2026-10-08 - Democratic Town Committee Special Town Meeting Warrant Review

00:00Okay, we're going to get started.

00:02Welcome everyone. Thank you the throngs

00:06out there. Um so this is um welcome back

00:10to our final this is our final summer

00:13series uh that we've that WDTC's uh put

00:16on. Um this second time that we're

00:19having uh hosting uh John Arnold. We're

00:21pleased to have him uh the moderator for

00:24Westboro. He's going to be reviewing um

00:27a town meeting uh just review town

00:30meeting. What is town meeting? And then

00:33the warrant that goes along with that.

00:35I'd also like to welcome Deb Leoo, our

00:39town clerk. Thank you. Um she's going to

00:43say a few words in just a little bit

00:44about um resolving any any voter status

00:48issues. Um before we begin, I want to

00:52welcome Sean Kio, chair of our select

00:56board. Thank you. Um and let's see,

01:03so I'd like to introduce uh the chairs

01:07of the WDTC.

01:09Nai Wallace is is out in the anti- room

01:13u bringing people in. Tom Hubard is a

01:16co-vice chair running our zoom tonight

01:19and um myself Tom Ascu I'm also co-chair

01:24the mic a little closer to you now we

01:27can't hear you

01:28>> how's that okay better good good okay so

01:33and we have uh Westboro TV thank you for

01:36coming and recording tonight as well as

01:38people joining us on Zoom

01:42and uh Zoom people can hear what's going

01:45on and if they have a question I think

01:47they can jump into the chat

01:51and uh let's see

01:54and then uh the final thoughts is um

01:57WDDC is doing a food drive this Saturday

02:00at uh Roach Brothers from noon to 12:30

02:04and then our next regular business

02:07meeting will be October 20th.

02:10So, watch out for that. And if that if

02:13we could have Deb come up and

02:17say a few words.

02:21>> Good evening. Thank you for having me.

02:24Um, I just wanted to get up and talk

02:26just a little bit about the elections.

02:28Um, early voting is starting on

02:31Saturday, October 17th. It goes through

02:35Friday, October 30th. Um, all voting is

02:38at town hall up in Memorial Hall on the

02:41second floor. Um, in addition to

02:43Saturday the 17th, there's a second

02:45weekend day. It's Saturday, October

02:4724th. Uh, September 24th, I'm sorry,

02:50October 24th. October 24th is also the

02:53last day to register to vote. Um, you

02:55can come and register in our office. You

02:57can go online to mass.gov and that can

03:00be done online up until uh 11:59 p.m. on

03:04October 24th.

03:07Uh, the last day to request a ballot to

03:10be mailed to your home is at 5:00 p.m.

03:14on Tuesday, October 27th.

03:18Um, election day is on Tuesday, November

03:213rd. The new voting location is at the

03:25community center, which is 1500 Union

03:28Street. Uh, it's where the temporary

03:30library location was. Uh there'll be

03:34signage out that day, handicap parking.

03:37Um again, this is being done for um

03:40being being brought over from the high

03:41school to the community center for

03:43reasons including accessibility into the

03:45polling location, parking, and safety of

03:48our students up at the high school. Um

03:51any questions about that, please feel

03:53free to contact the town clerk's office,

03:55um 5083663020.

03:59You can find us on the website also. um

04:01email me anytime. I'm always happy to

04:03talk to you. Um I wanted to address one

04:07uh more thing. It has to do with um

04:09voters being inactive when you come into

04:11the polling location or if you come to

04:14town meeting and the person checking you

04:16in says that your voting registration um

04:19is inactive. So the the reason someone

04:22becomes inactive um is because a census

04:26wasn't returned. Um there's mandatory in

04:29inactivation in the state of

04:31Massachusetts, Commonwealth of

04:33Massachusetts. It happens June 5th of

04:35every year. Um people without a current

04:38census will get inactivated. A postcard

04:41does go out to every voter from our

04:43office and it it says you have not

04:45returned your your census. Um if you did

04:48return it and we didn't get it or missed

04:50it, I apologize. Um it's paid for. The

04:53postage is paid on that that postcard.

04:55Just return it to our office. Um you can

04:57come in, you can call us and we can get

04:59it all straightened out. Um if you go to

05:02town meeting, you'll still be able to go

05:04and attend town meeting. You're just

05:06going to be um delayed a couple minutes

05:08while you fill out an affirmation of

05:10current um and continuous residence um

05:13with the front desk staff in the lobby.

05:15Um like I said, call with questions any

05:18time. If anybody here has a question,

05:21I'd be happy to to answer it. Yes.

05:24>> So if you missed the census on June 5th

05:29>> and it comes October 2nd. Can you is

05:32that still good to mail in? Fill out

05:34mail and you'll be careful.

05:36>> You can mail it anytime. So, if you have

05:38one now, you haven't submitted it. Um

05:42the the period in which to register to

05:44vote for um the election would be

05:47October 24th. You would your voter

05:49status would be active when you go to

05:51the polls. If you are inactive, believe

05:54you're inactive. um for town meeting

05:58certainly um email it to us, call us, we

06:01can get it straightened out um well

06:03before town meeting also so it will show

06:05as active on the the town meeting poll

06:07pad.

06:09>> Yeah.

06:12Good.

06:14All right. Thank you.

06:20>> Thank you, Deb. So without

06:23further ado, Mr. Town moderator John

06:27Arnold.

06:29>> Thank you. Thank you everyone. I'd like

06:30to thank the uh Democratic Town

06:32Committee for inviting me for a second

06:33time. I get to really dominate your

06:35summer series. So we'll see if this can

06:37be a trend. Um, for those of you who

06:38didn't come to the first one uh in the

06:40summer, which was much more detail about

06:42town meeting, I'm going to do a brief

06:43overview tonight because there's no

06:45point really talking about the warrant

06:47of the town meeting unless I can tell

06:49you why you should attend town meeting

06:50and what it means you can do. So, we'll

06:52do a little bit of that. Uh, and also I

06:54just want to let you know as always,

06:56although this is sponsored by the

06:57Democratic Town Committee, um, I'm

06:59speaking as fairly and as independently

07:01as possible, I'm not much of a joiner.

07:03Don't really officially belong to a

07:04church or a political party or anything.

07:06So, you're just going to hear me trying

07:07to be fair and impartial about what's

07:09going on and what you can expect. So,

07:11let's start with a little town meeting

07:13primer. For those of you who don't know,

07:15the town meeting is Westboro's

07:17legislative body. So, it's the

07:18legislator. So, if you ever wanted to be

07:20able to put in your resume, hey, you're

07:22a legislator. Well, if you go to a town

07:23meeting in an open town meeting town

07:25like Massachusetts, you can say you're a

07:27legislator because any voter in an open

07:30town meeting town who shows up can

07:32participate and they can vote as part of

07:34the town's legislative branch. So, to

07:36understand that, just to make it real

07:37because if you don't if you go back to

07:40fifth grade or middle school uh civics

07:42class or history or whatever, you

07:44learned a little about it. Just want to

07:45spend a couple of slides talking about

07:47the difference of the legislative and

07:48executive branches so you can understand

07:50that the impact of having uh

07:52participating in your legislative branch

07:55um really matters. So if we want to

07:57understand the impact let's understand

07:58our role and we'll walk through some

08:00examples. Now though I'm sure um all of

08:04you here probably know that at the

08:05federal and state level there are

08:07legislative and executive branches and

08:09I'll use this as an analogy just to talk

08:11about at the legislative branch of

08:12course at the federal level we have

08:14congress and at the uh state level we

08:17have the state house we have um we have

08:19state senators and state representatives

08:21just like we have federal senators and

08:22federal representatives at congress.

08:24What does congress do? Well, we can make

08:26all the jokes we want about that they

08:27don't actually do anything these days,

08:29but in theory, the purpose of the

08:31legislative branch is to pass laws,

08:34allocate money from taxes and other

08:36sources uh and to essentially uh enable

08:41the rest of the government to do its

08:43job. Alternatively, we have the

08:45executive branch. Now, at the federal

08:47level, we have the president. The

08:49president has a cabinet that advises him

08:51and her him or her on uh on what they

08:53think is best for the the day-to-day

08:55operation. And at the state level, we

08:57have a governor and a governor's

08:58cabinet. And so as as I mentioned the

09:01executive branch really runs the

09:02day-to-day operations of the government

09:05uh sets policies and to some extent

09:07using the money that's allocated by the

09:10um exe by the legislative branch at a

09:13high level they get to use that money at

09:15a more detailed level and sort of drill

09:17down into what the priorities are. Now,

09:20it's a little bit more confusing and the

09:22reason why a lot of this I say this over

09:24and over again is because it's not a

09:26direct analogy and it's a little easy to

09:28get lost in the details, but in a town

09:30meeting town like Westboro, the town

09:32meeting is the legislative branch and

09:34every voter who shows up at an open town

09:36meeting like we have gets to act as a

09:38legislator. So, my job as the moderator

09:42is I'm sort of a figurehead of the

09:43legislative branch, but I don't have any

09:45special duties other than some

09:47appointment powers. But my my one of my

09:49primary jobs is to run the town meeting,

09:51which means that uh that I'm the chief

09:53parliamentarian and part of my job is to

09:56make sure that the meeting runs

09:57efficiently and effectively. Um and I tr

09:59and I also do a lot of out uh outreach

10:01like this to make sure people understand

10:03what they're voting on and what their

10:05choices are. And I spend a reasonable

10:07amount of time helping people understand

10:09the process so they can get involved. So

10:11what do we do at town meeting? Well,

10:13just like I said happens with the

10:14legislative branch at the state and

10:16federal level, we decide how much money

10:18is raised by taxes and we determine at

10:21the high level how the funds are spent.

10:23So, if you recall or if you didn't go um

10:26to the annual town meeting that's held

10:28in March, we have an article that goes

10:30through the various department budgets

10:33um where at a high level we allocate so

10:35much money to salaries and wages um for

10:38each of the departments. And then we

10:40have an expense line item, a dollar

10:42amount for the expenses for those uh

10:44departments. And as I said, that sets

10:46the high level priority of what the town

10:48wants to spend because we say this much

10:50for fire, this much for police, this

10:52much for libraries, this much for

10:54schools and things. And then the

10:55day-to-day operations of the town, which

10:57whichever body oversees those particular

11:00departments, decides specifically how to

11:02spend that money in the salaries and

11:04wages and how to spend that money in

11:06expenses. The town meeting also has to

11:08allocate tax money and do some approvals

11:10for various projects. So for instance,

11:12before the town can uh can buy or take

11:15land or before the town can buy or sell

11:18land, the legislative branch has to

11:20approve. And if you attend town meeting

11:22or if you watch the recordings of past

11:24town meetings, if you're new, you can

11:26see that we have projects for things

11:27like uh sewer and water improvements. We

11:30have school projects. We have we had a

11:32library project that's just wrapping up.

