May 4, 2026 – Annual Town Meeting – Video & Transcript
May 4, 2026 - Annual Town Meeting
We're going to start with the presentation of the Lydia Maria Childs Award and the Peter Gossels Award.
With that, I've asked Richard Turner to come to the procedural microphone.
Would Mr. Michael Short please come up here?
Madam Moderator, Richard Turner, 7 Nob Hill Road, Chair of the Public Ceremonies Committee. I recognize you. The Public Ceremonies Committee presents the C. Peter R. Gossels Good Government Award. It is presented to Mr. Michael M. Short, who founded and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Wayland Voters Network for over 20 years. This nonpartisan online newspaper provided coverage of local events, government hearings, and backsliding. It provided background information so that Wayland voters could make informed decisions.
As the retired Boston Bureau Chief of the Associated Press, Michael Short brought high journalistic standards, superb writing skills, and his ability to assemble a group of other dedicated volunteers to make the Wayland Voters Network a valuable resource for the future of the state of Iowa. Thank you. To Wayland citizens, when the Wayland Post began, Michael Short and his team made the Wayland Voters Network archives available as a continuing online reference archive. Congratulations to Mr. Michael Short.
Yes. I just want to make it clear that the Wayland Voters Network involved an awful lot of people. It was entirely teamwork, a lot of it anonymous. Some people contributing enormous amounts. And we produced more than 1,000 newsletters and bulletins in the course of 21 years. And we were happy to get out of that business when we got a really good weekly newspaper, which is what we had missed all those years. So here's to the Wayland Post. Thank you. Would Yawu Tang please come forward? Madam Moderator, Richard Turner, 7-0. Hill Road, Chair of the Public Ceremonies Committee. The Public Ceremonies Committee wishes to present the 26th Lydia Child Award to Mr. Yawu Tang. With appreciation and admiration for the many exceptional individuals who enhance and enrich our Wayland community, the Public Ceremonies Committee each year makes the Lydia Child Award. The award is the Lydia Maria Child Award for Outstanding Public Service. This award is given to the person or persons or group that the PCC demonstrates best represents the concern and care that Lydia Maria Child demonstrated to make her community a better place. The recipient of the 2026 Lydia Child Award is Mr. Yawu Tang. Thank you. Thank you. I also like to acknowledge. Thank you. It's really, I like to think this is really not air for individuals, or else I like to say with the human, way that human rights, diversity, into, into, equity and diversity, diversity is not a cutting edge. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. the Inclusion Committee, and with their all supports, and also the Chinese-American, William Chinese-American Association, with their all supports, we'll be able to do it since we haven't done. Also, I have to thank the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association, because they are the one bring me to the volunteer world, to start doing a lot of volunteers for the mutual understanding between the Western and the Eastern cultures. So thank you very much. Thank you to the great leadership and for bringing William to a homilic community
that we all live peacefully among all of us. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Madam Moderator. I now yield the floor. Thank you, Mr. Turner, and to the Public Ceremonies Committee. All right, so that brings us to the first article, Article One. Is there a motion? There is. Good evening, Madam Moderator. Doug Levine, Gray-Birch Lane, member of the Select Board. I recognize you, sir. I move you, madam, that the town recognize the following citizen who has served in a volunteer capacity on elected and or appointed boards, committees, and commissions, for a minimum of 25 years, service need not be consecutive, for his achievements and contributions to town government, and that is Brian O'Herlihy, 25 years on, among other boards, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Finance Committee, and the then Board of Selectmen. Is there a second? Thank you. And do you want to vote on that now, or do you wish to speak to it, or go through all of them? Do you have a preference? I think we could vote on them all at once. Okay. I move you, madam, that the town recognize the following employees who have retired since the 2025 Annual Town Meeting, or intend to retire before June 30th, 2026, subject to a minimum of 20 years of service. They are Dale Porter, custodian, Rosemary Rabideau, teaching assistant, Joseph Libin, student monitor, Jillian Sylvester, student supervisor, Jean Gennaro, building substitute, Adrian Galasti, teaching assistant, Lisa Weig, teacher, Lorraine Horgan, teacher, and Donna Lemoine, benefits manager. Is there a second? Thank you. Is there a third motion? There is. I move you, madam, that the town observe a moment of silence in memory of the following elected or appointed volunteers, employees with at least 10 years of service, or employees while in service to the town without regard to tenure who have passed away since the adjournment of the 2025 Annual Town Meeting. Eleanor Cigna, served on the school administration, Marie LeBlanc, as a teacher, Ann Bosnigan, teacher, Elizabeth Kilborn, a student supervisor, Robert Farrington, on the Zoning Board of Appeals, Nancy Leifer, served on the Council on Aging, Patricia K. Nelson, on the Senior Tax Relief Committee, June Hunter, as a teacher, Robert Hoyt, on the Veterans Memorial Committee, Susan Schafeld, a teacher, and Robert B. DeRozier, a teacher. And is there a second? Okay, if we could observe a moment of silence. Thank you, and is there a fourth motion? There is a fourth and final motion. I move you, madam, that the town recognize the following residents who have been named the 2026 recipients of Wayland's annual C. Peter R. Gossel's Good Government Award and the Lydia Maria Child Award. And they are Michael M. Short for the Gossel's Good Government Award, and Yau Wu Tang, the Lydia Maria Child Award. And is there a second? Okay. And all in favor of voting on these for the four motions in Article 1, say yes. Anyone opposed? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Levine. I declare Article 1 disposed. Article 2, is there a motion? Madam Moderator, Bill Whitney, Woodridge Road. I recognize you, sir. Thank you. I move you, madam, that Article 2 be adopted under the abbreviated presentation procedure. And is the motion under Article 2 word for word the same as the article text printed in the warrant? Yes. It's identical. Okay. This motion is brought under the abbreviated presentation procedure. Under that procedure, the moving party initially waives the right to speak to the motion, but does reserve the right should there be opposition or a question. Does anyone wish to speak in opposition to the motion, or does anyone have a question regarding the motion on Article 2? Seeing none, we should prepare to vote. Second? Okay. Okay. So we're preparing to vote on the motion under Article 2 to pay the previous fiscal year unpaid bills. The voting light is on. Press 1 if you are in favor of this motion. Press 2 if you are opposed to it. Article 2. Okay. The voting window has closed. We'll wait for the votes to be tallied. Okay. With 215 votes in favor and three opposed, I'm pretty sure that makes the four-fifths. I'm no math major. I'm no math major, but I think that wins. Okay. Anything further on Article 2? All right. I declare that article disposed. Article 3, is there a motion? Yes, Madam Moderator. Tom Fay, Happy Hollow Road, member of the Select Board. I recognize you, sir. Thank you, Madam Moderator. I move, Madam, that Article 3 be adopted under the abbreviated presentation procedure. And is the motion under Article 3 word-forward the same as the article text printed in the warrant? Yes. The motion is brought under the abbreviated presentation procedure. Under that procedure, the moving party initially waives the right to speak to the motion, but does reserve the right should there be opposition or a question. Does anyone wish to speak in opposition or have a question for Mr. Fay regarding the motion under Article 3? Seeing none, we can prepare to vote. Please come to the procedural microphone, then. There appears to be a question. Just don't trip around here. Come here. And please face the microphone. Thank you. Thank you. Hi. I'm Elizabeth Carter. Sherman Bridge Road. I recognize you. Thank you, Madam Moderator. I had a question about the water, excess water funds. Are they going to be used for the water project that we have coming up that's going to be 80-some million dollars, or are they being put somewhere else? Is there anyone who can answer Ms. Carter's question? Moderator, Mike Wegerbauer, 7 Blossom Lane. Please face the meeting. Sorry. Thank you. Vice Chair of the Board of Public Works. I recognize you, Mr. Wegerbauer. So we do have a fund called a fund balance, which is in a subset of the fund balance. It's called retained earnings. That is a balance minus earmarked funds. That balance target is set every year to be available. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I see that's available. Is that the case? I believe so. It's available in case of emergencies. If we do have excess, it's possible the Board may utilize some of that to fund the construction. But most likely the construction of the water will be funded by bonds and borrowing. Does that answer your question, Ms. Carter? Okay. Are there any other questions? Otherwise we'll move right to the vote. Okay. So this is motion one under article three. PREPARE TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION, VOTE YES. IF YOU OPPOSE THE MOTION, VOTE 1. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO THE MOTION, VOTE 2. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. WITH 213 VOTES IN FAVOR AND 7 VOTES OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. ANYTHING FURTHER ON THIS MOTION? OKAY. DO YOU HAVE A SECOND MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 3, MR. FAYE? YES, MADAM MODERATOR. MOTION 2 UNDER ARTICLE 3 CONCERNING ENTERPRISE FUND BUDGET, CAPITAL. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ARTICLE 3 BE ADOPTED UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. AND IS THE MOTION UNDER MOTION NUMBER 2 UNDER ARTICLE 3, IS IT WORTHWORD THE SAME AS THE ARTICLE TEXT PRINTED IN THE WARRANT? YES. OKAY. SO AS STATED BEFORE, THIS IS BROUGHT UNDER ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. THE MOVING PARTY INITIALLY WAVES THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO THE MOTION BUT DOES RESERVE THE RIGHT SHOULD THERE BE OPPOSITION OR A QUESTION. ARE THERE ANY, IS THERE OPPOSITION OR ANY QUESTIONS ON MOTION 2 UNDER ARTICLE 3? SEEING NONE, WE CAN PREPARE TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR, THERE YOU GO, THE VOTING LIGHT IS ON, IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF MOTION NUMBER 2 UNDER ARTICLE 3, VOTE 1, WHICH IS THE YES VOTE. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO MOTION NUMBER 2 ON ARTICLE 3, VOTE NUMBER 2, WHICH IS THE NO VOTE. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. WITH 203 VOTES IN FAVOR, WITH A YES VOTE. AND 8 VOTES VOTING NO, THE MOTION, AND IT WAS A TWO-THIRDS VOTE, HOWEVER, THAT STILL CARRIES. EVEN I CAN FIGURE THAT OUT. THE MOTION STILL CARRIES. SO IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE ON MOTION NUMBER 2 UNDER ARTICLE 3? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THAT ARTICLE 3 IS DISPOSED. ARTICLE 4. MADAM MODERATOR, CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD, SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. MARTIN. AND DO YOU HAVE A MOTION? YES, I DO. THANK YOU. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT THE TOWN VOTE TO APPROVE ARTICLE 3. ARTICLES 4 THROUGH 8 UNDER A CONSENT CALENDAR AND APPROVE SET ARTICLES AS PRINTED ON PAGES 25 THROUGH 30 OF THE WARRANT ISSUED FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING. ARE THESE FOUR MOTIONS, ARE THEY WORD FOR WORD? YES. IT'S ACTUALLY FIVE MOTIONS. THANK YOU. FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, AND EIGHT, CORRECT? YES. OKAY. MADAM MODERATOR. ALL RIGHT. SO, FOLKS, HERE'S YOUR FIRST CONSENT CALENDAR. IS THERE A SECOND ON THE MOTION? THANK YOU. HERE'S YOUR FIRST CONSENT CALENDAR. WE HAVE FIVE ARTICLES, ARTICLES 4, 5, 6, AND 7. I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH THEM EACH. I'M GOING TO STATE WHAT PAGE THEY ARE ON IN THE WARRANT. IF SOMEBODY WISHES TO HOLD ONE OF THESE ARTICLES, PLEASE YELL OUT HOLD AND WE WILL ADDRESS IT RIGHT THEN. SO, ARTICLE 4, OPEB FUNDING, PAGE 25. ARTICLE 5, FISCAL YEAR 2027, REVOLVING FUND EXPENDITURE LIMITS, PAGE 27 IN THE WARRANT. ARTICLE 6, SURFACE WATER QUALITY BUDGET, PAGE 28. ARTICLE 7, CAPITAL STABILIZATION FUND, PAGE 29. AND ARTICLE 8, SPECIAL EDUCATION RESERVE FUND, PAGE, SORRY, I MISSED WHAT PAGE IT IS. THANK YOU. PAGE 30. ALL RIGHT. LOOK AT THAT. WE'RE PREPARED TO VOTE ON YOUR CONSENT CALENDAR, YOUR FIRST CONSENT CALENDAR, ARTICLES 4 THROUGH 8. THEY'RE LISTED UP ON THE SCREENS. I SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED THE SCREENS. SO WE'RE PREPARING TO VOTE ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR. ARTICLES 4 THROUGH 8. WHEN THE GREEN LIGHT GOES ON, VOTE 1 FOR YES IF YOU'RE IN FAVOR OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR. VOTE NO. 2 FOR NO IF YOU OPPOSE. THE VOTING WINDOW HAS CLOSED. THE VOTE IS OVER. JUST SO YOU KNOW, WE PUT ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR, THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME QUANTUM OF VOTE ON THIS CONSENT CALENDAR. IT'S SIMPLE MAJORITY. AND WITH 217 VOTES IN FAVOR WITH A YES VOTE AND 10 VOTES VOTING NO, THE MOTION, THE CONSENT CALENDAR CARRIES. ANYTHING ELSE ON THE FIRST CONSENT CALENDAR? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THOSE FIVE ARTICLES, ARTICLES 4 THROUGH 8 DISPOSED. ARTICLE 9, IS THERE A MOTION? MADAM MODERATOR, CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. MARTIN. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT THE TOWN VOTE TO AMEND THE PERSONNEL WAGE AND SALARY CLASSIFICATION PLAN, APPENDIX A, AS SHOWN IN THE HANDOUT FOR THIS TOWN MEETING, PREVIOUSLY ADOPTED BY THE TOWN TO AMEND NON-UNION POSITIONS, INCLUDING RECREATIONAL AND SEASONAL POSITIONS. B, AMEND THE PERSONNEL WAGE AND SALARY CLASSIFICATION PLAN, APPENDIX A, AS SHOWN IN THE HANDOUT FOR THIS TOWN MEETING, PREVIOUSLY ADOPTED BY THE TOWN TO AMEND THE PLAN FOR UNION POSITIONS. AND C, TRANSFER FROM THE FY26 BUDGETED UNCLASSIFIED RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT ACCOUNT, $1,604, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE JOINT LABOR MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, JLMC, AWARD FOR THE WAILING FIREFIGHTERS IAFF LOCAL 1978 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR THE PERIOD OF JULY 1, 2023 TO JUNE 30, 2026, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE TOWN ACCOUNTANT TO ALLOCATE SAID AMOUNTS TO BE DISTRIBUTED TO AND AMONG THE DEPARTMENT. THE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL AND LINE ITEMS AFFECTED THEREBY IN SUCH AMOUNTS AS ARE PROPER AND REQUIRED. IS THERE A SECOND? THANK YOU. DO YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION? MAY I ADVISE THE, YOU, MADAM MODERATOR, THAT IN SECTION A THERE WAS A CHANGE IN THE WARRANT AMENDMENT ADDING IN THE WORDS AS SHOWN IN THE HANDOUT FOR THIS TOWN MEETING BOTH IN SECTION A AND SECTION B. OTHERWISE THE MOTION IS STANDARD. OKAY. DO YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION? YES. THANK YOU. THIS IS A STANDARD ARTICLE AND SEVERAL OTHER YEARS WE'VE USED IT AS CONSENT OR EVEN LAST YEAR WE JUST DID IT IN THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION. BUT BECAUSE THIS IS A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING A YEAR WE PULLED IT OUT TO PULL IT IN A FULL PRESENTATION. BUT WHAT IT DOES IS IT ALLOWS US TO ADJUST THE WAGE AND CLASSIFICATION PLAN FOR THE TOWN EMPLOYEES. THE APPENDIX A HANDOUT HAS BEEN UPDATED FROM WHAT'S IN THE WARRANT TO REFLECT TWO CHANGES. FIRST THERE WAS A 2% COLA EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026 THAT HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE NON-UNION POSITIONS WHICH ARE LISTED IN THE END SCHEDULE. AND THERE WAS A 2% COLA EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026 THAT HAS BEEN ADDED FOR THE WAYLAND LIBRARY STAFF ASSOCIATION POSITIONS WHICH ARE LISTED IN THE ELL SCHEDULE. AND THEN FINALLY ITEM THREE HERE, APPENDIX A HAS BEEN ADJUSTED TO THE END SCHEDULE. TO REFLECT THE RETROACTIVE COLAS FOR FY24, FY25, AND FY26 FOR THE WAYLAND FIREFIGHTERS AS STIPULATED IN THE JOINT LABOR MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, THE JLMC, THE AWARD FOR THE PERIOD ENDING JUNE 30, 2026. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THANK YOU. ANY OPPOSITION, ANY COMMENTS, ANY QUESTIONS? READY TO GO RIGHT TO A VOTE? GREAT. ALL RIGHT. LET'S PREPARE TO VOTE. THE VOTING WINDOW IS LIT. YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 9, PERSONNEL BYLAWS, WAGE, AND CLASSIFICATION PLAN, PLEASE VOTE 1 ON YOUR HANDSET. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO IT, PLEASE VOTE 2. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. THE VOTING IS OVER. WITH 216 VOTES IN FAVOR, YES, AND 16 VOTES, NO, THE MOTION CARRIES. IS THERE ANYTHING FURTHER ON ARTICLE 9? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THE ARTICLE DISPOSED. ARTICLE 10, THE BUDGET FOR 2027. MADAM MODERATOR, I'M PHIL JUDICIA ON THE SEVEN-YEAR RUN FINANCE COMMITTEE. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. AND I MOVE YOU, MADAM MODERATOR, THAT EACH AND EVERY NUMBERED ITEM SET FORTH IN THE FINANCE COMMITTEE'S BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2027 LISTED ON PAGES 34 TO 42 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING BE VOTED, GRANTED, AND APPROPRIATED AS AN EXPENDITURE FOR THE SEVERAL PURPOSES AND USES SET FORTH IN SAID BUDGET, ESTABLISHING A TOTAL BUDGET OF $112,964,253, WHICH SOME SHALL BE EXPENDED ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES SHOWN UNDER THE RESPECTIVE BOARDS, COMMITTEES, AND OFFICES. AND OF THE TOTAL SUM SO APPROPRIATED, $111,405,149 SHALL BE RAISED BY TAXATION, $434,427 SHALL BE PROVIDED BY TRANSFER FROM AMBULANCE RECEIPTS, AND $1,124,677 SHALL BE PROVIDED BY TRANSFER FROM AMBULANCE RECEIPTS, AND $1,124,677 SHALL BE PROVIDED BY TRANSFER FROM AMBULANCE RECEIPTS, AND $1,124,677 SHALL BE PROVIDED BY TRANSFER FROM AMBULANCE RECEIPTS, AND $1,213. ANY RELEASED Oreos WILL BE TRANSFERRED FOR ELECTRIC SAVING. ANY RELEASED Oreos WILL BE TRANSFERRED FOR ELECTRIC SAVING. ANY RELEASED Oreos WILL BE TRANSFERRED FOR ELECTRIC SAVING. COUNCIL ON AGING. $1,615. WATER ENTERPRISE FUND. $519,110. WASTEWATER ENTERPRISE FUND. $49,446. RECREATION REVOLVING FUND. $63,299. $314, TRANSFER STATION $81,464, BASE $167,817, CHILDREN'S WAY $57,847, FOOD SERVICE $175,765. IS THERE A SECOND? THANK YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION? YES, AND I WOULD LIKE TO ADD, OF THE AMOUNT SO APPROPRIATED, THE SUM OF $471,902 SHALL BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 UNCLASSIFIED RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT ACCOUNT TO THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT'S FISCAL YEAR 2027 APPROPRIATIONS AND OF THE AMOUNT SO APPROPRIATED, THE SUM OF $25,427. OF THE AMOUNT SO APPROPRIATED, THE SUM OF $471,902 SHALL BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE UNCLASSIFIED RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT ACCOUNT FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE COST ITEMS FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TOWN OF WAYLAND AND THE WAYLAND LIBRARY STAFF ASSOCIATION, MFT, AFT, AFL-CIO, FOR THE PERIOD OF JULY 1, 2026, THROUGH JUNE 30, 2027, TO THE SUM OF $87,316 SHALL BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 UNCLASSIFIED RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT ACCOUNT FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING NON-UNION SALARY INCREASES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026, AS APPROVED UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THIS TOWN MEETING THAT WE JUST APPROVED. AND FURTHER, THE TOWN ACCOUNTANT, MFT, AFT, AFL-CIO, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING NON-UNION SALARY INCREASES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026, AS APPROVED UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THIS TOWN MEETING THAT WE JUST APPROVED. AND FURTHER, THE TOWN ACCOUNTANT, MFT, AFL-CIO, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING NON-UNION SALARY INCREASES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026, AS APPROVED UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THIS TOWN MEETING THAT WE JUST APPROVED. AND FURTHER, THE TOWN ACCOUNTANT, MFT, AFL-CIO, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING NON-UNION SALARY INCREASES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026, AS APPROVED UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THIS TOWN MEETING THAT WE JUST APPROVED. IS AUTHORIZED TO ALLOCATE SET AMOUNTS TO BE DISTRIBUTED TO AND AMONG THE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL AND LINE ITEMS AFFECTED THEREBY IN SUCH AMOUNTS AS ARE PROPER AND REQUIRED. I APOLOGIZE. I INTERRUPTED YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. I DIDN'T SEE THE SECOND PAGE. OKAY. NOW IS THERE A SECOND TO HIS MOTION? THANK YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION? YES. SO THE FINANCE COMMITTEE HAS DELIBERATED AND RECOMMENDS THE PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 27 AS PRESENTED IN THE WARRANT. THE TOTAL OPERATING BUDGET IS AN INCREASE OF APPROXIMATELY $5 MILLION OR 4.6% OVER OUR APPROVED FISCAL YEAR 26 BUDGET. THE PROPOSED TOWN BUDGET WOULD INCREASE 4.1% OVER THE FISCAL YEAR 26 BUDGET. THE SCHOOLS BUDGET INCREASE IS 1.7% OVER THE FISCAL YEAR 26 BUDGET. THE PROPOSED UNCLASSIFIED WHICH LARGELY A BUDGET INCREASES BY 10.7% AND THAT LARGELY IS HEALTH BENEFITS AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS AS CONTRACTED. THE LARGEST COMPONENT OF THE PROPOSED UNCLASSIFIED BUDGET INCREASE IS HEALTH INSURANCE, RETIREMENT FUNDING, DEBT SERVICE AND RESERVES FOR THE SALARY ADJUSTMENT. PAYROLL ACCOUNTS FOR ABOUT 70% OF OUR EXPENDITURES. THE NUMBER OF FTEs FOR THE TOWN AND THE NUMBER OF FTEs IN THE SCHOOLS IS APPROXIMATELY THE SAME AS THEY WERE. SO THERE IS NO CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF FTEs. THE PAYROLL COSTS ARE DRIVEN HIGHER CHIEFLY BECAUSE OF THE COST OF HEALTH CARE INCREASES. SO THAT GIVES YOU SOME CONTEXT FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET. I WANTED TO TURN TO TOWN MANAGER MICHAEL MCCALL. AND ASK IF HE HAS ANYTHING TO ADD TO THIS BUDGET. THANK YOU. SO, FOLKS, LAST YEAR I LET MR. MCCALL, OUR TOWN MANAGER, SPEAK TO THE BUDGET. TECHNICALLY UNDER THE TOWN BYLAW, DOESN'T SAY THAT HE'S NOT ALLOWED TO. BUT THE BETTER PRACTICE IS FOR ME TO, BECAUSE HE'S A NONRESIDENT, THE BETTER PRACTICE IS FOR ME TO TAKE A VOTE FROM TOWN MEETING. IF YOU VOTE SIMPLE MAJORITY OF HAVING MR. MCCALL, OUR TOWN MANAGER, WHO IS ESSENTIALLY OUR CEO, SPEAK TO THE TOWN BUDGET. I WOULD ASK THAT YOU ALLOW HIM TO SPEAK. IT'S UP TO YOU, FOLKS, IF YOU'LL LET HIM TALK. SO I'M GOING TO TAKE A QUICK VOICE VOTE. ALL IN FAVOR OF LETTING MR. MCCALL SPEAK, SAY YES. ALL OPPOSED, SAY NO. PERFECT. MR. MCCALL, THE FLOOR IS YOURS. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THANK YOU, MEMBERS OF TOWN MEETING, RESIDENTS, GUESTS, AND WE HAVE MEMBERS OF OUR LEGISLATURE HERE FOR ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK. BEFORE I START, I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT THERE WAS A TYPO IN THE MOTION FOR THE TOWN BUDGET. THE AMOUNT OF THE TRANSFER INSTEAD OF $471,902, IT SHOULD BE $461,902, MADAM MODERATOR. FOR A SAVINGS OF $10,000? CORRECT. THANK YOU. WITH THAT, THANK YOU, EVERYONE. IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF MASS GENERAL LAW AND THE TOWN OF WAYLAND BYLAWS AND THE TOWN MANAGER ACT, I AM PLEASED TO STAND HERE BEFORE YOU TO TALK ABOUT THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET AND THE CAPITAL BUDGET FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. DURING THE PREPARATION OF THESE BUDGETS, THE FINANCE TEAM AND I, ALONG WITH INPUT FROM OUR NEW CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANNING COMMITTEE, HAVE ENDEAVORED TO PROVIDE STAPLE, CONSISTENT BUDGETS WITH MODERATE INCREASES WHICH ADHERE TO BEST PRACTICES WHILE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE LIMITATIONS OF PROPOSITION TWO AND A HALF AND BEING MINDFUL OF OUR LIMIT. WITH THAT, I'M ALSO PLEASED TO SHARE WITH YOU THAT THIS PAST FALL, MOODY'S HAS REAFFIRMED OUR AAA BOND RATING. WHICH WILL BE VERY IMPORTANT TO US GOING FORWARD AS WE DO SOME SIGNIFICANT BORROWING IN THE FUTURE FOR SOME OF OUR LARGER CAPITAL PROJECTS. THIS YEAR'S OPERATING BUDGET, AS YOU HEARD, TOTALS 112.9 MILLION AND OUR CAPITAL BUDGET WILL AMOUNT TO $9.41 MILLION. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE, AGAIN, THAT THE FIVE-YEAR CAPITAL PROJECT DOES NOT UTILIZE TAXATION AS A FUNDING SOURCE. THIS YEAR WE'RE WORKING ON OUR THIRD BUDGET TOGETHER. AND I WANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT. I WANT TO RECOGNIZE ALL OF OUR EMPLOYEES AND DEPARTMENT HEADS AND THEIR EFFORTS THROUGHOUT THIS PAST YEAR AND THANK THE ENTIRE STAFF FOR SUPPORTING EACH OTHER DURING THESE CHALLENGING FISCAL TIMES. THE GOALS AND CHALLENGES THAT WE FACE ARE NOT UNIQUE TO WAYLAND. MANY MUNICIPALITIES ARE FACING THE SAME ONGOING ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY. AND IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY GONE TO THE MASSACHUSETTS MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION WEBSITE, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO SO. AND THERE ARE TWO ARTICLES OUT THERE. ONE IS CALLED A PERFECT STORM. CITIES AND TOWNS FACING HISTORIC FISCAL PRESSURES AND NAVIGATING THEIR STORMS. THEY BOTH EXPLAIN THE SITUATION THAT MOST COMMUNITIES ARE DEALING WITH RELATIVE TO INCREASING HEALTHCARE COSTS, UNFUNDED MANDATES, CHALLENGES WITH OUR EDUCATION, STATE AID, AND A HOST OF OTHER REASONS WHY WE ARE DEALING WITH THIS, INCLUDING LABOR COSTS. ALL OF WHICH HAVE AN IMPACT ON STAFF AS WELL AS YOUR TAXES. ANOTHER CHALLENGE WE HAD THIS YEAR IS ALL OF OUR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. AS YOU HEARD THIS EVENING, WE HAVE ALREADY REACHED A RESOLUTION ON TWO OF THEM, BUT WE HAVE ABOUT A HALF DOZEN MORE TO GO. AS WE MOVE FORWARD, WE WILL CONTINUE TO FACE ECONOMIC CHALLENGES AND DISRUPTIONS. WE HAVE THE UNCERTAINTY OF MARKET UNRESTS, INFLATION, TARIFFS, AND AS MANY OF YOU WELL KNOW, WE HAVE UNREST IN GEOPOLITICS, SPECIFICALLY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WHICH IS HAVING AN IMPACT ON ALL OF US IN OUR DAILY LIVES. DUE TO THIS ECONOMIC INSTITUTION. . THE FINANCE DIRECTOR AND I ASSEMBLED A BUDGET WORKING GROUP AS WE DID IN THE PREVIOUS YEARS. WE DID THIS RIGHT AFTER THE START OF THE FISCAL YEAR TO WORK ON THE FY2027 BUDGET. WE DO THIS BY ASSEMBLING MEMBERS OF THE VARIOUS COMMITTEES IN TOWN. WE HAD ASSISTANCE FROM THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, FINANCE COMMITTEE, SELECT BOARD. WE BRING IN THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND A FEW OTHER CITIZENS WHO ARE WELL-VERSED IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND START LOOKING AT THE BUDGET A YEAR AHEAD OF TIME. WE IMMEDIATELY IDENTIFIED AN ALMOST $2 MILLION SHORTFALL. I'M VERY HAPPY TO TELL YOU THIS EVENING THAT WE WERE ABLE TO CLOSE THAT. I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO OUT AND LOOK AT WHAT OTHER TOWNS ARE EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW. MANY OTHER TOWNS THAT DIDN'T HAVE THE FORESIGHT TO DO THAT TYPE OF PLANNING 12 MONTHS AGO OR AT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR FISCAL YEAR ARE NOW REALIZING SIGNIFICANT SHORTFALLS IN THE JANUARY, FEBRUARY TIME FRAME LEADING UP TO THEIR RESPECTIVE TOWN MEETINGS. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT WE HAD THE ADMINISTRATION. WE HAD THE ASSISTANCE OF THE SELECT BOARD FINANCE COMMITTEE AND THE VOTERS AS WE ENDEAVORED TO CLOSE THIS ALMOST $2 MILLION GAP. YOU MAY RECALL WE HAD A SPECIAL ELECTION TO CONVERT OUR LEVY DEBT TO EXCLUDED DEBT AND WE ALSO WORKED WITH THE BOARD TO DO SOME REFINANCING. ADDITIONALLY, EARLY ON IN THE FISCAL YEAR, I INSTITUTED A HIRING APPREICE SO THAT WE DIDN'T HIRE ANY NEW PEOPLE OTHER THAN THOSE IN ESSENTIAL POSITIONS, PRIMARILY IN OUR PUBLIC SAFETY. IN THE FALL, I AGAIN INSTRUCTED. A LEVEL SERVICE BUDGET TO BE ADMINISTERED BY ALL THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENT HEADS AND THEY WERE ALSO INSTRUCTED THAT OTHER THAN WHAT WAS NECESSARY, THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY CHANGES IN THEIR BUDGET IN TERMS OF INCREASES OR POSITION EXPANSES OTHER THAN THOSE THAT CAME BEFORE ME. AFTERWARDS, MR. KEVANY AND I, OUR BUDGET DIRECTOR, MET WITH OUR DEPARTMENT HEADS MAKING LINE BY LINE REDUCTIONS AND WHILE WE WERE SUCCESSFUL THIS PAST YEAR, CLOSING THIS 2 MILLION GAP. AND AS WE HAVE IN THE PAST, I CAN'T GUARANTEE YOU THAT GOING FORWARD WE WILL BE AS SUCCESSFUL FINDING OTHER WAYS TO CLOSE FUTURE GAPS. BUT I DO WANT TO POINT OUT THAT I THINK THAT WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED TO YOU THROUGH BEING FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE, HAVING HIRING FREEZES AND FINDING ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF CLOSING THE GAP WITHOUT RAISING TAXES THAT WE HAVE BEEN GOOD STEWARDS WITH YOUR MONEY IN THIS LAST FISCAL YEAR. SO BEFORE YOU, YOU HAVE A 112.9 MILLION GAP. IT'S A $39 MILLION BUDGET FOUNDED ON THE TOWN'S EXISTING BYLAWS, POLICY DIRECTIVES AND PRUDENT FISCAL MANAGE, WHICH INCLUDES THE PRINCIPLE THAT ONLY ONE-TIME REVENUE SHOULD BE USED FOR ONE-TIME EXPENDITURES AND TO MAINTAIN ALL TOWN OPERATIONS AT CURRENT SERVICE LEVELS, WE RELIED ON PROJECTIONS OF AVAILABLE REVENUE WITHIN THE TOWN'S RESOURCES AND ESTABLISHED A CEILING OF REVENUE DERIVED FROM REASONABLE PROPERTY TAX INCREASES PURSUANT TO PROPOSITION TWO AND A HALF. SO WITH THAT, IF WE GO BACK TO THE COVER SHEET, I'LL WALK YOU THROUGH A COUPLE OF QUICK SLIDES. I PROMISE I REDUCED IT TO ABOUT HALF OF WHAT WE HAD LAST YEAR. SO THE FIRST SLIDE JUST GOES OVER THE BUDGET CYCLE. IF YOU START AT THE TOP, WE PUT TOGETHER A BUDGET WORKING GROUP AT THE END OF JUNE. WE WORK TOWARDS A FINANCIAL SUMMIT THAT WE DO IN NOVEMBER. WE WORK THROUGH OUR TOWN BUDGETS IN DECEMBER AND IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY WE WORK WITH OUR FINANCE COMMITTEE AS WELL AS THE SELECT BOARD TO PUT TOGETHER THE BUDGETS FOR TOWN. AT THAT SAME TIME, THE END OF FEBRUARY, AS THE BUDGET IS FINISHED, OUR CAPITAL BUDGETS COME TOGETHER AND THIS YEAR IT INCLUDED INPUT FROM OUR NEWLY INFORMED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANNING COMMITTEE. THE COMPONENTS OF OUR BUDGET FEATURE THE INDIVIDUAL TOWN BUDGETS FOR EACH DEPARTMENT, THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, OUR UNCLASSIFIED AND OTHER BUDGETS INCLUDING OUR OPEB, WHICH STANDS FOR OTHER POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS. OUR OVERLAY ACCOUNT. OUR BUDGET GOALS, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WERE TO PRODUCE THE OMNIBUS BUDGET WITHIN PROPOSITION TWO AND A HALF, MAINTAIN EXISTING TOWN AND SCHOOL SERVICES, USE ONLY RECURRING REVENUE TO SUPPORT THE OPERATING BUDGET, TO HAVE THE RESIDENTS VOTE TO TRANSFER THE LEVY DEBT TO EXCLUDED DEBT, ISSUE OUR BOND ANTICIPATION NOTES, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS BANS, INSTEAD OF LONG-TERM DEBT. SO WE CAN SAVE MONEY ON FINANCIAL DEBT. RESTRICT NEW EMPLOYMENT, AS I SAID, AND ELIMINATE OR REDUCE STAFFING IN BOTH THE TOWN AND SCHOOL DEPARTMENTS WHERE WE COULD TO SAVE ADDITIONAL DOLLARS. THE CHALLENGES, AS I SAID BEFORE, ALL OF OUR CONTRACTS WERE UP FOR RENEWAL. WE HAD TO FUND THE ARBITRATION AWARD THAT CAME FROM THE JOINT MANAGEMENT LABOR COMMITTEE. THERE IS THE CONSTANT UNCERTAINTY OF STATE AID, AND I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH OUR TWO REPRESENTATIVES. REPRESENTATIVE LINSKEY. REPRESENTATIVE JEN TEAL, WHO WILL BE STEPPING DOWN, AND SENATOR ELDRIDGE, WHO I MET WITH LAST WEEK, WHO LISTENED TO US AND HAVE ADVOCATED FOR US ON BEACON HILL FOR ADDITIONAL UNRESTRICTED GENERAL GOVERNMENT AID. WE REALIZE THAT WE HAVE A DECLINING LEVY LIMIT, AND WE'VE TRIED TO WORK WITHIN THAT AND WHENEVER POSSIBLE INCREASE THE LEVY LIMIT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. MAINTAINING ADEQUATE LEVELS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND TRYING TO REASSESS OUR FEES, WHICH WE DID THIS YEAR. ENSURE THAT WE ARE COMPARABLE WITH OUR NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES TO ENSURE WE'RE GETTING ADEQUATE REVENUE THERE, AND MONITORING THE INCREASING HEALTH CARE COSTS YEAR OVER YEAR. