zoning bylaw establishes a 365 day temporary moratorium

1:23:42on data centers within the town of South

1:23:44Bridge during the period During this period the

1:23:46town was to spend the acceptance review and

1:23:48approval of data center applications and permits any

1:23:51pending Applications would also be placed on hold

1:23:55The purpose of this moratorium is to provide

1:23:57the town with sufficient time to study the

1:23:59potential impacts of data centers on our water

1:24:02supply like just electrical infrastructure environment residential

1:24:06neighborhoods and municipal resources It would also allow

1:24:10the town to develop appropriate zoning regulations performance

1:24:14standards and protections to address noise environmental concerns

1:24:18and potential financial impacts on the residents and

1:24:21businesses the amendment also allows the town council

1:24:23to extend the moratorium up to two additional

1:24:26times For a maximum of 180 days 180

1:24:30days each if the additional time is necessary

1:24:33to complete these studies and establish appropriate regulations

1:24:37The overall intent is to ensure that South

1:24:39Bridge has necessary safeguards and regulations in place

1:24:42before allowing Or banning or whatever we need

1:24:45to do at this point time of any

1:24:46data center development to move forward.

1:24:49I want to make sure that I Just

1:24:52state that I appreciate the planning board bringing

1:24:55polytech up And anything else?

1:24:58I'm glad to see them being aggressive about

1:25:01this and moving this forward up to the

1:25:03town council I know we didn't have to

1:25:04vote on it, but I appreciate the council

1:25:06voting on it this evening I do want

1:25:08to state here now that I read the

1:25:10summary there won't be any more changes to

1:25:12this I want to take full responsibility because

1:25:15I did tell you the dates in which

1:25:16we would approve these moratoriums Unfortunately, I may

1:25:19have looked at the wrong and a look

1:25:21wrong website for a charter and When I

1:25:26took a look at that I did my

1:25:28homework again before we even finished up the

1:25:31I think it was Wednesday night I found

1:25:33it and I want to make sure we're

1:25:34doing it correctly and once I found out

1:25:37that this area This website may have been

1:25:40a little bit off on a very old

1:25:42a little bit older charter But I take

1:25:45responsibility as the chair who brought this forward

1:25:48It will be brought up It will at

1:25:51a regularly scheduled meeting, which is this this

1:25:54come or next month.

1:25:56Sorry the 5th I think it is in

1:25:58November and it will be voted on by

1:26:00the town council and then again the amendment

1:26:03this evening We just making sure that we

1:26:06have those 14 days in there as well

1:26:08as councillor Lazo and councillor Montigny Elegantly explained.

1:26:13All right at that point in time.

1:26:15I thank you for your time And I

1:26:16appreciate the residents come up here to speak

1:26:19At this time 25 councillors form councillor Lazo.

1:26:22Nothing tonight.

1:26:23Thank you.

1:26:24Mr. Chair councillor Daniel Thank you.

1:26:26Mr. Chair through you if my calendar is

1:26:28right.

1:26:29The next town council meeting is November 2nd

1:26:32You you're right.

1:26:33I don't have a calendar Don't be accused

1:26:36me of being the smartest individual in the

1:26:38room.

1:26:38So, thank you.

1:26:39Appreciate it.

1:26:40Great.

1:26:42I Just want to say An extra thank

1:26:45you to representative Massey And senator Fatman and

1:26:50of course Amanda for coming this evening and

1:26:53presenting us with a wonderful document I'm a

1:26:57history buff and By coincidence, I'll be in

1:27:00Philadelphia starting tomorrow to view some of the

1:27:02National Historical sites started down there And this

1:27:07is a perfect example of why I want

1:27:09to go down there This is a bucket

1:27:10list item for me and for my lovely

1:27:12wife and this being here tonight is just

1:27:15spectacular To get a document that was essentially

1:27:19Constructed in the way it was constructed 250

1:27:22years ago Documenting exactly what it looked like

1:27:25250 years ago You know, the only thing

1:27:28that would better if it was an actual

1:27:29an actual document, but this kind of thing

1:27:32is really priceless it's something that definitely should

1:27:34be displayed prominently in the town hall and

1:27:38My sincere thanks to our local representatives for

1:27:41getting that here and that's all I have.

1:27:43Thank you Thank You cancer Daniel councillor Klein

1:27:46So I'll also take some responsibility for any

1:27:50confusion around the data center vote tonight based

1:27:53on prior conversations around the timeline and then

1:27:56seeing the citizens chronicle article saying that we

1:27:58were voting tonight and then looking at the

1:28:00agenda and seeing that It several times also

1:28:05led me to believe that so My apologies

1:28:08to to anyone who that may have confused.

1:28:11I was also confused clearly.