11:34Um and then we have capital projects

11:36which is essentially uh buying things

11:39like police cars, fire trucks and

11:40whatever. Another important aspect of

11:43the legislative branch is that the town

11:45meeting are the ones who define who

11:47define what the town's laws are. Now at

11:49the town level they're usually called

11:50bylaws, not just laws. So we have two

11:52classes of bylaws. We have general

11:55bylaws which essentially sets the

11:57parameters of things that a town is

11:59allowed uh to set in Massachusetts. And

12:02I will uh as a caveat, and we'll get to

12:04this more later on, I'm sure there are

12:06some things that a town might want to

12:08do, but the state or federal law

12:10precludes the town from doing. Uh and

12:12then in addition to the general bylaws,

12:14we have zoning bylaws that for instance

12:16tells me what I can build on my

12:18property, how much park, if I want to

12:20build an office building, how tall can

12:22it be, where can it be placed on the

12:24lot, how much of a lot can be used up,

12:25how many parking spaces there are,

12:27things like that. And the town meeting

12:28gets gets zoning bylaws brought to them.

12:31and then brought for their action. So

12:33that all seems pretty simple. Legislator

12:36uh legislate legislative bodies are

12:38about the same. It gets a little more

12:40muddled and one of the reasons why I go

12:42over this is that the executive branch

12:44at the federal and state level it's one

12:46person. We have one president, we have

12:48one governor. However, at the town

12:50level, the select board who are five

12:53elected members actually collectively

12:55act as the head of the executive branch.

12:59So they oversee the people who o who

13:01essentially manage the town's day-to-day

13:03operations. They set specific priorities

13:06and goals within the within the baywick

13:09of the executive branch. And amongst the

13:12things they do as a point and they're

13:14all uh quai volunteers. They back in the

13:17day they got a little bit of a stipen

13:19just like I did. I don't get it any

13:21more. But the pro but as Massachusetts

13:25has grown and as things have become more

13:26professionalized, the fivep person uh

13:29select board essentially hires a town

13:32manager and a police chief and a fire

13:33chief and then those people, you know,

13:35um u choose other people to like

13:39subheads of departments and things like

13:40that. So we have the fivep person select

13:43board a act acting collectively as the

13:45head of the executive branch and then

13:48there's delegation uh to the

13:50professional managers who implement the

13:52policies and who actually run the

13:53day-to-day operations of the town. Now

13:56the reason this gets a little confused

13:57is that the select board doesn't have

13:59complete oversight of the entire

14:01executive branch. For instance, school

14:03committees in Massachusetts are very

14:05powerful. So at the town meeting where

14:07the legislative branch allocates a very

14:09large sum of money to these schools, the

14:12actual spending of that money is is

14:15handed over to the school committee,

14:16another elected body of five people who

14:19who uh who choose and hire a

14:22superintendent and and they get

14:24principles and all that. And so the

14:26school committee really is the head of

14:28the executive branch from a school point

14:30of view. And similarly the the elected

14:33planning board and the elected library

14:35trustees hire their department head and

14:37then they have that. So it's not exactly

14:40a onetoone but the thing as a as a town

14:42meeting member or a town meeting

14:44attendee and a town meeting legislator

14:47it doesn't change our role at all. We

14:49decide how much money is raised by

14:50taxes. We decide bylaws and we set uh

14:54highle priorities based on how we

14:56allocate the the tax money that's

14:58brought in. So, I hope that helps things

15:00make a little sense. So, knowing that,

15:04why does it matter? Well, I hope you've

15:06sort of read between the lines a little

15:07bit and understand that an open town

15:09meeting town, if we let every voter who

15:12wants to attend participate and vote,

15:15that means that every person actually

15:17has a direct impact on what laws there

15:19are in town and how much money is raised

15:22by taxation. In in an open town meeting,

15:25we have one person, one vote. Now, yes,

15:27there may be some criticism because

15:29right now the state law requires

15:31in-person attendance and so you actually

15:33have to be there. Voters have to be

15:35voting in present, but any voter who can

15:38who can attend can attend. They can

15:41speak. They can make motions and they

15:43get to vote. So what's the impact? Well,

15:46by going to town meeting, we

15:48collectively decide how much money is

15:50raised in taxes. We collectively at a

15:53high level decide where that money is

15:55given to and then we enact laws that are

15:58specific to the town. And you may say,

16:00why might that matter? Well, if you

16:03didn't go to town meeting a few years

16:04ago, if you're new or whatever, you may

16:06recall there was a very large renovation

16:08project at the library next door. That

16:11vote lost by about six votes. So if if

16:15three or four voters had changed their

16:16mind or if seven or 10 voters who who

16:19want were in favor had attended that

16:21could have passed. We then had a revote

16:24on that because citizens came back and

16:26said we'd like to have a special town

16:28meeting um to try again. Whether that

16:31was a good idea or not, I'll leave to

16:32the voters as a whole. And then the

16:35voters came and overwhelmingly rejected

16:37it. And my sense of having run that

16:39meeting was that many people thought we

16:42already had a vote at this. why are we

16:43being asked to do it again? And so it

16:45lost overwhelmingly.

16:46Now, I know there's controversy a little

16:48bit about the fact that the town bought

16:50what's now the community center

16:51building. That vote passed by about 12

16:54votes. So again, if about seven or so

16:57people had changed their vote or if 15

16:59people who were against it had shown up,

17:01maybe it would have gone another way. So

17:04regardless of how you feel about these

17:06projects, there are certainly cases

17:08regardless of how many times it's 150 to

17:1120 or 200 to 30 or whatever, there are

17:14times when every individual vote

17:16actually matters a great deal. And I

17:18hope that everybody who is concerned

17:21about either their tax amount or where

17:23their taxes are being allocated to or

17:26what laws they're in town will try to

17:28pay attention to what's going on at town

17:29meeting and we'll consider taking us up

17:32on the opportunity for us to be our own

17:34citizen legislators.

17:36So with that said, I'm just going to get

17:38some of the jargon. So, when I go

17:39through the the specific warrant for the

17:42special town meeting that's coming up at

17:447 o'clock at the high school on October

17:4519th, I just want to go over some of the

17:47terminology because town meeting has

17:49existed um since actually well before

17:52there was a United States. And in fact,

17:54today is town meeting day uh proclaimed

17:57by the governor last year. October 8th

17:59is actually the anniversary of what is

18:01believed to be the very first town

18:03meeting in Massachusetts. And so we can

18:05all say we're here and we can have

18:06hopefully have a happy town meeting day.

18:09But going back, I'm sure you all

18:11celebrated and had wild parties uh at

18:13home or you're like me and didn't

18:15remember that until yesterday. Uh so

18:17anyway, so let's just talk about

18:18terminology. Uh there are four things

18:20required for a town meeting to be held.

18:23One of them is there has to be a

18:24moderator. If I'm not there, then the

18:26voters get to choose someone to act in

18:28my place. There needs to be a town

18:30clerk. If Deb can't be there, the the MA

18:34meeting has to choose assistant town

18:36clerk. Again, my job is to run the

18:38meeting. The town clerk's job is to

18:40essentially administer the people who

18:42are checking in the voters and to take

18:44the official minutes of the meeting. So,

18:45that's two of the four. The third thing

18:47is there has to be a warrant. The

18:49warrant has to be approved by the select

18:51board and depending on whether it's an

18:53annual town meeting or whether it's a

18:55special town meeting, the warrant has to

18:57be discussed and voted upon and

18:59technically closed which means the the

19:02agenda is set by the select board. And

19:05then this is actually a real copy that I

19:07have. And then the rules for once the

19:09warrant is closed is it has to be posted

19:12in some public locations and a signed

19:14copy has to be sent to me as the

19:16moderator. So, this is all seems like a

19:18very archaic dance from back in the 17

19:20or 1800s. But what's the purpose? The

19:24warrant, if you think of it in modern

19:26terms, is the agenda. You've probably

19:28all seen on CNN or whatever news channel

19:30you want, there's things called town

19:32halls, and people get confused all the

19:34time, especially if they're not from

19:35this part of the world. A town hall may

19:38be a place where people yell over each

19:39other and rahrh and do chanting and

19:41things like that. But no, as I said, a

19:44town meeting is a me is a collective

19:46meeting of the legislative body and the

19:49warrant sets the topics that can be

19:52discussed and that can be acted upon by

19:54the voters inside that legislative

19:56session. So when we talk about warrant,

19:59think of it as the agenda for your

20:00meeting and and when we talk about the

20:03warrant article, that means that the

20:05only thing that can be legitimately

20:07talked about and voted on is the topic

20:10in the warrant. And depending on the

20:12wording of the topic in the warrant,

20:14there can be bounds of action or what I

20:16call in moderator speak the scope of the

20:19action that can be taken. So if you

20:21think about it, the word warrant comes

20:23from the same root as the ter as the

20:24word warn. So when town meetings first

20:28began, the warrant was essentially

20:30warning the inhabitants of the town. In

20:32fact, the language is still there. To

20:35any constable in town of Westboro in the

20:36county of Worcester, greetings. In the

20:38name of the Commonwealth of

20:39Massachusetts, you are directed to

20:41notify and warn the inhabitants of the

20:43town of Westboro qualified to vote in

20:45elections and town affairs to act upon

20:47the following articles. And then there's

20:49a date, time, and place. So the warrant

20:52tells us

20:54if you can help can help you decide

20:56whether you want to attend or not. So,

20:58for instance, there is no article on

21:01this special town meeting that talks

21:02about perhaps buying another ambulance

21:04or buying a police car. If someone

21:07stands up and says, "Mr. Moderator, I'd

21:08like to move that the town al raise an

21:10appropriate $500,000 for two police

21:13cars," I can essentially reject that

21:15action because the town has not been

21:17warned that we may do that. Similarly,

21:21if there is a if there was a very

21:23specifically worded article that said

21:26vote to essentially uh let's just say

21:28something said somebody said we'd like

21:30to have an article to maybe raise

21:32$100,000 to buy a new truck for the DPW.