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. NEXT SLIDE. OUR PRIMARY SOURCES OF REVENUE HERE ARE REAL ESTATE TAXES AND PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES, STATE AID, LOCAL RECEIPTS, WHICH WE GET FROM PERMITS. WE ALSO USE MONEY FROM OUR ENTERPRISE AND REVOLVING FUNDS, AND UNDERNEATH OTHER BUDGETS, IT SHOULD BE INDENTICAL. IT SHOULD BE INDENTICAL, BUT WE OCCASIONALLY GET MONEY FROM GRANTS, RESERVES, FREE CASH, THINGS LIKE CHAPTER 90 MONEYS, AND WE'RE ALSO USING SOME OF THE MONEYS WE RECEIVE FROM THE OPIOID SETTLEMENT IN OUR BUDGET. WE ACTUALLY FUND A CO-RESPONSE CLINICIAN THAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE, EXCLUSIVELY FROM THAT FUNDING, AND THAT INDIVIDUAL GOES OUT TO CALLS WITH OUR POLICE AND FIRE TO SUPPORT THOSE IN NEED IN THE COMMUNITY. NEXT SLIDE. THIS IS A BREAKDOWN SHOWING YOU OF THE TOWN, SCHOOL, AND UNCLASS. WE HAVE SOME OF THE UNCLASSIFIED BUDGETS. MOST OF THIS SHOULD BE IN YOUR WARRANT BOOK, SO I WON'T SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON THIS. NEXT SLIDE. WHAT I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT HERE IS THE PERCENT OF CHANGE YEAR OVER YEAR. WHEN WE CAME FOR OUR FINANCIAL SUMMER IN NOVEMBER, OUR INITIAL BUDGET WAS $114.3 MILLION, AND WE BROUGHT THAT DOWN, AS YOU CAN SEE, TO THE NUMBER THAT'S BEFORE YOU FOR THE TOWN OPERATING BUDGET OF $112,964. WE ALSO AT THAT POINT IN TIME, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE TOWN'S BUDGET, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT A POTENTIAL OF A 5.05% INCREASE YEAR OVER YEAR, WHICH WE THEN MADE CUTS, AS I SAID, AND REDUCED THAT DOWN TO THE 4.63% YEAR OVER YEAR CHANGE. THIS KEPT THE INCREASE ON YOUR TAXES LESS THAN 5% THIS YEAR AT 4.89. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS JUST A HISTORICAL CHART OF WHAT THE BUDGET GROWTH HAS LOOKED LIKE OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS. THERE WAS A SPIKE IN THE YEAR BEFORE. I DON'T KNOW WHERE I ARRIVED, BUT THE THREE BUDGETS THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON TOGETHER HAVE BEEN ON OR ABOUT THAT TREND LINE. WE'RE DOING THE BEST WE CAN TO MAINTAIN THAT TREND AND NOT HAVE THESE SPIKES, AND I COMMIT TO WORKING WITH YOU AND MY STAFF NEXT YEAR TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE AT OR BELOW THAT TREND LEVEL. NEXT SLIDE. THIS IS JUST A VISUAL DISPLAY OF OUR REVENUE ALLOCATION. NINETY-NINE PERCENT, ROUGHLY, OF OUR REVENUE IS CONSISTENT. IT'S COMING FROM TAXATION, ALONG WITH STATE AID, LOCAL RECEIPTS, AND TRANSFERS FROM THOSE OTHER FUNDS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AND THIS HAS BEEN OUR TAX LEVY GROWTH OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, WHICH IS THE OVERALL TAXATION. AGAIN, WE'VE TRIED TO KEEP IT CONSISTENT WITH PREVIOUS YEARS. NEXT SLIDE. SIMILARLY, WE HAVE THE HISTORICAL REFERENCE OF OUR TAX RATES IN RECENT YEARS, AND AGAIN, THERE HAD BEEN A SOMEWHAT TREND OF LOWERING THE TAX RATE, AND WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP THAT AS LOW AS POSSIBLE. NEXT SLIDE. THIS I FIND THE MOST IMPORTANT FOR YOUR TAX BILL. THE AVERAGE FAMILY TAX BILL IN WAYLAND IS APPROXIMATELY $19,000. AND THIS IS A BREAKDOWN OF WHERE YOUR TAX DOLLARS GO. THE VAST MAJORITY OF IT GOES TO OUR OUTSTANDING SCHOOLS, AND THEN THERE'S A BREAKDOWN WHERE IT GOES GENERAL GOVERNMENT, DESPITE WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK. IT'S NOT THE BIGGEST PORTION OR DRIVER OF THE BUDGET. A LOT OF WHAT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR VOLATILITY. THINGS THAT ARE BEYOND OUR CONTROL, DEBT SERVICE, HUMAN SERVICES, RETIREMENT, HEALTH INSURANCE, POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS. AND I WOULD SAY WHILE OUR HEALTH INSURANCE RATES CAME IN BELOW WHAT WE ANTICIPATED THIS YEAR, THEY WERE NOT AS LOW AS THEY WERE LAST YEAR. WE REALIZED A 3.8% INCREASE LAST YEAR, BUT THIS YEAR IT WAS AN 8.4% INCREASE IN OUR HEALTH INSURANCE. IT'S ONE OF OUR BIGGER DRIVERS IN THE BUDGET. WE WERE BRACING FOR A 12% INCREASE, BUT WE WERE FORTUNATE TO GET WHAT WE DID. AND I SIT ON THE BOARD WITH WEST SUBURBAN HEALTH GROUP AND I CONSTANTLY ADVOCATE TO ENSURE THAT OUR RATES ARE NOT GOING UP. NEXT SLIDE. THIS IS JUST A GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THAT PREVIOUS DATA SHOWING YOU THE BREAKDOWN OF YOUR TAX BILL AND WHERE IT GOES. LAST SLIDE, PLEASE. WE'LL LEAVE IT THERE. JUST IN CLOSING, I WANT TO EXPRESS MY SINCERE THOUGHTS. I WANT TO SAY THANKS TO OUR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TEAM, OUR FINANCE DIRECTOR, OUR TREASURER COLLECTOR, OUR PRINCIPAL ASSESSOR, OUR STAFF WHO HAVE MADE IT A POINT OF GOING OUT AND ENSURING THAT THEY'RE PROPERLY ASSESSING PROPERTIES, INCLUDING AFTER THE SALE OF ALTA OXBO TO ENSURE THAT WE WERE GETTING THE APPROPRIATE TAX DOLLARS FOR THOSE COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES. AS WELL AS MY STAFF WHO HAVE BEEN WORKING ALONGSIDE ME AND TO SUPPORT US, MY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, KELSEY POWERS-SPOLET, AS WELL AS THE COMMITTEES, THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, THE SELECT BOARD, AND THE GENERAL COMMITTEES THAT COME IN AND PARTICIPATE IN THE PROCESS. A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR BUDGET WORKING GROUP, OUR NEW CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANNING COMMITTEE, AND ALL OF OUR DEPARTMENT HEADS FOR THE PATIENCE AND COOPERATIONS AND WORKING ALONGSIDE WITH US EVERY DAY. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, DR. FLEISCHMAN AND HIS BUDGET DIRECTOR, KERSTINE PATTERSON. AND LASTLY BUT NOT LEAST. MY OFFICE STAFF WHO HELPS ME DO THE THINGS THAT I DO EVERY DAY AND PUTS TOGETHER THESE WONDERFUL PRESENTATIONS. THAT WOULD BE, AGAIN, MY ASSISTANT TOWN MANAGER, KELSEY POWERS-SPOLET, KATE RYAN, MY H.R. DIRECTOR, RATANA SO, WHO IS OUR BENEFITS COORDINATOR, JALYNN BRADICA, WHO DOES OUR WEBSITE AND NEWSLETTER, AND ABBY WARREN, WHO DOES THE EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATION IN MY OFFICE. I THANK THEM FOR THEIR HARD WORK. AND I THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK AND EXPLAIN THE BUDGET TO YOU THIS YEAR. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. OKAY, FOLKS, SO WHAT HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN DONE IN THE PAST IS THAT THE MODERATOR GOES THROUGH THE BUDGET THAT IS LISTED IN YOUR WARRANT ON PAGES 34 THROUGH 42. I'M JUST GOING TO GO THROUGH THE VARIOUS ITEMS TO SEE IF ANYBODY HAS A QUESTION ON ANY OF THEM. YELL HOLD AND WE'LL GET BACK TO IT. WE'LL GO THROUGH THE WHOLE BUDGET, I'LL SAY WHAT THE DEPARTMENT IS, HOW MUCH THE TOTAL EXPENSE IS FOR WHAT'S REQUESTED FOR FISCAL YEAR 2027. SAY HOLD IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION, THEN I'LL GET BACK TO IT, OKAY? SO THAT WAY WE'LL FOCUS, WE'LL KEEP IT, IT WILL BE A LITTLE BIT MORE CLEAR WHAT WE'RE GOING THROUGH IN THE BUDGET AS WE, IF WE JUST, WHATEVER YOU'RE PICKING THAT YOU WANT TO DISCUSS, WE'LL FOCUS ON ONE AT A TIME. OKAY, SO ON PAGE 34, SELECT BOARD, $33,000. ANYBODY? OKAY. TOWN OFFICE, $1,096,919. ANYONE? ONE? OKAY. $1,096,919. ANYONE? OKAY. TOWN OFFICE, $1,096,916. PERSONNEL BOARD, $22,850. ANYONE? FINANCE, $518,943. ASSESSOR, $399,556. ANYONE? TREASURER, $347,907. TOWN COUNCIL, $259,356. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, $1,403,598. ON PAGE 36, TOWN CLERK, $363,672. CONSERVATION, $375,730. PLANNING, $165,391. FACILITIES, $1,572,177. ON PAGE 37, MISCELLANEOUS COMMITTEES, $3,775. POLICE, $3,913,167. JOINT COMMUNICATIONS, $896,203. FIRE AND ALS, $4,179,712. ON PAGE 38, BUILDING AND ZONING, $540,792. SCHOOLS, $55,895,765. REGIONAL VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS, $225,552. DPW ENGINEERING, $440,039. DID I HEAR A HOLD? THANK YOU. HIGHWAY, ZERO. DO I HEAR A HOLD ON THAT? ANYBODY? OKAY. PARK AND CEMETERY, ZERO. PUBLIC WORKS, $3 MILLION. $457,137. LANDFILL, $65,000. SNOW, $525,000. BOARD OF HEALTH, GOING ON TO PAGE 40, $1,461,330. VETERAN SERVICES, $36,000. COUNCIL ON AGING, $426,779. YOUTH SERVICES, $341,000. LIBRARY, GOING ON TO PAGE 41, $1,405,992. RECREATION, $332,318. DEBT AND INTEREST, $6,924,506. RETIREMENT, $7,316,191. TOWN ENERGY, $604,107. SCHOOL ENERGY, $1,239,477. AND ON THE UNCLASSIFIED SECTION, TOTAL HEALTH LIFE INSURANCE, THIS IS ON PAGE 42 NOW, $11,456,863. THANK YOU. THEN I HAVE TOTAL OTHER INSURANCE, $2,217,475. AND THEN THE LAST ONE IS THE TOTAL UNCLASSIFIED. THAT'S IT SEPARATE, IS $16,175,150. OKAY. YES. SUSAN WEINSTEIN, CONCORD ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU. MADAM MODERATOR, CAN I SUGGEST THAT THE PEOPLE WHO SAID HOLD WORK THEIR WAY UP TO THE FRONT? SURE, IF THEY'RE ABLE TO DO SO, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. WE'RE GOING TO GO BACK TO PAGE 34 AND START WITH TOWN OFFICE. AND YOU SAID HOLD. OKAY. DO YOU HAVE, DID YOU ASK A QUESTION ON ONE? I WAS GOING TO GO IN ORDER. OKAY. YEAH, I THINK IT WAS SOMEBODY ELSE ON TOWN OFFICE. WE'RE GOING TO SKIP TOWN OFFICE. SHE HELD IT, BUT SHE'S SKIPPING IT NOW. OKAY. SO THEN THE NEXT ONE I HAVE IS, MOVING ALONG. OKAY. HOLD ON JUST A SECOND. LET ME JUST MAKE SURE THERE'S NOBODY. THE FIRST ONE I HAVE IS THE REGIONAL VOCATIONAL SCHOOL. IS THAT ONE? GREAT. ALLEN MATTHEWS, OLD CONNECTED PATH. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. MATTHEWS. NO. WE'VE ARGUED MANY TIMES ABOUT THE VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS HERE AT TOWN MEETING. I JUST HAD A QUICK QUESTION IS WHY THERE WAS THIS THREEFOLD INCREASE OVER LAST YEAR'S SPENDING. THAT'S ALL MY QUESTION WAS. IS THERE SOMEONE WHO COULD ANSWER MR. MATTHEWS' QUESTION? MADAM MODERATOR, BRIAN KEVIN EAT, TOWN FINANCE DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. SO RIGHT NOW WE HAVE FIVE STUDENTS IN TWO SCHOOLS. WE HAVE THREE AT MINUTEMAN AND WE HAVE TWO AT KEAF. WE ALSO HAVE TO PAY AN ASSESSMENT FOR OUR SCHOOLS. THAT'S WHY THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN STUDENTS GOING TO MINUTEMAN AND COMPETED LAST YEAR. THANK YOU, SIR. NEXT WAS DPW ENGINEERING. IS THERE A QUESTION? FOLKS, IF YOU'RE COMING THROUGH THE MIDDLE, JUST BE CAREFUL OF THE SIGN, THE COMPUTER UP FRONT. THERE'S A TIME CLOCK ON THE FLOOR. LET'S SEE. OKAY. MS. CARTER. HI. ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN BRITCHE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU. IS THAT ENGINEERING, TOTAL ENGINEERING, DOES THAT INCLUDE, AND IF SO, HOW MUCH, THE SHERMAN BRIDGE PROJECT? OKAY. SO THIS IS ON THE DPW ENGINEERING ON PAGE 38, THE $440,039. CAN SOMEONE ANSWER MS. CARTER'S QUESTION WHETHER OR NOT THIS INCLUDES SHERMAN'S BRIDGE PROJECT? MADAM MODERATOR, TOM HOLDER, DPW DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. SO THE PORTION OF THE SHERMAN'S BRIDGE ROAD PROJECT THAT WOULD BE PAID FOR BY THE DPW, PAID OUT OF THE ENGINEERING, WOULD BE PART OF THE SALARIES. I MANAGE THAT PROJECT MYSELF. I ALSO HAVE ENGINEERING STAFF THAT SUPPORT ME. SO AS PART OF THEIR ROLE, THEIR SALARIES WOULD COME FROM THAT ENGINEERING BUDGET. AND THERE'S AN ADDITIONAL $30,000. THAT IS DUE TO STEP INCREASES AND COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENTS. OKAY. IS YOUR QUESTION ANSWERED? OKAY. THANK YOU. SORRY, I JUST NEED TO SPEAK WITH THE TOWN MANAGER FOR A SECOND. I'M GOING TO ASK MR. MCCALL TO COME UP AND MAKE A CLARIFICATION ON THE BUDGET BECAUSE BASED ON WHAT HAPPENED WITH ARTICLE 9 THAT WAS ALREADY VOTED ON, SOME OF THE BUDGET NUMBERS WITHIN YOUR WARRANT THAT I JUST READ FROM, THE WHOLE LIST I WENT THROUGH, THEY HAVE CHANGED SLIGHTLY. SO I'M GOING TO ASK MR. MCCALL TO COME UP AND GIVE A CLARIFICATION OF THAT. I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT, FOLKS. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATE. FOR FULL TRANSPARENCY, I WANT TO CALL EVERYBODY'S ATTENTION. YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THIS HANDOUT IN THE BACK THAT TALKS ABOUT OMNIMUS BUDGET AND ENTERPRISE CAPITAL FUND BUDGET. WHEN WE MOVED UNDER ARTICLE 9 TO FUND THE 2% FOR THE NON-UNION AS WELL AS THE LIBRARY CONTRACT, THE SCHOOL CONTRACT, AND MAKING THIS HAPPEN THIS EVENING, WE HAD ALREADY GONE TO PRINT WITH THE WARRANT BOOKS. SO THE NUMBERS THAT MADAM MODERATE READ ARE ALREADY THERE. THEY DID NOT REFLECT WHAT WE DID IN ARTICLE 9. SO THIS HANDOUT, THE NUMBERS THAT ARE ON HERE IN THE FAR RIGHT COLUMN REFLECT THE INCREASES AFTER WE APPLY THOSE 2% INCREASES. I WANTED TO MAKE SURE EVERYBODY WAS AWARE OF THAT AND WHY IF THEY LOOKED AT THIS SHEET THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE. SO BY MOVING AND APPROVING ARTICLE 9, THOSE TRANSFERS FROM THE SALARY RESERVE, THESE NUMBERS ALL HAVE TO BE ADJUSTED. THE NUMBERS IN THE MOTION SHOULD BE ADJUSTED. IT SHOULD STILL BE THE SAME, THE FINAL DOLLAR AMOUNT, BUT I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS HANDOUT WAS FOR AND WHAT IT SIGNIFIED. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. SHAME ON ME I DIDN'T GRAB THIS HANDOUT. OKAY. DOES EVERYONE UNDERSTAND WHAT MR. MCCALL SAID? YOU CAN ALWAYS COME UP AND ASK QUESTIONS, OKAY? I'M GOING TO GO BACK TO THE QUESTIONS WHEN I WENT THROUGH IT ORIGINALLY TO SEE WHEN PEOPLE ASKED TO HOLD AND SEE WHERE WE'RE AT. SO I'M NOW AT PUBLIC WORKS. WAS THERE A QUESTION ON PUBLIC WORKS? ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. CARTER. THANK YOU, MODERATOR. 700 AND ALMOST 800,000 IN PURCHASE SERVICES. AND I'M WONDERING WHAT THOSE SERVICES WERE. THIS IS UNDER PUBLIC WORKS. IS THERE SOMEONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION? MADAM MODERATOR, TOM HOLDER, DPW DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. HOLDER. THANK YOU. SO THE SERVICES THAT ARE PURCHASED THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS ARE HELD IN TWO LINE ITEMS, CONTRACT SERVICES AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. AND THOSE ARE THE TYPES OF THINGS THAT YOU'LL FIND THAT WE DO A LOT OF WORK IN-HOUSE, BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN'T DO. SO WE OUTSOURCE CATCH BASIN CLEANING. WE OUTSOURCE TREE REMOVAL FOR TREES THAT ARE TOO LARGE FOR OUR CREWS. SO IT'S THOSE TYPES OF THINGS THAT ARE IN CONTRACT SERVICES. AND THEN WE ALSO DO OBTAIN OUTSIDE ENGINEERING SERVICES. FOR MANY OF THE VARIETY OF TASKS THAT WE PERFORM. SO THOSE TYPES OF SUPPORT SERVICES WOULD BE LISTED WITHIN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION? NO, NO, SPEAK INTO THE MICROPHONE AND THROUGH ME. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. SAME PERSON. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. CARTER. THANK YOU. IT'S FOR THE MINUTES. THANKS. THOSE SERVICES, HOW MUCH OF THAT INCLUDES THOSE SERVICES? YOU INCLUDED THE CONSULTANT, THE TWO CONSULTING TEAMS FOR THE BRIDGE PROJECT. THAT WOULD BE THE ONES FROM CONCORD AND THE ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS. HOW MUCH WAS ALLOCATED TO THOSE? SO THE TWO FIRMS THAT ASSISTED US WITH THE WORK AND PERFORMING THE DESIGN AND SUPPORTING US THROUGH THE PUBLIC OUTREACH COMPONENT OF THE PROJECT. I DO NOT HAVE THOSE FIGURES AT THE TOP OF MY HEAD. BUT IT IS PROBABLY IN THE ORDER OF THE PROJECT. I WOULD SAY MAYBE $80,000 OR $90,000. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON PUBLIC WORKS? OKAY. MOVING ALONG. TO PAGE 42, TOTAL HEALTH LIFE INSURANCE. I BELIEVE THERE WAS A QUESTION THERE. CLIFFORD LEWIS, CLAPEY HILL ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. LEWIS. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THE TOTAL HEALTH INSURANCE LINE ITEM 56 CONSTITUTES ROUGHLY 10% OF THE TOTAL BUDGET. AND IT WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE THAN THAT. IT WOULD GO UP VERY QUICKLY. BUT ON MR. MCCAUL'S SLIDE THAT SHOWS THE AMOUNT THAT EACH HOUSEHOLD, THE AVERAGE SHOWS, THE AVERAGE PAID, THAT SAME LINE ON IT WAS ABOUT HALF OF THAT AMOUNT. SO I'M CURIOUS WHICH IS WHICH. IS THERE SOMEONE WHO CAN ANSWER MR. LEWIS' QUESTION? MADAM MODERATOR, BRIAN KEVENY, FINANCE DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. CLIFF, WE'LL TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THOSE NUMBERS AND MAKE SURE THEY'RE RIGHT. BUT I'M PRETTY SURE THEY ARE. I'LL RUN THEM AGAIN. THANK YOU, MR. KEVENY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON TOTAL HEALTH LIFE INSURANCE? ANNETTE LEWIS, CLAPIT HILL ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. LEWIS. ON THE LINE, HEALTH INSURANCE, ON PAGE 42, UNDER EMPLOYEE AND RETIREE LIFE INSURANCE, IT SAYS 603. NORMALLY WHEN WE HAVE THAT NUMBER, THAT MEANS THAT'S HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU'RE PAYING FOR. BUT THE DOLLAR AMOUNT IS ONLY 34,800. IS THAT IN FACT CORRECT? WE ONLY HAD REALLY ONE PERSON WHO HAD LIFE INSURANCE POLICY. WHICH LINE IS THAT, MS. LEWIS, IF IT'S IN THE WARRANT? ABOVE 56 AT THE VERY TOP. IT'S WHEN YOU LOOK AT EMPLOYEE, RETIREE, LIFE INSURANCE, AND THEN 603. NOW I SEE IT. THANK YOU. IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN ANSWER MS. LEWIS' QUESTION? ATTER MODERATOR, BRYAN KEVENY, FINANCE DIRECTOR. WILL IT TAKE A LOOK AT THAT? WE'LL SUBMIT IF IT'S NORADA. IT MAY HAVE BEEN FROM LAST YEAR'S WARRANT. BUT WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THAT. THANK YOU, MR. KEVENY. DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, MS. LEWIS? ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON HEALTH LIFE INSURANCE? OKAY. THEN THERE WAS A HOLD ON THE TOTAL UNCLASSIFIED. DOES ANYONE HAVE QUESTIONS? ATTER MODERATOR, CLIFFORD LEWIS, CLAIMING HILL ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. ON THE SHEET WITH THE YELLOW LINES. YES. THE RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT IS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT THAN THE COMPARABLE ITEM IN THE WARRANT. I WONDER IF THE TOTAL BUDGET IS THE SAME. AND IF SO, WHERE THAT DIFFERENCE WENT? I SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE $2,135,812 WRITTEN IN THE WARRANT AND THEN THE $1,561,167 IN THIS SHEET. OKAY. IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION? MR. KEVENY, TOWN FINANCE DIRECTOR. SO THE DIFFERENCE WOULD BE THE $87,000 FOR THE NONE UNION WOULD BE THE $25,000 FOR THE LIBRARY AND THE $461,000 FOR THE SCHOOL. MADAM MODERATOR, CLIFFORD LEWIS CLEMENT HILL ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. MR. KEVENY JUST WENT THROUGH THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES THAT WE HAVE IN TOWN. AND YET WE STILL HAVE A MILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS IN RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT, WHICH IS A MASSIVE INCREASE FROM 2026 AND AN INFINITE INCREASE FROM PRIOR YEARS. SO I JUST WONDER, NOW. WHERE DOES THE MILLION FIVE GO IF IT DOESN'T GO TO THE PLACES WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE? MR. KEVENY, MADAM MODERATOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. SO THE BALANCE OF THE AMOUNT IN THE SALARY RESERVE IS FOR CONTRACTS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN SETTLED. THE POLICE UNION, FIRE UNION, THE TEACHERS UNION, THE CUSTODIANS, THE DPW, AFSCME, THE MAJORITY OF LABOR CONTRACTS HAVE NOT BEEN SETTLED. THE ONLY CONTRACTS THAT WERE SETTLED WOULD BE THE TEACHER ASSISTANCE. IT WOULD BE THE LIBRARY AND THE NONUNION ON THE TOWN SIDE. SO THE MAJORITY OF THE BALANCE IN THE SALARY RESERVE IS TO FUND THE CONTRACTS FOR ALL THE OTHER OPEN CONTRACTS IN 27. THAT'S WHY THEY HAVE NOT BEEN BARGAINED SO THE MONEY STAYS IN THAT ACCOUNT. THANK YOU, MR. KEVENY. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE WARRANT, ON THE BUDGET, THIS WARRANT ARTICLE? YEP. WHY IS EVERYONE GOING THAT WAY? JUST TO TRY AND TRIP? I'M RIGHT-HANDED. MISS MODERATOR, NAT CONNORS, 286 OLD CONNECTICUT PATH. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU. LINE 23 FOR THE FACILITIES. I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THE $80,000 FOR THE TOWN BUILDING GYMNASIUM WALL PADS. SEEMS HIGH GIVEN THE GYMNASIUM. SO CURIOUS ABOUT THAT. THIS IS IN THE WARRANT OR I THINK ARE YOU IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET? OH, SORRY. YEAH, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN THERE YET. IT'S OKAY. LET'S JUMP THE GUN. THAT'S ALL RIGHT. BUT SOMEBODY BETTER BE PREPARED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. ALL RIGHT. IS THERE ANY FURTHER, ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE OMNIVUS BUDGET? ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS? ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ANY DEBATE? DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? IF IT'S A QUESTION OR IF YOU WANT TO GO SPEAK PRO OR CON? CHOICES. ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. SO MY UNDERSTANDING. LIKE, IN THE WORLD OF FINANCE, THEY NO LONGER GET RETIREMENT FUNDS, THE PEOPLE WHO WORK AT TOP FIRMS. AND I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE NOT DO THAT HERE. BUT THEN I KNOW PEOPLE IN EDUCATION WHO THEY HAVE TO PAY OUT OF POCKET PARTIALLY FOR THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE. AND I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT, WELL, COMMENT ABOUT THAT. COMMENT ABOUT HEALTH INSURANCE IN GENERAL FOR RETIREES, I MEAN, THEY DO GET SOCIAL SECURITY AND, I MEAN TO SAY, MEDICARE. SO I'M WONDERING, HOW MUCH MORE ARE WE GOING TO BE PUTTING INTO THIS RETIREMENT FUNDING? AND ARE THERE GOING TO BE ANY LIMITATIONS COMING IN THE FUTURE? I THINK, I FEEL LIKE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE EXAMINED. GIVEN THE WEIGHT. THE WEIGHT OF EXPENSES, TAXPAYERS, AND RESIDENTS, ALL OF US ARE GOING TO BE PAYING IN COMING YEARS FOR THE WATER. AND OUR RISING TAXES, THEY JUST SEEM TO GO UP ANOTHER FIVE MILLION EVERY YEAR. AND I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THAT. SO I'M NOT REAL HAPPY UNTIL I CAN HEAR SOME ANSWERS ABOUT THOSE. OKAY. SO I GUESS. KIND OF A QUESTION, KIND OF A COMMENT. RIGHT. SO IF YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC QUESTION THAT YOU WANT TO ASK, YOU CAN COME TO THE PRESENTATION. AND MAYBE SOMEBODY FROM THE TOWN COULD RESPOND. BUT YOU'RE WELCOME TO DEBATE AS WELL. I AM CURIOUS WHETHER IF YOU CAN JUST STATE YOUR NAME AGAIN. JUST HERE AT A DIFFERENT MICROPHONE. JUST FOR THE RECORD. FOR THE MINUTES. ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I'M WONDERING WHETHER EMPLOYEES PAY PART OF THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE OR NOT. AND WHETHER THE HEALTH INSURANCE FOR RETIREES, IT DOES TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION. THEY'RE MEDICARE. BECAUSE CERTAINLY MEDICARE COSTS A LOT LESS THAN PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE. OKAY. SO IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE TWO QUESTIONS. FIRST, WHETHER OR NOT THE TOWN EMPLOYEES PAY INTO ANY OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE. AND THE RETIREES, IF MEDICARE IS TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION AS WELL? OKAY. IS THERE ANYONE FROM THE TOWN WHO CAN ANSWER MS. CARTER'S QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THROUGH YOU TO MS. CARTER. SO I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU, MR. MCCALL. SO THE TOWN DOES PAY A PORTION, ROUGHLY 70% OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE AND THE EMPLOYEES PAY THE REMAINDER. WE DO NEGOTIATE WITH THE PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS ON THE COVERAGE. WE ALSO, YOU DIDN'T ASK, BUT I THINK YOU ALLUDED TO IT, RETIREMENTS BY LAW, WE CONTRIBUTE A PORTION, THEIR RETIREMENT, THEY CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR RETIREMENT. WE ALSO IN THE BUDGET PUT MONEY INTO OUR ASSESSMENT WITH MIDDLE SEX COUNTY RETIREMENT SO THAT WE CAN BUILD SOME OF THOSE RETIREMENTS. WE HAVE SUFFICIENT FUNDS THERE TO HOPEFULLY PAY FOR THOSE OUT OF THAT CORPUS, THE AMOUNT THAT WE'RE PAYING IN SO WE'RE 100% FUNDED. SIMILARLY, WE HAVE AN OPEB TRUST WHICH WE PAY MONEY INTO EVERY YEAR THAT HOPEFULLY ONCE WE HAVE SUFFICIENT PRINCIPLE THERE, WE CAN USE THAT TO FUND THE EMPLOYEE, EXCUSE ME, THE RETIREE HEALTH CARE COSTS AND OTHER COSTS. WITH REGARD TO EMPLOYEES THAT HAVE RETIRED WHEN THEY HIT 65, THEY ARE REQUIRED TO GET ON MEDICARE. WE DO OFFER MEDICAID SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAMS, AGAIN, WHICH THERE IS A SPLIT ON SOME OF THE PREMIUMS THERE AS WELL. BUT WE DO HAVE THEM MOVE OVER TO MEDICARE AND MEDICAID. EXCUSE ME, MEDICAID. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE OMNIBUS BUDGET? ARE YOU READY TO, ANY OTHER ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON THE OMNIBUS BUDGET? MADAM RADAR, BRIAN KEVENY FINANCE DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. SO TO ANSWER CLIFF'S QUESTION, THE HEALTH INSURANCE BUDGET IS $11 MILLION. THAT'S 10% OF THE TOTAL BUDGET. THAT'S WHERE WE COME UP WITH THE $19 ALLOCATION BASED OFF A $19,000 SINGLE FAMILY TAX BILL. THANK YOU, MR. KEVENY. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE BUDGET? YOU ALL READY TO PREPARE, ARE PREPARED TO VOTE FOR THE BUDGET? REMEMBER, IT'S IN THIS HANDOUT. SO ALL THAT STUFF I READ TO YOU, ALL THOSE NUMBERS, JUST FORGET ABOUT THOSE. THEY'RE ALL RIGHT HERE, OKAY? EVERYBODY UNDERSTAND? OKAY. SO I'M GOING TO PUT ON THE MOTION, THE FIRST MOTION ON THE OMNIBUS BUDGET. AND THE VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN. IF YOU VOTE IN FAVOR OF THE BUDGET, VOTE 1 FOR YES. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED, VOTE 2 FOR NO. THE WINDOW IS OPEN. ALL RIGHT. THE VOTING WINDOW HAS CLOSED. AND WE NEED A SIMPLE MAJORITY HERE. AND WITH 256 PEOPLE VOTING YES AND 19 PEOPLE VOTING NO, THE MOTION CARRIES. I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT MORE PEOPLE HAVE SHOWN UP. SO, OKAY. SO THAT BRINGS US TO, IS THERE ANYTHING FURTHER ON THE FIRST MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 10? IF NOT, WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE SECOND MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 10. THE CAPITAL BUDGET. MADAM MODERATOR, KARL BARNES, MARSHALL TERRES, VICE CHAIR OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ITEMS NUMBERED 1 THROUGH 31 AS SET FORTH IN THE FINANCE COMMITTEE'S CAPITAL BUDGET OF FISCAL YEAR 20. LISTED ON PAGES 43 THROUGH 52 OF THE WARRANT FOR THIS TOWN MEETING FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $9,418,550 TO BE APPROPRIATED FOR EQUIPMENT AND VEHICLE ACQUISITIONS AND PROJECTS FOR THE LISTED DEPARTMENTS, EACH OF WHICH SHALL BE AN APPROPRIATION AND THE TOTAL SUM SO APPROPRIATED, OF THE TOTAL SUM SO APPROPRIATED, THE TREASURER WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE SELECT BOARD IS ALLOWED TO AUTHORIZE TO BORROW $6,331,507 FOR THE ITEMS OR PROJECTS WHOSE FUNDING SOURCE IS IDENTIFIED AS B, CAPITAL B, FOR BORROWING ON SAID PAGES PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF GENERAL LAWS CHAPTER 44 SECTION 7 OR ANY OTHER ENABLING LEGISLATION AND TO ISSUE BONDS OR NOTES OF THE TOWN THEREFORE. AND FURTHER, THAT THE SUM OF $2,189,766 BE TRANSFERRED FOR EQUIPMENT IN THE FINANCE COMMITTEE'S CAPITAL STABILIZATION FUND BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE GENERAL FUND UNRESERVED FUND BALANCE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS FREE CASH, THAT THE SUM OF $100,000 BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE CAPITAL STABILIZATION FUND, THAT THE SUM OF $105,000 BE TRANSFERRED FROM AMBULANCE RECEIPTS, AND FINALLY THAT THE SUM OF $692,277 BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE FOLLOWING, ACTUALLY FROM THE VARIOUS CAPITAL SURPLUS FUNDS IDENTIFIED ON PAGE 4-52 OF THE WARRANT AND PAGES 18 AND 19 OF THE MOTIONS PACKET THAT YOU RECEIVED THIS EVENING. IS THERE A SECOND ON THIS MOTION? THANK YOU. OKAY. SO WE COULD HAVE MR. BARNES GO THROUGH ALL OF THE ITEMS THAT ARE INDIVIDUALLY LISTED ON PAGES 18 AND 19 OF YOUR MOTION THAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU. AND OR WE COULD GO THROUGH ON PAGE 44 THROUGH THE MOTION THAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU. THERE'S A LOT OF THEM. PAGE 52, THE 31 ITEMS LIKE I DID BEFORE. SO I WOULD SUGGEST, AND NONE OF THOSE NUMBERS HAVE CHANGED, CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT, MADAM MODERATOR. SO WHAT I THINK I'D DO, MR. BARNES, IS THAT I'LL GO THROUGH THE 31 ITEMS VERY QUICKLY, SEE IF ANYONE WANTS TO HOLD THEM LIKE WE DID BEFORE, AND THEN WE'LL JUST FOCUS ON THOSE ITEMS THAT HAS TO BE HELD. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. BARNES. SO I AM NOW ON PAGE 44, FOLKS. NUMBER 1, D.P.W., $431,875. ANYONE WANT TO HOLD IT? OKAY. NUMBER 2, BUDGET D.P.W., $250,000. ANYONE? OKAY. BUDGET 3, D.P.W., $370,000. NUMBER 4, BUDGET D.P.W., $325,000. NUMBER 5, BUDGET D.P.W., $150,000. NUMBER 6, D.P.W., $275,000. NUMBER 7, D.P.W., $255,000. ON TO PAGE 46. NUMBER 7, THE TOWN MANAGER, $100,000. NUMBER 8, TOWN I.T., $250,000. HOLD. OKAY. SHOUT IT RIGHT OUT, PEOPLE, SO I CAN HEAR YOU. NUMBER 9, TOWN I.T., $150,000. NUMBER 10, TOWN I.T., $100,000. GOT IT? 11, POLICE DEPARTMENT, $90,000. POLICE DEPARTMENT, $50,000. GOING ON TO PAGE 48. 13, POLICE DEPARTMENT, $100,000. 14, JOINT COMMUNICATION CENTER, $200,000. DID I HEAR HOLD? THANK YOU. 15, FIRE DEPARTMENT, $615,000. 16, FIRE DEPARTMENT, $25,000. 17, FIRE DEPARTMENT, $80,000. 19, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $250,000. 20, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $310,750. 21, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $471,500. 21, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $471,500. MOVING ON TO PAGE 50, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $47,000. 23, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $80,000. 24, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $444,000. 25, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $2,000,000. 26, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $359,722. 27, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $540,000. IS THAT A HOLD? 28, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $470,000. 29, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $148,203.