1:28:13So And the only other thing I just

1:28:16want to bring up the chair and I

1:28:17are planning to meet on October 26th to

1:28:19discuss establishing a Finance Committee With a clear

1:28:22structured framework for the committee to review the

1:28:25town's operating budget capital projects amongst other things

1:28:29and it would be an advisory in nature

1:28:32and fully consistent with our council manager form

1:28:34of government and I think it's going to

1:28:36be a great opportunity to to Add some

1:28:40additional work to our workload.

1:28:43Thank you.

1:28:43Thank you.

1:28:44Council by council Granger, I do want to

1:28:49thank representative Marcy and Amanda and senator Fatman

1:28:53for gifting us the wonderful Constitution Having been

1:29:01to Philadelphia It's great to see who it's

1:29:04there But it's nice to also have a

1:29:06copy and having had it printed the way

1:29:09it was printed in the old way I'd

1:29:14also just like to remind all of our

1:29:16residents that All of our littles will be

1:29:19out there.

1:29:20We won't be seeing you again until November

1:29:222nd but please drive carefully with Halloween being

1:29:26around and Coming up with a lot of

1:29:29trunk-or-treats and whatnot in the next

1:29:31two weeks.

1:29:32Just be mindful of where you're driving, especially

1:29:34at night Thank You councillor councillor Steeves Just

1:29:39a couple of quick points.

1:29:41First of all, I want to say that

1:29:42I had the pleasure of sitting in on

1:29:43the gateways The outsider last weekend and it

1:29:46was great if you haven't seen it in

1:29:49Take a chance to get involved in our

1:29:51local theater.

1:29:52They're also playing this weekend So if you

1:29:54get that's over at the Elm Street Church

1:29:57And also I wanted to mention that November

1:29:595th and 7th to 7th.

1:30:00This is the library's book sale So if

1:30:03you have a few extra bucks I want

1:30:04to go learn a few things and get

1:30:07a couple more books to your library if

1:30:08you haven't already got too many of Them

1:30:10you can never have too many of them.

1:30:12So you might want to check that out.

1:30:14And that's it.

1:30:14Thanks.

1:30:15Thank you Thank You, mr.

1:30:18Chairman well That was one of the silliest

1:30:21meetings Tonight the last three hours, but I

1:30:23enjoyed myself thoroughly and I love serving everybody

1:30:26I promised you a movie quote in the

1:30:28spirit of Halloween.

1:30:29I try to cheer things up So for

1:30:32you my friend you best start believing in

1:30:34ghost stories.

1:30:34Mr. Chairman because you're in one.

1:30:36That's the Hector Barbosa Oh, thank you captain

1:30:38of the Black Pearl.

1:30:39So I appreciate it.

1:30:40I live it every day.

1:30:41Thank you very much.

1:30:42I appreciate it All right, mr.

1:30:45Vice chair Thank You.

1:30:47Mr. Chairman through you I just wanted to

1:30:50recognize the school department on October 13th the

1:30:57receiver superintendent, mr.

1:31:00Metzger presented the 2025-26 mcast and accountability

1:31:05results And And We were Southbridge actually

1:31:15performed very very well in virtually all categories

1:31:18I'm not going to go through all the

1:31:20whole presentation, but I just want to highlight

1:31:23a couple of things One thing he noted

1:31:25in grades three to eight.

1:31:27We are now back to pre pandemic levels

1:31:31Which is actually bucking the state trend which

1:31:34is trending negative In addition, we increased our

1:31:39annual progress score by 22 percent and in

1:31:46in Other categories attendance is way up ELA

1:31:52performance way up and our graduation Graduation rate

1:31:58went up 14 points in one year.

1:32:01So they've made some tremendous progress that's very

1:32:04good news for us because that That puts

1:32:08on puts definitely puts us on a path

1:32:10towards ending receivership You know, maybe not no

1:32:15maybe not tomorrow but in there in the

1:32:18near future that the it's actually in sight

1:32:21I think this is a Reflection of Mr.

1:32:27Metzger's lead leadership up there for 10 years

1:32:31This town has been under receivership.

1:32:34We've had some we've experienced some very poor

1:32:36leadership at that level We wound up having

1:32:39one of the highest teacher turnover rate in

1:32:42in the state for multiple years That's all

1:32:46turned around so There's been a lot of

1:32:52Foundational work done that I don't want to

1:32:54take away from anybody that's worked on on

1:32:56the foundations that have made this all possible

1:32:59But I think the leadership that we're getting

1:33:03up.

1:33:03There is at the school Is exactly what

1:33:07we need and what we should have had

1:33:08all along.

1:33:09Thank you Thank you Number 26 discussion of

1:33:18the next meeting.

1:33:19Mr. Vice chair That'd be you.

1:33:26That'd be me.

1:33:26I'm still trying to figure out why we

1:33:28have this tradition of the vice chair read

1:33:29it But maybe so our next town council

1:33:32meeting will be Monday November 2nd At 7

1:33:36p.m. Thank you, sir motion to adjourn

1:33:39All those in favor Thank you

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