21:36If somebody said, "Mr. Moderator, I'd

21:38like to amend that article to allocate

21:40$250,000

21:41to maybe buy two trucks or whatever." If

21:44the language of the article just says to

21:47see if the town will vote to raise and

21:49appropriate $100,000, I can say no,

21:51that's out of scope. The town has been

21:53warned that we may here act on $100,000,

21:56but they have not been warned that we

21:58may spend 200 or $250,000. Now, of

22:01course, you have to be careful because

22:02oftentimes so we don't get caught up in

22:05that. The warrant will say that to see

22:08if the town will vote to raise an

22:10appropriate $100,000 or such sum as town

22:12meeting they approve that opens up

22:14Pandora's box. The amendments can go

22:17down, they can go up as long as it's on

22:18that topic. So, we'll talk about that a

22:20little bit later. So, anyway, that's the

22:22that's the jargon. And I just want to

22:24let you know that's why sometimes people

22:26may want to accomplish something at a

22:28town meeting, but it has to be

22:29specifically an action in order to be

22:32voted on and for me to accept the

22:34motion. It has to be something that's in

22:35the topic and within the bounds of the

22:37article that's warned the town what

22:39we're going to talk about. So with that

22:41said,

22:43let's just talk about the special town

22:45meeting warrant copy here. Don't worry,

22:48I'm not going to read the whole thing,

22:49especially because one of them is a

22:50zoning article. It's about 10 pages. Um,

22:52so anyway, there's eight articles. Just

22:54going to do one slide per article. And

22:56I'm, again, this is my attempt to fairly

22:58summarize what's going to be asked of

23:00the town. If you have questions that are

23:02require more details, I'll do what I

23:03can, but I may just refer you to the

23:05proponents of the articles who can

23:07advocate for their behalf. I'm just

23:08trying to fairly represent um what's

23:11been what I've heard presented at

23:12various meetings in town. So, the first

23:14article is fiscal year 2027, which we're

23:17in now. Our town runs on a fiscal year

23:19that starts July 1st uh of one year and

23:21ends June 30th. And the number so

23:24associated with the fiscal year is the

23:26end year. So starting July 1st and

23:28ending June 30th, 2027. Article one is

23:31essentially related to some budget

23:33adjustments. One of the reasons Westboro

23:35has a regularly scheduled uh October

23:38special town meeting is so after the new

23:40fiscal year starts and after people have

23:42started to resolve out the previous uh

23:44fiscal year's budget and start the new

23:45one, there can be action on making some

23:47tweaks and some changes to things that

23:49were voted upon at the March town

23:51meeting. So here there's a chart and I'm

23:54sure if you go to the town meeting

23:55you'll see it. There's a chart that

23:57essentially has a number of things where

23:58there are ups and downs. The good news

24:00for the voters or at least for most of

24:02the voters that talk to me is that

24:04overall this is a net reduction of

24:0541,000 of about again these are these

24:08are uh rough numbers because it's what

24:10I've seen talked about but I think all

24:12of these articles say or such other

24:14amount as town meeting may approve. So

24:16there's one thing one thing you may not

24:19know if you go to the town meetings you

24:20might have heard this in passing. Um, it

24:23is possible for some students in town to

24:24forego going to West Bro High School and

24:26either go to places like the Aset Valley

24:28Regional Technical High School or in a

24:30couple of specific cases, there's an

24:31agricultural high school elsewhere in

24:33town that some students are interested

24:34to going to instead of Westboro High. It

24:37turns out that after the March town

24:39meeting, um, the town found out that

24:41there was another student from town who

24:42wanted to go to an out of town

24:44agricultural high school. And since the

24:46town gets build essentially for the

24:48tuition uh per student, then the town

24:51needs more money to pay for that. Um so

24:53there's one thing. There's also a

24:55request in there for additional funds

24:56for information technology. Uh this has

24:59to do, I believe, with some license fees

25:01um uh for some things where vendors have

25:04uh changed uh have essentially phased

25:06things out and put things in. So there's

25:07a little bit of extra money asked for

25:09that. Um, there's some reduced tax fund

25:11uh tax funding for West Bro TV. As I

25:14recall, Westbrow TV uh received more

25:17money than was expected through some of

25:19their renegotiation uh with some of the

25:22uh the in town cable TV providers and

25:25therefore the amount requested to raise

25:27and appropriate from tax money can go

25:28down because there was that. Can you

25:30just hang on, let me finish this. Uh and

25:32then there's also a reduction in the

25:34waste management enterprise fund. And

25:36here's a case where um the usage of uh

25:39of waste at the transfer station has

25:42been less than expected. So there's an

25:44ability there's a projected ability for

25:46for the town to be able to spend less

25:48there now. Can you I'll relay your

25:50question to the microphone. What's your

25:51question?

25:52>> Just can you speak more closely?

25:54>> Oh, you Oh, really? I thought I had a

25:55loud boommy voice. All right, I'll aim

25:56it up. Sorry about that. Thank you. Is

25:58that better?

25:59>> Yeah.

25:59>> I'll try to use my loud boommy voice. My

26:02children should love that. And as I put

26:03in the lower lefthand corner, uh, this

26:05vote will require a majority vote. Um,

26:09any questions about that?

26:12Okay. The second article has to do with

26:14a fire department union contract. Um,

26:16one of the things that happens

26:18occasionally is that the the the

26:20contracts uh that the town has are

26:22typically done on a fiscal year basis.

26:24Sometimes by the March annual town

26:26meeting, the collective bargaining

26:28action agreements have been reached. And

26:30so the amount that the departments feel

26:32it will take to fund that contract is

26:35put in the budget that's acted upon at

26:36the annual town meeting this year. In

26:38the case of the fire one of the fire

26:40firefighters unions, um the negotiations

26:43had not been finished at the time uh of

26:45the uh annual town meeting. My

26:48understanding is that the town does not

26:49preemptively include any sort of

26:51position on what they think the

26:53resolution of that is. So they just

26:54leave it at the previous contracts

26:56amount. And this time there was an

26:58agreement that uh calls for uh some

27:00increases in firefighter payments. And

27:03so this request is going to be for some

27:06additional money for the fire department

27:07salary and wages to essentially fund

27:09that renegotiated contract. As before,

27:12it's a raise and appropriate I believe.

27:14Um so it requires a majority vote.

27:18>> And yes, Tom.

27:20>> So we've had two requires majority

27:22votes,

27:23>> but having been to previous town

27:25meetings, there's a threshold where

27:27something requires more vote.

27:29>> Okay. So, the question is, we've seen so

27:31far two articles, majority vote. Why is

27:34it or where is it that some articles

27:36require a larger what's called a quantum

27:39of vote, typically a two-thirds vote?

27:41The answer to that is um most actions by

27:45a town meeting because it's the

27:46legislative body acting on money raised

27:48and appropriated this year just require

27:52a majority vote. However, there are some

27:54actions. The usual actions are borrowing

27:57money. Borrowing money essentially the

27:59town is committing the town to for

28:01future town meetings to fund the payment

28:03of that loan. So remember, if I go to

28:05the store and put down $20 and walk out

28:08with groceries, I can say that's my

28:10income from this year and here it is and

28:12it's out of my pocket. However, if I buy

28:14a new car, I may be committing myself to

28:16payments for four or five years. Now at

28:18the town level when we t tend to borrow

28:21money it's usually for a lot of money

28:22building schools um updating the water

28:26uh water or sewer or whatever. So

28:29because those are actions by a single

28:32town meeting that is in effect binding a

28:34future town meeting to allocate money to

28:36pay off the debt. Um the solution to

28:39that historically has been to require a

28:40twothirds vote. So that would mean

28:43twothirds of the town agrees that it's

28:46okay for us to bind these payments to

28:48future town meetings. Another case where

28:51it's typically twothirds vote is zoning

28:53bylaws. And zoning bylaws, think of it,

28:56if you change a zoning bylaw, people can

28:58start acting in response to that zoning

29:00bylaw as soon as the zoning bylaw passes

29:03muster from the attorney general or gets

29:05approval. Once that process starts,

29:08people could start building, taking out

29:10building permits and doing things. And

29:12once they legally do what they do, then

29:16typically those actions, if they're

29:18legal under the zoning of the time, the

29:20day the building permit was taken out,

29:23um those actions will be grandfathered

29:25in for the future. So zoning changes are

29:27also considered forwardlooking and

29:30binding the towns uh what you can and

29:33can't do with property for uh for years

29:36to come. And so again historically the

29:38solution to that problem has been to say

29:41let's make sure twothirds of the voters

29:42at the time feel that that's the right

29:44thing to do. Those are the two most

29:46common ones and whatever. So, but most

29:49and most of the articles that have to do

29:52with the uh the here and now um

29:55essentially are majority votes. I guess

29:57I will just uh specify general bylaws

30:02can be or just take a majority vote. And

30:03the theory is a general bylaw really has

30:06to do with what what can you do right

30:08here right now? Like I believe we have a

30:10general bylaw that says certain types of

30:12motorcraft aren't allowed I think on

30:14Lake Chanty. I don't remember the I

30:16might be wrong about the details, but

30:18the idea is if the town votes that maybe

30:22for a town meeting or two, that will be

30:24the law. You can't do that. However, a

30:28future town meeting could say, "Oh, that

30:29was a bad idea. Let's undo it." And so,

30:31you're not binding a We're not saying by

30:33by preventing watercraft from being on

30:36Mil Pond or on Lake Chanty or whatever

30:38that for all time in memorial that

30:40nobody gets grandfathered in. It could

30:42be that for as long as that bylaw is

30:43there, that particular thing is okay to

30:45do. But at any future town meeting, it

30:47could be rescended and it goes and it

30:49changes the behavior. So that's the

30:51general theory behind why general bylaws

30:53don't require a twothirds vote.

30:56Okay. Article three is a real exciting

30:59one. Um moving essentially leftover

31:01money from the 250th an American

31:03Revolution uh anniversary committee to a

31:06new gift account. Again, a lot of this

31:08and sometimes people sort of roll their

31:10eyes at town meeting because we have to

31:12deal with minutiae, but it's the

31:13legislative body and I think most voters

31:16would rather have control over what

31:17happens than to seed that control uh

31:19where they might not uh have quite as as

31:22much oversight of it. And with articles

31:25like this, we always hope that either

31:26there are good questions that make us

31:28wonder why or that it all goes very

31:30quickly. So, here's what's happened. And

31:32this this happens every every few years.

31:34There was a 250th anniversary uh

31:37American Revolution anniversary

31:38committee. They did some fundraising.

31:40They raised money. They spent money. It

31:42turns out that they spent less money

31:43than they raised. So now there's money

31:46sitting in a bank account somewhere in

31:47the town's in in the 250th uh

31:50anniversary committee's line item in the

31:53town ledger. um that money can only be

31:56used for the purposes of that committee

31:58because once that that's why that's why

31:59all of the things you vote on have to

32:01have if their money has to have a dollar

32:03amount and a purpose because once that

32:05dollar amount is voted and for that

32:07purpose nobody can spend that money

32:08except for that purpose. So we have

32:10about $3,000 sitting in a bank somewhere

32:14and it can't be spent because that

32:17committee is essentially dissolved. So

32:19what can a town do? Well, part of us as

32:21a legislator says that well only town

32:23meeting can change the purpose of the

32:26use of the money. Um the town manager

32:28can't do it. The select board can't do

32:29it. School committee can't do it. Even

32:30that committee's former members can't do

32:32it. They have to come back to town

32:33meeting. And in this case, there's a

32:35very simple request which is to say that

32:37money was raised for for essentially

32:40civic events such as the uh block party

32:43that we had this year um right before

32:46the 4th of July. And so the the motion

32:49that I expect to be made will be to

32:51transfer this money to a new gift

32:52account that will be administered uh by

32:55a group the slight board authorizes for

32:57similar purposes which is for civic

32:59events in the future. And again it's

33:01just saying we got this money. How do we

33:03want to allocate the money and it

33:05requires a review?