ON TO PAGE 52, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $6,500. AND LAST, 31, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $350,000. GOING BACK TO THE FIRST HOLD, I HAVE NUMBER 8 ON PAGE 46, TOWN I.T., $250,000. WHO HAD A QUESTION? THANK YOU. PAUL FRIELING, RIVER ROCK WAY. PLEASE TALK INTO THE MICROPHONE. I RECOGNIZE YOU SIR. THANK YOU. SO FOR THE, IT'S CALLED CYBERSECURITY REMEDIATION AND MODERNIZATION. IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S ADDING MONITORING TO THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND SCHOOL BUILDINGS FOR A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS. I'D JUST LIKE TO UNDERSTAND KIND OF THE DRIVER OF THAT, IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WAS SUGGESTED BY POLICE OR KIND OF WHERE THAT NEED ORIGINATED FROM. IT MENTIONED OTHER FACILITIES. I'D JUST LIKE TO UNDERSTAND KIND OF THE BREAKOUT OF COSTS AND KIND OF WHERE THAT FUNDING IS GOING. IS THERE SOMEONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION? ANYONE? THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATE. UNFORTUNATELY, MY I.T. DIRECTOR COULDN'T BE WITH US THIS EVENING. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. MCCALL. THANK YOU. WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE, WHEN I FIRST ARRIVED HERE, I WAS SURPRISED TO FIND THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE CAMERAS IN A LOT OF OUR BUILDINGS, ESPECIALLY IN OUR TOWN HALL AND OTHER IMPORTANT FACILITIES, INCLUDING WHERE OUR CHILDREN GO. SO I'VE WORKED WITH MY FACILITIES TEAM, THE I.T. DEPARTMENT, TO LOOK INTO A SOLUTION THAT ULTIMATELY WE WOULD HAVE INTEGRATED WITH CAMERAS IN EACH ONE OF OUR FACILITIES THAT WOULD BE TIED TO OUR DISPATCH SO THAT THERE WOULD BE CAMERAS THAT THEY COULD TURN ON WHEN A CALL CAME IN AND LOOK AT A PARTICULAR FACILITY IF IT WAS ON SITE. IT WOULD BE TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF NOT ONLY EMPLOYEES, BUT THE PUBLIC OR ANYBODY ELSE INVOLVED IN ANY ONE OF OUR FACILITIES. SO THAT IS THE PURPOSE BEHIND THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT. WHILE I MAY NOT HAVE THE SPECIFIC BREAKDOWN, THAT'S THE INTENT BEHIND WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS LINE ITEM? THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THE RESPONSE. IF YOU COULD JUST STATE YOUR NAME AND SIT STRAIGHT AGAIN, JUST FOR THE RECORD. I'M JUST CURIOUS, THE FOLKS THAT ARE GOING TO BE MONITORING THE SURVEILLANCE, IS THAT FOLKS THAT ARE ALREADY PART OF THE TOWN OR CONTRACTORS? JUST ANY ADDITIONAL CLARITY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THE INTENT WOULD BE IF A CALL COMES INTO DISPATCH, WE HAVE OUR OWN DISPATCHERS IN THERE THAT COULD LOOK. OBVIOUSLY IF AN INCIDENT HAPPENED THAT WE WEREN'T AWARE OF, IT WOULD BE SOME TYPE OF STORAGE USUALLY ON A SHORT-TERM BASIS. THERE WOULD BE SOME TYPE OF CLOUD STORAGE OF SOME OF THIS VIDEO SO THAT WE COULD RETRIEVE IT IN THE EVENT THAT WE LEARNED SOMETHING AFTER THE FACT. THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT WOULD HAVE THEIR EYES ON A REGULAR BASIS SHOULD BE OUR PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES PRIMARILY IN THE DISPATCH. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON BUDGET LINE ITEM 8 FOR TOWN I.T.? AARON GIBBONS, SCHOOL COMMITTEE, MITCHELL STREET. THANK YOU. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. GIBBONS. I'M INDICATED TO SCHOOL BUILDING MONITORING. THIS IS LINE ITEM 8? STILL THE SAME ONE? GREAT. CAN ANYONE ANSWER THAT FOR MRS. GIBBONS? AGAIN, AS I INDICATED BEFORE, MY I.T. DIRECTOR IS I DON'T HAVE THE BREAKDOWN WITH ME THIS EVENING, MS. GIBBONS. HAS THERE BEEN, AARON GIBBONS, MITCHELL STREET. THANK YOU. HAS THERE BEEN ANY DISCUSSION AS TO WHERE THESE WILL BE PLACED WITH RESPECT TO SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND SCHOOL DEPARTMENT LAND? AGAIN, I HAVE HAD LIMITED CONVERSATIONS WITH MY I.T., SO I DO NOT HAVE A LIST OF WHERE ALL THE CAMERAS WILL BE GOING. I CAN TELL YOU THAT WE'VE STARTED THE PROJECT WITHIN TOWN HALL AND WE PUT SOME THERE, BUT I DO NOT HAVE A COMPLETE BREAKDOWN OF WHERE ALL OF THE CAMERAS WILL BE GOING. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. WE'RE STILL ON LINE ITEM 8? YES. IRIS HOXHAUT, PLAIN ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS REGARDING THE TOWN I.T. CYBERSECURITY REMEDIATION MONITORIZATION PROGRAM. YES. I WOULD LIKE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DATA THAT'S COLLECTED, HOW IT IS SECURED, GIVEN THAT THERE WILL BE MINORS MONITORED AND OTHERS, WHO HAS ACCESS TO THAT DATA, IS THAT REAL TIME, HOW IS IT GOING TO BE STORED ON PREM OR VIA THE CLOUD, AND THEN WHO RETAINS THE RIGHT TO THAT FOOTAGE? IS THERE SOMEONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION? IF YOU CAN'T BE ANSWERED, IF THERE'S NO ONE HERE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, YEAH, FOLKS, THIS IS NOT EVERY QUESTION CAN BE ANSWERED. SOMETIMES IT'S HELPFUL AND WE ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT IT. IT COMES BEFORE A TOWN MEETING TO GET THE ANSWERS, BUT THAT'S NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE EITHER. BUT IF WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE HERE, CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION. WE DON'T HAVE THE I.T. DIRECTOR HERE. DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION ON LINE ITEM EIGHT BEFORE WE MOVE ON? OKAY. ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. PERSONALLY, I THINK THIS IS A GREAT IDEA. IS THERE A QUESTION? YES, THERE IS. OKAY. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. BUT MY QUESTION, YOU KNOW, TO PROTECT OUR SCHOOLS, GIVEN OUR SOCIETY. YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU HAVE TO ASK QUESTIONS AT THE RECESURAL MICROPHONE. YES. OKAY. MY QUESTION RELATES TO WHY WE'RE PUTTING $250,000 INTO THIS IF WE ARE JOINING, THE SELECT BOARD HAS VOTED FOR US TO JOIN THE THREE-TOWN MONITORING, SAFETY MONITORING, WHATEVER. AND SO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THIS DATA? IS IT GOING TO GO DOWN TO FRAMINGHAM OR NATIC WHERE THAT THREE-TOWN DISPATCH CENTER WILL BE LOCATED? AND I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO BE SAVING MONEY BY JOINING THEM. AND WHY ARE WE ADDING SOMETHING FOR $250,000 HERE IN THE TOWN TO BE MONITORING IT? I THINK MONITORING IT IS GREAT, BUT I'M JUST WONDERING ABOUT THE EXPENSE. JUST ASK A QUESTION, PLEASE. IT'S JUST TO ASK QUESTIONS. OKAY. LET ME SEE IF SOMEONE CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN ANSWER THE MISTAKE? I'M GOING TO ASK CARTER'S QUESTION. MR. McCALL, I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THERE ARE TWO SEPARATE THINGS, IS THE EASIEST QUESTION. WE ARE JOINING A REGIONAL DISPATCH CENTER WITH NATIC AND FRAMINGHAM, AND THERE'S A LONGER STORY BEHIND THAT, BUT IN SHORT ORDER, NATIONWIDE, THERE IS AN EFFORT TO DIRECT FUNDING TO REGIONAL DISPATCH AS OPPOSED TO INDIVIDUAL TOWNS OR COMMUNITIES THAT ARE RUNNING DISPATCH CENTERS. SO I HATE TO USE THE EXPRESSION, YOU NEED SOMEONE TO FOLLOW THE MONEY. SO MORE MONEY IS COMING THROUGH 911 GRANTS TO REGIONAL DISPATCH CENTERS, AND A LOT OF FOLKS ARE RUSHING TO JOIN TO THOSE. AND I SAY THE TERM RUSHING LIGHTLY BECAUSE THERE ARE LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ONES THAT WERE IN EXISTENCE. THEY WERE FILLING UP. THERE WAS ONE IN HOLBROOK. THERE WERE OTHERS THAT WERE TOO FAR AWAY FROM US, AND WE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT LOCAL CONTROL, FUNDING, AND A VARIETY OF THINGS. I'VE MET QUITE REGULARLY, WITH OUR TWO CHIEFS, OUR PRIOR CHIEF AS WELL, AND CONSULTED WITH THE SELECT BOARD BEFORE WE WENT FORWARD WITH THIS ENDEAVOR. AND SO WE WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN A PROPORTIONAL SHARE WITH NATIC AND FRAMINGHAM, AND THERE WILL BE A DISPATCH CENTER IN FRAMINGHAM, AND THEY ARE LOOKING TO RECRUIT THE EXISTING DISPATCHERS FROM THE THREE TOWNS TO SERVE IN THAT DISPATCH. SO REGARDLESS OF WHERE THE DISPATCH IS, WE STILL HAVE TO HAVE SOME LEVEL OF SECURITY IN OUR BUILDINGS AND THE ABILITY TO MONITOR WHAT'S GOING ON OR IF AN INCIDENT HAPPENS. SO IF OUR DISPATCHERS WIND UP GOING OVER TO FRAMINGHAM, WE STILL NEED TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON WITH OUR EMPLOYEES, THE PUBLIC, OUR CHILDREN, SO THEY ARE SOMEWHAT CONNECTED IN THAT REGARD, BUT IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DISPATCH. WE ARE GOING TO THE REGIONAL DISPATCH BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF DOLLARS, THERE'S GOING TO BE A SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS FOR THE FIRST PART OF THAT DISPATCH BECAUSE STATE 9-1 WILL BE FUNDING THE MAJORITY OF THE SALARIES OF OUR DISPATCHERS WHEN WE TRANSFER TO THAT SYSTEM. SO AS WE FACE FISCAL CHALLENGES IN THE NEXT COMING YEARS, IT IS BENEFICIAL TO US TO PURSUE THAT AND THAT'S WHY WE MADE THAT DECISION. BUT WE ALSO NEED TO ENSURE THE SAFETY, AS I SAID, OF OUR BUILDINGS AND OUR RESIDENTS. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON LINE ITEM 8? TOWN I.T. ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN RICHARD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. TOWN MANAGER, FOR THAT ANSWER. IT DID NOT CLARIFY TO ME, HOWEVER, WHERE THE DATA IS GOING TO BE STORED OR GO TO. ONCE OUR DISPATCHERS MOVE DOWN THERE, DO THEY ONLY DISPATCH FOR OUR TOWN AND THEY ONLY HAVE ACCESS OR WILL THE WHOLE DISPATCH CENTER HAVE ACCESS TO THAT? I'M JUST A LITTLE CONFUSED ABOUT THAT TRANSITION. IF YOU CAN ANSWER THAT. IF I MAY, MADAM MODERATOR, I WOULD RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT WE TAKE THE I.T. QUESTIONS OUT OF LINE. I WAS ABLE TO CONTACT MY I.T. DIRECTOR, AND HE IS ON HIS WAY FROM WHERE HE WAS. FINE. THAT'S GREAT. BECAUSE I CAN'T ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS 100% WITH 100% CONFIDENCE. I CAN'T ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS WITH 100% CERTAINTY. AND I WANT THIS BODY TO HAVE ANSWERS. WE HAVE PLENTY OF OTHER ITEMS IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET THAT WE HELD. SO WE WILL SKIP OVER I.T. FOR NOW. ANY IDEA WHEN HE'S COMING? AND THEN MOVE ON TO, SO I'M NOT SURE IF JOINT COMMUNICATION CENTER FALLS WITHIN THAT EITHER. MR. MCCALL? MR. MCCALL? JOINT COMMUNICATIONS, DOES THAT FALL WITHIN HIS PURVIEW TOO? THAT'S A LOT BETTER THAN BUDGET ITEM 14. THERE WAS A QUESTION ON THAT. OK. WHO ASKED TO HOLD, SO 14, NUMBER 14 ON PAGE 48, JOINT COMMUNICATIONS CENTER IS A $200,000 BUDGET ITEM. IT WAS ASKED TO BE HELD. DOES SOMEBODY HAVE A QUESTION ON THAT? PERHAPS THE FIRE CHIEF CAN ANSWER THAT. SOMEBODY ASKED TO HOLD IT. I SAW SOME PEOPLE LEAVE. MAYBE IT WAS THEM. ANYBODY? MIGHT HAVE BEEN YOU. OKAY. LET'S COME ON BACK UP, MS. CARTER, AND LET'S SEE IF MR. EXCUSE ME, IF OUR FIRE CHIEF CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. ELISA CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. CARTER. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I THINK THIS IS PART OF MY QUESTION, THE LAST QUESTION. THIS IS THE JOINT COMMUNICATIONS CENTER. $200,000. AGAIN, I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO SAVE MONEY GOING TO THE JOINT COMMUNICATIONS CENTER. SO I'M JUST CONFUSED. BUT I GUESS IT JUST SAYS RADIO SYSTEM AND EQUIPMENT UPGRADES OF OUR POLICE AND FIRE HERE, BUT IT'S NOT HERE. IS THAT FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER? ARE YOU ASKING IF IT'S TWO SEPARATE THINGS? ONE IS FOR POLICE AND FIRE AND ONE IS FOR SOMETHING ELSE? WELL, IT SAYS JOINT COMMUNICATIONS CENTER FOR $200,000, BUT IT SAYS RADIO SYSTEM AND EQUIPMENT UPGRADES, AND I'M ASSUMING UPGRADES WOULD HAVE TO BE HERE BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T BE UPGRADING SOMETHING THAT WE HAVEN'T GONE TO YET. SO I'M JUST CONFUSED AGAIN. PERHAPS THE FIRE CHIEF CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. MADAM MODERATOR, NEIL MCPHERSON, THE FIRE CHIEF. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. PLEASE SPEAK INTO THE MICROPHONE. SO THE MONIES ASKED FOR UNDER JCC ARE PART OF A FIVE YEAR UPGRADE OF OUR RADIO SYSTEM. THAT RADIO SYSTEM IS THE RADIO SYSTEM USED BY FIRST RESPONDERS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY AND THE MULTIPLE TRANSMIT AND TRANSMIT SITES THAT WE HAVE THROUGHOUT THE TOWN. SO MOST OF THIS EQUIPMENT UP UNTIL THIS PAST YEAR WAS OVER 25 YEARS OLD. SO REGARDLESS OF WHETHER WE GO TO A REGIONAL DISPATCH, WE NEED TO HAVE EFFECTIVE AND UPDATED COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT THROUGHOUT THE TOWN AND WE JUST RECENTLY BROUGHT UP OUR RADIO EQUIPMENT TO THE NEW APCO STANDARD AND THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR FIRST RESPONDERS AND THEIR PUBLIC SAFETY. SO REGARDLESS OF GOING TO A REGIONAL DISPATCH CENTER, THIS MONEY NEEDED TO BE SPENT TO UPGRADE OUR EXISTING SYSTEM AND THERE WAS NO PROVISION IF WE GO TO A REGIONAL CENTER TO ACTUALLY UPGRADE THIS SYSTEM AS PART OF THAT TRANSITION. SO HOPEFULLY THAT HELPS. THANK YOU FOR THAT ANSWER, CHIEF. OKAY. SO WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON NOW. IF THERE ARE NO OTHER QUESTIONS ON BUDGET ITEM 14, WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON NOW TO A DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT, 23 FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $80,000. THERE WAS A HOLD ON THAT. IT'S YOUR TIME. MADAM MODERATOR, NATHANIEL CONNORS, OLD CONNECTICUT PATH. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. AS THIS FORUM IS AWARE, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT WHY THE WALL PADS IN THE TOWN BUILDING GYMNASIUM ARE AT $80,000 FOR SUCH A SMALL FACILITY. THANK YOU, SIR. LET ME SEE, CAN ANYONE ANSWER THAT QUESTION? ANYBODY? THANK YOU. JUST GETTING EVERYBODY INVOLVED IN TOWN MEETING, AREN'T WE? MICHAEL FAIR, DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. RECREATION HAS DECIDED TO PUT NEW PADS IN THE GYM. IT RUNS THROUGH THE FACILITY BUDGET. I DON'T KNOW A BUNCH ABOUT IT. I DID TALK WITH KATHERINE. SHE DID PUT IT OUT TO BID, AND THAT WAS THE LOWEST BIDDER. THEY'RE NOT INEXPENSIVE. IT'S ONE OF THOSE NICHE THINGS THAT JUST UNFORTUNATELY COST MORE THAN YOU WOULD THINK. OKAY. THANK YOU. IS THERE ANOTHER QUESTION ON BUDGET ITEM 23? I'M HOPING SOMEBODY CAN ANSWER IT. WE REPLACED THE WALL PADS. CAN YOU STATE YOUR NAME? SORRY. ANNETTE LEWIS, CLAPEN HILL ROAD. WE REPLACED THE WALL PADS IN NOT SUCH A LONG TIME AGO. I REMEMBER IT WAS IN THE BUDGET. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG AGO THAT WAS? IF ANYONE CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN THE WALL PADS WERE REPLACED BEFORE? YEAH, WE HAVE AN ANSWER. SEE? EVERYBODY'S JOINING IN. THANK YOU. KATHERINE BRENNAN, RECREATION DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THE WALL PADS HAVEN'T REPLACED IN PROBABLY ABOUT 25 YEARS. THEY'RE FALLING APART. THERE'S SOME SAFETY ISSUES WITH SCREWS COMING OUT WHILE KIDS ARE PLAYING IN THE GYM AND THEY NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE $80,000 IS MOSTLY LABOR TO INSTALL THE PADS. WE HAVE A COUPLE OF QUOTES AND THAT'S THE ESTIMATE. THANK YOU FOR THAT. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON LINE ITEM 23 IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET? OKAY. THEN I'M MOVING DOWN TO 25. SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $2 MILLION. WHO PUT A HOLD ON THAT? DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? YEAH, I DON'T THINK IT'S THE MIC NOT ON? IS THERE A BUTTON THERE? TRY AGAIN. MR. LEWIS. CLIFFORD, LEWIS. THERE YOU GO. ALL SET. AM I ALLOWED TO SPEAK AT THE PRO MIC? OF COURSE YOU ARE. SURE. CLIFFORD, LEWIS. I WANT TO POINT OUT TO THE TOWN THAT THIS ITEM WAS ORIGINALLY BUDGETED AT $5 MILLION, 5.5. I WANT TO COMMEND THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE AND THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS DIRECTOR FOR BRINGING THIS IN AT $2 MILLION WITH A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DESIGN. I KNOW WE DON'T APPLAUD THINGS AT TOWN MEDIUM, BUT IT'S SO RARE THAT WE GET A BUDGET REDUCTION OF THIS MAGNITUDE. THEY DESERVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE. THANK YOU. OH, WELL. THANKS. HEY, HEY, HEY. NO CRYING IN BASEBALL, NO CLAPPING AT TOWN MEETING. OKAY? THOSE ARE THE RULES. I JUST MAKE THEM. OKAY? NO, THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. LEWIS. I APPRECIATE THAT. I'M SORRY, WHAT? I'M GOING TO LET MS. MARTIN SPEAK VERY QUICKLY. SORRY. EXCUSE ME. CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. SORRY. THANK YOU. RECOGNIZE ME. GREAT. I ALSO WANT TO POINT OUT THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY THE WORK OF OUR ENGINEER, ABBY SHAREST, WHO I HOPE I PRONOUNCED YOUR NAME CORRECTLY, WHO WORKS TARELESSLY TO GET US TO THIS BETTER SOLUTION FOR THE TOWN. AND MR. HOLDER. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MS. MARTIN. APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. YOU'RE WELCOME. AND THANK YOU. I'M SORRY. I WANT TO ANSWER MY QUESTION. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. BURGER. 48 SEDGE MEADOW ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. BURGER. SO IT SEEMS . DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION ON LINE ITEM 25? YES. OKAY. SO MY QUESTION IS, SEEING HOW MUCH MONEY THEY SPENT BEFORE AND THE SYSTEM DIDN'T WORK AND THEY DIDN'T SIZE IT PROPERLY, APPARENTLY, HOW, I WOULD LIKE A LITTLE BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE HANDLES THEIR DPW KINDS OF FUNCTIONS AND HOW EXACTLY THAT ALL INTERPLAYS AND HOW THEIR, WHAT THE PLAN IS NOW FOR A BETTER MANAGEMENT OF THE SITUATION. IS THERE SOMEBODY WHO CAN ANSWER MS. BURGER'S QUESTION? MADAM MODERATOR, TOM HOLDER, DPW DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. SO I'LL TAKE A SHOT AT ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION. SO ALTHOUGH IT IS SCHOOL PROPERTY, THE TREATMENT PLANT WAS DESIGNED TO SERVE THE HIGH SCHOOL. THE DPW HAS THE PROFICIENCY AND THE CAPABILITY OF MANAGING A SEWER SYSTEM AND A SEWER TREATMENT PLANT FAR BETTER THAN NO OFFENSE TO THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, BUT WE'RE BETTER POSITIONED TO MANAGE THOSE TYPES OF THINGS. SO A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MANAGING THAT PLANT AND THE REDESIGN OF IT AND THE SYSTEM THAT'S NOW BEING ADVOCATED FOR FELL TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS. THAT HELPS. THANK YOU, MR. HOLDER. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? YEAH. ALLEN MATTHEWS, OLD CONNECTICUT PATH. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. MATTHEWS. THE QUESTION I HAD IS THESE ISSUES WITH THE HIGH SCHOOL SEPTIC, DO ANY OF THEM STEM FROM POOR CONSTRUCTION? THE HIGH SCHOOL IS ONLY 13 YEARS OLD, AND SO I WAS WONDERING THAT. AND IF THAT'S THE CASE, HAS ANYTHING BEEN DONE TO GET RESTITUTION FROM THE BUILDER? IF ANYONE CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION. IS THAT A MODERATOR? MR. HOLDER, DPW DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. SO WHEN THAT PLANT WAS DESIGNED, IT WAS DESIGNED BASED UPON MASS DEP TITLE V FLOWS, AND WHEN IT WAS ACTUALLY BUILT AND FUNCTIONING, WHAT THEY EXPERIENCED IS THAT FLOWS WERE FAR LOWER THAN WAS ANTICIPATED. AND ONE MIGHT THINK THAT THAT'S A POSITIVE THING, BUT FOR A TREATMENT PLANT, IT IS DESIGNED TO TREAT WASTE WATER BY BASED UPON A PARTICULAR FLOW, AND WHEN THAT FLOW IS NOT THERE, IT'S NOT AS EFFICIENT, IT'S NOT AS EFFECTIVE, AND OVER TIME, THAT PLANT SIMPLY FAILED. AND I'VE BEEN HERE TEN YEARS, AND THAT PLANT HASN'T OPERATED IN TEN YEARS. SO IT'S BEEN DORMENT. WE'VE BEEN JUST SIMPLY PUMPING MASS DEP. WE'LL NO LONGER ACCEPT THAT AS A VIABLE AND A SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION. SO THEREFORE, WE'RE THEN ADVOCATING FOR THIS PROJECT. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ON THIS LINE ITEM? COME BACK UP TO THE PROCEDURAL MICROPHONE. DON'T BE SHY. WELL, I WORK WITH WASTE WATER TREATMENT. I NEED YOU TO SAY YOUR NAME AGAIN. THIS IS MARCIA BURGER, 48 SEGIMETO ROAD. THANK YOU, MS. BURGER. I RECOGNIZE YOU. I'M A REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL SANITARY ENGINEER, AND I OPERATE WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS. DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? MY WORK. AND I WAS WONDERING WHAT IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE WAS A REASON WHY LOW FLOW HINDERED THE TREATMENT PROCESS, BECAUSE PLANTS THAT I'M FAMILIAR WITH DO BETTER IF THERE'S LESS FLOW BECAUSE THEY HAVE MORE RESIDENCE TIME. IF ANYONE CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION. MADAM MODERATOR, CAROL MARTIN, LAKE WOOD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, SELECT BOARD. I THINK THIS ANSWER COULD BE QUESTION COULD BE ANSWERED BETTER BY OUR ENGINEER, ABBY SHAREST, AND I REQUEST TO YOU THAT WE LET HER ANSWER THE QUESTION. THANK YOU. I WILL DO SO. EVERYONE AT TOWN MEETING OKAY WITH THAT? EVERYONE SAY AYE. AYE. ANY NOS? MAJORITY RULES. GO AHEAD. THE FLOOR IS YOURS. HI, ABBY SHAREST, TOWN ENGINEER. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THE QUESTION BEING WHAT WERE THE ISSUES WITH SOME OF THE LOW FLOWS? THE TYPE OF PLANT THAT WE HAD WAS NOT A PASSIVE SYSTEM LIKE A TITLE V SYSTEM THAT YOU MIGHT IMAGINE A HOME TO HAVE OR EVEN AN INNOVATIVE SYSTEM. IT WAS AN ADVANCED MEMBRANE TREATMENT PROCESS. IT WAS A PROCESS THAT WAS PARTLY BECAUSE IT'S IN THE ZONE TWO OF HAPPY HOLLOW WELLS AND NEAR THE LEACH FIELDS BEING IN THE BACK IN THE ATHLETIC FIELDS THERE. BUT BECAUSE OF THE MEMBRANE PROCESSES, WE WEREN'T ABLE TO KEEP THEM SO WET ENOUGH. THEY DRIED OUT. IN THE SUMMERTIME IT WAS ALMOST ZERO FLOW. SO THE TYPE OF PROCESS THAT IT HAD, IT COULDN'T REALLY GO FROM ZERO FLOW TO THEN SEPTEMBER COMES ALONG AND HAVING MUCH HIGHER FLOW. SO IT WAS THE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE FLOW IN ADDITION TO THE LOW FLOW WHERE THAT PARTICULAR TREATMENT PROCESS DID NOT WORK WELL. THANK YOU. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON LINE ITEM 25? OKAY. WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON THEN TO 27, THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $540,000. THAT'S INSTALLATION OF AN HVAC AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM. WAS THERE A QUESTION? ELISA CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. CARTER. THANK YOU, MADAM PRESIDENT. I'M GOING TO GO TO THE NEXT ONE. THIS ONE AND 28. WAS THIS IN THE BUDGET LAST YEAR THAT WE APPROVED IT? BECAUSE I REMEMBERED APPROVING BUDGETS TO INSTALL AIR CONDITIONING. SO I'M JUST WONDERING, HAS THIS ALREADY BEEN STARTED? IT SAYS IT'S AN ONGOING PROCESS. THIS IS JUST THE LATEST ITERATION OF THIS EXPENSE? IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION? MICHAEL FAILLA, DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. YES, THIS WAS IN LAST YEAR'S PLAN, AND YES, IT IS AN ONGOING PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE WITH ALL THE SCHOOLS AND ALL THE TOWN BUILDINGS. AS YOU KNOW, THE SCHOOLS ARE OLDER. THEY'VE REACHED THEIR AGE OF MATURITY, WE'LL SAY, AND WE'VE BEEN CYCLING THEM OUT, AND WE WILL CYCLE FOR THE NEXT EIGHT YEARS. DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION? ELISA CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. IF ALL OF THIS MONEY, HALF A MILLION A YEAR, SAY, FOR THE NEXT EIGHT YEARS IS GOING ON, WHAT ABOUT ALL THE MONEY THAT'S WANTED FOR NEW SCHOOLS? I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE'RE REPLACING STUFF ON SCHOOLS THAT THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT WANTS TO REPLACE ENTIRELY. IF SOMEONE CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION. MICHAEL FAILLA, DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. MY JOB IS TO KEEP THE BUILDINGS RUNNING. IF YOU COULD SPEAK INTO THE MICROPHONE. MY JOB IS TO KEEP THE BUILDINGS RUNNING AND EFFICIENTLY. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PLANS ARE. I DO KNOW THAT I NEED TO SUPPLY AIRCONDITIONING AND HEATING TO THESE SCHOOLS. SO AS THE UNITS FAIL OR START TO FAIL, WE JUST REPLACE THEM. THANK YOU, SIR. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY. THAT BRINGS US BACK TO PAGE 46, LINE ITEM EIGHT, TOWN I.T. HAVE WE HAD ANY LUCK? ALL RIGHT. SO WE'RE STILL WAITING FOR THE HEAD OF THE I.T. IT DIRECTOR TO ARRIVE. SO WE HAVE A CHOICE HERE. WE COULD SUSPEND UNTIL HE COMES AND PEOPLE COULD MAYBE USE THE RESTROOM OR SO THAT WE CAN PROVIDE THE INFORMATION THAT THE TOWN IS REQUESTING BECAUSE WE STILL HAVE A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS ON LINE ITEM 8 AND THEN WE STILL HAVEN'T DISCUSSED LINE ITEM 10 WHICH IS ALSO TOWN IT. THOSE ARE THE ONLY TWO REMAINING ON THIS SECOND MOTION IN ARTICLE 10, THE CAPITAL PROJECTS. SO IF WE HAVE AN AETA, OH, HE'S HERE. HE'S HERE? THUMBS UP? THUMBS UP. OKAY. SO THEN IF WE ARE GOING TO HAVE HIM ANSWER QUESTIONS, WE NEED THE TOWN TO APPROVE HIS SPEAKING BECAUSE HE'S NOT A RESIDENT. MADAM MODERATOR, CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I ASK. I MOVE THROUGH YOU THAT WE ALLOW OUR I.T. DIRECTOR, NICHOLAS LOMBARDI, TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE I.T. ITEMS IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET. OKAY. EVERYONE IN FAVOR OF MR. LOMBARDI SPEAKING ON THE I.T. QUESTIONS? SAY YES. ANYONE OPPOSED? PERFECT. WELCOME. LET'S LET HIM TAKE HIS COAT OFF. OKAY. SO THANK YOU FOR COMING. REALLY APPRECIATE IT. SO THERE'S BEEN A SERIES OF QUESTIONS AND I THINK WE'RE GOING TO NEED SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE BACK WHO DIDN'T GET THEIR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BECAUSE WE'VE HAD A LOT OF QUESTIONS. I DON'T RECALL THEM, TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK. SO THAT WOULD BE GREAT. THANK YOU. IRIS OXO, PLAIN ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THE QUESTIONS ARE, FOR NIMER 8, CYBERSECURITY REMEDIATION AND MODERNIZATION, WHICH INCLUDES SUPPORT VIDEO MONITORING, WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DATA? HOW IS IT SECURED? ON PRIME OR VIA CLOUD? WHO HAS ACCESS TO THAT DATA? IS THAT REAL TIME? AND THEN WHO RETAINS THE RIGHT TO THAT FOOTAGE? SURE. WHAT'S YOUR NAME? MY NAME IS NICK LOMBARDI. I'M THE I.T. DIRECTOR FOR THE TOWN OF WAYLAND. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. FIRST, I'D LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THE RESIDENTS AND MY PEERS WORKING FOR THE TOWN AND ALL OTHERS THAT ARE IN TENDENCE. I APOLOGIZE I WAS NOT HERE EARLIER. I AM ‑‑ I DO HAVE PNEUMONIA. I'M NOT CONTAGIOUS. I'LL PUT IT THAT WAY. WOW. THANK YOU FOR COMING. CERTAINLY. TO ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOUT THE DATA. THE NETWORK REMEDIATION IS SPECIFICALLY GEARED TO ADDRESS OUR CYBERSECURITY ISSUES THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE ON OUR NETWORK. OUR DATA IS HOSTED. THE ‑‑ I THINK WE'RE TALKING ABOUT VIDEO DATA BUT THIS GOES FOR ALL TOWN DATA IS STORED ON SERVERS WITHIN OUR TOWN NETWORK. SINCE COMING ON BOARD, ABOUT NINE MONTHS AGO. I'VE DISCOVERED THAT WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TECHNICAL DEBT. AND WHAT I MEAN BY TECHNICAL DEBT IS OUR SYSTEMS HAVE NOT BEEN UPDATED IN MANY, MANY YEARS. OUR SYSTEMS ARE AT HIGH RISK OF A RANSOMWARE ATTACK. AND I'M JUST BEING HONEST. OKAY. THE ‑‑ WE HAVE SYSTEMS AND I HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL HERE BECAUSE THIS INFORMATION IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE. WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL HERE BECAUSE THIS INFORMATION IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE. WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL HERE BECAUSE THIS INFORMATION IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE. IT'S DIFFICULT TO SHARE WITH THE PUBLIC. BUT OUR SYSTEMS ARE OVER 20 YEARS OLD. OKAY. WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED SECURITY UPDATES ON SOME OF OUR SYSTEMS BECAUSE THEY'RE OUT OF DATE. OKAY. SO CYBER SECURITY REMEDIATION STARTS AT THE TOP. AND WHAT I'M REFERRING TO AT THE TOP IS OUR FIREFIGHTERS. AND WHAT I'M REFERRING TO AT THE TOP IS OUR FIREFIGHTERS. AND WHAT I'M REFERRING TO AT THE TOP IS OUR FIREFIGHTERS. WE'RE NOT THERE YET. THAT WILL BE THE NEXT QUESTION. YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE FOR A WHILE, SORRY. YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE FOR A WHILE, SORRY. YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE FOR A WHILE, SORRY. COULD YOU REPEAT THE QUESTION, PLEASE. SPECIFICALLY WITH REGARD TO THE VIDEO MONITORING THAT IS SLATED TO TAKE PLACE AT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND OTHER PLACES, SPECIFICALLY WITH THAT VIDEO DATA IN THIS CASE, I Specifically, with that video data, in this case, I think the public would like to understand what's happening with that video data. How is it secured? Who has access to that, given what you just shared about the potential for ransomware? Who retains the right to that footage, and in the event that there was a bad actor, how would we get that back? Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you. I appreciate the question again. The video data is being stored on new servers that we have within our environment. The access to that video data is extremely limited. It is limited to my team for administration. Some of that data, based on accessibility rules, not accessibility, access rules, we have to do that. We'll provide access to the principals, to both captains, Hebert and McPherson, DPW specific to the DPW stations for monitoring of their vehicles. All other data, at this point in time, is not made accessible. It's not available to anyone else within the organization. Are there any other questions on line item 8, Town IT? Okay. Then we're going to move on to, oh, one more question. Go ahead. Thank you. Paul Frieling, River Rockway. Thank you for coming out. Yeah, so my question originally was, so for the monitoring that we're going to be adding to facilities, including the library and school buildings, given this wasn't part of the five-year capital plan, I just wanted to understand the urgency of why this is needed now, if this was consulted with local police, or if there was incidents or events that made us feel like this is something that we need, again, given there are questions just around storing, monitoring the data, if it's going to be real time, if that's actually going to prevent anything, or if it's just for folks at the school to review that, I'm just questioning, again, for a quarter million dollars. I don't know what the actual driver is for this line item. Thank you. Nick Linguardi, IT Director for the Town of Wayland. I recognize you. To answer your question specifically, there have been incidents where video footage would be helpful in identifying actors or the activity that is occurring in our town buildings, okay? This is a preventative measure. We've had small incidents. The purpose of the video surveillance is to address and prevent issues from happening in the future. As we all know, in our school systems, town departments are being attacked randomly, right? We don't know where these attacks are coming from. We don't know who's doing them. We don't know their reasoning. So the purpose for the videos is to prevent. The purpose of the videos is to ensure that we have a record of what's transpiring at the town buildings. Thank you. There's a question here. Tom Siak, Rolling Lane. I recognize you, sir. Well, I have another question on TAN, which actually the IT Director already alluded to, which is, are we underfunding our cybersecurity efforts? But specifically on the video monitoring. Yes. The video monitoring. Would that have helped identify the perpetrators of the incident of racist graffiti that we had a few years ago? Have we been dancing around that question here? If you can answer that. Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you. To address your question, video, improved video surveillance would provide us. Please talk into the microphone, okay? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's okay. I'm sorry. It's okay. If we were to have had better video surveillance around the high school, we would be able to provide additional information to that organization, okay? The town is responsible for the recording. The town is responsible for the safety of our school buildings and the surrounding area. So, with that video, it is, it would help us to identify who that perpetrator was. perpetrator was and when it occurred what time and we'd be able to investigate it further thank you is there another question i'm not sure who is next in line so come on up don't be shy barrett brontes beau road i recognize you thank you miss moderator um my question is with regard to this footage if you're working with law enforcement um when the call is made uh how do we know that this footage would not go into the hands of ice or some other kind of group like that if that can be answered
nick lombardi i.t town i.t director i recognize you um our information is managed by our police department as far as whether that information would get to ice would be up to the police department's management of that investigation as far as ice is concerned i i understand the concerns but at the same time we have to provide safety for our residents and our our children as we know with many schools across the nation we are constantly under threat for lots of bad actors without the video surveillance of these facilities we are leaving ourselves open to activity that is outside of the ice purview thank you other questions i'm not sure how to take people unless you come on come on up and form a line so thank you win trees erwin road member of the board of library trustees i recognize you sir thank you madam moderator my question mr lombardi and thanks for being with us tonight to answer them uh is have there been any detailed plans about locations of the cameras and use of the cameras in the area of the ice purview i recognize you sir thank you and use of them at the physical side of the library both interior and exterior
nick lombardi i.t director i recognize you to answer your question directly we are i just received quotes for the library the library has requested no internal cameras be installed so we have selected locations around the building specifically there are there are going to be eight cameras installed around the perimeter of the library to cover all entrances and the parking lot thank you are there more questions