33:08>> Yeah. What happens if an article like

33:10that is just flat out rejected?

33:14The the question is what happens if it

33:16got rejected? The money would continue

33:18to sit there interested but couldn't be

33:21spent. In fact, occasionally what you'll

33:23see is the the town finance team will

33:26find that there's four or five articles

33:28with money like this and they will

33:29bundle them together and say, "Well,

33:313,000 here, 2,000 here. This is if

33:34there's articles left over um that whose

33:36purpose is no longer necessary," then

33:39they can say, "Well, we've got these

33:40four articles. we'd like to bundle this

33:42$20,000 to pay for this and they can do

33:44that.

33:44>> So there's no default that such funds go

33:48to what is sometimes referred to as

33:52>> extra cash for yes. No, in the case of

33:55these particular funds, these funds were

33:58raised for a particular reason and so

34:00they're in the town's financial ledger

34:03as this committee's money for their

34:04purpose. It's different than a budget

34:06and I think what you're referring to is

34:08at the end of the at the end of the year

34:10um those budgets that we act upon

34:13essentially if there's unspent money in

34:15those budgets that essentially becomes

34:17unspent money but there and I don't I

34:19would have to defer to the finance team

34:21or the town manager for the actual

34:23formal wording but budgets are a little

34:25different at the end of the year those

34:27go away those the the motion to approve

34:30the budgets specifically says it's for

34:34the it's for the salaries, wages, and

34:36expenses of the town during that fiscal

34:38year. And so at the end of the fiscal

34:40year, the authorization goes away, which

34:43means the money then gets swept into

34:46essentially it's a leftover account that

34:48then has to get rolled up into reported

34:51to by the finance team to the department

34:53of revenue who then has to certify for

34:56cash which happens like in October,

34:58November. And that means it's

34:59essentially it's like a mini audit that

35:01says this amount of money was authorized

35:03by John. This amount was left over.

35:05These accounts all roll up to this

35:06amount of money. That amount of money

35:08gets freed up and becomes

35:11uh becomes certified free cash that then

35:14sits in a different account and then

35:16again town has to decide how to spend

35:18it. So these are all the big reason sort

35:21of the the inside baseball

35:23financial

35:25that again I've only learned over the

35:26years.

35:28Yeah, just 3,000 bucks.

35:31>> Yeah.

35:32>> Was it raised? Was this town's money

35:35that went was like 5,000? They said

35:372,000 of it.

35:39>> Yeah. The question is, was this the the

35:40town's money or not? This is where I

35:42don't know. I'd have to I know Sean

35:43knows. I don't recall if this I I know

35:46the write up of the article says some of

35:48it was raised. So, I think some of it

35:50was donations, but I'm but I'm not sure

35:52what percentage they should. So I think

35:56was was the last time we were updated

35:58the 300th

36:00>> the there was a 300th anniversary

36:02committee back in 2017.

36:04>> So it originally comes from that

36:05committee and then from there it was

36:08transferred to the spirit committee.

36:10Unfortunately the way the spirit

36:11committee was created initially made it

36:14very difficult to actually spend money.

36:17So, it sat with the spirit committee for

36:19a while and then we came up with the

36:22idea of the 250th anniversary party and

36:24we transferred that money over to them.

36:26So, I use roughly 30,000 at the

36:29beginning of the year and now there's

36:31three left and this is going to go

36:37by the recreation commission

36:40in the future.

36:43So again, lots of details, but a key

36:45thing to point out of all of these is

36:47that once the money is is received by a

36:50town department, unless it comes through

36:51a pass that says, you know, like grant

36:53money says you use by these departments,

36:55it sits with them. But if this is money

36:56that's either donations to the town or

36:58taxpayer money, it sits somewhere until

37:00the town meeting says what do we do?

37:02Which is fine. So again, sometimes a

37:04little confusing. Um, but me, I feel

37:06better knowing that at least a large

37:08group of people has to decide what to do

37:10rather than finding out it's being done.

37:12It essentially allows some transparency

37:14of what it's being used for, even if it

37:15takes a few minutes.

37:18So, article four, uh, this we're now

37:21getting complications. So, article four

37:23is a request to transfer some money to

37:25the affordable housing trust fund. And

37:27this requires a little bit of a you have

37:29to sort of read the storytelling in the

37:31article information. and I'll try to

37:32summarize and it prep you for what I've

37:34learned from listening to presentations

37:35by the affordable housing trust over the

37:38years and from the select board and from

37:39previous town meeting actions. Uh for

37:42those of you who who may have watched

37:44all this happen over the past however

37:46many years it's been when PY Homes first

37:49won the bid to essentially develop

37:51what's now called the Del Web Chanty

37:53Lake uh building it over by Lake Chanty.

37:56So the state had the land town bought

37:59the part down by Lake Johny and the the

38:02upper part was essentially had a

38:03competitive bidding project and PY homes

38:05um essentially won the bid and came up

38:07with a plan that we throw

38:08>> Can't hear you.

38:09>> Sorry, can't hear you. All right, I'll

38:10lean right in. Thank you. Just amazing.

38:13I need money. So, um, so when PY Homes

38:16won the bid in develop, sorry,

38:18developing the Del Web John Lake

38:20building, um, the original plan was that

38:23that was going to be a 55 plus community

38:26with some affordable housing. And again,

38:28I'm not a lawyer. I won't get all the

38:30details right, but as as it turned out,

38:32there was a commitment in their

38:33agreement that said a certain level of

38:36affordable housing units had to be in

38:38that community or the PY homes company

38:41would have to contribute a certain

38:43amount of money uh in mitigation from

38:45the fact that they did not provide

38:47affordable housing in those units. Well,

38:50my understanding is it turned out that

38:51they were not able to provide that

38:53amount of uh either they didn't want to

38:55or they weren't able to provide the

38:57affordable housing units. So over the

38:59past few years um $1.4 million has been

39:03put in this mitigation fund and then

39:06every year a certain amount is

39:07essentially paid by all paid by this

39:11mitigation fund and then the town

39:13meeting action has to say what does this

39:16fund do is what is this fund used for?

39:19The original agreement with multi home

39:21said this mitigation fund was going to

39:23be used to mitigate the fact that they

39:25did not provide affordable housing. And

39:27so the the obvious place to move that

39:30money is that every year when the

39:32mitigation funds become available, um

39:35the money for that is transferred by

39:38town meeting action into the affordable

39:40housing trust fund. Um and so this is

39:42the last year of this mitigation fund.

39:45And so there's $200,000 plus some

39:47interest that's available and we'll find

39:49out the exact amount that I found. Um

39:52but essentially the agreed upon schedule

39:53for this is that PY has made their last

39:56contribution of $200,000 and this will

39:59be our final action on this particular

40:01mitigation fund to move the money into

40:03the affordable housing trust. The

40:04affordable housing trust was also

40:06created by a previous town meeting and

40:08it has a membership and a charge of what

40:10they can and spend money on. Um and so

40:13if this require if this receives

40:16positive action uh that money will be

40:17moved into the affordable housing trust

40:19and the affordable housing trust will

40:21work to determine the best way to use

40:23that uh to enhance affordable housing in

40:25Westboro. And again since this is a

40:27transfer of funds it requires a majority

40:30vote.

40:32Make sense? Okay.

40:36Article five, establishing a revolving

40:38fund. another one that just requires a

40:40little explanation. Um, and just having

40:41listened to the finance committee

40:42meeting, I know it also leads to a

40:44little confusion. So, I'll try to

40:45explain the story behind the story. So,

40:48the police department does have a

40:50firearms training facility. I believe

40:51that's over behind the DPW uh building.

40:54Um, that's parallel to Route 9. I think

40:57Oak Street maybe might be where it is.

40:59I'm not exactly sure. I forgot. Um, so

41:01anyway, police department has a training

41:03facility. there's a belief that other

41:05towns may want to use that training

41:07facility. And if that's the case, uh the

41:10belief is it's a town resource. The town

41:12paid for it. The town funds some of the

41:14funds the maintenance and development of

41:16it. Um and so it wouldn't necessarily be

41:19in the best interests of uh of us of

41:21voters in Westboro to let other towns

41:23use it for free. However, the way it

41:26used now is that if they if somebody

41:28wanted to charge to use it, there's no

41:30mechanism for for funds to be given uh

41:34for use of the facility without them

41:36just going into essentially what was was

41:38called free cash, which means it could

41:40be used on anything. Now, we have a

41:42number of revolving funds in town that

41:45essentially allow money to be it's used

41:47for a particular purpose to then be

41:49taken out without extra town meeting to

41:52be used in a similar purpose. So, for

41:54instance, there's an ambulance fund. If

41:56any of you are ever in the unfortunate

41:58position where you or your insurance

41:59company has had to uh pay to use the

42:02town ambulance, if there's a charge

42:03associated with that, my understanding

42:05is that charge goes into an ambulance

42:07fund. And then whenever we at towns to

42:10buy an ambulance, um some of the money

42:13is usually taken out of that fund and

42:15used so we don't have to raise

42:16appropriate or borrow money to buy an

42:18ambulance at its whole cost. Essentially

42:20the think of it as this way the users of

42:23the ambulance indirectly help fund

42:26replacing the ambulance when its end of

42:27life is reached. Well the idea behind

42:30this is first of all no one expects this

42:33third party use of the of the police

42:36firearms facility to fully fund the

42:39operation and maintenance of it.

42:40However, it would be nice to get some of

42:42that funding back. So a vote to

42:44establish this fund a doesn't raise any

42:47taxpayers money. It creates a ledger

42:50entry in the town's schooling that says

42:52if we want to charge N dollars to some

42:54other town to have their police come use

42:56our training facility, that money can

42:58get paid by that town, can be put into

43:00this fund. And then the authorization

43:03for this fund says the chief of police

43:05may take up to $100,000 per year out of

43:08that fund to use to maintain repair uh

43:12the the training facility. So it creates

43:14a little cycle that does not require as

43:16much downbeating action. And there's

43:18aluminum on what can go in and there's

43:20aluminum on what can go out uh just to

43:22essentially establish some sort of uh

43:25checks and balances. But I want to

43:27emphasize because this is a point of

43:28confusion. The fact that it says that

43:30the police chief can use up to $100,000

43:32per year, that would only be if there

43:34were $100,000 in that fund. This action

43:37would just establish the fund. There'd

43:39be nothing in it. That essentially just

43:41is a cap. And if let's say the fund was

43:43wildly successful and it got $150,000

43:47per year, that means the police chief

43:49could spend $100,000, but they would

43:51have to go to town meeting, I don't

43:53remember which, to essentially say it

43:55was only to spend more than $100,000 in

43:57any given year. Question.