hi sue fly cop uh lillian way i recognize you thank you and thank you for being here when he's so sick um my question is are there any plans for a policy about what to do about surveillance we live in times where um we don't want to become the bad actor so i'm just curious what the town plans to do about that i know the town of framingham is contracting with flock which i think there are a lot of concerns about so i just want to be sure that wayland doesn't become part of that okay did you hear her question okay she the question was is there going to be a policy with regard to surveillance correct you're welcome nick lombardi it director i recognize you yes there will be a policy we have started a policy. there will be a policy we have started writing that policy and it will be available for public review thank you another question Christine Docherty Orchard Lane I recognize you thank you the only question I have is which is similar to the library question which is what will the role of the school committee be in deciding where the cameras are going to be Nick Lombardi IT director I recognize you the school board will certainly be involved in the placement of those cameras any other questions Betsy Cullen Coolidge Road committee member I recognize you thank you madam moderator could you provide any additional detail like you just did as to the library of any current status of plans for the locations of the cameras at the schools as it might be proposed as the I am not aware the school committee has reviewed any such proposal Nick Lombardi IT director I recognize you we are in the initial stages of planning the placement of cameras we will be putting together a plan that will outline exactly I will be able to provide the school board specific locations of these cameras prior to selection of vendor and placement of the cameras is there another question Thank You madam moderator are you two Janice yep Wayland Hills Road also a member of of the Board of Library Trustees. I recognize you. Thank you. So it's two questions. One is what is FLOC? It was mentioned, but I'm not familiar. I'm assuming it's an acronym. The other is that the Library Board of Trustees had not been aware of, has not had the discussion of cameras external to the building and would expect that we would have a conversation about that before they are installed. Is that correct? Thank you. Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you. That is correct. These requests are coming directly from the department heads for each of our departments in regards to camera requests and camera placements. So now that we have those requests, we are gathering information to determine the best way and best locations for those cameras. Once we've identified all of those locations, we will certainly bring them to the appropriate boards and committees to present our recommendation on installation of those cameras. And the other question was, that Ms. Jenis asked, was what FLOC is. That's a good question. I'm new to town government, so I apologize. I do not have a definition for FLOC. Does that, does that, can anyone answer the question as to what FLOC is? Yeah, I would say, I think the police chief could probably answer this question. I know what it is, but it's not my call. Please. Into the microphone. Mark Ebert, Acting Chief of Police. I recognize you, Chief. FLOC is a private company that gathers license plate data into a database and then sells it to police departments and to private entities such as Home Depot and advertisers. So it gathers, they're placed on poles, at intersections or at street signs. They're pretty distinctive out there. If you drive around and see a black pole with a solar panel on it and a camera, it's most likely a FLOC camera. Again, they sell that data back to police departments. They used to provide it for free. About five years ago, we did have an MOU with them. Then they came back to us and want us to pay for the information, and we refused to. Recently, there's been advisements. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. So there's been no push from the police department to enter into any new agreement with FLOC and kind of use their data. It is out there to other police departments. I cannot say that they never provide that information to us in some sort of mutual aid agreement. The state police has their own license plate reader programs that we utilize in investigations. But that's run by the state police, not by a private company. We more feel that's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. more comfortable with that. So that's my best answer on what Flock is, a private company that's a license plate reader that sells its data to third parties and law enforcement. Thank you, Chief. Another question. Madam Moderator Clifford Lewis, Claybrook Hill Road. I recognize you. Thank you. If the location of the video cameras is public data and public information, doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of having them in the first place? If someone can answer that question. It doesn't have to be you, but if you'd like to, you can. If the location of the video cameras is public information, then the bad guys will know where the video cameras are and they can adjust their actions accordingly. Is that not true? Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you. The placement of the cameras will be obvious to everyone, just as they are in every parking lot and every building. So whether it's public information or not as to the location, it's public information. The location of the cameras, it is easily visible by anyone driving up to a facility. Our goal and the purpose for the cameras is to cover all entrances and exits for a facility to monitor activity. This also covers parking lots and fields that are adjacent to the town facility. Thank you. Are there any other questions with regard to, we're still on line item eight. Carol Plumb, Bald Rock Road. I recognize you. Did the cameras for the local conservation recreation area grass field, are they on? Are they part of your system or part of the police department system? You have to get up. You can't yell. If you have a point of order, you need to come up and ask. Yes, point of order. The question is not relevant to the item under discussion. That was Mr. Plumb. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Matthews. Sorry, Mr. Matthews. I recognize you, Mr. Matthews. With regard to the cameras at the loker field, correct, Plumb, where did you go, correct, whether or not they're part of this modernization, cyber security remediation modernization effort, I can say, if they're, you can say whether or not they are or not. If they're not, then it becomes irrelevant, if you can answer that question. Nick Lombardi, town IT director. At this point in time, the loker fields are not included. Okay. In the plans. Thank you. Any more questions? Come on up. Susan Kaufman, 66 Sherman Bridge Road. I recognize you. Thank you. My question is, is it possible to amend this article and delete line item eight? Are you making a motion to amend? First, I'm asking if it's possible. Sure. It's always possible to delete a line item as a voter. I have a motion of less than 10 words. Okay. I don't have it in writing. I move, Madam Moderator, that we delete line item eight. Okay. Is there a second? Second. Second? Okay. Would you like to speak to your motion? I think it's appropriate at this point for town meeting to decide if this kind of choice, a quarter of a million dollars for a surveillance system with so many open questions attached to it. Okay. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. we should be paying attention to this. If we have the opportunity to reduce the incidence of bad actors in our community or to identify them once they've badly acted, then I would like for us to do that. So I think that there's still going to be a process for determining the policy and the placement, but they can't do that if they don't have any money. So I would urge us to defeat this amendment. Anybody else? Okay. Go ahead. At the con microphone. I'm sorry. At the con microphone. Remember, this is a motion to delete line item eight. Elisa Carter-Sherman, Bridge Road. I recognize you. Thank you. I also disagree with the amendment. I think this is an important security in our country, unfortunately, right now, particularly in schools. But libraries, schools. I'm sorry. It's not a bad idea either. I do, you know, I can understand that there needs to be more dialogue, but it also sounds like the IT has some other allocations they're requesting and they're really trying to protect the town and protect us from, you know, that stuff where they freeze your data and you have to pay millions of dollars. I think it's really important that we have a good IT program right now. So I would not make any changes. Thank you. Over at the pro microphone. I have to announce myself? Yes, please. Iris Oxo, Plain Road. Please talk into the microphone, okay? So everyone can hear you. Thank you. I think the question that we all need to consider is whether or not we think video surveillance makes us safer or not. I can tell you numerous ways that video surveillance is used every day to impact your lives. It's used to be able to generate AI photos of you and videos of you and your kids. It's used in order for as a result. Thank you. As we've all heard, various elements of government to watch what you do and take considerations and monitor you. And I like living in Wayland today where that's not possible. Thank you. And over to you at the con microphone. Madam moderator, Tom Siak of Rolling Lane. I recognize you, sir. Madam moderator, the question I asked earlier was alluding to the incident we had a couple of years ago. It's not the first time. And the great advantage of cameras strategically placed is to stop that stuff from happening in the first place. People who are likely to do it take advantage of dark corners and shining the light on the dark corners is a useful way to protect yourself. Thank you. It's a useful way to encourage responsible behavior. So I think it's a great idea to put cameras in strategic places. Thank you. Over at the pro microphone. Thank you, Madam moderator. Nathaniel Connors, Old Connecticut Path. I recognize you. Thank you. I think it's abundantly clear that the school committee and the board of library trustees are not up to speed with this plan. I think it's prudent to slow down, come up with a strategic plan with the community, and present that at next year's town meeting. There will always be dark corners that someone can take advantage of. Let's make sure that our public buildings that we all frequent don't become a surveillance state. Thank you, sir. And over at the con microphone. Judd Bornheimer, 265 Old Connecticut Path. I recognize you. As someone who spent hours after the incident that the gentleman was mentioning, I live across the street from the high school. I spent hours reviewing my Google Nest video. I am a huge proponent of this, specifically for the high school and the school buildings. I carried guilt trying to figure out who did this just looking at the cameras at my property. So I would be incredibly happy to see this take place. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I am incredibly happy to see this take place. Thank you. And over at the Pro microphone. Yes. Paul Frailing, River Rock Way. I recognize you. Thank you. Yes. So Paul Frailing, I live here in Wayland and have young kids and work in IT. And I am just a little concerned that the IT group is putting this proposal together and not police. I do feel like this is a very safe area. And I just want to... If you look at the research on monitoring and surveillance, it is OK for incident management. So once an incident has occurred, it's not great for prevention. And so I do want to just be really mindful of such a large investment in the budget with such little public discussion around the plan, both from citizens and from a lot of the people that are impacted. And I don't feel like this is the right year to introduce this into the budget. Thank you. All right, folks. I've got two people who want to call the question, meaning to terminate debate. But I've still got just four people left at the pro and con. Yeah, I think we'll let them. This has been quite a hefty debate here. So please proceed. Sorry, just for a second. So normally when somebody brings a motion to terminate debate, that's a privileged motion. But I get to say as to whether or not they get to bring the motion to begin with. And when there's still four people at the pro and con microphone, I think we should hear these people out. So that's my call. So sorry for those of you who want to terminate debate. You may proceed. I'm Salome Sweeney-Storrs, Woodridge Road. I recognize you. In addition to being a resident, I work at the library, and I also live with my brothers who are both elementary age. The parking lot, not having a camera on a basic safety level as a young woman going to work, sometimes working late at night, it just it's not feeling super safe when you know people have access to you. Also like I drive by myself, and when I get there and I'm leaving at dark, we gratefully facilities put in a light where there was a dark corner where I parked and it was very sketchy. But it's one of those things where we have to sometimes make those second guesses and think if I get into a fender bender, if there's, you know, one of my brothers, they're really tiny. If something happens, there's no way to tell what happened. There's no way to review any footage. And just on a basic like parking lot safety level, it would be well appreciated from my end and also for my family. Thank you. And over at the pro microphone, Kathy Tregolo, Lake Road. I recognize you. As someone with technology director experience, I'd also like to say that I believe it's an important privacy question before us. As a town. And I believe that it's something that a policy should be discussed and proposed. And the input from the various town boards and committees should be considered before an implementation and an appropriation and expenditure of this size is made. Okay. Thank you. And over at the con microphone, Kara Britton, Gleason Lane. I recognize you. Thank you. My daughter is a 2020 graduate of Wayland High School. She just graduated. In 2024 from Skidmore. She's now a teaching assistant in special ed at the high school. And going on to get her master's in special education. I think that this is a wonderful idea. And I understand the people's concerns about privacy. But as we heard from the IT director, they'll be doing a proposal, they'll be presenting it to work with other people. I know for a fact that had. Cameras been installed when she was in high school, certain incidents that were blown out of proportion, if they had some surveillance or cameras, could have been handled much better. And a lot of anxiety would have been quelled much sooner. I think these are a good avenue to open up discussions for certain conversations where incidents happen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Carter, you have switched sides. I did. Okay. I recognize you. Thank you, Madam Moderator. Yes. Actually, the last person who spoke was exactly what I was going to say. I think that there are serious concerns about privacy. And when the matter of ICE came up, I was like, oh, yeah. We just don't know in this modern day. And I do think there needs to be a policy in place. And that should involve the public. The police department and what they would do with that kind of data. And the town in general. Before the money gets allocated and we move forward on what I think is an important but just not ripe enough idea. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Matthews. Yeah. Alan Matthews, Old Connecticut Path. I recognize you. A number of people have spoken. I think they're putting the cart before the horse would be the best way to put it. As the IT director has quite clearly stated. They are in consultation with folks at the school. And folks at the library about what's going on. They may not have gotten to the point where the library board or school board are involved. But it is not like they are operating behind a curtain as far as the library and the school are concerned. Another point that people have been talking about a great deal about is privacy. The high school. is a public space it is not a private space the folks who spray graffiti on the walls are doing so outdoors that is not a private space that those places can have cameras on them and you get seen on those cameras it's not a privacy issue you are in a public space that is something that I think of some people have lost sight of now the other thing that has been alluded to I think is of most importance here that has been greatly overlooked is the dire situation of our current system that the IT director has pointed out we're talking about a system that is 20 years old and in many ways very very out of date and is exposing the town to a great security risk to stop this funding is to allow that situation to continue nothing will happen that will remain you is that what we want well if so then go ahead and vote against this funding thank you thank you over at the pro microphone Elizabeth Cullen Coluche Road yeah go ahead what is it sure hold on a second go ahead don't you go ahead Iris Hocksell Plain Road yeah I recognize you um could the could we get clarification so this line item number eight for 250 while it is titled cyber security remediation and modernization the description and justification of this section says quote funding will support video monitoring and management of several facilities the line item 10 the $100,000 also titled cyber security firewall replacement additional refers to the procurement implemented of a new cloud-based firewall solution so it would be helpful to understand about the previous comment referred to ransomware is that actually line item 10 or is that line item 8 if that can be answered Mr Lombardi Nick Lombardi IT director I would need a few minutes to review the article because I have not I'm not well and I just want to make sure that I'm answering this question appropriately we'll get you the we'll give you the book so you can take a look at both the budget item 8 which is what we're voting on and that the most current motion is to delete what the line item 8 as opposed to line item 10 which we haven't discussed yet but that's about the firewall and that it's been coming up okay do you like to move the question I was just about to get to her before that question was asked and I understand that if we have we have something new to say on the pro on the pro on the motion to delete motion to amend to delete this you have something new to say yes great I'll I do I'll let it go and then we'll move the question but I would like mr. Lombardi to answer this so everyone's really clear about currently before he was a motion to amend which is to delete line item 8 and what mr. Lombardi is being asked is are we confusing this at all with line item 10 which we have not even addressed yet that has been asked to be held but line item 10 has to do with a firewall as opposed to the cybersecurity remediation and modernization under line item 8 and so before we make a vote on whether or not you are moving to amend this to delete this line item let's be really clear as you know what you're deleting okay what do you think about that. Okay thank you. what the request is. So while Mr. Lombardi is reading, I'm gonna ask you to give your statement. And we will get to answer the question, but there's been a lot of new things here. Thank you, Madam Moderator. Elizabeth Cullen, Coolidge Road. I recognize you. Thank you. The new piece of information I would point out to town meeting is that the school department has an existing policy on security cameras, and that some of the information respectfully that Mr. Lombardi shared does give me as an individual and current member of the school committee some concern that we have not rigorously looked at the data storage access inconsistent with school committee policy. And I have concern about appropriating this amount of money for public surveillance without first resolving some of those potential inconsistencies and ensuring that town surveillance and school department policies are aligned. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Lombardi, did we give you enough time to go back to the question that Ms. Hawksa asked? Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you, sir. These funds were specifically talking about the video monitoring of our buildings. This also includes cybersecurity support for our network to prevent bad actors from coming in. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. So, we have received a lot of requests from our department heads, from bad actors from intruding our network. So, I just want to be clear. The video monitoring is our primary focus because of the security and the requests I have received from department heads over and over and over again, so this is not a request and not something that I am doing independently. These requests are coming from every single department head, okay? This is not a single request. The boards and committees, I understand, need to know about this. To that end, we need to ensure that the board and committee members understand the department heads' requests for the video surveillance. Okay, thank you, sir. And we have one more person, and then we're going to vote. How does that sound? You know what? You had your opportunity to give your opinion, and this woman has been standing there, and so she's entitled to give her opinion. This is fair. You know what? But I'm the moderator, and I want to have fair debate, and we still have one person left, and it's just one. So, you can now speak. Carolyn Elbing, Pelham Island Road. I recognize you. I worry about extending surveillance to incidents that don't regard safety, and part of adolescence is making mistakes to grow. So, it makes me wonder if the school feeling like Dependopticon encourages growth for students. Okay, thank you. Now, folks, point of clarification. You may ask. Madam Moderator, Tom Sager, Rolling Lane. I want to make sure I understand what the IT director just said. He said that the primary use of the funds here is for the video equipment, but some of this line item, is also for network security, implying if we voted down, we will make our network look less safe. Is that correct? He's nodding his head. Yeah, Mr. Lombardi can come up and answer the question, and then I promise we'll move to a vote. Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you, sir. You are correct. This is an addition. It's video and network security. Thank you, sir. Okay, so we are getting, going to prepare to vote. We are voting on the motion to amend. The motion to amend is to delete line item number eight. So, the window is open. If you are in favor of deleting line item number eight, vote one, or yes. If you are opposed to deleting line item number eight, then vote two or no. So, we're all clear. The motion is to amend. The motion is to delete line item number eight. If you are in favor of deleting 1220, vote one. If you are in favor of deleting line item number eight, vote two. If you are in favor of deleting line item number eight, vote one. The motion to amend is to say that 2255 is voted the $250,000 for town IT. If you are in favor of deleting it, vote one. If you are opposed to deleting it, vote two. And, just so you know, this is a motion to amend, and so it is a simple majority. The underline motion, this capital budget here, this requires a two-thirds majority. Okay. And, so we have 61 people voting yes, and 178 people voting yes. All right. voting no the motion does not carry okay so I think we've we've debated line item number eight plenty we still have line item number ten left $100,000 for the cybersecurity firewall replacement is there any other questions on this line item ten we're on ten we're doing ten still IT hundred thousand dollars that matter I thank you Tom Siakka rolling Lane I recognize you sir I was horrified to see the comment in the warrant here and hear it again from the IT director that we haven't had updates since 2022 my question is are we chronically underfunding IT security here and should we do it again? should we be encouraging more funding of this incredibly vital function on the part of the town you want the IT director to answer that the floor is yours mr. Lombardi Nick Lombardi IT director I thank you for that question I can't stress enough the cybersecurity posture that we require to protect everybody and to protect the environment and to protect the public and to protect our data and when I say our data I'm referring to your data your tax information your resident information all information that the town holds of each individual resident within this town including children and pretty much all residents okay our data is at risk we are constantly getting bombarded with threats of bad actors they want our data the reason they want our data is because then they can hold us ransom okay and those ransoms aren't a thousand dollars they're not a million dollars they're hundreds of millions of dollars and this is your data that I cannot prevent from being accessed without the support of these funds mr. McCall is going to help answer the question as well I would just like people to know that Mr Lombardi is our new IT director we brought him in in the last year and he came in from the the Commonwealth of Massachusetts working in a large agency doing IT security there I recognized when I got here having spent part of my career in IT and networking with a large corporation that we had deficiencies at the end of the day we are a customer service organization here at Town Hall and that doesn't extend when we meet you and greet you at the clerk's window or the treasurer's we have an obligation to make you safe and secure in our buildings and we have an obligation to make your data safe and secure and so I've had extensive meetings with my facility my chiefs as well as the IT director to find out what we can do to improve the safety of our buildings including locking it at night putting appropriate cameras up and ensuring that the access that we have is appropriate and as many of you probably know through your own experiences in covid more and more we're getting employees that want to work remotely we have a diverse workforce we do have the ability to log in after hours and we have to ensure those connections are secure and that is why I've tasked Mr Lombardi with looking into this so I just wanted to help answer that question thank you thank you Mr McCall Mr Bernstein hey Bernstein Gleason Lane I have a question for the facilities director and my question is specific to network security and cyber security only not video security the question is could you with your current staff effectively spend more money this year in order to better improve our cyber security and how much could you effectively spend this is in preparation for an amendment Nick Lombardi IT director to answer your question we are underfunded for cyber security and the staffing that I currently have before our systems are aged our systems are not secure I cannot implement security measures with the current level of funding to appropriately protect your data how much is a good question um at this point in time uh you know I I'm looking at it roughly a million dollars would be my first estimate on getting our systems up to date and I'm not talking about song I'm not only talking about software but I'm also talking about hardware this is every aspect of our IT infrastructure one million dollars in the current fiscal year okay let's um you're as you're at Mr Bernstein you're asking the question asking the specific question are you saying that you could effectively spend 1 million dollars in addition to your current budget in the current fiscal year Nick Lombardi IT director no I cannot effectively spend 1 million dollars in this fiscal year what can you effectively spend I believe in this year I can effectively spend 300 to 400 000 to improve our network security and that's in addition to what if the current budget passes you would you would spend okay so at four hundred thousand dollars let's see divide the formula for every ten thousand dollars we increase the budget your taxes as a family go up by two dollars mr Bernstein okay then make the amendment because I don't want I don't know how accurate this information is in comparison of what that say for example our Finance director might say are a town manager all right Madam moderator yes I propose that we increase the cybersecurity budget for this year is that line item 10 mr mr bernstein it is by 200 000 that is half of what the i.t director is estimating so it's a good first step all right is i was just going to ask is there a second okay sure mr o'hurley go right ahead brian o'hurley sears road member of the capital improvement planning committee i recognize you sir my point of order is is that motion properly before the town under the cipc bylaw any request for capital funds has to be reviewed first the capital improvement committee thank you thank you so what i need to do is speak to uh does mr mccall wish to address this or do we have town council no not at all sorry would town council like to answer that not really come on up mr jenkins come on up yes if you right yeah i do so mr herr o'hurley has raised the point that there's now been a motion to amend uh line item 10 in the capital budget to increase it by an it's right now it's at a hundred thousand dollars to increase it by an additional two hundred thousand dollars so to make it three hundred thousand dollars correct mr bernstein and mr o'hurley's question the point of order is is is that legal is it within within scope or we are permitted to increase the budget that much thank you certainly may the floor is yours good evening everybody uh my name is david jenkins i'm from kp laura and i'm your town council tonight uh thank you for letting me be here uh i always say one thing at the beginning anytime i speak for the first time and that is as town council we have no view on the appropriateness of the amendment uh our only role here is to make sure that we do this the right way so i have two concerns with the proposed amendment first the capital procedure requires that any capital project be brought before the capital committee as a condition precedent to town meeting action that has not been done here my second concern and why i believe that the the motion is out of order is that it more than doubles the requested line item as you folks probably know as well as i do the purpose of the warrant is to give the public knowledge and warning as to what topics are going to be discussed here at town meeting it's very common to have budget items reduced it's very uncommon to have budget items increased from a 100 000 to 300 1000 is outside the scope of the warrant because the increase is so dramatic
so for those reasons i believe that the uh the motion is out of order thank you mr jenkins for that so based on that mr bernstein there's the issue that um in particular concerns some of them uh that have been put out there and i think this is a this association um can have olive light and I really can't wait to hear your thoughts on that uh lizzie ben mies or jackie kill for the commutt that you don't just November haven't reached the GMO basically a commission right now that's really true it was instantly filed it was impacted by something he's working on along a number of other issues in the community that i know i think charlie broек no one else emirates this thing it didn't make a difference between part and that's what i'm trying to say right now The issue that in particular concerns me is, I mean, the cost is one thing, being a taxpayer, but that's one thing. But it's the condition precedent not being met beforehand, and on that basis, I will have to rule it out of order. Understand? Sure. Is this okay? Is it point of order? Okay. Yeah. I accept the ruling. I just want to say that several years ago, this town came within one phone call of losing several million dollars of its assets to a hacker, and were it not for one clever banker, we would have been out the money irredeemably. So if we are in that state, we need to fix it. I agree I can't fix it here, but we do need to fix it in forthcoming budgets. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Bernstein. You had a question. You were up here first. Go ahead. Michael Young, Orchard Lane. I recognize you, sir. Thank you. Ms. Lombardi mentioned the concern about protecting our data. I just was wondering if the protection also would extend to infrastructure. Is there any sort of access that a bad actor could get to water supply, or electrical, or things like that? Do you want to address that, Mr. McCall? Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you, sir. Sorry. I keep going back and forth with questions here. The environment's are secure for our utilities. Thank you, sir. Mr. Harris, you can raise a point of order if you want to. Yeah, sure. You're welcome to. Meaning? Yeah. I've ruled that it isn't. If you want to challenge it, you can. But it's... Okay. You can... You're welcome to. But it's probably not going to change my ruling. But give it a shot, Mr. Harris. I'm open. I'm all ears. George Harris, Holiday Road. I recognize you. Madam Moderator? Yes. The town meeting is supreme, is the supreme authority, subject only to federal law, state law, and bylaws. This body has the authority to make any decision it chooses, regardless of what some other board may have said is a policy or a practice. I am also a lawyer, and I take a different opinion than my brother does. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Harris. I appreciate that. Yeah, but Mr. Sciacca was there first. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was there first. I had a question. Madam Moderator, Tom Sciacca, Rolling Lane. Yes. I would like to ask town council, through you, if a $300,000 increase isn't acceptable, how much of an increase would be acceptable? Well, you know, we also have the issue about the fact that the condition precedent wasn't met either. So it's not just a matter of the dollar figure, right, Mr. Jenkins? Thank you. Ms. Weinstein. Thank you. Susan Weinstein, Concord Road. I have a point of order, please. Yes. According to the bylaw 20-3, it stipulates except for emergencies as determined by the town manager. So I would like to verify that the town manager has not determined that there's an emergency. Determined that there is no emergency. I see. So you're putting everything on his lap. Fine. Mr. McCall, would you like to answer that? No. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Moderator. You're welcome. With all kidding aside, I think if I had an emergency, I would have called upon this body through a special town meeting or some other means to take immediate action. This is something that has gone through the Capital Improvement Planning Committee process. It went through review with department heads. So while it is extremely important, I do not know that I would think it rises to the level of an emergency for the exception under the newly formed bylaw that we have for the Capital Planning Improvement Committee. Again, I don't want to make it sound like it isn't. It is extremely important that we protect our data, our departments, and our people. But I would respectfully ask your support for the line item as submitted and not as an emergency. Okay. So are we ready to vote? Okay. Okay. Thank you. Al Matthews. Al Matthews, Old Connecticut Path. I recognize you. Given what was said about the dire state of the town's cyber security, what would constitute an emergency? Yeah. Yeah. I think, yeah. That's, I mean, we could really scare everybody here, I think, a little bit. And I think we also don't want this, we are on television, right? So this is, this is live. People can hear all this. And I don't think we necessarily need to be distracted. Okay. I think we should be doing this. And I don't think we should be disclosing everything. Right? But, okay? Someone want to answer that question? What would be an emergency, Mr. McCall? This is completely hypothetical. I see. This is completely hypothetical. Again, I would think if we had catastrophic event, we have the potential for flooding. We've seen in the back on Pelem Island Road, my last town, they hit, the town hall got hit with a microburst. There might be situations where we wipe out some of our data. We may have to do something. But we're not doing this. Some of our data, we have various rooms throughout the town where we store IT equipment. There might be a situation where a significant portion of our network or our data or our equipment got knocked out and we would have to take immediate action. Now, there are some measures. We have certain expense funds, but this is part of a planning. I think we could respond within some of our budgets and we have the ability to go to the finance committee for certain reserves if something like that happened, but it would have to be extremely significant emergency for me to ask for a special town meeting to come back to transfer these sums of money to update our network. I hope that answers your question, sir. Thank you, Mr. McGaugh. Okay, ready to vote, folks? Second motion under Article 10. This is the capital budget. We're preparing to vote here. It stands as is. There are no changes to it. Okay, if you are in favor of voting for the second motion under Article 10, vote one, yes. If you are opposed to it, vote two, no. This is a two-thirds majority vote on this article. Yes, motion number two, this is the capital budget, the whole budget, the whole budget. It stands as is as written in the warrant. You're welcome. Yeah, we already voted on that. And the voting window is closed. So we have 224 votes in favor, 15 votes opposed. The motion carries by 93%. So that motion carries. Is there anything further with regard to Article 10? Hearing none, I declare this article disposed. Okay, don't go anywhere, folks. We've got a consent calendar. We can get through four articles, possibly, very quickly. Ann Brensley, Barney Hill Road, select board member. I recognize you, Ms. Brensley. Thank you. I move you, madam, that the town vote to approve Articles 11 through 14 under a consent calendar and approve said articles as printed on pages 52 through 54 of the warrant issued for the 2026 Annual Town Meeting. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Brensley. Is there a second on the motion before I go through it? Thank you. Okay. So this is your second consent calendar. And I'm going to go through the, I think it's four articles on it, and it'll be, and if you want to hold, then yell out hold on it. So the first article is Article 11, choose town officers. That's on page 52 of the warrant. Second article on the consent calendar is Article 12, hear reports. It's on page 53 of the warrant. The third article is Article 13, sell or trade vehicles and equipment on page 53 of the warrant. And then the last article is Article 14, reaffirm remote participation in a town meeting. That's on page 54. Any holds? Hearing none, we will move right to the vote on this consent calendar. Okay. If you're in favor of the consent calendar, vote 1 on your handset. If you oppose the consent calendar, which is Articles 11 through 13, vote no. 14, sorry, through 14. Thank you. 11 through 14. If you're in favor, vote 1. If you're opposed, vote 2. All right. The voting window has closed. And with 216 votes, we're going to move on to the consent calendar. Okay. So, with 216 votes in the affirmative and 5 votes in the negative, the motion carries. Anything further on the consent calendar? Hearing none, I declare that article disposed. Moving along to Article 15, long-term water supply construction funding. Madam Moderator, Michael Wegerbauer, Blossom Lane, Vice Chair of the Board of Public Works. I recognize you, Mr. Wegerbauer. Do you have a motion? Madam Moderator, yes, I do. I move you, Madam Moderator, that the- It is the motion. That the town vote to appropriate the sum of $38.6 million for the construction of a Happy Hollow water treatment facility and a connection to the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, MWRA Water Systems, and authorize the town treasurer with the approval of the select board to borrow up to said sum in accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 44 Section 7 and 8, and any other enabling authority and issue bonds or notes of the town treasury. therefore. Thank you. Is there a second? Thank you. Would you like to speak to your motion, Mr. Wegerbauer? Yes, I would. Thank you. Do we have slide one up? Thank you. To be very clear, direct, and transparent, none of Wayland's currently permitted water supplies will comply with the new federal EPA four parts per trillion PFAS standards that go into effect in 2029. Let me emphasize that. None of our water will meet these new requirements.