43:58>> Yeah. Uh will the police chief offer

44:05any kind of rationale for that number

44:09for the funds to approve and maintain?

44:12So I don't know if it would be the

44:14police chief. Um I

44:17maybe the town manager or the town

44:18finance team it will have that from what

44:21I'm heard it's just arbitrary amount

44:26of times they are it has to do with how

44:28much they actually expect to take in and

44:31sometimes what are the costs you know if

44:33there's no way that $100 or $1,000

44:35matters then maybe it has to be a

44:37certain amount but I I assume that's a

44:39question that hopefully will be answered

44:40or could be asked if it isn't uh during

44:42the presentation but Yeah. Yes.

44:45>> Um so

44:47I'm I'm just showing another component

44:50of town meeting. Um generally comes up

44:53with um you asking the select board how

44:58do you vote? Are you asking the the

45:01finance committee for their vote? Um so

45:09the select board who who filters and

45:13comes up with the articles as they are.

45:17>> So the question is so the question is

45:18basically articles like this or any

45:20other article how do they appear? Well

45:23typically they appear because an ongoing

45:25part of what each department does what

45:27the town management board do is what are

45:29the problems with the town? What are

45:31things that you know could be

45:32streamlined? What are things we could

45:33do? and then either a department head or

45:36a town manager or a select board work

45:37with people to come up with the draft

45:40wording. Uh draft words are circulated

45:43so everyone in town can read them and

45:44ask questions and sometimes it just

45:47comes through the way it was originally

45:48written. Sometimes there's questions

45:50that need to get tweaked and things like

45:52that along the way. But at the end of

45:53the day, unless it's a citizens petition

45:56where so many citizens have said, "We

45:57want this particular wording of this

45:59particular article, the select board or

46:02for a town elected person or a town

46:04elected body can essentially say we'd

46:07like to bring this forward to the town

46:08and let them vote."

46:10Is there a question for that? Yes,

46:12you're right.

46:13>> Yes. Uh, two questions about this

46:15particular article.

46:17one is the bridge chief, the sole

46:22um person that will decide or

46:26how to spend that money, however the

46:28money, the the amount is. Number two,

46:32will there be an oversight over the

46:36expenditures or expenditures of that of

46:41that of the area? Um, so the question

46:44for those who couldn't hear at home, uh,

46:45the question was, does this article mean

46:48that the police has the sole authority

46:50to spend this money? And then the the

46:53secondary question is, is there

46:55oversight for this? I'm just going to I

46:57don't want to take too long, but let me

46:58just see what I can find here. Um, let's

47:01see what the wording is. It says

47:06LA provide for fees, charges,

47:08reimbursements, and other amounts

47:09collected from the use of the police

47:10department firearms training facility to

47:12be credited to a separate account and

47:14extended without further appropriation

47:16by the chief of police for expenses

47:18associated with the operation

47:19maintenance, repair, improvement, and

47:21equipment of the facility and to

47:23establish an annual expenditure limit of

47:25$100,000 with such expenditure limit to

47:28apply from fiscal year to fiscal year

47:30until town meeting revises the and prior

47:32to June 30th in any fiscal year. Um so

47:37to me that means first of all that yes

47:39the police chief is essentially given

47:41the authority um to spend this money.

47:44However the spending of that so deciding

47:48when to spend what to spend it on is

47:51limited by the fact that these monies

47:53can only be used for expenses associated

47:56with the operation maintenance repair

47:58improvement and equipping of the

47:59facilities. So that's one set of

48:01oversight. And so um the police chief

48:04works directly for the select board and

48:07sort of dotted line with the town

48:08manager. They're also there when you

48:11when you actually fill out an expense

48:13form to pay a bill. Um the department

48:16head has to sign it saying that this is

48:18a legitimate expense under this under

48:21this account. Um, and so they're

48:24essentially signing it and there are

48:26checks and balances for the finance team

48:29to say, are you sure that's one, you

48:31know, making sure you're not buying car

48:32or something like that? And then, uh, so

48:34there are there are checks and balances

48:36in the change of command either through

48:38the finance team flagging something or

48:40from the town manager like board asking

48:42for clarification. Just to follow up,

48:45will there be a committee that will sort

48:47of o oversees this uh this uh this

48:52place?

48:53>> Uh my understanding is there is not a

48:55committee that oversees the training

48:57facility. um the select board or the

49:00town manager um may know more about

49:02whether there needs to be one but I mean

49:04we have we have a number of these

49:06revolving funds and typically the I

49:08won't say you can't disagree but

49:10typically the way these these operated

49:13is that by department heads putting

49:14their signature on documents saying this

49:16has been spent legitimately um they're

49:18putting it off a lot on the line to to

49:20not have it spent essentially since the

49:23town books you know are reviewed by the

49:25finance team by the board by the town

49:27manager Thank you. Yes.

49:29>> Yeah. Well, part of the problem is that

49:33police chief could view that as I must

49:36spend $100,000 per year because he

49:39doesn't want to see that cap reduced.

49:43That's an inclination that is common

49:46among government agencies with budgets

49:48that they need to find ways to at least

49:52spend what their current budget

49:54appropriation is so that they can are

49:57for an increase. Um, but that can result

50:00in our having a what I'll call a plush

50:04firearms facility the same way that the

50:07Massachusetts turns back is a plush high

50:11because of its tax revenues. So what is

50:14there regarding South? Well, this is

50:16where I will play the card. I'm not here

50:17to advocate for this. I'm explaining

50:19what it is, but I will also just say

50:21there is nothing in this article that

50:23says that there is any tax money used.

50:25In fact, it specifically says for this

50:28particular line item, no tax money will

50:30ever be put in or will not be put in

50:32here because this is only in theory. If

50:35if a reasonable expenditure on an annual

50:37basis is only $50,000

50:41and they raise enough money for there to

50:43be $100,000 available, that extra cash

50:48should go back to the town for general

50:50purposes or free cash.

50:54It's up to

50:54>> Is that right? It's up to the voters.

50:57It's up to the voters to to prove this

50:59or not. People think $100,000 is wrong.

51:01Right now, there is no fund. Right now,

51:03there is no money. So, there's two ways

51:05to look at it. Either lower the money,

51:07lower the There's a couple of actions

51:09that the town can take. The town can

51:11reject this and just say if it charges

51:13for it, goes in free or the general the

51:17or lower it, vote it like this. See what

51:20happens over the years. Because remember

51:22every year the town can the voters can

51:24ask how much is in that account? You

51:26know likewise as part of the town

51:28management slight oversight of the

51:30entire budget. Um one would imagine that

51:32they may say hey there's a lot in here.

51:33Can you find a way to spend it? And

51:35second another thing that the voters

51:37could do would be to say let's start it

51:39out by saying that only 50,000 a year or

51:41some other arbitrary number that equally

51:43equally arbitrary could vote on that.

51:45Well, that's why I was asking whether

51:46there's any uh

51:50documentation support for how the

51:53$100,000.

51:55>> Yeah. So, I would just say since I don't

51:57have the knowledge and I take position,

51:59I would say if you're interested in that

52:01board police chief, I'm ask

52:06amendment at the town meeting and lower

52:08it to

52:09>> if anybody wanted to do that, they can

52:10do it. Yes. There's nothing that

52:12prevents it. It is up to the voters. And

52:14if if people if uh if people want to

52:16know is that a of is that just a

52:19complete guess or what is the purpose of

52:21100? We'll have questions and we'll see

52:23how the voters choose choose to proceed.

52:27Next article home petition. This one uh

52:30we're now enter the the phase of having

52:33things that it seems like we voted on

52:35before and in some ways we have but

52:37they're coming back because it's so

52:38exciting. Um, as you may recall a while

52:40back, um, the town meeting authorized

52:43the select board to petition the

52:44legislature to raise the number of

52:46signatures required for a citizens

52:48petition from 10 to 50. Well, it turned

52:50out that the town meeting passed that it

52:52was submitted to the legislature and

52:54then my understanding is that one of the

52:56uh somebody on the I think it was the

52:58state senate staff noticed that there

53:00was some unintended consequences of the

53:03precise wording that was used in that.

53:05And so they came back and asked the

53:07select board says is this what you

53:09really meant or is this what the town

53:11meant or or what have you. And although

53:15again this is my understanding and that

53:16although the original action by town

53:18meeting said that the select board could

53:20approve uh some changes that kept the

53:23spirit of the law. My understanding is

53:25that just to make sure that this is what

53:27the town actually wants. They're

53:29bringing the change a uh their version

53:31of the changed wording that clarifies

53:34some of what was the unintended

53:36consequence back to the town and letting

53:38them vote again. Um so there's uh

53:40there's changed wording um in my review

53:43of it. The change wording seems to

53:45clarify a clause that was either vague

53:48or that essentially said that uh that

53:52what the select board places on an

53:54annual town meeting is either a an

53:58article that they want on or an elective

54:02person or elected body or committee uh

54:05wants on or that have 50 signatures. Um

54:10so it's just clarified wording um asking

54:12for the town uh if they want to to take

54:16that action.

54:17>> Why is it limited to the annual town

54:19meeting as opposed to fall town? Because

54:22the number the question is why is it

54:24limited to the annual town meeting? Well

54:26a special town meeting which all town

54:28meetings other than um an annual town

54:31meeting uh already requires 100

54:34signatures. And so the discussion at the

54:36town meeting that resulted in this was

54:3810 seemed too few

54:41people. There was actually a number of

54:43changes. Some people wanted 100, some

54:45people wanted less than 50. Um and the

54:47town voted for 50. Um and so uh since

54:50the annual town meeting didn't require

54:5210, um the voters seem to think that 50

54:56was a reasonable middle ground. And I

54:59think part of the backstory uh is also

55:02um the research that I helped do that

55:04that led to whether this was doable or

55:06not. The town of Weston had also

55:08received approval from the legislature

55:11to uh up it from 10 to 50. And there

55:14seems to be less certainty about whether

55:16the legislature would want to approve

55:18having 100 for both the animal and the

55:20special.

55:22So again, I'll let the voters decide,

55:23but that's my understanding

55:26like this.

55:29All right, just two more.

55:32All right, this one I'm not going to

55:33read, but I'm just going to talk about a

55:35little bit. This will be the third time

55:37we're talking about the downtown

55:39business district at the town meeting.

55:41Um, it was it was either referred back

55:43from the planning board or rejected. I

55:44don't recall which. I forgot to look it

55:46up. Um so there are significant the

55:48planning board has been reviewing and

55:51proposing significant changes to um what

55:54they I think they call it simplifying

55:56and making it clear and standardizing

55:58what is currently uh the downtown

56:00business district for watch. Um so

56:03couple of town meetings ago um it was

56:06sent back to committee because the

56:07voters thought it needed a little work.

56:09The planning board did some more work

56:11and they came back in the march town

56:13meeting. The Marchtown meeting talked

56:15about this at length and uh at the end

56:18of the day, the March town meeting

56:20approved an amendment to change a line

56:22item um that had been I believe it was a

56:26rowhouse townhouse line item that said

56:29in the downtown town business district.

56:31I believe the planning board had

56:34suggested uh that row houses and town

56:36houses be a yes, which mean which my

56:39understanding means that they would have

56:40been permitted by right, which means

56:42that somebody could have just submitted

56:45um a plan for a downtown business

56:47district uh or part of it. We would

56:50allow town houses and rowouses. There

56:52was significant debate about whether

56:54those should be allowed at all or

56:56whether this they should only be allowed

56:57by special permit. And after a number of

57:00votes, the town meeting voted to proceed

57:03with the main motion changing the yes

57:06for townhouse rowouses from a yes to a

57:09special permit. A vote to change it to

57:11no fail. The town meeting then acted on

57:14the amended motion, which is to leave

57:16that special permit designation. And

57:18then we voted on it. It passed by a

57:20super vote and most of us thought, okay,

57:23we dealt with that. However, it turns

57:26out that when the attorney general

57:28reviewed the action of the town meeting,

57:31um the planning board made a mistake in

57:33its uh in its hearing process where the

57:37hearing I believe was not included. I

57:40think it was not included far enough in

57:42advance of town meeting. Um and there

57:44was a an essentially um the the attorney

57:49general said um if there were no

57:51questions about that from the voters um

57:54or if people can can appeal that um then

57:57it would be rejected and go back for

57:59another vote or if there were no

58:02if there were no people who uh were

58:06against the fact that there was that

58:07procedural error, they let it proceed.

58:09My understanding is that the attorney

58:11general did receive enough uh statements

58:14to say um that the procedural error did

58:17impact from their point of view and so

58:20therefore the planning board is now

58:21asking for reapproval and I will state

58:24that the uh article as printed in the

58:27war does change uh does leave the town's

58:31vote for March of special permit

58:33required for town rowous. So the the

58:36article is in article 7 is asked to vote

58:39on exactly what the final vote from the

58:41March town meeting was. That doesn't

58:43mean it's not without controversy. That

58:45just means there have been no changes

58:46other than for the planning board to

58:48accept the amendment that was made for

58:50the March town meeting. And yet since

58:52this is a zoning Bible, this one

58:54requires a twoth3 vote

58:58and it's many many many pages of which I

59:00don't have all the details. If anyone if

59:03anyone has any questions about the

59:04minutiae or the details of what's in

59:06this downtown business business district

59:09that doesn't recall them from the

59:10previous two times we talked about

59:12meeting I'd suggest you call the town

59:14planner plan six also have is it

59:17majority or

59:18>> no see that's just that's not a zoning

59:21bylaw that's that's essentially

59:23authorizing the select board to addition

59:25to legislation and that's a simple

59:26majority

59:30all right now the this idea. So at this

59:32point a couple weeks ago, everyone said

59:34like, "Okay, this will be a one evening

59:36town meeting for sure."

59:38And then we heard that there were these

59:40things called commander.

59:42So what happened last week uh when the

59:45select board closed the warrant? Um,

59:48there is now an article of 8 that

59:50essentially says that the select board

59:52is going to be requesting the town

59:54meeting to approve a to be specified

59:57bylaw related to unmanned aircraft and

59:59unmanned aircraft systems. So, we've got

1:00:02got Sean here to take over a little bit,

1:00:03but I'll just I'll just set the stage

1:00:05for you. So, the select board closed the

1:00:07warrant. And a couple people have asked

1:00:09me how can how can the warrant be closed

1:00:12where we don't know what that bylaw is,

1:00:14which is why I put the slide in earlier.

1:00:16Remember how we said the board is really

1:00:18just an agenda and is setting the scope

1:00:20of what we can vote on? Well, it's

1:00:22perfectly legitimate for the select

1:00:24board to say we're bringing for the town

1:00:27meetings uh action. We're going to

1:00:30request a bylaw specific topic. So, the

1:00:33wording of the bylaw doesn't have to be

1:00:35known now. It will have to be known word

1:00:38for word by the time a motion is made

1:00:40because a motion for a bylaw requires a

1:00:42specific wording. However, the board

1:00:45itself does not have to have that

1:00:47specific wording. So, the select board

1:00:49has been working diligently along with

1:00:51the town manager, town council, and

1:00:52others. Um, to essentially try to arrive

1:00:54at what the expected exact wording of

1:00:57this bylaw is, and they're going to

1:00:59they're planning to do this next

1:01:00Tuesday, I believe. Um, and they've made

1:01:03a commitment that once they have decided

1:01:05what they're going to bring before the

1:01:07town meeting, um, they will do the best

1:01:09of their ability to publicize it. But I

1:01:11will also ensure assure voters um copies

1:01:15of the exact bylaw will I assume will be

1:01:18distributed and publicized on the town

1:01:20website and Facebook and whatever in far

1:01:22as advanced as we can but worst case it

1:01:24will be seen in detail word for word at

1:01:27the town meeting. Um I I've also been

1:01:30asked once we see what that bylaw is can

1:01:33people make amendments and my cautionary

1:01:35tale is yes they can. But I also advise

1:01:38people that just from following along,

1:01:41you know, this is a complicated subject.

1:01:43We know and the reason I mentioned

1:01:45earlier that there are some things the

1:01:47town can and can't do. People can

1:01:49request amendments to essentially say we

1:01:51don't want to do this, but just because

1:01:54we voted doesn't mean the attorney

1:01:56general doesn't say town can't do that.

1:01:59Um, and maybe there's a separability

1:02:01clause that says the rest of it exists.

1:02:03Um, but the action of the town will all

1:02:06be based on what the town wants to do.

1:02:08But it doesn't mean that whatever we

1:02:09want to do means we can can do it and

1:02:12we'll actually wait to to try to come up

1:02:14with the balance of what the town is

1:02:16legally authorized to control and and

1:02:19what they aren't. And I'm sure town

1:02:20council and the select order town

1:02:21manager will be helping us guide that

1:02:23along the way. So yes, amendments will

1:02:26be made. But I also want to mention the

1:02:28he specifically says that there'll be a

1:02:30bylaw related to unmanned aircraft and

1:02:32unmanned aircraft systems. So it doesn't

1:02:34mean we're just going to willy-nilly

1:02:36change bylaws about anything else.

1:02:39Whatever we talk about is going to have

1:02:40to have to do with unmanned aircraft and

1:02:42unmanned aircraft systems. Other than

1:02:44that, it would be on scope and we'll

1:02:45have to come back and be able to

1:02:46understand. Is there anything that the

1:02:49representative from the select forum who

1:02:51is joining us this evening and perhaps

1:02:54preview as to where he sees this

1:02:58dialogue? I was going to I got one more

1:03:00slide and then I was going to turn it

1:03:01over to Sean say fill us in and then we

1:03:04can go back and any of us can answer

1:03:06questions whether it's from Deb or Sean.

1:03:08But I just want to wrap it up. So eight

1:03:10articles we're going to try to get

1:03:11through them on Monday night October

1:03:1319th. But I always say what kids say if

1:03:16you know the internet slang didn't read.

1:03:18Let's say it didn't pay attention

1:03:19anyway.

1:03:21Join the club. Uh the four Ps

1:03:24participate. I implore you to

1:03:26participate. Every vote matters. Then

1:03:29pay attention. The best way to pay

1:03:31attention is to learn about the process

1:03:32and to learn about the subject matter as

1:03:34much as you can as early as you can

1:03:36because time and time again we see the

1:03:38people and the ideas that make the most

1:03:40difference often are the ones that are

1:03:42talked about before the town meeting. So

1:03:44we as a collective of towns people and

1:03:46voters can work things out. It's not

1:03:49very easy to craft uh uh to craft a

1:03:52particular amendment or to decide how

1:03:54much money to spend all the time ahead

1:03:55of time. The earlier you can participate

1:03:57is possible. Next, I would implore you

1:03:59to prepare. If you intend to speak on an

1:04:02article, prepare your notes and

1:04:03highlights. It's almost always best um

1:04:06to have bullet points or at least say

1:04:08know what you're going to say. Um

1:04:10because you want to get the most out of

1:04:11your time. And again, um our sort of

1:04:13tradition here is that in a speech is

1:04:15limited to 2 and 1/2 minutes. I think

1:04:17we've shown over time that you can

1:04:19communicate a lot in 2 and 1/2 minutes.

1:04:20So, I would say if you're planning on

1:04:22speaking, if you've got the time,

1:04:24practice, you really can communicate a

1:04:26lot in 2 and 1/2 minutes. So with that,

1:04:28I'll say thank you. I'll be here to

1:04:29answer questions. But now what we'll do

1:04:31is since Sean's here and he's got all

1:04:33the inside knowledge tell us Sean tell

1:04:37can you hear that mic? Cuz if if not

1:04:40can you hear me?

1:04:42>> Yes. All

1:04:54right. Look, I don't know if somebody's

1:04:56turning up this mic or if this is stand

1:05:10pull this in tight. All right. How's

1:05:13that?

1:05:14>> Okay.

1:05:16>> Um, so I I will start by saying as a

1:05:19single individual on the select board, I

1:05:22cannot make any decisions independently.

1:05:25So I'm sort of just providing general

1:05:27information and obviously can't state

1:05:29exactly what the board's going to do,

1:05:31right? I don't know. On Tuesday, we are

1:05:34talking about um article number eight

1:05:39and currently we are reviewing uh

1:05:42multiple proposals.

1:05:44Um right now

1:05:47for town meeting, this town meeting, it

1:05:50would have to be a general bylaw for us

1:05:52to bring it forward at this town

1:05:54meeting. So that does then potentially

1:05:59um you know reduce exactly what we can

1:06:02incorporate in this general bylaw. If

1:06:05this were to become a zoning bylaw, if

1:06:08that were the best way to try and handle

1:06:10this, that would then go to the planning

1:06:13board and for you know requirements as

1:06:16to posting in public papers and maybe

1:06:19the town clerk's office and things. So

1:06:21there there wasn't really the time to

1:06:23turn something like that around. Um but

1:06:26it in the future it could be maybe

1:06:29considered as the best avenue

1:06:31potentially for doing this. Um right now

1:06:35there is also discussion today among us

1:06:39potentially also supposed to be meeting

1:06:41for next Thursday in case we don't get

1:06:43through everything on Tuesday. So, um,

1:06:46just to let you know, not super excited

1:06:49about that, but if that's what needs to

1:06:51happen, then that matters because that

1:06:53needs to be posted 2 days in advance.

1:06:55So, it would really need to be posted

1:06:56prior to West meeting on Tuesday. So,

1:07:00um, so you may see that also uh posted

1:07:03potentially in the town meeting website.

1:07:06Um

1:07:09we there are so a lot of times when we

1:07:12look for a new bylaw we review other

1:07:15towns and and what they have done one

1:07:19because a invitation is you know

1:07:22flattering to everybody but also we

1:07:25understand that those bylaws have been

1:07:29affirmed by the attorney general. Every

1:07:31every town's bylaws need to go through

1:07:33the attorney general. And so if we have

1:07:35a template and we're more confident that

1:07:37something is actually going to get

1:07:39approved, uh I would hate to do

1:07:41something in town meeting and then have

1:07:43it, you know, be rejected

1:07:46um and have to start the process all

1:07:48over again. So So we do try and work

1:07:50from a template. Um there isn't a

1:07:55perfect one for this. There are really

1:07:57two towns currently that have bylaws

1:08:00that mention drones. uh one is Foxboro,

1:08:03but that's really related to operations

1:08:06around Jet Stadium. So, not a

1:08:09not the best case there. And then North

1:08:12Reading had one. Theirs was created in

1:08:152017, so sort of prior to commercial

1:08:19delivery and was more private and

1:08:22privacy related and things of that

1:08:24nature. So, we're sort of looking at

1:08:27those, but then looking to add to them

1:08:29potentially as well. to see what we can

1:08:32accomplish. Um, we've also been provided

1:08:35other suggestions that we are

1:08:37considering

1:08:39um and including, you know, talking to

1:08:41our council about, you know, questions

1:08:45and and thoughts around, you know, what

1:08:48is legitimate, what is overbeing.

1:08:51Um, so we're going to be having those

1:08:53open discussions on Tuesday at the

1:08:57select board meeting. We may or may not

1:08:59finalize it Tuesday, potentially

1:09:02speak again Thursday to sort of give

1:09:04people a heads up there. Um, but I'd be

1:09:07willing to take specific questions. I I

1:09:10hate to try and give you too much

1:09:12specifics because it's at the full

1:09:14discussion of the board. Yes. Um, so you

1:09:18mentioned

1:09:19the file of the zoning person. Would

1:09:23would would it be fair to characterize

1:09:26the action since it's so close to town

1:09:29and so close to trying to get started to

1:09:34just delay things enough to get it so

1:09:36that we could get it to the um uh zoning

1:09:40board and go through that process

1:09:42because it's such a lengthy process but

1:09:44it probably has the most bears the most

1:09:48get through that process.

1:09:50>> Yeah. So in terms of looking at at

1:09:52what's happening at the same time,

1:09:55right? So this has been um a complaint's

1:09:59been issued in with the um our building

1:10:03commissioner's

1:10:04uh assessment of this drone facility as

1:10:08an accessory use. So that is then going

1:10:11before the zoning board of appeals.

1:10:14Earliest that will happen is early

1:10:16November.

1:10:18um they would then need to make a

1:10:20determination on that as to whether or

1:10:22not site plan reviewed by the planning

1:10:26board was appropriate or it should have

1:10:27been special permit as this was not an

1:10:30accessory use. So that decision would be

1:10:33made in early November

1:10:35um likely

1:10:38the zoning board isn't going to meet

1:10:41earlier than early November. Whether or

1:10:42not they make a decision at that

1:10:44meeting, I can't say. It may take more

1:10:47than one meeting, I don't know. Um, at

1:10:49that point, it then determines does that

1:10:52potentially go back to the planning

1:10:54board or does it stay with the zoning

1:10:56board. Um, potentially the zoning board

1:11:00could make a full recommendation on it

1:11:02that night. We would know whether or not

1:11:04that was possible, I think, within the

1:11:06next week or so, though, because we we

1:11:09also see

1:11:11um the zoning board looking at that from

1:11:14multiple perspectives. one considering

1:11:16whether this is an accessory use and if

1:11:20they reject that then they would have

1:11:22could potentially then be a decision on

1:11:25the entire site plan that would be a

1:11:27second item boosted to that zoning board

1:11:30agenda. So we would know in advance it

1:11:32potentially has to happen. So is the

1:11:35intent with article 8 to sort of dubtail

1:11:38with a another article that would come

1:11:42up after the 20th or the 19th of

1:11:45another. Now this is I think the select

1:11:49board trying to introduce potentially

1:11:51what it can do outside of that other

1:11:54process.

1:11:57So

1:11:59what it and the town I guess it's a town

1:12:02meeting both what it and the town

1:12:03potentially can do outside of the

1:12:06planning board and zoning board process.

1:12:09Yeah.

1:12:10>> Yeah. I guess I'm just trying to think

1:12:12if

1:12:14the message is that like a twostep

1:12:18process. this first amendment doesn't

1:12:20get caught up in trying to do what the

1:12:23second process would be the same process

1:12:25to speak to part of

1:12:29I this is more while we're waiting for

1:12:31that other process

1:12:34to to be um gone through. We're going to

1:12:38we're going to take another step over

1:12:41here right and see what potentially we

1:12:44can do separately.

1:12:47So that's I think that's the directive

1:12:50the town has given us to you know what

1:12:53can we do um to stop

1:13:01keep this from happening or you know

1:13:03stop.

1:13:05>> So could you characterize how

1:13:09uh this non article

1:13:12like came to fruition? Was it just um a

1:13:16ground swell of of Facebook or something

1:13:21or

1:13:23I mean it it was it was the Tom folks. I

1:13:26wouldn't say it was Facebook. I would

1:13:27say it was emails, it was people coming

1:13:30to the planning board meetings, coming

1:13:32to select board meetings and the

1:13:34feedback we've gotten has been

1:13:36universal. So it's I don't know how many

1:13:39emails I every time it's

1:13:42low triple digits you know immediately

1:13:45reached out to the soil board about this

1:13:47topic um which is I think by far the

1:13:52most we've received by multiples of

1:13:56anything that's in my time on the select

1:13:58board and uh it is 100% in a single on a

1:14:04single side of this. So, um, you know,

1:14:08it's clear what folks would would like

1:14:12us to do if we can, and we're going to

1:14:16sort of

1:14:18I I don't want to make promises, but um,

1:14:21we will do what we can.

1:14:23>> Is there a question back? Question.

1:14:27>> Yes. Could you comment on the scale of

1:14:31some of these unmanned aircraft that are

1:14:34part of the discussion? How big? How

1:14:37loud?

1:14:39>> Um, so they are roughly 5T x 5T 5T by 5T

1:14:45by 5T actually. Um, so they're they're

1:14:47pretty good size. uh if I remember the

1:14:50reported decibb come as stated by Amazon

1:14:54coming in around in the high 50s or 58

1:14:59maybe 50 or 68. So um so around that

1:15:03range

1:15:05um and it's up to 1,000 flights a day.

1:15:101,000 there and back thousand up to a

1:15:13thousand times. So that's the potential

1:15:16and that's initial. So

1:15:19>> we got to stop ordering so many packages

1:15:25from

1:15:28there

1:15:33by

1:15:36the represent

1:15:42to challenge their daughter.

1:15:49issues

1:15:51and um

1:16:00loans

1:16:04today

1:16:11used to be there

1:16:13>> across the country

1:16:15>> doing the maximum a delivery

1:16:18of 1,500

1:16:20per day per delivery service.

1:16:24Is the town are the selection taking

1:16:27this information into their assessment

1:16:30of the situation and their language

1:16:32approaching the um zoning and planning

1:16:37committees to not over I'm not

1:16:40overstating but giving them the um scope

1:16:46of what we're dealing with as a

1:16:48president for the country.

1:16:51So, we're aware of of the what the

1:16:55states are doing essentially requesting

1:16:58the FAA review their environmental

1:16:59impact study. don't they feel it it um

1:17:04you know

1:17:05>> can you be louder please does not assess

1:17:08the impact of potentially what these

1:17:10drones will be and they're asking um if

1:17:13the FAA review that environmental

1:17:15assessment is my understanding

1:17:17>> and I don't know who's familiar there's

1:17:19an organization that's come together in

1:17:21this community called Mass Blue Skies

1:17:24>> and um they are doing a terrific job of

1:17:27informing folks about exactly what is

1:17:29going on here or I I would recommend

1:17:31their website to you. So, we are aware

1:17:34of that um and are and are talking to

1:17:38not only our state legislators but uh

1:17:40state executives

1:17:42um who are in support of opposing this

1:17:46and we're all sort of looking to see

1:17:48what we can do.

1:17:50>> You're working together? Yes. because

1:17:52there could be other federal um actions

1:17:56by the FAA that are not

1:17:59um we're not attacking say um other than

1:18:04um environmental issues that are safety

1:18:07issues and other things that need to be

1:18:11addressed

1:18:15to Sure.

1:18:18Um

1:18:22so I did want to to respond um briefly

1:18:27to the question about was it Facebook?

1:18:30Um and I want to give a shout out to the

1:18:32select board from the very first

1:18:35notification of it. as blackboard

1:18:38members with whom I'm speaking um Sean

1:18:41and especially Mark Silverberg and

1:18:43Patrick Welsh were we need to make sure

1:18:46we understand this. We need to make sure

1:18:48we understand what levers we have. So

1:18:50just a shout out to the board. um

1:18:53relative to the federal issues. Um some

1:18:58of you might know that the federal that

1:19:00the Westboro the Westboro delegation

1:19:05um by Dr. Senator Moore, Rep. Hannah

1:19:09King and me. Um we sent uh a letter to

1:19:14Amazon asking them to pause until all of

1:19:18these questions were resolved.

1:19:21Um, additionally,

1:19:24we as the Westboro delegation reached

1:19:27out to

1:19:29um the legislators for all of the

1:19:33municipalities within the 7 and 1/2 mile

1:19:35radius and we sent a letter to the

1:19:39federal delegation

1:19:41um which would be of course Congressman

1:19:44Jim McGovern, both our senators and um

1:19:47Congresswoman Lori Trhan because some of

1:19:51her communities are in this area. Um,

1:19:54I've been in touch with Congress

1:19:56McGovern's office, Senator Warren's

1:19:58office, and very extensively with

1:20:00Senator Marky's office. Um, Senator

1:20:04Marky's office has just scheduled a

1:20:07meeting with any of the leg with, you

1:20:11know, with us and we have invited any of

1:20:13the legislators in the coverage area and

1:20:16anyone else who's interested to um to

1:20:20attend this briefing will be getting

1:20:22tomorrow from Senator Murphy's office.

1:20:26I'm not sure that there'll be too much

1:20:28to offer that we haven't already

1:20:30discussed. Um,

1:20:32But I did want to also

1:20:35um I was going to ask it as a question

1:20:38to Sean, but to say, you know, do in

1:20:42terms of some of the timelines um one of

1:20:46the things that will be critical about

1:20:48the CDA decision, and I want to stress

1:20:51that the CDA can't, I'm telling you if

1:20:54I'm misspeaking here, can't just vote

1:20:57and say, "Oh, citizens don't want this.

1:21:00Therefore, we look both this way. They

1:21:03have certain legislative using the term

1:21:07I'm picking on precisely, but there are

1:21:08certain standards by which they need to

1:21:11make that decision. And so, um that's

1:21:14that's something that I want to stress.

1:21:17Um, I was also going to say that in

1:21:21terms of the timing of this, the ZBA

1:21:25decision is very critical because if

1:21:29zoning laws are changed,

1:21:32then um this

1:21:36this would potentially be grandfathered

1:21:39in.

1:21:41um if if these zoning regulations get

1:21:45passed and the ZBA votes that it was and

1:21:51that it is um um and I almost forget the

1:21:55word auxiliary use

1:21:56>> accessory

1:21:57>> accessory use I know it's an a word and

1:21:59I want to say ancillary I want to say

1:22:01auxiliary but um accessory use and um

1:22:05Sean tell me if I'm wrong but if the DBA

1:22:11votes that it is an accessory use, then

1:22:15they grandfathered in. If it's um not an

1:22:19accessory use, then the clock starts

1:22:21again. So, that's something that I I

1:22:25think is really important because it

1:22:27would then go and there's a lot of

1:22:29different things that could happen. um

1:22:32most likely if the ZBA votes that um

1:22:38that it's um not that it is an accessory

1:22:43use, Amazon is likely to try to appeal

1:22:46that. Um Sean, is is what I said

1:22:50accurate or are you hearing different

1:22:51things?

1:22:53>> I'm not positive. I I do know that if it

1:22:55if for some reason it did get rejected

1:22:58by either the zoning board or the

1:23:00planning board then potentially could

1:23:02end up in land court and then you sort

1:23:04of you don't know what happens there. So

1:23:06Amazon would have other alternatives if

1:23:09we just attempt to outright reject it.

1:23:12Are there any of your approaches other

1:23:15than um

1:23:17the excessive use being explored? Any

1:23:20other issues that we could possibly have

1:23:23some?

1:23:24>> I I think we'll we'll

1:23:27I don't know.

1:23:29Um

1:23:31I mean we're we're exploring sort of all

1:23:33avenues.

1:23:35So I think as a board we'll be talking

1:23:37about it on Tuesday. Um but some of

1:23:40those are beyond the select board,

1:23:43right? And so um the the planning

1:23:46board's an elected board. Um it doesn't

1:23:51report directly to the select board. So

1:23:54they I imagine they will be having you

1:23:57know discussions as well potentially.

1:24:02>> Sorry I start

1:24:05if if Amazon sues

1:24:08to Sue sus because they don't like the

1:24:11decision. Is that all all the defense is

1:24:14going to be paid for by the taxpayers of

1:24:18Westboro?

1:24:22>> I mean, if if they sue the town and the

1:24:25town chooses to defend itself,

1:24:28you know, depending on and and now we're

1:24:31getting into hypotheticals, so I I don't

1:24:33really want to go too far down here, but

1:24:36you know, how how strong does the case

1:24:38look? But but if they if they so they

1:24:40suing the town boards and the town

1:24:43select then the we pay for that defense,

1:24:48right?

1:24:49>> Well, who knows?

1:24:50>> Yeah.

1:24:51>> Yeah. I mean potentially I don't know

1:24:53how it works. If if you know if we win

1:24:56should we recoup? I don't know. We're

1:24:57getting into very specific details.

1:25:01um very specific and in terms of drones

1:25:04FAA into very unknown area.

1:25:09I I just wanted to add that where Oh,

1:25:12I'm sorry.

1:25:14Hey, where um Bezos lives in Miami, no

1:25:17drone delivery. The guy who's presenting

1:25:20Tariq Wafé,

1:25:23he lives in Denver, Colorado. They have

1:25:25drone delivery Walmart. No Amazon drone

1:25:28delivery. So, the hypocrisy is just

1:25:34>> Actually, I just want two questions. Has

1:25:36any thought been put into having a state

1:25:39refund environmental review or is that

1:25:42entirely trumped by the federal EPA?

1:25:44Because there are certainly plenty of

1:25:46projects which have to go through state

1:25:50regardless.

1:25:54Um Sean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I

1:25:56think it's all under federal

1:25:57preeemption.

1:25:59Um people ask why is it this way? Why

1:26:02don't we have any control? And I use the

1:26:05example of jet planes. If we if JetBlue

1:26:10had to get permission um if there were

1:26:13separate laws in 50 states, let alone in

1:26:16each municipality.

1:26:18But the the federal preeemption was

1:26:21written when we were looking more at jet

1:26:24planes, not at drones hovering 14 ft. So

1:26:28it's it's literally unknown territory

1:26:32>> but c sometimes there's overlap for

1:26:34example on highways and other kinds of

1:26:36facilities that are infrastructure if

1:26:39you you know if you could view it as not

1:26:41just strictly something that's in the

1:26:44air it's actually a piece of

1:26:45infrastructure it's not only a highway

1:26:48or

1:26:53then my other question was so Uh you

1:26:57just mentioned Walmart. So is there any

1:27:01indication how out of other um

1:27:04operations in this general area that are

1:27:07supposed to be going on in terms of uh

1:27:10starting drone service?

1:27:14>> Currently I'm not aware of it but that

1:27:18doesn't mean it's not happen. I'm not

1:27:20aware of it,

1:27:21>> but they don't

1:27:24at least that um they're they're

1:27:28considering launch sites

1:27:31in Westboro,

1:27:33right? Cuz that's that's how we hear,

1:27:34right? They were considering launching

1:27:36for Westboro. Do you throwers?

1:27:40>> Um I did want to mention you talked

1:27:42about their own places. Relative to all

1:27:44of this, I um I'm working to clear my

1:27:48schedule to do a quick trip to

1:27:50Cleveland, which is the nearest place

1:27:52where there's a drum an Amazon drum

1:27:54facility. So, um I've been hearing so

1:27:58much about it and reading that I'd like

1:28:00to see what it is in person. It's only a

1:28:029h hour drive, so

1:28:06we'll see.

1:28:07and they're right.

1:28:09>> So, first of all, I applaud you for

1:28:11going um two ways about this. One being

1:28:15the select board trying to come up with

1:28:17a dialogue that we will all be voting on

1:28:20and I think that's forward thinking and

1:28:22it's sort of a long-term sort of uh

1:28:25thinking and I really really like that.

1:28:27Um number two is that

1:28:31like you both said this is an uncharted

1:28:33territory. We're not the only town that

1:28:36are that is going through this that will

1:28:39go through this. Uh this is something

1:28:41like with new technology that is sort of

1:28:44hitting our everyday life and that is

1:28:47sort of disturbing our ways. So um

1:28:52I would say that the towns that you

1:28:56mentioned that are around us, Shbury and

1:28:58part of Worcester etc. all those towns.

1:29:02Is there a um sort of a a effort to

1:29:08other select boards or city council to

1:29:12sort of get together and sort of

1:29:15approach this as not a single town by

1:29:18town, but rather a regional sort of

1:29:22approach that could be more effective, I

1:29:25think, statewide or even federal,

1:29:29right? What's your comment? Um

1:29:31>> I think I mentioned that um the Westro

1:29:34delegation met with representatives from

1:29:36Blue Skies to from Mass Blue Sky today

1:29:40and that was one of the things that was

1:29:42discussed fairly extensively. Um because

1:29:45bottom line is without changes in

1:29:48federal laws, if Westboro wins this,

1:29:51depending on what precedent is set or

1:29:53not set, they could just go to North

1:29:57where they already have an Amazon

1:29:59facility or you know anywhere who will

1:30:03who will um where the bylaws don't

1:30:06change. And once they're up in the air,

1:30:09then it's FAA regulations right now.

1:30:15Just one other has the state attorney

1:30:18general's office involved because it's

1:30:20it's really potentially the entire state

1:30:23you're trying to move forward. Yeah. Um

1:30:28my understanding I haven't had as much

1:30:30contact with the attorney general's

1:30:32office as I have with the federal

1:30:34delegation because that's where most of

1:30:36the levers are. But my understanding is

1:30:39the attorney general's off the attorney

1:30:41general's office is looking, you know,

1:30:44carefully at it. Um, but again, there

1:30:47aren't there just aren't a lot of

1:30:48clevers for us um either as legislators

1:30:53or for legislation that could control

1:30:56this. I had um stated that there is a

1:30:59lawsuit being brought federalally by 15

1:31:02state attorneys general

1:31:05um about FAA's um environmental lack of

1:31:10oversight on this. So they are the the

1:31:13attorney generals are our attorney

1:31:16general involved.

1:31:19I'm I'm not sure that anybody else will

1:31:21come.

1:31:23>> It's in court in Texas.

1:31:26>> And could I just keep thinking if you

1:31:28could broaden it out away from just the

1:31:30FAA, but to for example its impacts on

1:31:34wetlands and wildlife and so forth. Uh

1:31:38you know, even if there's not a whole

1:31:39lot of difference between the attitude

1:31:40of the FAA and potential attitude of the

1:31:43federal EPA at the moment, at least it's

1:31:45more process that would have to be

1:31:46created. Um, I know I know there are a

1:31:50lot of questions of just being mindful

1:31:52of the time. It is 8:30. Um, but I do

1:31:55want to stress that the Westro

1:31:57delegation has been hard at work with

1:31:59our bicameal and bipartisan

1:32:03uh threeperson group and um we're

1:32:06continuing to do to do everything we

1:32:09can. Um, I don't know if we've got a

1:32:12time limit on this.

1:32:13>> Yeah. Yeah, we're going to be wrapping

1:32:15up. I just had one question. Your

1:32:17Tuesday meeting is that open meeting or

1:32:19is that uh

1:32:21>> uh yes it's an open meeting so we'll

1:32:23have open forum at that meeting as well

1:32:26starting at 6:00.

1:32:30>> Yes.

1:32:30>> So this has sucked all of the oxygen out

1:32:33of the room.

1:32:35What's the status of the Rotary?

1:32:41Um right now that um the planning board

1:32:44is making recommendations on some

1:32:47short-term

1:32:48minor changes that they would like to

1:32:51consider to improve traffic and safety

1:32:53and those will be brought to the um site

1:32:57board for review is review as well. Um

1:33:00but it you know fall town meeting and

1:33:03other things sort of got in the way. So

1:33:04um I'm expecting it this fall still. So,

1:33:07so th those would be doing before before

1:33:11we try this before doing the major.

1:33:15>> I I think we're we're just I think there

1:33:17are some small things we can do to make

1:33:19the Rotary safer

1:33:21>> um without

1:33:24doing something more significant.

1:33:26>> Okay.

1:33:27>> But that's that's my that's my personal

1:33:30Yeah. So,

1:33:34>> thank you.

1:33:36>> Okay.

1:33:36>> Thank you. See you Tuesday.