They're set to go into effect in 2029. What does this mean for Wayland? It means that unless we implement a solution to provide compliant water, we'll be in a situation similar to the one we faced in 2021 when MassDEP introduced new PFAS standards. At that point, our primary water source was declared non-compliant, and we began distributing bottled water for drinking and cooking. This is definitely not the situation we want to be in again in 2029. In addition to these more stringent PFAS compliance requirements coming our way, our current infrastructure is failing and requires a major overhaul. In this fiscal year alone, our current temporary PFAS filtering system has failed multiple times, requiring us to activate our emergency MWRA connection three times to date, a very expensive option. Can we go to slide two? Thank you. Stated simply, we need a new system, one that can support Wayland's water requirements for the long term. Can we move to slide two? Okay. Thank you. So what have we done to date? Well, for the past five plus years, staff, board members, and engineers have examined a very wide range of options to deliver PFAS-free water. After significant analysis, we settled on a robust yet flexible solution that is the most cost-effective in the long term and provides a great deal of reduction. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. So we've worked on this solution across the board since the former overhaul, background up and then meaningful remodeling. So at this point the Basket jag přijner subgroup is putting the expansion equipment they just got off of with their next initial reveal that they need to resolve in boss working feet that's nicely connected, but also to kind of replace the old weight comes from all $3.3 MILLION IN DESIGN FUNDS APPROVED SO FAR, AND WE'RE NOW AT THE POINT WHERE WE NEED YOUR APPROVAL TO BORROW THE FUNDS TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION. WHY IS THIS SO URGENT? WELL, IN ADDITION TO THE 2029 COMPLIANCE DEADLINE AND THE CURRENT ONGOING SYSTEM FAILURES JUST DESCRIBED, IT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT WE PROCEED NOW SO THAT WE CAN SECURE THE $7 MILLION MWRA ENTRANCE FEE WAIVER, WHICH IS TIME SENSITIVE. SIMPLY PUT, VOTING YES TO THIS ARTICLE IS A YES VOTE TO WATER AND WAYLAND. VOTING AGAINST WOULD HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES IN TERMS OF OUR ABILITY TO SUPPLY POTABLE WATER TO THE TOWN OF WAYLAND. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT WE NEED AND REQUEST YOUR SUPPORT TONIGHT SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER SAFE AND COST EFFECTIVE WATER IN WAYLAND. WITH THAT SAID, I'LL YIELD MY REMAINING TIME TO SELECT BOARD CHAIR CAROL MARTIN AS THE SELECT BOARD IS COSPONSORING THIS IMPORTANT ARTICLE. THANK YOU, MR. WEGERBAUER. CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I RISE ON BEHALF OF THE SELECT BOARD. IN 2019, THE TOWN LEARNED WE HAD UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS OF PFAR IN OUR WATER SYSTEM. SINCE THEN, THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND THE DPW STAFF HAVE PUT FORTH AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF EFFORT AND DUE DILIGENCE ON OUR BEHALF TO DEVELOP A PLAN THAT WILL PROVIDE US NOT ONLY WITH A LONG-TERM WATER SUPPLY THAT IS IN COMPLIANCE NOW AND IN THE FUTURE YEARS TO COME. BUT ALSO VERY MUCH MORE. IT'S BEEN A SIX-YEAR JOURNEY AND WE'RE NOT THERE YET. TONIGHT'S VOTE TO AUTHORIZE CONSTRUCTION FUNDS IS NOT ONLY THE NEXT STEP OF THIS PROCESS, IT IS A KEY STEP. AS IT WILL ALLOW THE TOWN TO PROCEED WITH APPLYING TO THE MWRA. THAT IS, SUBMITTING OUR FINALIZED APPLICATION. BY APPROVING THESE FUNDS, WE WILL NOT ONLY MOVE CLOSER TO ACHIEVING OUR GOAL, BUT THE TOWN WILL, AS MIKE HAS MENTIONED, BE ELIGIBLE. FOR THE $7 MILLION ENTRANCE FEE WAIVER. A HUGE SAVINGS. AS CO-SPONSORS, THE SELECT BOARD VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO SUPPORT THIS ARTICLE AND WE WORD YOU TO DO THE SAME AS WELL. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. OKAY. ANY QUESTIONS? ANYONE WANT TO GO TO THE PRO OR CON MICROPHONE? SEEING NONE, WE'LL GO RIGHT TO VOTE. OKAY. SO IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR AND SUPPORT OF THE PRO OR CON MICROPHONE, WE'LL GO RIGHT TO VOTE. OKAY. SO IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION MADE UNDER ARTICLE 15, THE LONG-TERM WATER SUPPLY CONSTRUCTION, VOTE ONE ON YOUR HANDSET. THE VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN, FOLKS. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO THE MOTION BROUGHT UNDER ARTICLE 15, VOTE TWO OR NO. ONE FOR YES, TWO FOR NO. WE HAVE A TWO-THIRDS VOTE REQUIRED. ONE FOR YES, TWO FOR NO. THE WINDOW IS CLOSED. AND 209 PEOPLE VOTING YES AND 12 VOTING NO. THE MOTION CARRIES BY 95%. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ANYTHING ELSE ON ARTICLE 15? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THIS ARTICLE DISPOSED. ARTICLE 16, 25 HOLIDAY ROAD PRELIMINARY DESIGN ENGINEERING STUDY AND APPRAISAL FUNDING. IS THERE A MOTION? BILL WHITNEY, WOODRIDGE ROAD AND A MEMBER OF THE SELECT BOARD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. WHITNEY. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ARTICLE 16 BE POSTPONED INDEFINITELY. OKAY. IS THERE A SECOND TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY? THANK YOU. DO YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION, MR. WHITNEY? YES, PLEASE. THERE HAS BEEN SOME CONFUSION AND, FRANKLY, MISINFORMATION CIRCULATED REGARDING THIS WARRANT ARTICLE. I'D LIKE TO SHARE THE SELECT BOARD'S PERSPECTIVE ABOUT THIS MATTER. THIS 13.7 ACRE PARCEL WAS ACQUIRED BY THE TOWN 70 YEARS AGO FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES, BUT NOTHING HAS EVER BEEN DEVELOPED ON THE PROPERTY, SCHOOL RELATED OR OTHERWISE. AS NO CURRENT PLAN EXISTS FOR USE OF THE PROPERTY, THE SELECT BOARD PROPOSED THIS WARRANT TO BEGIN A CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW THIS PROPERTY MIGHT ULTIMATELY BE USED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE TOWN. RECENTLY, THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S CONSULTANTS ENGAGED IN RELATION TO ITS K THROUGH 8 FACILITIES MASTER PLAN, IDENTIFIED THIS PROPERTY AS A POTENTIAL SITE FOR A POSSIBLE FUTURE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. NOT MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT THE PROPERTY, HOWEVER, IN TERMS OF WHETHER THERE IS ANY SITE CONTAMINATION, OF THE CHARACTER OF THE SOILS TO SUPPORT SUCH A STRUCTURE, OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROPERTY, THE ELEVATION OF THE GROUNDWATER, OR THE AVAILABILITY OF SUFFICIENCY OF UTILITIES TO THE SITE AND THE LIKE. OUR BOARD FELT THAT HAVING ANSWERS TO SUCH QUESTIONS AS THESE WOULD BE HELPFUL TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE AND ITS CONSULTANTS AS IT DECIDED WHETHER TO FORMALLY PROPOSE THIS PROPERTY AS A SITE FOR A POSSIBLE NEW SCHOOL. ALSO, WE PLAN TO AWAIT THE DECISION BY THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE BEFORE CONSIDERING NON-SCHOOL USES FOR THE PROPERTY, INCLUDING MAINTAINING THE STATUS QUO AND COMPLAINING WITH THE CONSULTATION WITH THE VISIONING COMMITTEE THAT INCLUDED NEIGHBORHOOD REPRESENTATION. IN VIEW OF CONCERNS RECENTLY EXPRESSED BY THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, HOWEVER, WE NOW PROPOSE THAT THIS ARTICLE BE POSTPONED INDEFINITELY. THANK YOU. ANY QUESTIONS? ANY DEBATE? IF NOT, WE CAN MOVE RIGHT TO A VOTE. NOW, REMEMBER, THE MOTION BEFORE YOU IS TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY. ARTICLE 16, THE 25 HOLIDAY ROAD ARTICLE, THE MOTION BEFORE YOU IS TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY. PREPARE TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF POSTPONING THIS INDEFINITELY, VOTE 1 ON YOUR HANDSET. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED, VOTE 2. VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN, FOLKS. REMEMBER, IT'S MOTION TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY. OKAY. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. AND WITH 196 VOTES IN FAVOR AND 15 VOTES OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. THE MOTION IS TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY. OKAY. ANYTHING ELSE ON ARTICLE 16? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THE ARTICLE DISPOSED. STAY WITH US, FOLKS. I KNOW WE'RE LOSING BODIES, BUT STAY WITH US. OKAY. ARTICLE 17, PETITION FOR LIQUOR LICENSES. IS THERE A MOTION? MADAM MODERATOR, BILL WHITNEY, WOODRIDGE ROAD, MEMBER OF THE SELECT BOARD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ARTICLE 17 BE ADOPTED UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. AND IS THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 17 WORD FOR WORD THE SAME AS THE ARTICLE TEXT PRINTED IN THE WARRANT? IT IS. OKAY. IT IS BEING BROUGHT UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PROCEDURE, WHICH MEANS THE MOVING PARTY INITIALLY WAVES THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO THE MOTION, BUT DOES RESERVE THE RIGHT SHOULD THERE BE OPPOSITION OR A QUESTION. IS THERE ANY OPPOSITION OR ANY QUESTIONS TO ARTICLE 17? IF NOT, WE'RE GOING TO MOVE RIGHT TO A VOTE, FOLKS, OKAY? LET'S PREPARE TO VOTE. IF YOU'RE IN FAVOR OF ARTICLE 17, THE PETITION FOR LIQUOR LICENSES, VOTE 1 ON YOUR HANDSET. THE VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN. IF YOU'RE OPPOSED TO ARTICLE 17, THEN VOTE 2 ON YOUR HANDSET. ONE IN FAVOR, TWO OPPOSED. OKAY. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. AND WITH 152 VOTES IN FAVOR AND 22 OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS? ANYTHING ELSE? WITH THAT, I VOTE ARTICLE 17 DISPOSED. EXCUSE ME. THAT WAS, YEP, ARTICLE 17. MOVING ON TO ARTICLE 18. STAY WITH US, FOLKS. STAY WITH US. LOTS TO COME. YEAH. COMMUNITY PRESERVATION. COME ON. DON'T LEAVE. LET'S GO. RIGHT. IS THERE A MOTION ON ARTICLE 18? YES, PLEASE. SUSAN WEINSTEIN, CONCORD ROAD CHAIR OF THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE. I RECOGNIZE YOU. AND THE MOTION IS? I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ARTICLE 18 BE ADOPTED UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. THANK YOU. IS THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 18 WORD FORWARD THE SAME AS THE ARTICLE TEXT PRINTED IN THE WARNING? IT IS, INDEED. IT IS. IT WAS BROUGHT UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PROCEDURE IN THAT THE MOVING PARTY INITIALLY WAVES THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO THE MOTION BUT DOES RESERVE THE RIGHT SHOULD THERE BE OPPOSITION OR QUESTION. WITH THAT, IS THERE ANY OPPOSITION TO ARTICLE 18? ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? IF NOT, WE'LL GO RIGHT TO A VOTE. PREPARE TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF ARTICLE 18, VOTE ONE ON YOUR HANDSET WHEN THE VOTING LIGHT IS ON. AND THE VOTING LIGHT IS ON, FOLKS. SO VOTE ONE IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF ARTICLE 18 AND VOTE TWO IF YOU ARE OPPOSED. ARTICLE 18 WE'RE VOTING ON. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. AND WITH 153 VOTES IN FAVOR AND FIVE OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE ON ARTICLE 18? NO, THANK YOU. WITH THAT, I DECLARE ARTICLE 18 DISPOSED. ARTICLE 19. SUSAN WEINSTEIN, CONCORD ROAD. IS THERE A MOTION? YES, PLEASE. SORRY. CHAIR OF THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT THE TOWN VOTE TO APPROPRIATE THE SUM OF $362,060. FROM THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUNDS LISTED AND FOR THE SPECIFIED PROJECTS A THROUGH G. WITH A THROUGH F AS PRINTED UNDER ARTICLE 19 ON PAGES 61 TO 63 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING. AND ITEM G AS FOLLOWS. THAT THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 16D OF THE 2025 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING WHEREBY TOWN MEETING APPROVED THE APPROPRIATION OF, QUOTE, $400,000. FROM THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION UNCOMMITTED FUND TO BE EXPENDED FOR RECREATION PURPOSES BY THE FACILITIES DEPARTMENT FOR REHABILITATION OF THE PLAYGROUND AT WAYLAND TOWN BUILDING, END QUOTE, BE AMENDED BY ADDING AT THE END, QUOTE, OR FOR CONSTRUCTION OR REHABILITATION OF PLAYGROUNDS AT ANY OF THE WAYLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS, END QUOTE, WITH EACH SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS. ONE, THAT THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION BE PROVIDED ADVANCED NOTICE TO ARRANGE FOR ARCHEOLOGICAL MONITORING OF ACTIVITIES. THAT INVOLVES SOIL DISTURBANCE. AND TWO, WITH EACH OF THE FOREGOING APPROPRIATIONS TO EXPIRE AND FUNDS CREDITED BACK TO THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUND FROM WHICH THEY WERE APPROPRIATED, IF NOT SPENT FOR THE SPECIFIED PURPOSES WITHIN 36 MONTHS FOLLOWING APPROVAL OF SAME AND THREE, ANY UNUSED BALANCE REMAINING FOLLOWING COMPLETION OF SAID PROJECTS SHALL BE CREDITED BACK TO THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUND FROM WHICH THEY WERE APPROPRIATED. IS THERE A SECOND ON THE MOTION? THANK YOU. DO YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION? I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT THE MOTION DIFFERS FROM THE ARTICLE AS PRINTED IN THE WARRANT IN THAT IT ADDS THE PROVISION FOR AMENDING THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUND PLAYGROUND APPROPRIATION FROM THE 2025 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING. WE'VE ADDED LANGUAGE TO PROVIDE THE TOWN WITH FLEXIBILITY REGARDING WHICH PLAYGROUNDS WILL BE REBUILTED OR CONSTRUCTED USING FUNDS THAT WERE ALREADY APPROPRIATED. WE'RE NOT ASKING FOR AN ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION. AND THE NEED FOR THIS ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE APPROPRIATION. IT AROSE BECAUSE OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S DECISION TO MOVE THE CHILDREN'S WAY TO HAPPY HOLLOW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WHICH HAPPENED AFTER THIS ANNUAL TOWN MEETING'S WARRANT WAS CLOSED. OKAY. AND AS THE MODERATOR, I'VE REVIEWED THIS AND I'VE SPOKEN TO TOWN COUNCIL ABOUT IT. THE MODERATOR DETERMS THAT THIS CHANGE IN THE MOTION FROM WHAT WAS WRITTEN IN THE WARRANT IS WITHIN THE SCOPE, SPECIFICALLY THAT IT DOES NOT CHANGE THE SUBSTANTIAL CHARACTER OF THE PROPOSAL AS OUTLINED IN THE WARRANT. NOR DOES IT FURTHER RESTRICT IF PASSED THE LIBERTIES OF WAYLAND RESIDENTS, WHICH IS WHAT UNDER THE MODERATOR'S RULES ARE REQUIRED TO BE MET IN ORDER TO BE FOUND WITHIN THE SCOPE. SPECIFICALLY THAT THE SAME FUNDING SOURCE, THIS ITEM G, THIS $400,000 APPROPRIATION THAT WAS MADE AT LAST YEAR'S TOWN MEETING COMES FROM THE SAME FUNDING SOURCE AS ITEMS A THROUGH F, AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT IT DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY ADDITIONAL SPENDING. THE MONEY WAS ALREADY APPROPRIATED LAST YEAR. AND LASTLY, IT GIVES THE TOWN ADDITIONAL FLEXIBILITY. SO THEREFORE THE MODERATORS RULED IT WITHIN SCOPE. DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING FURTHER TO SAY TO ADDRESS IT? I WOULD JUST SAY THAT THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE CONDUCTED A REVIEW OF THE PROJECT APPLICATIONS THAT WERE SUBMITTED AND WE RECOMMEND THE PROJECTS AS LISTED ON PAGE 61 OF THE WARRANT. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM. BUT THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS WITH REGARD TO ARTICLE 19? ARE THERE ANY DEBATE? IF NOT, WE'LL MOVE RIGHT TO VOTE. FABULOUS. BE PREPARED TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF ARTICLE 19, VOTE 1 ON YOUR HANDSET. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO IT, VOTE 2. VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN. PLEASE VOTE. 1 IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR, 2 IF YOU ARE OPPOSED. OKAY. VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. WITH 154 VOTES IN FAVOR AND 6 OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. ANYTHING ELSE TO BE SAID ON ARTICLE 19? IF NOT, I DECLARE THE ARTICLE DISPOSED. ARTICLE 20. IS THERE A MOTION? CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. MARTIN. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ARTICLE 20 BE ADOPTED UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. AND IS THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 20 WORD FOR WORD THE SAME AS THE ARTICLE TEXT PRINTED IN THE WARRANT? YES, IT IS. OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND AS WE DISCUSSED, MOTION IS BROUGHT UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. THE MOVING PARTY INITIALLY WAVES THE RIGHT TO SPEAK ON THE MOTION BUT DOES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK SHOULD THERE BE OPPOSITION OR A QUESTION. DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? I DO. BY THE WAY, IS THERE A SECOND TO THIS MOTION? SORRY. THANK YOU ALL. YES. SUSAN WEINSTEIN, CONCORD ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. SORRY. THANK YOU. I WAS JUST WONDERING HOW OFTEN HAVE WE HAD BALLOT QUESTIONS IN RECENT HISTORY THAT THIS WOULD APPLY TO. AND I'M THINKING THAT IT DOESN'T APPLY TO STATE QUESTIONS BECAUSE IT ALREADY HAS THAT REQUIREMENT. QUESTION MARK. CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD, SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. IT'S A GOOD QUESTION. IT DOES NOT IMPACT STATE QUESTIONS, BUT IT DOES IMPACT WHEN WE ARE TAKING VOTES ON DEBT EXCLUSION QUESTIONS AND OPERATING OVERRIDES. IF I MAY, THIS PAST, THE REASON THE SELECT BOARD IS PROMOTING OR PROPOSING THIS ARTICLE, WHICH IS ONE OF OUR KEY CONCERNS, IS WHEN WE HAD THE QUESTION ON THE BALLOT IN DECEMBER, WE WERE SHOCKED ACTUALLY TO FIND OUT THAT WE WERE UNABLE TO SUBMIT AND DISTRIBUTE INFORMATION TO THE RESIDENTS. RIGHT. BECAUSE WE WERE TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT THE RESIDENTS ABOUT THE QUESTION AND WHAT A YES VOTE MEANS AND WHAT A NO VOTE MEANS BECAUSE WE, THE TOWN OF WAYLAND, HADN'T ADOPTED AND ACCEPTED THIS STATE STATUTE. SO WE SAID, THIS IS IT. WE GOT TO PUT THIS ARTICLE IN. SO THANK YOU FOR ASKING THAT QUESTION. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ANNETTE LEWIS, CLAPIT HILL ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MISS LEWIS. I JUST NEED A POINT OF CLARIFICATION. IN B-2, IT SAYS A FAIR AND CONCISE SUMMARY OF EACH INCLUDING A ONE SENTENCE STATEMENT DESCRIBING THE EFFECT OF A YES OR NO VOTE WHICH SHALL BE PREPARED BY THE CITY SOLICITOR TOWN COUNCIL. IS TOWN COUNCIL PREPARING THE SUMMARY OF THE QUESTION AND DESCRIBING THE EFFECT OF A YES OR NO VOTE AND IF NOT, WHO IS PREPARING THE CONCISE SUMMARY AND SHOULDN'T THAT BE STATED IN THE ARTICLE? CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD, SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I ACTUALLY THOUGHT THIS WAS IN THE SECTION B AND IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT TOWN COUNCIL WILL PREPARE THE SUMMARY AND THE ONE SENTENCES ABOUT THE QUESTION AS WELL AS THE PROS AND THE CONS. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? PREPARED TO VOTE? YES? OKAY. SO PREPARED TO VOTE ON ARTICLE 20, ACCEPTANCE OF THE MASS JOURNAL LAW CHAPTER 53, THE VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF THIS MOTION, PLEASE VOTE 1 ON YOUR HANDSET FOR YES. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO IT, PRESS 2 FOR NO. VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. WITH 141 VOTES IN FAVOR AND 8 OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE ON ARTICLE 20? SEEING NONE, I DECLARE THE ARTICLE DISPOSED. ARTICLE 21, IS THERE A MOTION? YES, MADAM MODERATOR, HAPPY HOLLOW ROAD, MEMBER OF THE SELECT BOARD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT THE TOWN VOTE TO AUTHORIZE THE SELECT BOARD TO ACQUIRE BY GIFT ON SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS THE SELECT BOARD DEEMS APPROPRIATE, PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY EASEMENTS PER SHARED USE PATH BEING A PORTION OF THE MASS CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL FOR ALL PURPOSES AND USES INCIDENTALLY ADDED TO AS PRINTED UNDER ARTICLE 21 ON PAGES 65 AND 66 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TIME MEETING. ALSO TO TRANSFER THE CARE. CUSTODY AND CONTROL OF CERTAIN TOWN OWN PARCELS LOCATED AT THE TOWN CENTER FROM THE BOARD OR COMMISSION CURRENTLY HAVING CUSTODY THEREOF AND FOR THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH SAID PARCELS ARE CURRENTLY HELD TO THE SELECT BOARD AND FURTHER TO AUTHORIZE THE SELECT BOARD TO CONVEY TEMPORARY EASEMENTS ON SAID PARCELS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND RECREATION AS PRINTED UNDER ARTICLE 21 ON PAGES 65 AND 66 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TIME MEETING, TO AUTHORIZE THE SELECT BOARD TO ACQUIRE BY GIFT ON SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE SELECT BOARD DEEMS APPROPRIATE TEMPORARY EASEMENTS FOR A SHARED USE PATH BEING A PORTION OF THE MASS CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL FOR ALL USES AND PURPOSES INCIDENTAL THERETO, AS PRINTED UNDER ARTICLE 21 ON PAGES 65 AND 66 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TIME MEETING, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE SELECT BOARD TO ENTER INTO AN EXECUTIVE MEETING. ALL DOCUMENTS, AGREEMENTS, AND INSTRUMENTS, AND TAKE ALL RELATED ACTIONS NECESSARY OR APPROPRIATE TO CARRY OUT THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 21 AS PRINTED UNDER ARTICLE 21 ON PAGES 65 AND 66 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TIME MEETING, UPON SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS THE SELECT BOARD DEEMS TO BE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE TOWN. IS THERE A SECOND? THANK YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION, MR. FAYE? I WOULD. THANK YOU. TURNING TO THE MOTION. MR. FAYE. THIS PHOTO HERE YOU'LL SEE THE MASS CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL WHICH IS THE LONGEST DEVELOPING RAIL TRAIL IN MASSACHUSETTS. IT CONNECTS 27 COMMUNITIES THROUGH SHARED USE PATHS AND STRETCHERS FROM BOSTON ALL THE WAY TO NORTHAMPTON. RIGHT NOW THE USABLE TRAIL BEGINS IN WALTHAM AND RUNS WESTWARD. IN 2019, A 4.7 MILE SEGMENT WAS COMPLETED RUNNING FROM THE WAYLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY TO JONES ROAD IN WALTHAM. THE STATE IS NOW WORKING TO EXTEND THE TRAIL FROM THE WAYLAND DEPOT WESTWARD TO THE SUDBURY WAYLAND TOWN LINE WHICH WOULD CONNECT IT TO THE RECENTLY PAVED SECTION IN SUDBURY CREATING A CONTINUOUS PAVED PATH. THIS WORK HOPEFULLY WILL BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF 2029. TO COMPLETE THIS TRAIL EXTENSION, THE STATE NEEDS EASEMENTS ON CERTAIN PROPERTIES. AN EASEMENT IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT THAT GIVES SOMEONE LIKE A CONTRACTOR OR A GOVERNMENT AGENCY THE RIGHT TO USE A PORTION OF THE TRAIL. CERTAIN PROPERTIES ARE THE GIVEN TRANSITION OF A PRIVATELY OWNED PROPERTY FOR SPECIFIC PROPOSES, SUCH AS STORYING MATERIALS, OPERATING EQUIPMENT OR INSTALLING UTILITIES. IMPORTANTLY, THE PROPERTY OWNER STILL RETAINS FULL OWNERSHIP OF THEIR LAND, THE EASEMENT SIMPLY ALLOWS LIMITED ACCESS FOR THE DEFINED PURPOSE AND TIME PERIOD. IN THIS CASE, THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND RECREATION, D.C.R., IS SEEKING THESE EASEMENTS TO COMPLETE THE RAIL TRAIL. THE TEMPORARY EASEMENTS WOULD LAST FIVE YEARS. ALL ASSOCIATED COSTS OF THE RESPONSIBILITY OF DCR, NOT THE TOWN OF WAYLAND. AS PART OF THIS CONSTRUCTION, THE STATE PLANS TO INSTALL A NEW BRIDGE OVER THE SUNBURY RIVER JUST WEST OF RUSSELL'S GARDEN CENTER. TO COMPLETE THE RAIL TRAIL, THE STATE NEEDS TO SECURE A PERMANENT EASEMENT DESIGNATED PARCEL BP1 ON LAND CURRENTLY OWNED BY NP WAYLAND LLC, THE NEW OWNERS OF THE WAYLAND TOWN CENTER. THE PURCHASE PRICE FOR THIS EASEMENT IS NOMINAL, UNDER $100. HERE'S THE KEY DETAIL. DCR CANNOT HOLD THIS TYPE OF PERMANENT EASEMENT DIRECTLY DUE TO ITS OWN INTERNAL RULES AND POLICIES AROUND LAND OWNERSHIP. AS A RESULT, DCR ASKED THE TOWN OF WAYLAND TO ACQUIRE THE EASEMENT ON ITS BEHALF. NP WAYLAND LLC HAS AGREED TO THIS ARRANGEMENT. IN ADDITION TO THE PERMANENT EASEMENT, DCR ALSO NEEDS TO ACQUIRE THE EASEMENT ON ITS BEHALF. IT ALSO NEEDS TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION EASEMENTS, EACH LASTING UP TO FIVE YEARS, ON SEVERAL PROPERTIES. THESE INCLUDE A PARCEL NEAR WAYLAND DEPOT, APPROXIMATELY 17,800 SQUARE FEET, DESIGNATED TE3. THIS IS THE ONLY TOWN-OWNED PARCEL INVOLVED. THEY ALSO SEEK EASEMENTS RELATIVE TO THE PROPERTY OWNED BY NP WAYLAND, WHICH I MENTIONED BEFORE, RUSSELL'S GREENHOUSE, BOSTON EDISON COMPANY, AND THE WAYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. AGAIN, DCR IS NOT A PROPERTY OWNER. DCR INDICATED IT CANNOT DIRECTLY HOLD THESE TEMPORARY EASEMENTS DUE TO INTERNAL POLICY. SO WITH THE PERMANENT EASEMENT, DCR ASKED THE TOWN TO ACQUIRE THEM. THE SELECT BOARD VOTED TO SUPPORT THESE ACQUISITIONS WITH ONE CLEAR CONDITION, THAT DCR MUST COVER ALL COSTS AND EXPENSES THAT THE TOWN INCURS IN ACQUIRING THESE TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION EASEMENTS. DCR WILL BE FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR CONSTRUCTING AND OPERATING THE MASS CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL. THE DETAILS OF THOSE RESPONSIBILITIES WILL BE FORMALIZED IN A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE TOWN AND DCR. ONCE CONSTRUCTION IS COMPLETE AND THE FIVE-YEAR TEMPORARY EASEMENTS EXPIRE, THE ONLY PROPERTY INTEREST THE TOWN WILL RETAIN IS THE SHARED USE PATH EASEMENT ON THE NP WAYLAND LLC PROPERTY. ALL TEMPORARY EASEMENTS WILL AUTOMATICALLY END. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. FAYE. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? OR DEBATE? IF NOT, WE CAN MOVE RIGHT TO A VOTE. BE PREPARED TO VOTE. FOR ALL IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 21, VOTE ONE ON YOUR HANDSET FOR A YES. FOR ALL OF YOU OPPOSED TO THE MOTION, VOTE TWO. THIS IS A TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY VOTE, TOO. THE WINDOW HAS CLOSED. VOTING IS DONE. WITH 141 VOTES IN FAVOR AND FIVE OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES BY MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS, WITH 97%. ANYTHING ELSE ON ARTICLE 21? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THE ARTICLE DISPOSED. FOLKS, IT'S 1022. WE HAVE, WE'RE ON ARTICLE 22, WHICH IS A HOUSEKEEPING AMEND ZONING BYLAWS ARTICLE. YES, YOU, BE MY GUEST. HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH? ELISA CARTER, CHAIRMAN BRIDGE ROAD, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO ADJOURN. TILL TOMORROW NIGHT AT 630. IS THAT TILL 1? ANY SECONDS? ANY TIME. YEAH, UNTIL TOMORROW AT 630. OKAY. IS THERE A SECOND? 645. ALL IN FAVOR? ALL OPPOSED? YEAH. SHE'S MAKING A MOTION TO ADJOURN. SHE'S ENTITLED TO DO THAT. I THINK I HAVE TO, I THINK I GOT TO TAKE A, I CAN'T DETERMINE IT. OKAY. SO WE'RE GOING TO PREPARE THE VOTING WINDOW. WE'RE GOING TO VOTE WHETHER OR NOT TO ADJOURN UNTIL TOMORROW. SO ALL IN FAVOR OF ADJOURNING, VOTE 1. ON YOUR HANDSET. ALL OPPOSED, VOTE 2. WE NEED A SIMPLE MAJORITY VOTE. IF THIS IS A MOTION TO ADJOURN, THAT'S IT. TILL TOMORROW NIGHT AT 630. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. AND WITH 109 IN FAVOR AND 30 OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT. SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT AT 630.
Would Mr. Michael Short please come up here?
Madam Moderator, Richard Turner, 7 Nob Hill Road, Chair of the Public Ceremonies Committee. I recognize you. The Public Ceremonies Committee presents the C. Peter R. Gossels Good Government Award. It is presented to Mr. Michael M. Short, who founded and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Wayland Voters Network for over 20 years. This nonpartisan online newspaper provided coverage of local events, government hearings, and backsliding. It provided background information so that Wayland voters could make informed decisions.
As the retired Boston Bureau Chief of the Associated Press, Michael Short brought high journalistic standards, superb writing skills, and his ability to assemble a group of other dedicated volunteers to make the Wayland Voters Network a valuable resource for the future of the state of Iowa. Thank you. To Wayland citizens, when the Wayland Post began, Michael Short and his team made the Wayland Voters Network archives available as a continuing online reference archive. Congratulations to Mr. Michael Short.
Yes. I just want to make it clear that the Wayland Voters Network involved an awful lot of people. It was entirely teamwork, a lot of it anonymous. Some people contributing enormous amounts. And we produced more than 1,000 newsletters and bulletins in the course of 21 years. And we were happy to get out of that business when we got a really good weekly newspaper, which is what we had missed all those years. So here's to the Wayland Post. Thank you. Would Yawu Tang please come forward? Madam Moderator, Richard Turner, 7-0. Hill Road, Chair of the Public Ceremonies Committee. The Public Ceremonies Committee wishes to present the 26th Lydia Child Award to Mr. Yawu Tang. With appreciation and admiration for the many exceptional individuals who enhance and enrich our Wayland community, the Public Ceremonies Committee each year makes the Lydia Child Award. The award is the Lydia Maria Child Award for Outstanding Public Service. This award is given to the person or persons or group that the PCC demonstrates best represents the concern and care that Lydia Maria Child demonstrated to make her community a better place. The recipient of the 2026 Lydia Child Award is Mr. Yawu Tang. Thank you. Thank you. I also like to acknowledge. Thank you. It's really, I like to think this is really not air for individuals, or else I like to say with the human, way that human rights, diversity, into, into, equity and diversity, diversity is not a cutting edge. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. the Inclusion Committee, and with their all supports, and also the Chinese-American, William Chinese-American Association, with their all supports, we'll be able to do it since we haven't done. Also, I have to thank the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association, because they are the one bring me to the volunteer world, to start doing a lot of volunteers for the mutual understanding between the Western and the Eastern cultures. So thank you very much. Thank you to the great leadership and for bringing William to a homilic community
that we all live peacefully among all of us. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Madam Moderator. I now yield the floor. Thank you, Mr. Turner, and to the Public Ceremonies Committee. All right, so that brings us to the first article, Article One. Is there a motion? There is. Good evening, Madam Moderator. Doug Levine, Gray-Birch Lane, member of the Select Board. I recognize you, sir. I move you, madam, that the town recognize the following citizen who has served in a volunteer capacity on elected and or appointed boards, committees, and commissions, for a minimum of 25 years, service need not be consecutive, for his achievements and contributions to town government, and that is Brian O'Herlihy, 25 years on, among other boards, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Finance Committee, and the then Board of Selectmen. Is there a second? Thank you. And do you want to vote on that now, or do you wish to speak to it, or go through all of them? Do you have a preference? I think we could vote on them all at once. Okay. I move you, madam, that the town recognize the following employees who have retired since the 2025 Annual Town Meeting, or intend to retire before June 30th, 2026, subject to a minimum of 20 years of service. They are Dale Porter, custodian, Rosemary Rabideau, teaching assistant, Joseph Libin, student monitor, Jillian Sylvester, student supervisor, Jean Gennaro, building substitute, Adrian Galasti, teaching assistant, Lisa Weig, teacher, Lorraine Horgan, teacher, and Donna Lemoine, benefits manager. Is there a second? Thank you. Is there a third motion? There is. I move you, madam, that the town observe a moment of silence in memory of the following elected or appointed volunteers, employees with at least 10 years of service, or employees while in service to the town without regard to tenure who have passed away since the adjournment of the 2025 Annual Town Meeting. Eleanor Cigna, served on the school administration, Marie LeBlanc, as a teacher, Ann Bosnigan, teacher, Elizabeth Kilborn, a student supervisor, Robert Farrington, on the Zoning Board of Appeals, Nancy Leifer, served on the Council on Aging, Patricia K. Nelson, on the Senior Tax Relief Committee, June Hunter, as a teacher, Robert Hoyt, on the Veterans Memorial Committee, Susan Schafeld, a teacher, and Robert B. DeRozier, a teacher. And is there a second? Okay, if we could observe a moment of silence. Thank you, and is there a fourth motion? There is a fourth and final motion. I move you, madam, that the town recognize the following residents who have been named the 2026 recipients of Wayland's annual C. Peter R. Gossel's Good Government Award and the Lydia Maria Child Award. And they are Michael M. Short for the Gossel's Good Government Award, and Yau Wu Tang, the Lydia Maria Child Award. And is there a second? Okay. And all in favor of voting on these for the four motions in Article 1, say yes. Anyone opposed? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Levine. I declare Article 1 disposed. Article 2, is there a motion? Madam Moderator, Bill Whitney, Woodridge Road. I recognize you, sir. Thank you. I move you, madam, that Article 2 be adopted under the abbreviated presentation procedure. And is the motion under Article 2 word for word the same as the article text printed in the warrant? Yes. It's identical. Okay. This motion is brought under the abbreviated presentation procedure. Under that procedure, the moving party initially waives the right to speak to the motion, but does reserve the right should there be opposition or a question. Does anyone wish to speak in opposition to the motion, or does anyone have a question regarding the motion on Article 2? Seeing none, we should prepare to vote. Second? Okay. Okay. So we're preparing to vote on the motion under Article 2 to pay the previous fiscal year unpaid bills. The voting light is on. Press 1 if you are in favor of this motion. Press 2 if you are opposed to it. Article 2. Okay. The voting window has closed. We'll wait for the votes to be tallied. Okay. With 215 votes in favor and three opposed, I'm pretty sure that makes the four-fifths. I'm no math major. I'm no math major, but I think that wins. Okay. Anything further on Article 2? All right. I declare that article disposed. Article 3, is there a motion? Yes, Madam Moderator. Tom Fay, Happy Hollow Road, member of the Select Board. I recognize you, sir. Thank you, Madam Moderator. I move, Madam, that Article 3 be adopted under the abbreviated presentation procedure. And is the motion under Article 3 word-forward the same as the article text printed in the warrant? Yes. The motion is brought under the abbreviated presentation procedure. Under that procedure, the moving party initially waives the right to speak to the motion, but does reserve the right should there be opposition or a question. Does anyone wish to speak in opposition or have a question for Mr. Fay regarding the motion under Article 3? Seeing none, we can prepare to vote. Please come to the procedural microphone, then. There appears to be a question. Just don't trip around here. Come here. And please face the microphone. Thank you. Thank you. Hi. I'm Elizabeth Carter. Sherman Bridge Road. I recognize you. Thank you, Madam Moderator. I had a question about the water, excess water funds. Are they going to be used for the water project that we have coming up that's going to be 80-some million dollars, or are they being put somewhere else? Is there anyone who can answer Ms. Carter's question? Moderator, Mike Wegerbauer, 7 Blossom Lane. Please face the meeting. Sorry. Thank you. Vice Chair of the Board of Public Works. I recognize you, Mr. Wegerbauer. So we do have a fund called a fund balance, which is in a subset of the fund balance. It's called retained earnings. That is a balance minus earmarked funds. That balance target is set every year to be available. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I see that's available. Is that the case? I believe so. It's available in case of emergencies. If we do have excess, it's possible the Board may utilize some of that to fund the construction. But most likely the construction of the water will be funded by bonds and borrowing. Does that answer your question, Ms. Carter? Okay. Are there any other questions? Otherwise we'll move right to the vote. Okay. So this is motion one under article three. PREPARE TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION, VOTE YES. IF YOU OPPOSE THE MOTION, VOTE 1. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO THE MOTION, VOTE 2. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. WITH 213 VOTES IN FAVOR AND 7 VOTES OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. ANYTHING FURTHER ON THIS MOTION? OKAY. DO YOU HAVE A SECOND MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 3, MR. FAYE? YES, MADAM MODERATOR. MOTION 2 UNDER ARTICLE 3 CONCERNING ENTERPRISE FUND BUDGET, CAPITAL. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ARTICLE 3 BE ADOPTED UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. AND IS THE MOTION UNDER MOTION NUMBER 2 UNDER ARTICLE 3, IS IT WORTHWORD THE SAME AS THE ARTICLE TEXT PRINTED IN THE WARRANT? YES. OKAY. SO AS STATED BEFORE, THIS IS BROUGHT UNDER ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. THE MOVING PARTY INITIALLY WAVES THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO THE MOTION BUT DOES RESERVE THE RIGHT SHOULD THERE BE OPPOSITION OR A QUESTION. ARE THERE ANY, IS THERE OPPOSITION OR ANY QUESTIONS ON MOTION 2 UNDER ARTICLE 3? SEEING NONE, WE CAN PREPARE TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR, THERE YOU GO, THE VOTING LIGHT IS ON, IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF MOTION NUMBER 2 UNDER ARTICLE 3, VOTE 1, WHICH IS THE YES VOTE. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO MOTION NUMBER 2 ON ARTICLE 3, VOTE NUMBER 2, WHICH IS THE NO VOTE. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. WITH 203 VOTES IN FAVOR, WITH A YES VOTE. AND 8 VOTES VOTING NO, THE MOTION, AND IT WAS A TWO-THIRDS VOTE, HOWEVER, THAT STILL CARRIES. EVEN I CAN FIGURE THAT OUT. THE MOTION STILL CARRIES. SO IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE ON MOTION NUMBER 2 UNDER ARTICLE 3? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THAT ARTICLE 3 IS DISPOSED. ARTICLE 4. MADAM MODERATOR, CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD, SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. MARTIN. AND DO YOU HAVE A MOTION? YES, I DO. THANK YOU. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT THE TOWN VOTE TO APPROVE ARTICLE 3. ARTICLES 4 THROUGH 8 UNDER A CONSENT CALENDAR AND APPROVE SET ARTICLES AS PRINTED ON PAGES 25 THROUGH 30 OF THE WARRANT ISSUED FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING. ARE THESE FOUR MOTIONS, ARE THEY WORD FOR WORD? YES. IT'S ACTUALLY FIVE MOTIONS. THANK YOU. FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, AND EIGHT, CORRECT? YES. OKAY. MADAM MODERATOR. ALL RIGHT. SO, FOLKS, HERE'S YOUR FIRST CONSENT CALENDAR. IS THERE A SECOND ON THE MOTION? THANK YOU. HERE'S YOUR FIRST CONSENT CALENDAR. WE HAVE FIVE ARTICLES, ARTICLES 4, 5, 6, AND 7. I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH THEM EACH. I'M GOING TO STATE WHAT PAGE THEY ARE ON IN THE WARRANT. IF SOMEBODY WISHES TO HOLD ONE OF THESE ARTICLES, PLEASE YELL OUT HOLD AND WE WILL ADDRESS IT RIGHT THEN. SO, ARTICLE 4, OPEB FUNDING, PAGE 25. ARTICLE 5, FISCAL YEAR 2027, REVOLVING FUND EXPENDITURE LIMITS, PAGE 27 IN THE WARRANT. ARTICLE 6, SURFACE WATER QUALITY BUDGET, PAGE 28. ARTICLE 7, CAPITAL STABILIZATION FUND, PAGE 29. AND ARTICLE 8, SPECIAL EDUCATION RESERVE FUND, PAGE, SORRY, I MISSED WHAT PAGE IT IS. THANK YOU. PAGE 30. ALL RIGHT. LOOK AT THAT. WE'RE PREPARED TO VOTE ON YOUR CONSENT CALENDAR, YOUR FIRST CONSENT CALENDAR, ARTICLES 4 THROUGH 8. THEY'RE LISTED UP ON THE SCREENS. I SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED THE SCREENS. SO WE'RE PREPARING TO VOTE ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR. ARTICLES 4 THROUGH 8. WHEN THE GREEN LIGHT GOES ON, VOTE 1 FOR YES IF YOU'RE IN FAVOR OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR. VOTE NO. 2 FOR NO IF YOU OPPOSE. THE VOTING WINDOW HAS CLOSED. THE VOTE IS OVER. JUST SO YOU KNOW, WE PUT ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR, THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME QUANTUM OF VOTE ON THIS CONSENT CALENDAR. IT'S SIMPLE MAJORITY. AND WITH 217 VOTES IN FAVOR WITH A YES VOTE AND 10 VOTES VOTING NO, THE MOTION, THE CONSENT CALENDAR CARRIES. ANYTHING ELSE ON THE FIRST CONSENT CALENDAR? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THOSE FIVE ARTICLES, ARTICLES 4 THROUGH 8 DISPOSED. ARTICLE 9, IS THERE A MOTION? MADAM MODERATOR, CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. MARTIN. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT THE TOWN VOTE TO AMEND THE PERSONNEL WAGE AND SALARY CLASSIFICATION PLAN, APPENDIX A, AS SHOWN IN THE HANDOUT FOR THIS TOWN MEETING, PREVIOUSLY ADOPTED BY THE TOWN TO AMEND NON-UNION POSITIONS, INCLUDING RECREATIONAL AND SEASONAL POSITIONS. B, AMEND THE PERSONNEL WAGE AND SALARY CLASSIFICATION PLAN, APPENDIX A, AS SHOWN IN THE HANDOUT FOR THIS TOWN MEETING, PREVIOUSLY ADOPTED BY THE TOWN TO AMEND THE PLAN FOR UNION POSITIONS. AND C, TRANSFER FROM THE FY26 BUDGETED UNCLASSIFIED RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT ACCOUNT, $1,604, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE JOINT LABOR MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, JLMC, AWARD FOR THE WAILING FIREFIGHTERS IAFF LOCAL 1978 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT FOR THE PERIOD OF JULY 1, 2023 TO JUNE 30, 2026, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE TOWN ACCOUNTANT TO ALLOCATE SAID AMOUNTS TO BE DISTRIBUTED TO AND AMONG THE DEPARTMENT. THE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL AND LINE ITEMS AFFECTED THEREBY IN SUCH AMOUNTS AS ARE PROPER AND REQUIRED. IS THERE A SECOND? THANK YOU. DO YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION? MAY I ADVISE THE, YOU, MADAM MODERATOR, THAT IN SECTION A THERE WAS A CHANGE IN THE WARRANT AMENDMENT ADDING IN THE WORDS AS SHOWN IN THE HANDOUT FOR THIS TOWN MEETING BOTH IN SECTION A AND SECTION B. OTHERWISE THE MOTION IS STANDARD. OKAY. DO YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION? YES. THANK YOU. THIS IS A STANDARD ARTICLE AND SEVERAL OTHER YEARS WE'VE USED IT AS CONSENT OR EVEN LAST YEAR WE JUST DID IT IN THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION. BUT BECAUSE THIS IS A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING A YEAR WE PULLED IT OUT TO PULL IT IN A FULL PRESENTATION. BUT WHAT IT DOES IS IT ALLOWS US TO ADJUST THE WAGE AND CLASSIFICATION PLAN FOR THE TOWN EMPLOYEES. THE APPENDIX A HANDOUT HAS BEEN UPDATED FROM WHAT'S IN THE WARRANT TO REFLECT TWO CHANGES. FIRST THERE WAS A 2% COLA EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026 THAT HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE NON-UNION POSITIONS WHICH ARE LISTED IN THE END SCHEDULE. AND THERE WAS A 2% COLA EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026 THAT HAS BEEN ADDED FOR THE WAYLAND LIBRARY STAFF ASSOCIATION POSITIONS WHICH ARE LISTED IN THE ELL SCHEDULE. AND THEN FINALLY ITEM THREE HERE, APPENDIX A HAS BEEN ADJUSTED TO THE END SCHEDULE. TO REFLECT THE RETROACTIVE COLAS FOR FY24, FY25, AND FY26 FOR THE WAYLAND FIREFIGHTERS AS STIPULATED IN THE JOINT LABOR MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, THE JLMC, THE AWARD FOR THE PERIOD ENDING JUNE 30, 2026. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THANK YOU. ANY OPPOSITION, ANY COMMENTS, ANY QUESTIONS? READY TO GO RIGHT TO A VOTE? GREAT. ALL RIGHT. LET'S PREPARE TO VOTE. THE VOTING WINDOW IS LIT. YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 9, PERSONNEL BYLAWS, WAGE, AND CLASSIFICATION PLAN, PLEASE VOTE 1 ON YOUR HANDSET. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO IT, PLEASE VOTE 2. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. THE VOTING IS OVER. WITH 216 VOTES IN FAVOR, YES, AND 16 VOTES, NO, THE MOTION CARRIES. IS THERE ANYTHING FURTHER ON ARTICLE 9? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THE ARTICLE DISPOSED. ARTICLE 10, THE BUDGET FOR 2027. MADAM MODERATOR, I'M PHIL JUDICIA ON THE SEVEN-YEAR RUN FINANCE COMMITTEE. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. AND I MOVE YOU, MADAM MODERATOR, THAT EACH AND EVERY NUMBERED ITEM SET FORTH IN THE FINANCE COMMITTEE'S BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2027 LISTED ON PAGES 34 TO 42 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING BE VOTED, GRANTED, AND APPROPRIATED AS AN EXPENDITURE FOR THE SEVERAL PURPOSES AND USES SET FORTH IN SAID BUDGET, ESTABLISHING A TOTAL BUDGET OF $112,964,253, WHICH SOME SHALL BE EXPENDED ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES SHOWN UNDER THE RESPECTIVE BOARDS, COMMITTEES, AND OFFICES. AND OF THE TOTAL SUM SO APPROPRIATED, $111,405,149 SHALL BE RAISED BY TAXATION, $434,427 SHALL BE PROVIDED BY TRANSFER FROM AMBULANCE RECEIPTS, AND $1,124,677 SHALL BE PROVIDED BY TRANSFER FROM AMBULANCE RECEIPTS, AND $1,124,677 SHALL BE PROVIDED BY TRANSFER FROM AMBULANCE RECEIPTS, AND $1,124,677 SHALL BE PROVIDED BY TRANSFER FROM AMBULANCE RECEIPTS, AND $1,213. ANY RELEASED Oreos WILL BE TRANSFERRED FOR ELECTRIC SAVING. ANY RELEASED Oreos WILL BE TRANSFERRED FOR ELECTRIC SAVING. ANY RELEASED Oreos WILL BE TRANSFERRED FOR ELECTRIC SAVING. COUNCIL ON AGING. $1,615. WATER ENTERPRISE FUND. $519,110. WASTEWATER ENTERPRISE FUND. $49,446. RECREATION REVOLVING FUND. $63,299. $314, TRANSFER STATION $81,464, BASE $167,817, CHILDREN'S WAY $57,847, FOOD SERVICE $175,765. IS THERE A SECOND? THANK YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION? YES, AND I WOULD LIKE TO ADD, OF THE AMOUNT SO APPROPRIATED, THE SUM OF $471,902 SHALL BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 UNCLASSIFIED RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT ACCOUNT TO THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT'S FISCAL YEAR 2027 APPROPRIATIONS AND OF THE AMOUNT SO APPROPRIATED, THE SUM OF $25,427. OF THE AMOUNT SO APPROPRIATED, THE SUM OF $471,902 SHALL BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE UNCLASSIFIED RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT ACCOUNT FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE COST ITEMS FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TOWN OF WAYLAND AND THE WAYLAND LIBRARY STAFF ASSOCIATION, MFT, AFT, AFL-CIO, FOR THE PERIOD OF JULY 1, 2026, THROUGH JUNE 30, 2027, TO THE SUM OF $87,316 SHALL BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 UNCLASSIFIED RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT ACCOUNT FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING NON-UNION SALARY INCREASES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026, AS APPROVED UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THIS TOWN MEETING THAT WE JUST APPROVED. AND FURTHER, THE TOWN ACCOUNTANT, MFT, AFT, AFL-CIO, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING NON-UNION SALARY INCREASES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026, AS APPROVED UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THIS TOWN MEETING THAT WE JUST APPROVED. AND FURTHER, THE TOWN ACCOUNTANT, MFT, AFL-CIO, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING NON-UNION SALARY INCREASES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026, AS APPROVED UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THIS TOWN MEETING THAT WE JUST APPROVED. AND FURTHER, THE TOWN ACCOUNTANT, MFT, AFL-CIO, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING NON-UNION SALARY INCREASES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026, AS APPROVED UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THIS TOWN MEETING THAT WE JUST APPROVED. IS AUTHORIZED TO ALLOCATE SET AMOUNTS TO BE DISTRIBUTED TO AND AMONG THE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL AND LINE ITEMS AFFECTED THEREBY IN SUCH AMOUNTS AS ARE PROPER AND REQUIRED. I APOLOGIZE. I INTERRUPTED YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. I DIDN'T SEE THE SECOND PAGE. OKAY. NOW IS THERE A SECOND TO HIS MOTION? THANK YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION? YES. SO THE FINANCE COMMITTEE HAS DELIBERATED AND RECOMMENDS THE PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 27 AS PRESENTED IN THE WARRANT. THE TOTAL OPERATING BUDGET IS AN INCREASE OF APPROXIMATELY $5 MILLION OR 4.6% OVER OUR APPROVED FISCAL YEAR 26 BUDGET. THE PROPOSED TOWN BUDGET WOULD INCREASE 4.1% OVER THE FISCAL YEAR 26 BUDGET. THE SCHOOLS BUDGET INCREASE IS 1.7% OVER THE FISCAL YEAR 26 BUDGET. THE PROPOSED UNCLASSIFIED WHICH LARGELY A BUDGET INCREASES BY 10.7% AND THAT LARGELY IS HEALTH BENEFITS AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS AS CONTRACTED. THE LARGEST COMPONENT OF THE PROPOSED UNCLASSIFIED BUDGET INCREASE IS HEALTH INSURANCE, RETIREMENT FUNDING, DEBT SERVICE AND RESERVES FOR THE SALARY ADJUSTMENT. PAYROLL ACCOUNTS FOR ABOUT 70% OF OUR EXPENDITURES. THE NUMBER OF FTEs FOR THE TOWN AND THE NUMBER OF FTEs IN THE SCHOOLS IS APPROXIMATELY THE SAME AS THEY WERE. SO THERE IS NO CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF FTEs. THE PAYROLL COSTS ARE DRIVEN HIGHER CHIEFLY BECAUSE OF THE COST OF HEALTH CARE INCREASES. SO THAT GIVES YOU SOME CONTEXT FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET. I WANTED TO TURN TO TOWN MANAGER MICHAEL MCCALL. AND ASK IF HE HAS ANYTHING TO ADD TO THIS BUDGET. THANK YOU. SO, FOLKS, LAST YEAR I LET MR. MCCALL, OUR TOWN MANAGER, SPEAK TO THE BUDGET. TECHNICALLY UNDER THE TOWN BYLAW, DOESN'T SAY THAT HE'S NOT ALLOWED TO. BUT THE BETTER PRACTICE IS FOR ME TO, BECAUSE HE'S A NONRESIDENT, THE BETTER PRACTICE IS FOR ME TO TAKE A VOTE FROM TOWN MEETING. IF YOU VOTE SIMPLE MAJORITY OF HAVING MR. MCCALL, OUR TOWN MANAGER, WHO IS ESSENTIALLY OUR CEO, SPEAK TO THE TOWN BUDGET. I WOULD ASK THAT YOU ALLOW HIM TO SPEAK. IT'S UP TO YOU, FOLKS, IF YOU'LL LET HIM TALK. SO I'M GOING TO TAKE A QUICK VOICE VOTE. ALL IN FAVOR OF LETTING MR. MCCALL SPEAK, SAY YES. ALL OPPOSED, SAY NO. PERFECT. MR. MCCALL, THE FLOOR IS YOURS. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THANK YOU, MEMBERS OF TOWN MEETING, RESIDENTS, GUESTS, AND WE HAVE MEMBERS OF OUR LEGISLATURE HERE FOR ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK. BEFORE I START, I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT THERE WAS A TYPO IN THE MOTION FOR THE TOWN BUDGET. THE AMOUNT OF THE TRANSFER INSTEAD OF $471,902, IT SHOULD BE $461,902, MADAM MODERATOR. FOR A SAVINGS OF $10,000? CORRECT. THANK YOU. WITH THAT, THANK YOU, EVERYONE. IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF MASS GENERAL LAW AND THE TOWN OF WAYLAND BYLAWS AND THE TOWN MANAGER ACT, I AM PLEASED TO STAND HERE BEFORE YOU TO TALK ABOUT THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 OPERATING BUDGET AND THE CAPITAL BUDGET FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. DURING THE PREPARATION OF THESE BUDGETS, THE FINANCE TEAM AND I, ALONG WITH INPUT FROM OUR NEW CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANNING COMMITTEE, HAVE ENDEAVORED TO PROVIDE STAPLE, CONSISTENT BUDGETS WITH MODERATE INCREASES WHICH ADHERE TO BEST PRACTICES WHILE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE LIMITATIONS OF PROPOSITION TWO AND A HALF AND BEING MINDFUL OF OUR LIMIT. WITH THAT, I'M ALSO PLEASED TO SHARE WITH YOU THAT THIS PAST FALL, MOODY'S HAS REAFFIRMED OUR AAA BOND RATING. WHICH WILL BE VERY IMPORTANT TO US GOING FORWARD AS WE DO SOME SIGNIFICANT BORROWING IN THE FUTURE FOR SOME OF OUR LARGER CAPITAL PROJECTS. THIS YEAR'S OPERATING BUDGET, AS YOU HEARD, TOTALS 112.9 MILLION AND OUR CAPITAL BUDGET WILL AMOUNT TO $9.41 MILLION. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE, AGAIN, THAT THE FIVE-YEAR CAPITAL PROJECT DOES NOT UTILIZE TAXATION AS A FUNDING SOURCE. THIS YEAR WE'RE WORKING ON OUR THIRD BUDGET TOGETHER. AND I WANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT. I WANT TO RECOGNIZE ALL OF OUR EMPLOYEES AND DEPARTMENT HEADS AND THEIR EFFORTS THROUGHOUT THIS PAST YEAR AND THANK THE ENTIRE STAFF FOR SUPPORTING EACH OTHER DURING THESE CHALLENGING FISCAL TIMES. THE GOALS AND CHALLENGES THAT WE FACE ARE NOT UNIQUE TO WAYLAND. MANY MUNICIPALITIES ARE FACING THE SAME ONGOING ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY. AND IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY GONE TO THE MASSACHUSETTS MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION WEBSITE, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO SO. AND THERE ARE TWO ARTICLES OUT THERE. ONE IS CALLED A PERFECT STORM. CITIES AND TOWNS FACING HISTORIC FISCAL PRESSURES AND NAVIGATING THEIR STORMS. THEY BOTH EXPLAIN THE SITUATION THAT MOST COMMUNITIES ARE DEALING WITH RELATIVE TO INCREASING HEALTHCARE COSTS, UNFUNDED MANDATES, CHALLENGES WITH OUR EDUCATION, STATE AID, AND A HOST OF OTHER REASONS WHY WE ARE DEALING WITH THIS, INCLUDING LABOR COSTS. ALL OF WHICH HAVE AN IMPACT ON STAFF AS WELL AS YOUR TAXES. ANOTHER CHALLENGE WE HAD THIS YEAR IS ALL OF OUR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. AS YOU HEARD THIS EVENING, WE HAVE ALREADY REACHED A RESOLUTION ON TWO OF THEM, BUT WE HAVE ABOUT A HALF DOZEN MORE TO GO. AS WE MOVE FORWARD, WE WILL CONTINUE TO FACE ECONOMIC CHALLENGES AND DISRUPTIONS. WE HAVE THE UNCERTAINTY OF MARKET UNRESTS, INFLATION, TARIFFS, AND AS MANY OF YOU WELL KNOW, WE HAVE UNREST IN GEOPOLITICS, SPECIFICALLY IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WHICH IS HAVING AN IMPACT ON ALL OF US IN OUR DAILY LIVES. DUE TO THIS ECONOMIC INSTITUTION. . THE FINANCE DIRECTOR AND I ASSEMBLED A BUDGET WORKING GROUP AS WE DID IN THE PREVIOUS YEARS. WE DID THIS RIGHT AFTER THE START OF THE FISCAL YEAR TO WORK ON THE FY2027 BUDGET. WE DO THIS BY ASSEMBLING MEMBERS OF THE VARIOUS COMMITTEES IN TOWN. WE HAD ASSISTANCE FROM THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, FINANCE COMMITTEE, SELECT BOARD. WE BRING IN THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND A FEW OTHER CITIZENS WHO ARE WELL-VERSED IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND START LOOKING AT THE BUDGET A YEAR AHEAD OF TIME. WE IMMEDIATELY IDENTIFIED AN ALMOST $2 MILLION SHORTFALL. I'M VERY HAPPY TO TELL YOU THIS EVENING THAT WE WERE ABLE TO CLOSE THAT. I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO OUT AND LOOK AT WHAT OTHER TOWNS ARE EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW. MANY OTHER TOWNS THAT DIDN'T HAVE THE FORESIGHT TO DO THAT TYPE OF PLANNING 12 MONTHS AGO OR AT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR FISCAL YEAR ARE NOW REALIZING SIGNIFICANT SHORTFALLS IN THE JANUARY, FEBRUARY TIME FRAME LEADING UP TO THEIR RESPECTIVE TOWN MEETINGS. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT WE HAD THE ADMINISTRATION. WE HAD THE ASSISTANCE OF THE SELECT BOARD FINANCE COMMITTEE AND THE VOTERS AS WE ENDEAVORED TO CLOSE THIS ALMOST $2 MILLION GAP. YOU MAY RECALL WE HAD A SPECIAL ELECTION TO CONVERT OUR LEVY DEBT TO EXCLUDED DEBT AND WE ALSO WORKED WITH THE BOARD TO DO SOME REFINANCING. ADDITIONALLY, EARLY ON IN THE FISCAL YEAR, I INSTITUTED A HIRING APPREICE SO THAT WE DIDN'T HIRE ANY NEW PEOPLE OTHER THAN THOSE IN ESSENTIAL POSITIONS, PRIMARILY IN OUR PUBLIC SAFETY. IN THE FALL, I AGAIN INSTRUCTED. A LEVEL SERVICE BUDGET TO BE ADMINISTERED BY ALL THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENT HEADS AND THEY WERE ALSO INSTRUCTED THAT OTHER THAN WHAT WAS NECESSARY, THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY CHANGES IN THEIR BUDGET IN TERMS OF INCREASES OR POSITION EXPANSES OTHER THAN THOSE THAT CAME BEFORE ME. AFTERWARDS, MR. KEVANY AND I, OUR BUDGET DIRECTOR, MET WITH OUR DEPARTMENT HEADS MAKING LINE BY LINE REDUCTIONS AND WHILE WE WERE SUCCESSFUL THIS PAST YEAR, CLOSING THIS 2 MILLION GAP. AND AS WE HAVE IN THE PAST, I CAN'T GUARANTEE YOU THAT GOING FORWARD WE WILL BE AS SUCCESSFUL FINDING OTHER WAYS TO CLOSE FUTURE GAPS. BUT I DO WANT TO POINT OUT THAT I THINK THAT WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED TO YOU THROUGH BEING FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE, HAVING HIRING FREEZES AND FINDING ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF CLOSING THE GAP WITHOUT RAISING TAXES THAT WE HAVE BEEN GOOD STEWARDS WITH YOUR MONEY IN THIS LAST FISCAL YEAR. SO BEFORE YOU, YOU HAVE A 112.9 MILLION GAP. IT'S A $39 MILLION BUDGET FOUNDED ON THE TOWN'S EXISTING BYLAWS, POLICY DIRECTIVES AND PRUDENT FISCAL MANAGE, WHICH INCLUDES THE PRINCIPLE THAT ONLY ONE-TIME REVENUE SHOULD BE USED FOR ONE-TIME EXPENDITURES AND TO MAINTAIN ALL TOWN OPERATIONS AT CURRENT SERVICE LEVELS, WE RELIED ON PROJECTIONS OF AVAILABLE REVENUE WITHIN THE TOWN'S RESOURCES AND ESTABLISHED A CEILING OF REVENUE DERIVED FROM REASONABLE PROPERTY TAX INCREASES PURSUANT TO PROPOSITION TWO AND A HALF. SO WITH THAT, IF WE GO BACK TO THE COVER SHEET, I'LL WALK YOU THROUGH A COUPLE OF QUICK SLIDES. I PROMISE I REDUCED IT TO ABOUT HALF OF WHAT WE HAD LAST YEAR. SO THE FIRST SLIDE JUST GOES OVER THE BUDGET CYCLE. IF YOU START AT THE TOP, WE PUT TOGETHER A BUDGET WORKING GROUP AT THE END OF JUNE. WE WORK TOWARDS A FINANCIAL SUMMIT THAT WE DO IN NOVEMBER. WE WORK THROUGH OUR TOWN BUDGETS IN DECEMBER AND IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY WE WORK WITH OUR FINANCE COMMITTEE AS WELL AS THE SELECT BOARD TO PUT TOGETHER THE BUDGETS FOR TOWN. AT THAT SAME TIME, THE END OF FEBRUARY, AS THE BUDGET IS FINISHED, OUR CAPITAL BUDGETS COME TOGETHER AND THIS YEAR IT INCLUDED INPUT FROM OUR NEWLY INFORMED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANNING COMMITTEE. THE COMPONENTS OF OUR BUDGET FEATURE THE INDIVIDUAL TOWN BUDGETS FOR EACH DEPARTMENT, THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, OUR UNCLASSIFIED AND OTHER BUDGETS INCLUDING OUR OPEB, WHICH STANDS FOR OTHER POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS. OUR OVERLAY ACCOUNT. OUR BUDGET GOALS, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WERE TO PRODUCE THE OMNIBUS BUDGET WITHIN PROPOSITION TWO AND A HALF, MAINTAIN EXISTING TOWN AND SCHOOL SERVICES, USE ONLY RECURRING REVENUE TO SUPPORT THE OPERATING BUDGET, TO HAVE THE RESIDENTS VOTE TO TRANSFER THE LEVY DEBT TO EXCLUDED DEBT, ISSUE OUR BOND ANTICIPATION NOTES, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS BANS, INSTEAD OF LONG-TERM DEBT. SO WE CAN SAVE MONEY ON FINANCIAL DEBT. RESTRICT NEW EMPLOYMENT, AS I SAID, AND ELIMINATE OR REDUCE STAFFING IN BOTH THE TOWN AND SCHOOL DEPARTMENTS WHERE WE COULD TO SAVE ADDITIONAL DOLLARS. THE CHALLENGES, AS I SAID BEFORE, ALL OF OUR CONTRACTS WERE UP FOR RENEWAL. WE HAD TO FUND THE ARBITRATION AWARD THAT CAME FROM THE JOINT MANAGEMENT LABOR COMMITTEE. THERE IS THE CONSTANT UNCERTAINTY OF STATE AID, AND I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH OUR TWO REPRESENTATIVES. REPRESENTATIVE LINSKEY. REPRESENTATIVE JEN TEAL, WHO WILL BE STEPPING DOWN, AND SENATOR ELDRIDGE, WHO I MET WITH LAST WEEK, WHO LISTENED TO US AND HAVE ADVOCATED FOR US ON BEACON HILL FOR ADDITIONAL UNRESTRICTED GENERAL GOVERNMENT AID. WE REALIZE THAT WE HAVE A DECLINING LEVY LIMIT, AND WE'VE TRIED TO WORK WITHIN THAT AND WHENEVER POSSIBLE INCREASE THE LEVY LIMIT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. MAINTAINING ADEQUATE LEVELS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND TRYING TO REASSESS OUR FEES, WHICH WE DID THIS YEAR. ENSURE THAT WE ARE COMPARABLE WITH OUR NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES TO ENSURE WE'RE GETTING ADEQUATE REVENUE THERE, AND MONITORING THE INCREASING HEALTH CARE COSTS YEAR OVER YEAR. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. NEXT SLIDE. OUR PRIMARY SOURCES OF REVENUE HERE ARE REAL ESTATE TAXES AND PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES, STATE AID, LOCAL RECEIPTS, WHICH WE GET FROM PERMITS. WE ALSO USE MONEY FROM OUR ENTERPRISE AND REVOLVING FUNDS, AND UNDERNEATH OTHER BUDGETS, IT SHOULD BE INDENTICAL. IT SHOULD BE INDENTICAL, BUT WE OCCASIONALLY GET MONEY FROM GRANTS, RESERVES, FREE CASH, THINGS LIKE CHAPTER 90 MONEYS, AND WE'RE ALSO USING SOME OF THE MONEYS WE RECEIVE FROM THE OPIOID SETTLEMENT IN OUR BUDGET. WE ACTUALLY FUND A CO-RESPONSE CLINICIAN THAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE, EXCLUSIVELY FROM THAT FUNDING, AND THAT INDIVIDUAL GOES OUT TO CALLS WITH OUR POLICE AND FIRE TO SUPPORT THOSE IN NEED IN THE COMMUNITY. NEXT SLIDE. THIS IS A BREAKDOWN SHOWING YOU OF THE TOWN, SCHOOL, AND UNCLASS. WE HAVE SOME OF THE UNCLASSIFIED BUDGETS. MOST OF THIS SHOULD BE IN YOUR WARRANT BOOK, SO I WON'T SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON THIS. NEXT SLIDE. WHAT I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT HERE IS THE PERCENT OF CHANGE YEAR OVER YEAR. WHEN WE CAME FOR OUR FINANCIAL SUMMER IN NOVEMBER, OUR INITIAL BUDGET WAS $114.3 MILLION, AND WE BROUGHT THAT DOWN, AS YOU CAN SEE, TO THE NUMBER THAT'S BEFORE YOU FOR THE TOWN OPERATING BUDGET OF $112,964. WE ALSO AT THAT POINT IN TIME, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE TOWN'S BUDGET, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT A POTENTIAL OF A 5.05% INCREASE YEAR OVER YEAR, WHICH WE THEN MADE CUTS, AS I SAID, AND REDUCED THAT DOWN TO THE 4.63% YEAR OVER YEAR CHANGE. THIS KEPT THE INCREASE ON YOUR TAXES LESS THAN 5% THIS YEAR AT 4.89. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. THIS IS JUST A HISTORICAL CHART OF WHAT THE BUDGET GROWTH HAS LOOKED LIKE OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS. THERE WAS A SPIKE IN THE YEAR BEFORE. I DON'T KNOW WHERE I ARRIVED, BUT THE THREE BUDGETS THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON TOGETHER HAVE BEEN ON OR ABOUT THAT TREND LINE. WE'RE DOING THE BEST WE CAN TO MAINTAIN THAT TREND AND NOT HAVE THESE SPIKES, AND I COMMIT TO WORKING WITH YOU AND MY STAFF NEXT YEAR TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE AT OR BELOW THAT TREND LEVEL. NEXT SLIDE. THIS IS JUST A VISUAL DISPLAY OF OUR REVENUE ALLOCATION. NINETY-NINE PERCENT, ROUGHLY, OF OUR REVENUE IS CONSISTENT. IT'S COMING FROM TAXATION, ALONG WITH STATE AID, LOCAL RECEIPTS, AND TRANSFERS FROM THOSE OTHER FUNDS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AND THIS HAS BEEN OUR TAX LEVY GROWTH OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, WHICH IS THE OVERALL TAXATION. AGAIN, WE'VE TRIED TO KEEP IT CONSISTENT WITH PREVIOUS YEARS. NEXT SLIDE. SIMILARLY, WE HAVE THE HISTORICAL REFERENCE OF OUR TAX RATES IN RECENT YEARS, AND AGAIN, THERE HAD BEEN A SOMEWHAT TREND OF LOWERING THE TAX RATE, AND WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP THAT AS LOW AS POSSIBLE. NEXT SLIDE. THIS I FIND THE MOST IMPORTANT FOR YOUR TAX BILL. THE AVERAGE FAMILY TAX BILL IN WAYLAND IS APPROXIMATELY $19,000. AND THIS IS A BREAKDOWN OF WHERE YOUR TAX DOLLARS GO. THE VAST MAJORITY OF IT GOES TO OUR OUTSTANDING SCHOOLS, AND THEN THERE'S A BREAKDOWN WHERE IT GOES GENERAL GOVERNMENT, DESPITE WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK. IT'S NOT THE BIGGEST PORTION OR DRIVER OF THE BUDGET. A LOT OF WHAT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR VOLATILITY. THINGS THAT ARE BEYOND OUR CONTROL, DEBT SERVICE, HUMAN SERVICES, RETIREMENT, HEALTH INSURANCE, POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS. AND I WOULD SAY WHILE OUR HEALTH INSURANCE RATES CAME IN BELOW WHAT WE ANTICIPATED THIS YEAR, THEY WERE NOT AS LOW AS THEY WERE LAST YEAR. WE REALIZED A 3.8% INCREASE LAST YEAR, BUT THIS YEAR IT WAS AN 8.4% INCREASE IN OUR HEALTH INSURANCE. IT'S ONE OF OUR BIGGER DRIVERS IN THE BUDGET. WE WERE BRACING FOR A 12% INCREASE, BUT WE WERE FORTUNATE TO GET WHAT WE DID. AND I SIT ON THE BOARD WITH WEST SUBURBAN HEALTH GROUP AND I CONSTANTLY ADVOCATE TO ENSURE THAT OUR RATES ARE NOT GOING UP. NEXT SLIDE. THIS IS JUST A GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THAT PREVIOUS DATA SHOWING YOU THE BREAKDOWN OF YOUR TAX BILL AND WHERE IT GOES. LAST SLIDE, PLEASE. WE'LL LEAVE IT THERE. JUST IN CLOSING, I WANT TO EXPRESS MY SINCERE THOUGHTS. I WANT TO SAY THANKS TO OUR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TEAM, OUR FINANCE DIRECTOR, OUR TREASURER COLLECTOR, OUR PRINCIPAL ASSESSOR, OUR STAFF WHO HAVE MADE IT A POINT OF GOING OUT AND ENSURING THAT THEY'RE PROPERLY ASSESSING PROPERTIES, INCLUDING AFTER THE SALE OF ALTA OXBO TO ENSURE THAT WE WERE GETTING THE APPROPRIATE TAX DOLLARS FOR THOSE COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES. AS WELL AS MY STAFF WHO HAVE BEEN WORKING ALONGSIDE ME AND TO SUPPORT US, MY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, KELSEY POWERS-SPOLET, AS WELL AS THE COMMITTEES, THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, THE SELECT BOARD, AND THE GENERAL COMMITTEES THAT COME IN AND PARTICIPATE IN THE PROCESS. A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR BUDGET WORKING GROUP, OUR NEW CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANNING COMMITTEE, AND ALL OF OUR DEPARTMENT HEADS FOR THE PATIENCE AND COOPERATIONS AND WORKING ALONGSIDE WITH US EVERY DAY. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, DR. FLEISCHMAN AND HIS BUDGET DIRECTOR, KERSTINE PATTERSON. AND LASTLY BUT NOT LEAST. MY OFFICE STAFF WHO HELPS ME DO THE THINGS THAT I DO EVERY DAY AND PUTS TOGETHER THESE WONDERFUL PRESENTATIONS. THAT WOULD BE, AGAIN, MY ASSISTANT TOWN MANAGER, KELSEY POWERS-SPOLET, KATE RYAN, MY H.R. DIRECTOR, RATANA SO, WHO IS OUR BENEFITS COORDINATOR, JALYNN BRADICA, WHO DOES OUR WEBSITE AND NEWSLETTER, AND ABBY WARREN, WHO DOES THE EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATION IN MY OFFICE. I THANK THEM FOR THEIR HARD WORK. AND I THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO SPEAK AND EXPLAIN THE BUDGET TO YOU THIS YEAR. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. OKAY, FOLKS, SO WHAT HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN DONE IN THE PAST IS THAT THE MODERATOR GOES THROUGH THE BUDGET THAT IS LISTED IN YOUR WARRANT ON PAGES 34 THROUGH 42. I'M JUST GOING TO GO THROUGH THE VARIOUS ITEMS TO SEE IF ANYBODY HAS A QUESTION ON ANY OF THEM. YELL HOLD AND WE'LL GET BACK TO IT. WE'LL GO THROUGH THE WHOLE BUDGET, I'LL SAY WHAT THE DEPARTMENT IS, HOW MUCH THE TOTAL EXPENSE IS FOR WHAT'S REQUESTED FOR FISCAL YEAR 2027. SAY HOLD IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION, THEN I'LL GET BACK TO IT, OKAY? SO THAT WAY WE'LL FOCUS, WE'LL KEEP IT, IT WILL BE A LITTLE BIT MORE CLEAR WHAT WE'RE GOING THROUGH IN THE BUDGET AS WE, IF WE JUST, WHATEVER YOU'RE PICKING THAT YOU WANT TO DISCUSS, WE'LL FOCUS ON ONE AT A TIME. OKAY, SO ON PAGE 34, SELECT BOARD, $33,000. ANYBODY? OKAY. TOWN OFFICE, $1,096,919. ANYONE? ONE? OKAY. $1,096,919. ANYONE? OKAY. TOWN OFFICE, $1,096,916. PERSONNEL BOARD, $22,850. ANYONE? FINANCE, $518,943. ASSESSOR, $399,556. ANYONE? TREASURER, $347,907. TOWN COUNCIL, $259,356. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, $1,403,598. ON PAGE 36, TOWN CLERK, $363,672. CONSERVATION, $375,730. PLANNING, $165,391. FACILITIES, $1,572,177. ON PAGE 37, MISCELLANEOUS COMMITTEES, $3,775. POLICE, $3,913,167. JOINT COMMUNICATIONS, $896,203. FIRE AND ALS, $4,179,712. ON PAGE 38, BUILDING AND ZONING, $540,792. SCHOOLS, $55,895,765. REGIONAL VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS, $225,552. DPW ENGINEERING, $440,039. DID I HEAR A HOLD? THANK YOU. HIGHWAY, ZERO. DO I HEAR A HOLD ON THAT? ANYBODY? OKAY. PARK AND CEMETERY, ZERO. PUBLIC WORKS, $3 MILLION. $457,137. LANDFILL, $65,000. SNOW, $525,000. BOARD OF HEALTH, GOING ON TO PAGE 40, $1,461,330. VETERAN SERVICES, $36,000. COUNCIL ON AGING, $426,779. YOUTH SERVICES, $341,000. LIBRARY, GOING ON TO PAGE 41, $1,405,992. RECREATION, $332,318. DEBT AND INTEREST, $6,924,506. RETIREMENT, $7,316,191. TOWN ENERGY, $604,107. SCHOOL ENERGY, $1,239,477. AND ON THE UNCLASSIFIED SECTION, TOTAL HEALTH LIFE INSURANCE, THIS IS ON PAGE 42 NOW, $11,456,863. THANK YOU. THEN I HAVE TOTAL OTHER INSURANCE, $2,217,475. AND THEN THE LAST ONE IS THE TOTAL UNCLASSIFIED. THAT'S IT SEPARATE, IS $16,175,150. OKAY. YES. SUSAN WEINSTEIN, CONCORD ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU. MADAM MODERATOR, CAN I SUGGEST THAT THE PEOPLE WHO SAID HOLD WORK THEIR WAY UP TO THE FRONT? SURE, IF THEY'RE ABLE TO DO SO, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. WE'RE GOING TO GO BACK TO PAGE 34 AND START WITH TOWN OFFICE. AND YOU SAID HOLD. OKAY. DO YOU HAVE, DID YOU ASK A QUESTION ON ONE? I WAS GOING TO GO IN ORDER. OKAY. YEAH, I THINK IT WAS SOMEBODY ELSE ON TOWN OFFICE. WE'RE GOING TO SKIP TOWN OFFICE. SHE HELD IT, BUT SHE'S SKIPPING IT NOW. OKAY. SO THEN THE NEXT ONE I HAVE IS, MOVING ALONG. OKAY. HOLD ON JUST A SECOND. LET ME JUST MAKE SURE THERE'S NOBODY. THE FIRST ONE I HAVE IS THE REGIONAL VOCATIONAL SCHOOL. IS THAT ONE? GREAT. ALLEN MATTHEWS, OLD CONNECTED PATH. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. MATTHEWS. NO. WE'VE ARGUED MANY TIMES ABOUT THE VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS HERE AT TOWN MEETING. I JUST HAD A QUICK QUESTION IS WHY THERE WAS THIS THREEFOLD INCREASE OVER LAST YEAR'S SPENDING. THAT'S ALL MY QUESTION WAS. IS THERE SOMEONE WHO COULD ANSWER MR. MATTHEWS' QUESTION? MADAM MODERATOR, BRIAN KEVIN EAT, TOWN FINANCE DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. SO RIGHT NOW WE HAVE FIVE STUDENTS IN TWO SCHOOLS. WE HAVE THREE AT MINUTEMAN AND WE HAVE TWO AT KEAF. WE ALSO HAVE TO PAY AN ASSESSMENT FOR OUR SCHOOLS. THAT'S WHY THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN STUDENTS GOING TO MINUTEMAN AND COMPETED LAST YEAR. THANK YOU, SIR. NEXT WAS DPW ENGINEERING. IS THERE A QUESTION? FOLKS, IF YOU'RE COMING THROUGH THE MIDDLE, JUST BE CAREFUL OF THE SIGN, THE COMPUTER UP FRONT. THERE'S A TIME CLOCK ON THE FLOOR. LET'S SEE. OKAY. MS. CARTER. HI. ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN BRITCHE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU. IS THAT ENGINEERING, TOTAL ENGINEERING, DOES THAT INCLUDE, AND IF SO, HOW MUCH, THE SHERMAN BRIDGE PROJECT? OKAY. SO THIS IS ON THE DPW ENGINEERING ON PAGE 38, THE $440,039. CAN SOMEONE ANSWER MS. CARTER'S QUESTION WHETHER OR NOT THIS INCLUDES SHERMAN'S BRIDGE PROJECT? MADAM MODERATOR, TOM HOLDER, DPW DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. SO THE PORTION OF THE SHERMAN'S BRIDGE ROAD PROJECT THAT WOULD BE PAID FOR BY THE DPW, PAID OUT OF THE ENGINEERING, WOULD BE PART OF THE SALARIES. I MANAGE THAT PROJECT MYSELF. I ALSO HAVE ENGINEERING STAFF THAT SUPPORT ME. SO AS PART OF THEIR ROLE, THEIR SALARIES WOULD COME FROM THAT ENGINEERING BUDGET. AND THERE'S AN ADDITIONAL $30,000. THAT IS DUE TO STEP INCREASES AND COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENTS. OKAY. IS YOUR QUESTION ANSWERED? OKAY. THANK YOU. SORRY, I JUST NEED TO SPEAK WITH THE TOWN MANAGER FOR A SECOND. I'M GOING TO ASK MR. MCCALL TO COME UP AND MAKE A CLARIFICATION ON THE BUDGET BECAUSE BASED ON WHAT HAPPENED WITH ARTICLE 9 THAT WAS ALREADY VOTED ON, SOME OF THE BUDGET NUMBERS WITHIN YOUR WARRANT THAT I JUST READ FROM, THE WHOLE LIST I WENT THROUGH, THEY HAVE CHANGED SLIGHTLY. SO I'M GOING TO ASK MR. MCCALL TO COME UP AND GIVE A CLARIFICATION OF THAT. I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT, FOLKS. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATE. FOR FULL TRANSPARENCY, I WANT TO CALL EVERYBODY'S ATTENTION. YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THIS HANDOUT IN THE BACK THAT TALKS ABOUT OMNIMUS BUDGET AND ENTERPRISE CAPITAL FUND BUDGET. WHEN WE MOVED UNDER ARTICLE 9 TO FUND THE 2% FOR THE NON-UNION AS WELL AS THE LIBRARY CONTRACT, THE SCHOOL CONTRACT, AND MAKING THIS HAPPEN THIS EVENING, WE HAD ALREADY GONE TO PRINT WITH THE WARRANT BOOKS. SO THE NUMBERS THAT MADAM MODERATE READ ARE ALREADY THERE. THEY DID NOT REFLECT WHAT WE DID IN ARTICLE 9. SO THIS HANDOUT, THE NUMBERS THAT ARE ON HERE IN THE FAR RIGHT COLUMN REFLECT THE INCREASES AFTER WE APPLY THOSE 2% INCREASES. I WANTED TO MAKE SURE EVERYBODY WAS AWARE OF THAT AND WHY IF THEY LOOKED AT THIS SHEET THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE. SO BY MOVING AND APPROVING ARTICLE 9, THOSE TRANSFERS FROM THE SALARY RESERVE, THESE NUMBERS ALL HAVE TO BE ADJUSTED. THE NUMBERS IN THE MOTION SHOULD BE ADJUSTED. IT SHOULD STILL BE THE SAME, THE FINAL DOLLAR AMOUNT, BUT I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS HANDOUT WAS FOR AND WHAT IT SIGNIFIED. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. SHAME ON ME I DIDN'T GRAB THIS HANDOUT. OKAY. DOES EVERYONE UNDERSTAND WHAT MR. MCCALL SAID? YOU CAN ALWAYS COME UP AND ASK QUESTIONS, OKAY? I'M GOING TO GO BACK TO THE QUESTIONS WHEN I WENT THROUGH IT ORIGINALLY TO SEE WHEN PEOPLE ASKED TO HOLD AND SEE WHERE WE'RE AT. SO I'M NOW AT PUBLIC WORKS. WAS THERE A QUESTION ON PUBLIC WORKS? ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. CARTER. THANK YOU, MODERATOR. 700 AND ALMOST 800,000 IN PURCHASE SERVICES. AND I'M WONDERING WHAT THOSE SERVICES WERE. THIS IS UNDER PUBLIC WORKS. IS THERE SOMEONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION? MADAM MODERATOR, TOM HOLDER, DPW DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. HOLDER. THANK YOU. SO THE SERVICES THAT ARE PURCHASED THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS ARE HELD IN TWO LINE ITEMS, CONTRACT SERVICES AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. AND THOSE ARE THE TYPES OF THINGS THAT YOU'LL FIND THAT WE DO A LOT OF WORK IN-HOUSE, BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN'T DO. SO WE OUTSOURCE CATCH BASIN CLEANING. WE OUTSOURCE TREE REMOVAL FOR TREES THAT ARE TOO LARGE FOR OUR CREWS. SO IT'S THOSE TYPES OF THINGS THAT ARE IN CONTRACT SERVICES. AND THEN WE ALSO DO OBTAIN OUTSIDE ENGINEERING SERVICES. FOR MANY OF THE VARIETY OF TASKS THAT WE PERFORM. SO THOSE TYPES OF SUPPORT SERVICES WOULD BE LISTED WITHIN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION? NO, NO, SPEAK INTO THE MICROPHONE AND THROUGH ME. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. SAME PERSON. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. CARTER. THANK YOU. IT'S FOR THE MINUTES. THANKS. THOSE SERVICES, HOW MUCH OF THAT INCLUDES THOSE SERVICES? YOU INCLUDED THE CONSULTANT, THE TWO CONSULTING TEAMS FOR THE BRIDGE PROJECT. THAT WOULD BE THE ONES FROM CONCORD AND THE ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS. HOW MUCH WAS ALLOCATED TO THOSE? SO THE TWO FIRMS THAT ASSISTED US WITH THE WORK AND PERFORMING THE DESIGN AND SUPPORTING US THROUGH THE PUBLIC OUTREACH COMPONENT OF THE PROJECT. I DO NOT HAVE THOSE FIGURES AT THE TOP OF MY HEAD. BUT IT IS PROBABLY IN THE ORDER OF THE PROJECT. I WOULD SAY MAYBE $80,000 OR $90,000. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON PUBLIC WORKS? OKAY. MOVING ALONG. TO PAGE 42, TOTAL HEALTH LIFE INSURANCE. I BELIEVE THERE WAS A QUESTION THERE. CLIFFORD LEWIS, CLAPEY HILL ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. LEWIS. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THE TOTAL HEALTH INSURANCE LINE ITEM 56 CONSTITUTES ROUGHLY 10% OF THE TOTAL BUDGET. AND IT WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE THAN THAT. IT WOULD GO UP VERY QUICKLY. BUT ON MR. MCCAUL'S SLIDE THAT SHOWS THE AMOUNT THAT EACH HOUSEHOLD, THE AVERAGE SHOWS, THE AVERAGE PAID, THAT SAME LINE ON IT WAS ABOUT HALF OF THAT AMOUNT. SO I'M CURIOUS WHICH IS WHICH. IS THERE SOMEONE WHO CAN ANSWER MR. LEWIS' QUESTION? MADAM MODERATOR, BRIAN KEVENY, FINANCE DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. CLIFF, WE'LL TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THOSE NUMBERS AND MAKE SURE THEY'RE RIGHT. BUT I'M PRETTY SURE THEY ARE. I'LL RUN THEM AGAIN. THANK YOU, MR. KEVENY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON TOTAL HEALTH LIFE INSURANCE? ANNETTE LEWIS, CLAPIT HILL ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. LEWIS. ON THE LINE, HEALTH INSURANCE, ON PAGE 42, UNDER EMPLOYEE AND RETIREE LIFE INSURANCE, IT SAYS 603. NORMALLY WHEN WE HAVE THAT NUMBER, THAT MEANS THAT'S HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU'RE PAYING FOR. BUT THE DOLLAR AMOUNT IS ONLY 34,800. IS THAT IN FACT CORRECT? WE ONLY HAD REALLY ONE PERSON WHO HAD LIFE INSURANCE POLICY. WHICH LINE IS THAT, MS. LEWIS, IF IT'S IN THE WARRANT? ABOVE 56 AT THE VERY TOP. IT'S WHEN YOU LOOK AT EMPLOYEE, RETIREE, LIFE INSURANCE, AND THEN 603. NOW I SEE IT. THANK YOU. IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN ANSWER MS. LEWIS' QUESTION? ATTER MODERATOR, BRYAN KEVENY, FINANCE DIRECTOR. WILL IT TAKE A LOOK AT THAT? WE'LL SUBMIT IF IT'S NORADA. IT MAY HAVE BEEN FROM LAST YEAR'S WARRANT. BUT WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THAT. THANK YOU, MR. KEVENY. DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, MS. LEWIS? ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON HEALTH LIFE INSURANCE? OKAY. THEN THERE WAS A HOLD ON THE TOTAL UNCLASSIFIED. DOES ANYONE HAVE QUESTIONS? ATTER MODERATOR, CLIFFORD LEWIS, CLAIMING HILL ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. ON THE SHEET WITH THE YELLOW LINES. YES. THE RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT IS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT THAN THE COMPARABLE ITEM IN THE WARRANT. I WONDER IF THE TOTAL BUDGET IS THE SAME. AND IF SO, WHERE THAT DIFFERENCE WENT? I SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE $2,135,812 WRITTEN IN THE WARRANT AND THEN THE $1,561,167 IN THIS SHEET. OKAY. IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION? MR. KEVENY, TOWN FINANCE DIRECTOR. SO THE DIFFERENCE WOULD BE THE $87,000 FOR THE NONE UNION WOULD BE THE $25,000 FOR THE LIBRARY AND THE $461,000 FOR THE SCHOOL. MADAM MODERATOR, CLIFFORD LEWIS CLEMENT HILL ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. MR. KEVENY JUST WENT THROUGH THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES THAT WE HAVE IN TOWN. AND YET WE STILL HAVE A MILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS IN RESERVE FOR SALARY SETTLEMENT, WHICH IS A MASSIVE INCREASE FROM 2026 AND AN INFINITE INCREASE FROM PRIOR YEARS. SO I JUST WONDER, NOW. WHERE DOES THE MILLION FIVE GO IF IT DOESN'T GO TO THE PLACES WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE? MR. KEVENY, MADAM MODERATOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. SO THE BALANCE OF THE AMOUNT IN THE SALARY RESERVE IS FOR CONTRACTS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN SETTLED. THE POLICE UNION, FIRE UNION, THE TEACHERS UNION, THE CUSTODIANS, THE DPW, AFSCME, THE MAJORITY OF LABOR CONTRACTS HAVE NOT BEEN SETTLED. THE ONLY CONTRACTS THAT WERE SETTLED WOULD BE THE TEACHER ASSISTANCE. IT WOULD BE THE LIBRARY AND THE NONUNION ON THE TOWN SIDE. SO THE MAJORITY OF THE BALANCE IN THE SALARY RESERVE IS TO FUND THE CONTRACTS FOR ALL THE OTHER OPEN CONTRACTS IN 27. THAT'S WHY THEY HAVE NOT BEEN BARGAINED SO THE MONEY STAYS IN THAT ACCOUNT. THANK YOU, MR. KEVENY. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE WARRANT, ON THE BUDGET, THIS WARRANT ARTICLE? YEP. WHY IS EVERYONE GOING THAT WAY? JUST TO TRY AND TRIP? I'M RIGHT-HANDED. MISS MODERATOR, NAT CONNORS, 286 OLD CONNECTICUT PATH. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU. LINE 23 FOR THE FACILITIES. I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THE $80,000 FOR THE TOWN BUILDING GYMNASIUM WALL PADS. SEEMS HIGH GIVEN THE GYMNASIUM. SO CURIOUS ABOUT THAT. THIS IS IN THE WARRANT OR I THINK ARE YOU IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET? OH, SORRY. YEAH, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN THERE YET. IT'S OKAY. LET'S JUMP THE GUN. THAT'S ALL RIGHT. BUT SOMEBODY BETTER BE PREPARED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. ALL RIGHT. IS THERE ANY FURTHER, ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE OMNIVUS BUDGET? ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS? ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ANY DEBATE? DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? IF IT'S A QUESTION OR IF YOU WANT TO GO SPEAK PRO OR CON? CHOICES. ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. SO MY UNDERSTANDING. LIKE, IN THE WORLD OF FINANCE, THEY NO LONGER GET RETIREMENT FUNDS, THE PEOPLE WHO WORK AT TOP FIRMS. AND I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE NOT DO THAT HERE. BUT THEN I KNOW PEOPLE IN EDUCATION WHO THEY HAVE TO PAY OUT OF POCKET PARTIALLY FOR THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE. AND I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT, WELL, COMMENT ABOUT THAT. COMMENT ABOUT HEALTH INSURANCE IN GENERAL FOR RETIREES, I MEAN, THEY DO GET SOCIAL SECURITY AND, I MEAN TO SAY, MEDICARE. SO I'M WONDERING, HOW MUCH MORE ARE WE GOING TO BE PUTTING INTO THIS RETIREMENT FUNDING? AND ARE THERE GOING TO BE ANY LIMITATIONS COMING IN THE FUTURE? I THINK, I FEEL LIKE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE EXAMINED. GIVEN THE WEIGHT. THE WEIGHT OF EXPENSES, TAXPAYERS, AND RESIDENTS, ALL OF US ARE GOING TO BE PAYING IN COMING YEARS FOR THE WATER. AND OUR RISING TAXES, THEY JUST SEEM TO GO UP ANOTHER FIVE MILLION EVERY YEAR. AND I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THAT. SO I'M NOT REAL HAPPY UNTIL I CAN HEAR SOME ANSWERS ABOUT THOSE. OKAY. SO I GUESS. KIND OF A QUESTION, KIND OF A COMMENT. RIGHT. SO IF YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC QUESTION THAT YOU WANT TO ASK, YOU CAN COME TO THE PRESENTATION. AND MAYBE SOMEBODY FROM THE TOWN COULD RESPOND. BUT YOU'RE WELCOME TO DEBATE AS WELL. I AM CURIOUS WHETHER IF YOU CAN JUST STATE YOUR NAME AGAIN. JUST HERE AT A DIFFERENT MICROPHONE. JUST FOR THE RECORD. FOR THE MINUTES. ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I'M WONDERING WHETHER EMPLOYEES PAY PART OF THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE OR NOT. AND WHETHER THE HEALTH INSURANCE FOR RETIREES, IT DOES TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION. THEY'RE MEDICARE. BECAUSE CERTAINLY MEDICARE COSTS A LOT LESS THAN PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE. OKAY. SO IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE TWO QUESTIONS. FIRST, WHETHER OR NOT THE TOWN EMPLOYEES PAY INTO ANY OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE. AND THE RETIREES, IF MEDICARE IS TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION AS WELL? OKAY. IS THERE ANYONE FROM THE TOWN WHO CAN ANSWER MS. CARTER'S QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THROUGH YOU TO MS. CARTER. SO I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU, MR. MCCALL. SO THE TOWN DOES PAY A PORTION, ROUGHLY 70% OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE AND THE EMPLOYEES PAY THE REMAINDER. WE DO NEGOTIATE WITH THE PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS ON THE COVERAGE. WE ALSO, YOU DIDN'T ASK, BUT I THINK YOU ALLUDED TO IT, RETIREMENTS BY LAW, WE CONTRIBUTE A PORTION, THEIR RETIREMENT, THEY CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR RETIREMENT. WE ALSO IN THE BUDGET PUT MONEY INTO OUR ASSESSMENT WITH MIDDLE SEX COUNTY RETIREMENT SO THAT WE CAN BUILD SOME OF THOSE RETIREMENTS. WE HAVE SUFFICIENT FUNDS THERE TO HOPEFULLY PAY FOR THOSE OUT OF THAT CORPUS, THE AMOUNT THAT WE'RE PAYING IN SO WE'RE 100% FUNDED. SIMILARLY, WE HAVE AN OPEB TRUST WHICH WE PAY MONEY INTO EVERY YEAR THAT HOPEFULLY ONCE WE HAVE SUFFICIENT PRINCIPLE THERE, WE CAN USE THAT TO FUND THE EMPLOYEE, EXCUSE ME, THE RETIREE HEALTH CARE COSTS AND OTHER COSTS. WITH REGARD TO EMPLOYEES THAT HAVE RETIRED WHEN THEY HIT 65, THEY ARE REQUIRED TO GET ON MEDICARE. WE DO OFFER MEDICAID SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAMS, AGAIN, WHICH THERE IS A SPLIT ON SOME OF THE PREMIUMS THERE AS WELL. BUT WE DO HAVE THEM MOVE OVER TO MEDICARE AND MEDICAID. EXCUSE ME, MEDICAID. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE OMNIBUS BUDGET? ARE YOU READY TO, ANY OTHER ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON THE OMNIBUS BUDGET? MADAM RADAR, BRIAN KEVENY FINANCE DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. SO TO ANSWER CLIFF'S QUESTION, THE HEALTH INSURANCE BUDGET IS $11 MILLION. THAT'S 10% OF THE TOTAL BUDGET. THAT'S WHERE WE COME UP WITH THE $19 ALLOCATION BASED OFF A $19,000 SINGLE FAMILY TAX BILL. THANK YOU, MR. KEVENY. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE BUDGET? YOU ALL READY TO PREPARE, ARE PREPARED TO VOTE FOR THE BUDGET? REMEMBER, IT'S IN THIS HANDOUT. SO ALL THAT STUFF I READ TO YOU, ALL THOSE NUMBERS, JUST FORGET ABOUT THOSE. THEY'RE ALL RIGHT HERE, OKAY? EVERYBODY UNDERSTAND? OKAY. SO I'M GOING TO PUT ON THE MOTION, THE FIRST MOTION ON THE OMNIBUS BUDGET. AND THE VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN. IF YOU VOTE IN FAVOR OF THE BUDGET, VOTE 1 FOR YES. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED, VOTE 2 FOR NO. THE WINDOW IS OPEN. ALL RIGHT. THE VOTING WINDOW HAS CLOSED. AND WE NEED A SIMPLE MAJORITY HERE. AND WITH 256 PEOPLE VOTING YES AND 19 PEOPLE VOTING NO, THE MOTION CARRIES. I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT MORE PEOPLE HAVE SHOWN UP. SO, OKAY. SO THAT BRINGS US TO, IS THERE ANYTHING FURTHER ON THE FIRST MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 10? IF NOT, WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE SECOND MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 10. THE CAPITAL BUDGET. MADAM MODERATOR, KARL BARNES, MARSHALL TERRES, VICE CHAIR OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ITEMS NUMBERED 1 THROUGH 31 AS SET FORTH IN THE FINANCE COMMITTEE'S CAPITAL BUDGET OF FISCAL YEAR 20. LISTED ON PAGES 43 THROUGH 52 OF THE WARRANT FOR THIS TOWN MEETING FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $9,418,550 TO BE APPROPRIATED FOR EQUIPMENT AND VEHICLE ACQUISITIONS AND PROJECTS FOR THE LISTED DEPARTMENTS, EACH OF WHICH SHALL BE AN APPROPRIATION AND THE TOTAL SUM SO APPROPRIATED, OF THE TOTAL SUM SO APPROPRIATED, THE TREASURER WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE SELECT BOARD IS ALLOWED TO AUTHORIZE TO BORROW $6,331,507 FOR THE ITEMS OR PROJECTS WHOSE FUNDING SOURCE IS IDENTIFIED AS B, CAPITAL B, FOR BORROWING ON SAID PAGES PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF GENERAL LAWS CHAPTER 44 SECTION 7 OR ANY OTHER ENABLING LEGISLATION AND TO ISSUE BONDS OR NOTES OF THE TOWN THEREFORE. AND FURTHER, THAT THE SUM OF $2,189,766 BE TRANSFERRED FOR EQUIPMENT IN THE FINANCE COMMITTEE'S CAPITAL STABILIZATION FUND BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE GENERAL FUND UNRESERVED FUND BALANCE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS FREE CASH, THAT THE SUM OF $100,000 BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE CAPITAL STABILIZATION FUND, THAT THE SUM OF $105,000 BE TRANSFERRED FROM AMBULANCE RECEIPTS, AND FINALLY THAT THE SUM OF $692,277 BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE FOLLOWING, ACTUALLY FROM THE VARIOUS CAPITAL SURPLUS FUNDS IDENTIFIED ON PAGE 4-52 OF THE WARRANT AND PAGES 18 AND 19 OF THE MOTIONS PACKET THAT YOU RECEIVED THIS EVENING. IS THERE A SECOND ON THIS MOTION? THANK YOU. OKAY. SO WE COULD HAVE MR. BARNES GO THROUGH ALL OF THE ITEMS THAT ARE INDIVIDUALLY LISTED ON PAGES 18 AND 19 OF YOUR MOTION THAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU. AND OR WE COULD GO THROUGH ON PAGE 44 THROUGH THE MOTION THAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU. THERE'S A LOT OF THEM. PAGE 52, THE 31 ITEMS LIKE I DID BEFORE. SO I WOULD SUGGEST, AND NONE OF THOSE NUMBERS HAVE CHANGED, CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT, MADAM MODERATOR. SO WHAT I THINK I'D DO, MR. BARNES, IS THAT I'LL GO THROUGH THE 31 ITEMS VERY QUICKLY, SEE IF ANYONE WANTS TO HOLD THEM LIKE WE DID BEFORE, AND THEN WE'LL JUST FOCUS ON THOSE ITEMS THAT HAS TO BE HELD. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. BARNES. SO I AM NOW ON PAGE 44, FOLKS. NUMBER 1, D.P.W., $431,875. ANYONE WANT TO HOLD IT? OKAY. NUMBER 2, BUDGET D.P.W., $250,000. ANYONE? OKAY. BUDGET 3, D.P.W., $370,000. NUMBER 4, BUDGET D.P.W., $325,000. NUMBER 5, BUDGET D.P.W., $150,000. NUMBER 6, D.P.W., $275,000. NUMBER 7, D.P.W., $255,000. ON TO PAGE 46. NUMBER 7, THE TOWN MANAGER, $100,000. NUMBER 8, TOWN I.T., $250,000. HOLD. OKAY. SHOUT IT RIGHT OUT, PEOPLE, SO I CAN HEAR YOU. NUMBER 9, TOWN I.T., $150,000. NUMBER 10, TOWN I.T., $100,000. GOT IT? 11, POLICE DEPARTMENT, $90,000. POLICE DEPARTMENT, $50,000. GOING ON TO PAGE 48. 13, POLICE DEPARTMENT, $100,000. 14, JOINT COMMUNICATION CENTER, $200,000. DID I HEAR HOLD? THANK YOU. 15, FIRE DEPARTMENT, $615,000. 16, FIRE DEPARTMENT, $25,000. 17, FIRE DEPARTMENT, $80,000. 19, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $250,000. 20, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $310,750. 21, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $471,500. 21, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $471,500. MOVING ON TO PAGE 50, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $47,000. 23, FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $80,000. 24, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $444,000. 25, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $2,000,000. 26, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $359,722. 27, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $540,000. IS THAT A HOLD? 28, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $470,000. 29, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $148,203.
ON TO PAGE 52, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $6,500. AND LAST, 31, SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $350,000. GOING BACK TO THE FIRST HOLD, I HAVE NUMBER 8 ON PAGE 46, TOWN I.T., $250,000. WHO HAD A QUESTION? THANK YOU. PAUL FRIELING, RIVER ROCK WAY. PLEASE TALK INTO THE MICROPHONE. I RECOGNIZE YOU SIR. THANK YOU. SO FOR THE, IT'S CALLED CYBERSECURITY REMEDIATION AND MODERNIZATION. IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S ADDING MONITORING TO THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND SCHOOL BUILDINGS FOR A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS. I'D JUST LIKE TO UNDERSTAND KIND OF THE DRIVER OF THAT, IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WAS SUGGESTED BY POLICE OR KIND OF WHERE THAT NEED ORIGINATED FROM. IT MENTIONED OTHER FACILITIES. I'D JUST LIKE TO UNDERSTAND KIND OF THE BREAKOUT OF COSTS AND KIND OF WHERE THAT FUNDING IS GOING. IS THERE SOMEONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION? ANYONE? THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATE. UNFORTUNATELY, MY I.T. DIRECTOR COULDN'T BE WITH US THIS EVENING. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. MCCALL. THANK YOU. WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE, WHEN I FIRST ARRIVED HERE, I WAS SURPRISED TO FIND THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE CAMERAS IN A LOT OF OUR BUILDINGS, ESPECIALLY IN OUR TOWN HALL AND OTHER IMPORTANT FACILITIES, INCLUDING WHERE OUR CHILDREN GO. SO I'VE WORKED WITH MY FACILITIES TEAM, THE I.T. DEPARTMENT, TO LOOK INTO A SOLUTION THAT ULTIMATELY WE WOULD HAVE INTEGRATED WITH CAMERAS IN EACH ONE OF OUR FACILITIES THAT WOULD BE TIED TO OUR DISPATCH SO THAT THERE WOULD BE CAMERAS THAT THEY COULD TURN ON WHEN A CALL CAME IN AND LOOK AT A PARTICULAR FACILITY IF IT WAS ON SITE. IT WOULD BE TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF NOT ONLY EMPLOYEES, BUT THE PUBLIC OR ANYBODY ELSE INVOLVED IN ANY ONE OF OUR FACILITIES. SO THAT IS THE PURPOSE BEHIND THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT. WHILE I MAY NOT HAVE THE SPECIFIC BREAKDOWN, THAT'S THE INTENT BEHIND WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS LINE ITEM? THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THE RESPONSE. IF YOU COULD JUST STATE YOUR NAME AND SIT STRAIGHT AGAIN, JUST FOR THE RECORD. I'M JUST CURIOUS, THE FOLKS THAT ARE GOING TO BE MONITORING THE SURVEILLANCE, IS THAT FOLKS THAT ARE ALREADY PART OF THE TOWN OR CONTRACTORS? JUST ANY ADDITIONAL CLARITY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THE INTENT WOULD BE IF A CALL COMES INTO DISPATCH, WE HAVE OUR OWN DISPATCHERS IN THERE THAT COULD LOOK. OBVIOUSLY IF AN INCIDENT HAPPENED THAT WE WEREN'T AWARE OF, IT WOULD BE SOME TYPE OF STORAGE USUALLY ON A SHORT-TERM BASIS. THERE WOULD BE SOME TYPE OF CLOUD STORAGE OF SOME OF THIS VIDEO SO THAT WE COULD RETRIEVE IT IN THE EVENT THAT WE LEARNED SOMETHING AFTER THE FACT. THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT WOULD HAVE THEIR EYES ON A REGULAR BASIS SHOULD BE OUR PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES PRIMARILY IN THE DISPATCH. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON BUDGET LINE ITEM 8 FOR TOWN I.T.? AARON GIBBONS, SCHOOL COMMITTEE, MITCHELL STREET. THANK YOU. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. GIBBONS. I'M INDICATED TO SCHOOL BUILDING MONITORING. THIS IS LINE ITEM 8? STILL THE SAME ONE? GREAT. CAN ANYONE ANSWER THAT FOR MRS. GIBBONS? AGAIN, AS I INDICATED BEFORE, MY I.T. DIRECTOR IS I DON'T HAVE THE BREAKDOWN WITH ME THIS EVENING, MS. GIBBONS. HAS THERE BEEN, AARON GIBBONS, MITCHELL STREET. THANK YOU. HAS THERE BEEN ANY DISCUSSION AS TO WHERE THESE WILL BE PLACED WITH RESPECT TO SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND SCHOOL DEPARTMENT LAND? AGAIN, I HAVE HAD LIMITED CONVERSATIONS WITH MY I.T., SO I DO NOT HAVE A LIST OF WHERE ALL THE CAMERAS WILL BE GOING. I CAN TELL YOU THAT WE'VE STARTED THE PROJECT WITHIN TOWN HALL AND WE PUT SOME THERE, BUT I DO NOT HAVE A COMPLETE BREAKDOWN OF WHERE ALL OF THE CAMERAS WILL BE GOING. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. WE'RE STILL ON LINE ITEM 8? YES. IRIS HOXHAUT, PLAIN ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS REGARDING THE TOWN I.T. CYBERSECURITY REMEDIATION MONITORIZATION PROGRAM. YES. I WOULD LIKE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DATA THAT'S COLLECTED, HOW IT IS SECURED, GIVEN THAT THERE WILL BE MINORS MONITORED AND OTHERS, WHO HAS ACCESS TO THAT DATA, IS THAT REAL TIME, HOW IS IT GOING TO BE STORED ON PREM OR VIA THE CLOUD, AND THEN WHO RETAINS THE RIGHT TO THAT FOOTAGE? IS THERE SOMEONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION? IF YOU CAN'T BE ANSWERED, IF THERE'S NO ONE HERE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, YEAH, FOLKS, THIS IS NOT EVERY QUESTION CAN BE ANSWERED. SOMETIMES IT'S HELPFUL AND WE ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT IT. IT COMES BEFORE A TOWN MEETING TO GET THE ANSWERS, BUT THAT'S NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE EITHER. BUT IF WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE HERE, CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION. WE DON'T HAVE THE I.T. DIRECTOR HERE. DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION ON LINE ITEM EIGHT BEFORE WE MOVE ON? OKAY. ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. PERSONALLY, I THINK THIS IS A GREAT IDEA. IS THERE A QUESTION? YES, THERE IS. OKAY. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. BUT MY QUESTION, YOU KNOW, TO PROTECT OUR SCHOOLS, GIVEN OUR SOCIETY. YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU HAVE TO ASK QUESTIONS AT THE RECESURAL MICROPHONE. YES. OKAY. MY QUESTION RELATES TO WHY WE'RE PUTTING $250,000 INTO THIS IF WE ARE JOINING, THE SELECT BOARD HAS VOTED FOR US TO JOIN THE THREE-TOWN MONITORING, SAFETY MONITORING, WHATEVER. AND SO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THIS DATA? IS IT GOING TO GO DOWN TO FRAMINGHAM OR NATIC WHERE THAT THREE-TOWN DISPATCH CENTER WILL BE LOCATED? AND I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO BE SAVING MONEY BY JOINING THEM. AND WHY ARE WE ADDING SOMETHING FOR $250,000 HERE IN THE TOWN TO BE MONITORING IT? I THINK MONITORING IT IS GREAT, BUT I'M JUST WONDERING ABOUT THE EXPENSE. JUST ASK A QUESTION, PLEASE. IT'S JUST TO ASK QUESTIONS. OKAY. LET ME SEE IF SOMEONE CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN ANSWER THE MISTAKE? I'M GOING TO ASK CARTER'S QUESTION. MR. McCALL, I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THERE ARE TWO SEPARATE THINGS, IS THE EASIEST QUESTION. WE ARE JOINING A REGIONAL DISPATCH CENTER WITH NATIC AND FRAMINGHAM, AND THERE'S A LONGER STORY BEHIND THAT, BUT IN SHORT ORDER, NATIONWIDE, THERE IS AN EFFORT TO DIRECT FUNDING TO REGIONAL DISPATCH AS OPPOSED TO INDIVIDUAL TOWNS OR COMMUNITIES THAT ARE RUNNING DISPATCH CENTERS. SO I HATE TO USE THE EXPRESSION, YOU NEED SOMEONE TO FOLLOW THE MONEY. SO MORE MONEY IS COMING THROUGH 911 GRANTS TO REGIONAL DISPATCH CENTERS, AND A LOT OF FOLKS ARE RUSHING TO JOIN TO THOSE. AND I SAY THE TERM RUSHING LIGHTLY BECAUSE THERE ARE LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ONES THAT WERE IN EXISTENCE. THEY WERE FILLING UP. THERE WAS ONE IN HOLBROOK. THERE WERE OTHERS THAT WERE TOO FAR AWAY FROM US, AND WE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT LOCAL CONTROL, FUNDING, AND A VARIETY OF THINGS. I'VE MET QUITE REGULARLY, WITH OUR TWO CHIEFS, OUR PRIOR CHIEF AS WELL, AND CONSULTED WITH THE SELECT BOARD BEFORE WE WENT FORWARD WITH THIS ENDEAVOR. AND SO WE WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN A PROPORTIONAL SHARE WITH NATIC AND FRAMINGHAM, AND THERE WILL BE A DISPATCH CENTER IN FRAMINGHAM, AND THEY ARE LOOKING TO RECRUIT THE EXISTING DISPATCHERS FROM THE THREE TOWNS TO SERVE IN THAT DISPATCH. SO REGARDLESS OF WHERE THE DISPATCH IS, WE STILL HAVE TO HAVE SOME LEVEL OF SECURITY IN OUR BUILDINGS AND THE ABILITY TO MONITOR WHAT'S GOING ON OR IF AN INCIDENT HAPPENS. SO IF OUR DISPATCHERS WIND UP GOING OVER TO FRAMINGHAM, WE STILL NEED TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON WITH OUR EMPLOYEES, THE PUBLIC, OUR CHILDREN, SO THEY ARE SOMEWHAT CONNECTED IN THAT REGARD, BUT IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DISPATCH. WE ARE GOING TO THE REGIONAL DISPATCH BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF DOLLARS, THERE'S GOING TO BE A SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS FOR THE FIRST PART OF THAT DISPATCH BECAUSE STATE 9-1 WILL BE FUNDING THE MAJORITY OF THE SALARIES OF OUR DISPATCHERS WHEN WE TRANSFER TO THAT SYSTEM. SO AS WE FACE FISCAL CHALLENGES IN THE NEXT COMING YEARS, IT IS BENEFICIAL TO US TO PURSUE THAT AND THAT'S WHY WE MADE THAT DECISION. BUT WE ALSO NEED TO ENSURE THE SAFETY, AS I SAID, OF OUR BUILDINGS AND OUR RESIDENTS. THANK YOU, MR. MCCALL. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON LINE ITEM 8? TOWN I.T. ELIZABETH CARTER, SHERMAN RICHARD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. TOWN MANAGER, FOR THAT ANSWER. IT DID NOT CLARIFY TO ME, HOWEVER, WHERE THE DATA IS GOING TO BE STORED OR GO TO. ONCE OUR DISPATCHERS MOVE DOWN THERE, DO THEY ONLY DISPATCH FOR OUR TOWN AND THEY ONLY HAVE ACCESS OR WILL THE WHOLE DISPATCH CENTER HAVE ACCESS TO THAT? I'M JUST A LITTLE CONFUSED ABOUT THAT TRANSITION. IF YOU CAN ANSWER THAT. IF I MAY, MADAM MODERATOR, I WOULD RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT WE TAKE THE I.T. QUESTIONS OUT OF LINE. I WAS ABLE TO CONTACT MY I.T. DIRECTOR, AND HE IS ON HIS WAY FROM WHERE HE WAS. FINE. THAT'S GREAT. BECAUSE I CAN'T ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS 100% WITH 100% CONFIDENCE. I CAN'T ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS WITH 100% CERTAINTY. AND I WANT THIS BODY TO HAVE ANSWERS. WE HAVE PLENTY OF OTHER ITEMS IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET THAT WE HELD. SO WE WILL SKIP OVER I.T. FOR NOW. ANY IDEA WHEN HE'S COMING? AND THEN MOVE ON TO, SO I'M NOT SURE IF JOINT COMMUNICATION CENTER FALLS WITHIN THAT EITHER. MR. MCCALL? MR. MCCALL? JOINT COMMUNICATIONS, DOES THAT FALL WITHIN HIS PURVIEW TOO? THAT'S A LOT BETTER THAN BUDGET ITEM 14. THERE WAS A QUESTION ON THAT. OK. WHO ASKED TO HOLD, SO 14, NUMBER 14 ON PAGE 48, JOINT COMMUNICATIONS CENTER IS A $200,000 BUDGET ITEM. IT WAS ASKED TO BE HELD. DOES SOMEBODY HAVE A QUESTION ON THAT? PERHAPS THE FIRE CHIEF CAN ANSWER THAT. SOMEBODY ASKED TO HOLD IT. I SAW SOME PEOPLE LEAVE. MAYBE IT WAS THEM. ANYBODY? MIGHT HAVE BEEN YOU. OKAY. LET'S COME ON BACK UP, MS. CARTER, AND LET'S SEE IF MR. EXCUSE ME, IF OUR FIRE CHIEF CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. ELISA CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. CARTER. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I THINK THIS IS PART OF MY QUESTION, THE LAST QUESTION. THIS IS THE JOINT COMMUNICATIONS CENTER. $200,000. AGAIN, I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO SAVE MONEY GOING TO THE JOINT COMMUNICATIONS CENTER. SO I'M JUST CONFUSED. BUT I GUESS IT JUST SAYS RADIO SYSTEM AND EQUIPMENT UPGRADES OF OUR POLICE AND FIRE HERE, BUT IT'S NOT HERE. IS THAT FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER? ARE YOU ASKING IF IT'S TWO SEPARATE THINGS? ONE IS FOR POLICE AND FIRE AND ONE IS FOR SOMETHING ELSE? WELL, IT SAYS JOINT COMMUNICATIONS CENTER FOR $200,000, BUT IT SAYS RADIO SYSTEM AND EQUIPMENT UPGRADES, AND I'M ASSUMING UPGRADES WOULD HAVE TO BE HERE BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T BE UPGRADING SOMETHING THAT WE HAVEN'T GONE TO YET. SO I'M JUST CONFUSED AGAIN. PERHAPS THE FIRE CHIEF CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. MADAM MODERATOR, NEIL MCPHERSON, THE FIRE CHIEF. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. PLEASE SPEAK INTO THE MICROPHONE. SO THE MONIES ASKED FOR UNDER JCC ARE PART OF A FIVE YEAR UPGRADE OF OUR RADIO SYSTEM. THAT RADIO SYSTEM IS THE RADIO SYSTEM USED BY FIRST RESPONDERS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY AND THE MULTIPLE TRANSMIT AND TRANSMIT SITES THAT WE HAVE THROUGHOUT THE TOWN. SO MOST OF THIS EQUIPMENT UP UNTIL THIS PAST YEAR WAS OVER 25 YEARS OLD. SO REGARDLESS OF WHETHER WE GO TO A REGIONAL DISPATCH, WE NEED TO HAVE EFFECTIVE AND UPDATED COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT THROUGHOUT THE TOWN AND WE JUST RECENTLY BROUGHT UP OUR RADIO EQUIPMENT TO THE NEW APCO STANDARD AND THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR FIRST RESPONDERS AND THEIR PUBLIC SAFETY. SO REGARDLESS OF GOING TO A REGIONAL DISPATCH CENTER, THIS MONEY NEEDED TO BE SPENT TO UPGRADE OUR EXISTING SYSTEM AND THERE WAS NO PROVISION IF WE GO TO A REGIONAL CENTER TO ACTUALLY UPGRADE THIS SYSTEM AS PART OF THAT TRANSITION. SO HOPEFULLY THAT HELPS. THANK YOU FOR THAT ANSWER, CHIEF. OKAY. SO WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON NOW. IF THERE ARE NO OTHER QUESTIONS ON BUDGET ITEM 14, WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON NOW TO A DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT, 23 FACILITIES DEPARTMENT, $80,000. THERE WAS A HOLD ON THAT. IT'S YOUR TIME. MADAM MODERATOR, NATHANIEL CONNORS, OLD CONNECTICUT PATH. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. AS THIS FORUM IS AWARE, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT WHY THE WALL PADS IN THE TOWN BUILDING GYMNASIUM ARE AT $80,000 FOR SUCH A SMALL FACILITY. THANK YOU, SIR. LET ME SEE, CAN ANYONE ANSWER THAT QUESTION? ANYBODY? THANK YOU. JUST GETTING EVERYBODY INVOLVED IN TOWN MEETING, AREN'T WE? MICHAEL FAIR, DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. RECREATION HAS DECIDED TO PUT NEW PADS IN THE GYM. IT RUNS THROUGH THE FACILITY BUDGET. I DON'T KNOW A BUNCH ABOUT IT. I DID TALK WITH KATHERINE. SHE DID PUT IT OUT TO BID, AND THAT WAS THE LOWEST BIDDER. THEY'RE NOT INEXPENSIVE. IT'S ONE OF THOSE NICHE THINGS THAT JUST UNFORTUNATELY COST MORE THAN YOU WOULD THINK. OKAY. THANK YOU. IS THERE ANOTHER QUESTION ON BUDGET ITEM 23? I'M HOPING SOMEBODY CAN ANSWER IT. WE REPLACED THE WALL PADS. CAN YOU STATE YOUR NAME? SORRY. ANNETTE LEWIS, CLAPEN HILL ROAD. WE REPLACED THE WALL PADS IN NOT SUCH A LONG TIME AGO. I REMEMBER IT WAS IN THE BUDGET. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG AGO THAT WAS? IF ANYONE CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN THE WALL PADS WERE REPLACED BEFORE? YEAH, WE HAVE AN ANSWER. SEE? EVERYBODY'S JOINING IN. THANK YOU. KATHERINE BRENNAN, RECREATION DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THE WALL PADS HAVEN'T REPLACED IN PROBABLY ABOUT 25 YEARS. THEY'RE FALLING APART. THERE'S SOME SAFETY ISSUES WITH SCREWS COMING OUT WHILE KIDS ARE PLAYING IN THE GYM AND THEY NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE $80,000 IS MOSTLY LABOR TO INSTALL THE PADS. WE HAVE A COUPLE OF QUOTES AND THAT'S THE ESTIMATE. THANK YOU FOR THAT. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON LINE ITEM 23 IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET? OKAY. THEN I'M MOVING DOWN TO 25. SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $2 MILLION. WHO PUT A HOLD ON THAT? DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? YEAH, I DON'T THINK IT'S THE MIC NOT ON? IS THERE A BUTTON THERE? TRY AGAIN. MR. LEWIS. CLIFFORD, LEWIS. THERE YOU GO. ALL SET. AM I ALLOWED TO SPEAK AT THE PRO MIC? OF COURSE YOU ARE. SURE. CLIFFORD, LEWIS. I WANT TO POINT OUT TO THE TOWN THAT THIS ITEM WAS ORIGINALLY BUDGETED AT $5 MILLION, 5.5. I WANT TO COMMEND THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE AND THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS DIRECTOR FOR BRINGING THIS IN AT $2 MILLION WITH A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DESIGN. I KNOW WE DON'T APPLAUD THINGS AT TOWN MEDIUM, BUT IT'S SO RARE THAT WE GET A BUDGET REDUCTION OF THIS MAGNITUDE. THEY DESERVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE. THANK YOU. OH, WELL. THANKS. HEY, HEY, HEY. NO CRYING IN BASEBALL, NO CLAPPING AT TOWN MEETING. OKAY? THOSE ARE THE RULES. I JUST MAKE THEM. OKAY? NO, THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. LEWIS. I APPRECIATE THAT. I'M SORRY, WHAT? I'M GOING TO LET MS. MARTIN SPEAK VERY QUICKLY. SORRY. EXCUSE ME. CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. SORRY. THANK YOU. RECOGNIZE ME. GREAT. I ALSO WANT TO POINT OUT THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY THE WORK OF OUR ENGINEER, ABBY SHAREST, WHO I HOPE I PRONOUNCED YOUR NAME CORRECTLY, WHO WORKS TARELESSLY TO GET US TO THIS BETTER SOLUTION FOR THE TOWN. AND MR. HOLDER. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MS. MARTIN. APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. YOU'RE WELCOME. AND THANK YOU. I'M SORRY. I WANT TO ANSWER MY QUESTION. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. BURGER. 48 SEDGE MEADOW ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. BURGER. SO IT SEEMS . DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION ON LINE ITEM 25? YES. OKAY. SO MY QUESTION IS, SEEING HOW MUCH MONEY THEY SPENT BEFORE AND THE SYSTEM DIDN'T WORK AND THEY DIDN'T SIZE IT PROPERLY, APPARENTLY, HOW, I WOULD LIKE A LITTLE BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE HANDLES THEIR DPW KINDS OF FUNCTIONS AND HOW EXACTLY THAT ALL INTERPLAYS AND HOW THEIR, WHAT THE PLAN IS NOW FOR A BETTER MANAGEMENT OF THE SITUATION. IS THERE SOMEBODY WHO CAN ANSWER MS. BURGER'S QUESTION? MADAM MODERATOR, TOM HOLDER, DPW DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. SO I'LL TAKE A SHOT AT ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION. SO ALTHOUGH IT IS SCHOOL PROPERTY, THE TREATMENT PLANT WAS DESIGNED TO SERVE THE HIGH SCHOOL. THE DPW HAS THE PROFICIENCY AND THE CAPABILITY OF MANAGING A SEWER SYSTEM AND A SEWER TREATMENT PLANT FAR BETTER THAN NO OFFENSE TO THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, BUT WE'RE BETTER POSITIONED TO MANAGE THOSE TYPES OF THINGS. SO A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MANAGING THAT PLANT AND THE REDESIGN OF IT AND THE SYSTEM THAT'S NOW BEING ADVOCATED FOR FELL TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS. THAT HELPS. THANK YOU, MR. HOLDER. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? YEAH. ALLEN MATTHEWS, OLD CONNECTICUT PATH. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. MATTHEWS. THE QUESTION I HAD IS THESE ISSUES WITH THE HIGH SCHOOL SEPTIC, DO ANY OF THEM STEM FROM POOR CONSTRUCTION? THE HIGH SCHOOL IS ONLY 13 YEARS OLD, AND SO I WAS WONDERING THAT. AND IF THAT'S THE CASE, HAS ANYTHING BEEN DONE TO GET RESTITUTION FROM THE BUILDER? IF ANYONE CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION. IS THAT A MODERATOR? MR. HOLDER, DPW DIRECTOR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. SO WHEN THAT PLANT WAS DESIGNED, IT WAS DESIGNED BASED UPON MASS DEP TITLE V FLOWS, AND WHEN IT WAS ACTUALLY BUILT AND FUNCTIONING, WHAT THEY EXPERIENCED IS THAT FLOWS WERE FAR LOWER THAN WAS ANTICIPATED. AND ONE MIGHT THINK THAT THAT'S A POSITIVE THING, BUT FOR A TREATMENT PLANT, IT IS DESIGNED TO TREAT WASTE WATER BY BASED UPON A PARTICULAR FLOW, AND WHEN THAT FLOW IS NOT THERE, IT'S NOT AS EFFICIENT, IT'S NOT AS EFFECTIVE, AND OVER TIME, THAT PLANT SIMPLY FAILED. AND I'VE BEEN HERE TEN YEARS, AND THAT PLANT HASN'T OPERATED IN TEN YEARS. SO IT'S BEEN DORMENT. WE'VE BEEN JUST SIMPLY PUMPING MASS DEP. WE'LL NO LONGER ACCEPT THAT AS A VIABLE AND A SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION. SO THEREFORE, WE'RE THEN ADVOCATING FOR THIS PROJECT. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ON THIS LINE ITEM? COME BACK UP TO THE PROCEDURAL MICROPHONE. DON'T BE SHY. WELL, I WORK WITH WASTE WATER TREATMENT. I NEED YOU TO SAY YOUR NAME AGAIN. THIS IS MARCIA BURGER, 48 SEGIMETO ROAD. THANK YOU, MS. BURGER. I RECOGNIZE YOU. I'M A REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL SANITARY ENGINEER, AND I OPERATE WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS. DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? MY WORK. AND I WAS WONDERING WHAT IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE WAS A REASON WHY LOW FLOW HINDERED THE TREATMENT PROCESS, BECAUSE PLANTS THAT I'M FAMILIAR WITH DO BETTER IF THERE'S LESS FLOW BECAUSE THEY HAVE MORE RESIDENCE TIME. IF ANYONE CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION. MADAM MODERATOR, CAROL MARTIN, LAKE WOOD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, SELECT BOARD. I THINK THIS ANSWER COULD BE QUESTION COULD BE ANSWERED BETTER BY OUR ENGINEER, ABBY SHAREST, AND I REQUEST TO YOU THAT WE LET HER ANSWER THE QUESTION. THANK YOU. I WILL DO SO. EVERYONE AT TOWN MEETING OKAY WITH THAT? EVERYONE SAY AYE. AYE. ANY NOS? MAJORITY RULES. GO AHEAD. THE FLOOR IS YOURS. HI, ABBY SHAREST, TOWN ENGINEER. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THE QUESTION BEING WHAT WERE THE ISSUES WITH SOME OF THE LOW FLOWS? THE TYPE OF PLANT THAT WE HAD WAS NOT A PASSIVE SYSTEM LIKE A TITLE V SYSTEM THAT YOU MIGHT IMAGINE A HOME TO HAVE OR EVEN AN INNOVATIVE SYSTEM. IT WAS AN ADVANCED MEMBRANE TREATMENT PROCESS. IT WAS A PROCESS THAT WAS PARTLY BECAUSE IT'S IN THE ZONE TWO OF HAPPY HOLLOW WELLS AND NEAR THE LEACH FIELDS BEING IN THE BACK IN THE ATHLETIC FIELDS THERE. BUT BECAUSE OF THE MEMBRANE PROCESSES, WE WEREN'T ABLE TO KEEP THEM SO WET ENOUGH. THEY DRIED OUT. IN THE SUMMERTIME IT WAS ALMOST ZERO FLOW. SO THE TYPE OF PROCESS THAT IT HAD, IT COULDN'T REALLY GO FROM ZERO FLOW TO THEN SEPTEMBER COMES ALONG AND HAVING MUCH HIGHER FLOW. SO IT WAS THE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE FLOW IN ADDITION TO THE LOW FLOW WHERE THAT PARTICULAR TREATMENT PROCESS DID NOT WORK WELL. THANK YOU. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON LINE ITEM 25? OKAY. WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON THEN TO 27, THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, $540,000. THAT'S INSTALLATION OF AN HVAC AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM. WAS THERE A QUESTION? ELISA CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. CARTER. THANK YOU, MADAM PRESIDENT. I'M GOING TO GO TO THE NEXT ONE. THIS ONE AND 28. WAS THIS IN THE BUDGET LAST YEAR THAT WE APPROVED IT? BECAUSE I REMEMBERED APPROVING BUDGETS TO INSTALL AIR CONDITIONING. SO I'M JUST WONDERING, HAS THIS ALREADY BEEN STARTED? IT SAYS IT'S AN ONGOING PROCESS. THIS IS JUST THE LATEST ITERATION OF THIS EXPENSE? IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION? MICHAEL FAILLA, DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. YES, THIS WAS IN LAST YEAR'S PLAN, AND YES, IT IS AN ONGOING PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE WITH ALL THE SCHOOLS AND ALL THE TOWN BUILDINGS. AS YOU KNOW, THE SCHOOLS ARE OLDER. THEY'VE REACHED THEIR AGE OF MATURITY, WE'LL SAY, AND WE'VE BEEN CYCLING THEM OUT, AND WE WILL CYCLE FOR THE NEXT EIGHT YEARS. DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION? ELISA CARTER, SHERMAN BRIDGE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. IF ALL OF THIS MONEY, HALF A MILLION A YEAR, SAY, FOR THE NEXT EIGHT YEARS IS GOING ON, WHAT ABOUT ALL THE MONEY THAT'S WANTED FOR NEW SCHOOLS? I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE'RE REPLACING STUFF ON SCHOOLS THAT THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT WANTS TO REPLACE ENTIRELY. IF SOMEONE CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION. MICHAEL FAILLA, DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. MY JOB IS TO KEEP THE BUILDINGS RUNNING. IF YOU COULD SPEAK INTO THE MICROPHONE. MY JOB IS TO KEEP THE BUILDINGS RUNNING AND EFFICIENTLY. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PLANS ARE. I DO KNOW THAT I NEED TO SUPPLY AIRCONDITIONING AND HEATING TO THESE SCHOOLS. SO AS THE UNITS FAIL OR START TO FAIL, WE JUST REPLACE THEM. THANK YOU, SIR. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY. THAT BRINGS US BACK TO PAGE 46, LINE ITEM EIGHT, TOWN I.T. HAVE WE HAD ANY LUCK? ALL RIGHT. SO WE'RE STILL WAITING FOR THE HEAD OF THE I.T. IT DIRECTOR TO ARRIVE. SO WE HAVE A CHOICE HERE. WE COULD SUSPEND UNTIL HE COMES AND PEOPLE COULD MAYBE USE THE RESTROOM OR SO THAT WE CAN PROVIDE THE INFORMATION THAT THE TOWN IS REQUESTING BECAUSE WE STILL HAVE A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS ON LINE ITEM 8 AND THEN WE STILL HAVEN'T DISCUSSED LINE ITEM 10 WHICH IS ALSO TOWN IT. THOSE ARE THE ONLY TWO REMAINING ON THIS SECOND MOTION IN ARTICLE 10, THE CAPITAL PROJECTS. SO IF WE HAVE AN AETA, OH, HE'S HERE. HE'S HERE? THUMBS UP? THUMBS UP. OKAY. SO THEN IF WE ARE GOING TO HAVE HIM ANSWER QUESTIONS, WE NEED THE TOWN TO APPROVE HIS SPEAKING BECAUSE HE'S NOT A RESIDENT. MADAM MODERATOR, CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I ASK. I MOVE THROUGH YOU THAT WE ALLOW OUR I.T. DIRECTOR, NICHOLAS LOMBARDI, TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE I.T. ITEMS IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET. OKAY. EVERYONE IN FAVOR OF MR. LOMBARDI SPEAKING ON THE I.T. QUESTIONS? SAY YES. ANYONE OPPOSED? PERFECT. WELCOME. LET'S LET HIM TAKE HIS COAT OFF. OKAY. SO THANK YOU FOR COMING. REALLY APPRECIATE IT. SO THERE'S BEEN A SERIES OF QUESTIONS AND I THINK WE'RE GOING TO NEED SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE BACK WHO DIDN'T GET THEIR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BECAUSE WE'VE HAD A LOT OF QUESTIONS. I DON'T RECALL THEM, TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK. SO THAT WOULD BE GREAT. THANK YOU. IRIS OXO, PLAIN ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. THE QUESTIONS ARE, FOR NIMER 8, CYBERSECURITY REMEDIATION AND MODERNIZATION, WHICH INCLUDES SUPPORT VIDEO MONITORING, WHAT HAPPENS TO THE DATA? HOW IS IT SECURED? ON PRIME OR VIA CLOUD? WHO HAS ACCESS TO THAT DATA? IS THAT REAL TIME? AND THEN WHO RETAINS THE RIGHT TO THAT FOOTAGE? SURE. WHAT'S YOUR NAME? MY NAME IS NICK LOMBARDI. I'M THE I.T. DIRECTOR FOR THE TOWN OF WAYLAND. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. FIRST, I'D LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THE RESIDENTS AND MY PEERS WORKING FOR THE TOWN AND ALL OTHERS THAT ARE IN TENDENCE. I APOLOGIZE I WAS NOT HERE EARLIER. I AM ‑‑ I DO HAVE PNEUMONIA. I'M NOT CONTAGIOUS. I'LL PUT IT THAT WAY. WOW. THANK YOU FOR COMING. CERTAINLY. TO ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOUT THE DATA. THE NETWORK REMEDIATION IS SPECIFICALLY GEARED TO ADDRESS OUR CYBERSECURITY ISSUES THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE ON OUR NETWORK. OUR DATA IS HOSTED. THE ‑‑ I THINK WE'RE TALKING ABOUT VIDEO DATA BUT THIS GOES FOR ALL TOWN DATA IS STORED ON SERVERS WITHIN OUR TOWN NETWORK. SINCE COMING ON BOARD, ABOUT NINE MONTHS AGO. I'VE DISCOVERED THAT WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TECHNICAL DEBT. AND WHAT I MEAN BY TECHNICAL DEBT IS OUR SYSTEMS HAVE NOT BEEN UPDATED IN MANY, MANY YEARS. OUR SYSTEMS ARE AT HIGH RISK OF A RANSOMWARE ATTACK. AND I'M JUST BEING HONEST. OKAY. THE ‑‑ WE HAVE SYSTEMS AND I HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL HERE BECAUSE THIS INFORMATION IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE. WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL HERE BECAUSE THIS INFORMATION IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE. WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL HERE BECAUSE THIS INFORMATION IS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE. IT'S DIFFICULT TO SHARE WITH THE PUBLIC. BUT OUR SYSTEMS ARE OVER 20 YEARS OLD. OKAY. WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED SECURITY UPDATES ON SOME OF OUR SYSTEMS BECAUSE THEY'RE OUT OF DATE. OKAY. SO CYBER SECURITY REMEDIATION STARTS AT THE TOP. AND WHAT I'M REFERRING TO AT THE TOP IS OUR FIREFIGHTERS. AND WHAT I'M REFERRING TO AT THE TOP IS OUR FIREFIGHTERS. AND WHAT I'M REFERRING TO AT THE TOP IS OUR FIREFIGHTERS. WE'RE NOT THERE YET. THAT WILL BE THE NEXT QUESTION. YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE FOR A WHILE, SORRY. YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE FOR A WHILE, SORRY. YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE FOR A WHILE, SORRY. COULD YOU REPEAT THE QUESTION, PLEASE. SPECIFICALLY WITH REGARD TO THE VIDEO MONITORING THAT IS SLATED TO TAKE PLACE AT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND OTHER PLACES, SPECIFICALLY WITH THAT VIDEO DATA IN THIS CASE, I Specifically, with that video data, in this case, I think the public would like to understand what's happening with that video data. How is it secured? Who has access to that, given what you just shared about the potential for ransomware? Who retains the right to that footage, and in the event that there was a bad actor, how would we get that back? Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you. I appreciate the question again. The video data is being stored on new servers that we have within our environment. The access to that video data is extremely limited. It is limited to my team for administration. Some of that data, based on accessibility rules, not accessibility, access rules, we have to do that. We'll provide access to the principals, to both captains, Hebert and McPherson, DPW specific to the DPW stations for monitoring of their vehicles. All other data, at this point in time, is not made accessible. It's not available to anyone else within the organization. Are there any other questions on line item 8, Town IT? Okay. Then we're going to move on to, oh, one more question. Go ahead. Thank you. Paul Frieling, River Rockway. Thank you for coming out. Yeah, so my question originally was, so for the monitoring that we're going to be adding to facilities, including the library and school buildings, given this wasn't part of the five-year capital plan, I just wanted to understand the urgency of why this is needed now, if this was consulted with local police, or if there was incidents or events that made us feel like this is something that we need, again, given there are questions just around storing, monitoring the data, if it's going to be real time, if that's actually going to prevent anything, or if it's just for folks at the school to review that, I'm just questioning, again, for a quarter million dollars. I don't know what the actual driver is for this line item. Thank you. Nick Linguardi, IT Director for the Town of Wayland. I recognize you. To answer your question specifically, there have been incidents where video footage would be helpful in identifying actors or the activity that is occurring in our town buildings, okay? This is a preventative measure. We've had small incidents. The purpose of the video surveillance is to address and prevent issues from happening in the future. As we all know, in our school systems, town departments are being attacked randomly, right? We don't know where these attacks are coming from. We don't know who's doing them. We don't know their reasoning. So the purpose for the videos is to prevent. The purpose of the videos is to ensure that we have a record of what's transpiring at the town buildings. Thank you. There's a question here. Tom Siak, Rolling Lane. I recognize you, sir. Well, I have another question on TAN, which actually the IT Director already alluded to, which is, are we underfunding our cybersecurity efforts? But specifically on the video monitoring. Yes. The video monitoring. Would that have helped identify the perpetrators of the incident of racist graffiti that we had a few years ago? Have we been dancing around that question here? If you can answer that. Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you. To address your question, video, improved video surveillance would provide us. Please talk into the microphone, okay? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's okay. I'm sorry. It's okay. If we were to have had better video surveillance around the high school, we would be able to provide additional information to that organization, okay? The town is responsible for the recording. The town is responsible for the safety of our school buildings and the surrounding area. So, with that video, it is, it would help us to identify who that perpetrator was. perpetrator was and when it occurred what time and we'd be able to investigate it further thank you is there another question i'm not sure who is next in line so come on up don't be shy barrett brontes beau road i recognize you thank you miss moderator um my question is with regard to this footage if you're working with law enforcement um when the call is made uh how do we know that this footage would not go into the hands of ice or some other kind of group like that if that can be answered
nick lombardi i.t town i.t director i recognize you um our information is managed by our police department as far as whether that information would get to ice would be up to the police department's management of that investigation as far as ice is concerned i i understand the concerns but at the same time we have to provide safety for our residents and our our children as we know with many schools across the nation we are constantly under threat for lots of bad actors without the video surveillance of these facilities we are leaving ourselves open to activity that is outside of the ice purview thank you other questions i'm not sure how to take people unless you come on come on up and form a line so thank you win trees erwin road member of the board of library trustees i recognize you sir thank you madam moderator my question mr lombardi and thanks for being with us tonight to answer them uh is have there been any detailed plans about locations of the cameras and use of the cameras in the area of the ice purview i recognize you sir thank you and use of them at the physical side of the library both interior and exterior
nick lombardi i.t director i recognize you to answer your question directly we are i just received quotes for the library the library has requested no internal cameras be installed so we have selected locations around the building specifically there are there are going to be eight cameras installed around the perimeter of the library to cover all entrances and the parking lot thank you are there more questions
hi sue fly cop uh lillian way i recognize you thank you and thank you for being here when he's so sick um my question is are there any plans for a policy about what to do about surveillance we live in times where um we don't want to become the bad actor so i'm just curious what the town plans to do about that i know the town of framingham is contracting with flock which i think there are a lot of concerns about so i just want to be sure that wayland doesn't become part of that okay did you hear her question okay she the question was is there going to be a policy with regard to surveillance correct you're welcome nick lombardi it director i recognize you yes there will be a policy we have started a policy. there will be a policy we have started writing that policy and it will be available for public review thank you another question Christine Docherty Orchard Lane I recognize you thank you the only question I have is which is similar to the library question which is what will the role of the school committee be in deciding where the cameras are going to be Nick Lombardi IT director I recognize you the school board will certainly be involved in the placement of those cameras any other questions Betsy Cullen Coolidge Road committee member I recognize you thank you madam moderator could you provide any additional detail like you just did as to the library of any current status of plans for the locations of the cameras at the schools as it might be proposed as the I am not aware the school committee has reviewed any such proposal Nick Lombardi IT director I recognize you we are in the initial stages of planning the placement of cameras we will be putting together a plan that will outline exactly I will be able to provide the school board specific locations of these cameras prior to selection of vendor and placement of the cameras is there another question Thank You madam moderator are you two Janice yep Wayland Hills Road also a member of of the Board of Library Trustees. I recognize you. Thank you. So it's two questions. One is what is FLOC? It was mentioned, but I'm not familiar. I'm assuming it's an acronym. The other is that the Library Board of Trustees had not been aware of, has not had the discussion of cameras external to the building and would expect that we would have a conversation about that before they are installed. Is that correct? Thank you. Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you. That is correct. These requests are coming directly from the department heads for each of our departments in regards to camera requests and camera placements. So now that we have those requests, we are gathering information to determine the best way and best locations for those cameras. Once we've identified all of those locations, we will certainly bring them to the appropriate boards and committees to present our recommendation on installation of those cameras. And the other question was, that Ms. Jenis asked, was what FLOC is. That's a good question. I'm new to town government, so I apologize. I do not have a definition for FLOC. Does that, does that, can anyone answer the question as to what FLOC is? Yeah, I would say, I think the police chief could probably answer this question. I know what it is, but it's not my call. Please. Into the microphone. Mark Ebert, Acting Chief of Police. I recognize you, Chief. FLOC is a private company that gathers license plate data into a database and then sells it to police departments and to private entities such as Home Depot and advertisers. So it gathers, they're placed on poles, at intersections or at street signs. They're pretty distinctive out there. If you drive around and see a black pole with a solar panel on it and a camera, it's most likely a FLOC camera. Again, they sell that data back to police departments. They used to provide it for free. About five years ago, we did have an MOU with them. Then they came back to us and want us to pay for the information, and we refused to. Recently, there's been advisements. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're not going to do that. So there's been no push from the police department to enter into any new agreement with FLOC and kind of use their data. It is out there to other police departments. I cannot say that they never provide that information to us in some sort of mutual aid agreement. The state police has their own license plate reader programs that we utilize in investigations. But that's run by the state police, not by a private company. We more feel that's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. more comfortable with that. So that's my best answer on what Flock is, a private company that's a license plate reader that sells its data to third parties and law enforcement. Thank you, Chief. Another question. Madam Moderator Clifford Lewis, Claybrook Hill Road. I recognize you. Thank you. If the location of the video cameras is public data and public information, doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of having them in the first place? If someone can answer that question. It doesn't have to be you, but if you'd like to, you can. If the location of the video cameras is public information, then the bad guys will know where the video cameras are and they can adjust their actions accordingly. Is that not true? Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you. The placement of the cameras will be obvious to everyone, just as they are in every parking lot and every building. So whether it's public information or not as to the location, it's public information. The location of the cameras, it is easily visible by anyone driving up to a facility. Our goal and the purpose for the cameras is to cover all entrances and exits for a facility to monitor activity. This also covers parking lots and fields that are adjacent to the town facility. Thank you. Are there any other questions with regard to, we're still on line item eight. Carol Plumb, Bald Rock Road. I recognize you. Did the cameras for the local conservation recreation area grass field, are they on? Are they part of your system or part of the police department system? You have to get up. You can't yell. If you have a point of order, you need to come up and ask. Yes, point of order. The question is not relevant to the item under discussion. That was Mr. Plumb. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Matthews. Sorry, Mr. Matthews. I recognize you, Mr. Matthews. With regard to the cameras at the loker field, correct, Plumb, where did you go, correct, whether or not they're part of this modernization, cyber security remediation modernization effort, I can say, if they're, you can say whether or not they are or not. If they're not, then it becomes irrelevant, if you can answer that question. Nick Lombardi, town IT director. At this point in time, the loker fields are not included. Okay. In the plans. Thank you. Any more questions? Come on up. Susan Kaufman, 66 Sherman Bridge Road. I recognize you. Thank you. My question is, is it possible to amend this article and delete line item eight? Are you making a motion to amend? First, I'm asking if it's possible. Sure. It's always possible to delete a line item as a voter. I have a motion of less than 10 words. Okay. I don't have it in writing. I move, Madam Moderator, that we delete line item eight. Okay. Is there a second? Second. Second? Okay. Would you like to speak to your motion? I think it's appropriate at this point for town meeting to decide if this kind of choice, a quarter of a million dollars for a surveillance system with so many open questions attached to it. Okay. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. we should be paying attention to this. If we have the opportunity to reduce the incidence of bad actors in our community or to identify them once they've badly acted, then I would like for us to do that. So I think that there's still going to be a process for determining the policy and the placement, but they can't do that if they don't have any money. So I would urge us to defeat this amendment. Anybody else? Okay. Go ahead. At the con microphone. I'm sorry. At the con microphone. Remember, this is a motion to delete line item eight. Elisa Carter-Sherman, Bridge Road. I recognize you. Thank you. I also disagree with the amendment. I think this is an important security in our country, unfortunately, right now, particularly in schools. But libraries, schools. I'm sorry. It's not a bad idea either. I do, you know, I can understand that there needs to be more dialogue, but it also sounds like the IT has some other allocations they're requesting and they're really trying to protect the town and protect us from, you know, that stuff where they freeze your data and you have to pay millions of dollars. I think it's really important that we have a good IT program right now. So I would not make any changes. Thank you. Over at the pro microphone. I have to announce myself? Yes, please. Iris Oxo, Plain Road. Please talk into the microphone, okay? So everyone can hear you. Thank you. I think the question that we all need to consider is whether or not we think video surveillance makes us safer or not. I can tell you numerous ways that video surveillance is used every day to impact your lives. It's used to be able to generate AI photos of you and videos of you and your kids. It's used in order for as a result. Thank you. As we've all heard, various elements of government to watch what you do and take considerations and monitor you. And I like living in Wayland today where that's not possible. Thank you. And over to you at the con microphone. Madam moderator, Tom Siak of Rolling Lane. I recognize you, sir. Madam moderator, the question I asked earlier was alluding to the incident we had a couple of years ago. It's not the first time. And the great advantage of cameras strategically placed is to stop that stuff from happening in the first place. People who are likely to do it take advantage of dark corners and shining the light on the dark corners is a useful way to protect yourself. Thank you. It's a useful way to encourage responsible behavior. So I think it's a great idea to put cameras in strategic places. Thank you. Over at the pro microphone. Thank you, Madam moderator. Nathaniel Connors, Old Connecticut Path. I recognize you. Thank you. I think it's abundantly clear that the school committee and the board of library trustees are not up to speed with this plan. I think it's prudent to slow down, come up with a strategic plan with the community, and present that at next year's town meeting. There will always be dark corners that someone can take advantage of. Let's make sure that our public buildings that we all frequent don't become a surveillance state. Thank you, sir. And over at the con microphone. Judd Bornheimer, 265 Old Connecticut Path. I recognize you. As someone who spent hours after the incident that the gentleman was mentioning, I live across the street from the high school. I spent hours reviewing my Google Nest video. I am a huge proponent of this, specifically for the high school and the school buildings. I carried guilt trying to figure out who did this just looking at the cameras at my property. So I would be incredibly happy to see this take place. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I am incredibly happy to see this take place. Thank you. And over at the Pro microphone. Yes. Paul Frailing, River Rock Way. I recognize you. Thank you. Yes. So Paul Frailing, I live here in Wayland and have young kids and work in IT. And I am just a little concerned that the IT group is putting this proposal together and not police. I do feel like this is a very safe area. And I just want to... If you look at the research on monitoring and surveillance, it is OK for incident management. So once an incident has occurred, it's not great for prevention. And so I do want to just be really mindful of such a large investment in the budget with such little public discussion around the plan, both from citizens and from a lot of the people that are impacted. And I don't feel like this is the right year to introduce this into the budget. Thank you. All right, folks. I've got two people who want to call the question, meaning to terminate debate. But I've still got just four people left at the pro and con. Yeah, I think we'll let them. This has been quite a hefty debate here. So please proceed. Sorry, just for a second. So normally when somebody brings a motion to terminate debate, that's a privileged motion. But I get to say as to whether or not they get to bring the motion to begin with. And when there's still four people at the pro and con microphone, I think we should hear these people out. So that's my call. So sorry for those of you who want to terminate debate. You may proceed. I'm Salome Sweeney-Storrs, Woodridge Road. I recognize you. In addition to being a resident, I work at the library, and I also live with my brothers who are both elementary age. The parking lot, not having a camera on a basic safety level as a young woman going to work, sometimes working late at night, it just it's not feeling super safe when you know people have access to you. Also like I drive by myself, and when I get there and I'm leaving at dark, we gratefully facilities put in a light where there was a dark corner where I parked and it was very sketchy. But it's one of those things where we have to sometimes make those second guesses and think if I get into a fender bender, if there's, you know, one of my brothers, they're really tiny. If something happens, there's no way to tell what happened. There's no way to review any footage. And just on a basic like parking lot safety level, it would be well appreciated from my end and also for my family. Thank you. And over at the pro microphone, Kathy Tregolo, Lake Road. I recognize you. As someone with technology director experience, I'd also like to say that I believe it's an important privacy question before us. As a town. And I believe that it's something that a policy should be discussed and proposed. And the input from the various town boards and committees should be considered before an implementation and an appropriation and expenditure of this size is made. Okay. Thank you. And over at the con microphone, Kara Britton, Gleason Lane. I recognize you. Thank you. My daughter is a 2020 graduate of Wayland High School. She just graduated. In 2024 from Skidmore. She's now a teaching assistant in special ed at the high school. And going on to get her master's in special education. I think that this is a wonderful idea. And I understand the people's concerns about privacy. But as we heard from the IT director, they'll be doing a proposal, they'll be presenting it to work with other people. I know for a fact that had. Cameras been installed when she was in high school, certain incidents that were blown out of proportion, if they had some surveillance or cameras, could have been handled much better. And a lot of anxiety would have been quelled much sooner. I think these are a good avenue to open up discussions for certain conversations where incidents happen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Carter, you have switched sides. I did. Okay. I recognize you. Thank you, Madam Moderator. Yes. Actually, the last person who spoke was exactly what I was going to say. I think that there are serious concerns about privacy. And when the matter of ICE came up, I was like, oh, yeah. We just don't know in this modern day. And I do think there needs to be a policy in place. And that should involve the public. The police department and what they would do with that kind of data. And the town in general. Before the money gets allocated and we move forward on what I think is an important but just not ripe enough idea. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Matthews. Yeah. Alan Matthews, Old Connecticut Path. I recognize you. A number of people have spoken. I think they're putting the cart before the horse would be the best way to put it. As the IT director has quite clearly stated. They are in consultation with folks at the school. And folks at the library about what's going on. They may not have gotten to the point where the library board or school board are involved. But it is not like they are operating behind a curtain as far as the library and the school are concerned. Another point that people have been talking about a great deal about is privacy. The high school. is a public space it is not a private space the folks who spray graffiti on the walls are doing so outdoors that is not a private space that those places can have cameras on them and you get seen on those cameras it's not a privacy issue you are in a public space that is something that I think of some people have lost sight of now the other thing that has been alluded to I think is of most importance here that has been greatly overlooked is the dire situation of our current system that the IT director has pointed out we're talking about a system that is 20 years old and in many ways very very out of date and is exposing the town to a great security risk to stop this funding is to allow that situation to continue nothing will happen that will remain you is that what we want well if so then go ahead and vote against this funding thank you thank you over at the pro microphone Elizabeth Cullen Coluche Road yeah go ahead what is it sure hold on a second go ahead don't you go ahead Iris Hocksell Plain Road yeah I recognize you um could the could we get clarification so this line item number eight for 250 while it is titled cyber security remediation and modernization the description and justification of this section says quote funding will support video monitoring and management of several facilities the line item 10 the $100,000 also titled cyber security firewall replacement additional refers to the procurement implemented of a new cloud-based firewall solution so it would be helpful to understand about the previous comment referred to ransomware is that actually line item 10 or is that line item 8 if that can be answered Mr Lombardi Nick Lombardi IT director I would need a few minutes to review the article because I have not I'm not well and I just want to make sure that I'm answering this question appropriately we'll get you the we'll give you the book so you can take a look at both the budget item 8 which is what we're voting on and that the most current motion is to delete what the line item 8 as opposed to line item 10 which we haven't discussed yet but that's about the firewall and that it's been coming up okay do you like to move the question I was just about to get to her before that question was asked and I understand that if we have we have something new to say on the pro on the pro on the motion to delete motion to amend to delete this you have something new to say yes great I'll I do I'll let it go and then we'll move the question but I would like mr. Lombardi to answer this so everyone's really clear about currently before he was a motion to amend which is to delete line item 8 and what mr. Lombardi is being asked is are we confusing this at all with line item 10 which we have not even addressed yet that has been asked to be held but line item 10 has to do with a firewall as opposed to the cybersecurity remediation and modernization under line item 8 and so before we make a vote on whether or not you are moving to amend this to delete this line item let's be really clear as you know what you're deleting okay what do you think about that. Okay thank you. what the request is. So while Mr. Lombardi is reading, I'm gonna ask you to give your statement. And we will get to answer the question, but there's been a lot of new things here. Thank you, Madam Moderator. Elizabeth Cullen, Coolidge Road. I recognize you. Thank you. The new piece of information I would point out to town meeting is that the school department has an existing policy on security cameras, and that some of the information respectfully that Mr. Lombardi shared does give me as an individual and current member of the school committee some concern that we have not rigorously looked at the data storage access inconsistent with school committee policy. And I have concern about appropriating this amount of money for public surveillance without first resolving some of those potential inconsistencies and ensuring that town surveillance and school department policies are aligned. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Lombardi, did we give you enough time to go back to the question that Ms. Hawksa asked? Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you, sir. These funds were specifically talking about the video monitoring of our buildings. This also includes cybersecurity support for our network to prevent bad actors from coming in. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. So, we have received a lot of requests from our department heads, from bad actors from intruding our network. So, I just want to be clear. The video monitoring is our primary focus because of the security and the requests I have received from department heads over and over and over again, so this is not a request and not something that I am doing independently. These requests are coming from every single department head, okay? This is not a single request. The boards and committees, I understand, need to know about this. To that end, we need to ensure that the board and committee members understand the department heads' requests for the video surveillance. Okay, thank you, sir. And we have one more person, and then we're going to vote. How does that sound? You know what? You had your opportunity to give your opinion, and this woman has been standing there, and so she's entitled to give her opinion. This is fair. You know what? But I'm the moderator, and I want to have fair debate, and we still have one person left, and it's just one. So, you can now speak. Carolyn Elbing, Pelham Island Road. I recognize you. I worry about extending surveillance to incidents that don't regard safety, and part of adolescence is making mistakes to grow. So, it makes me wonder if the school feeling like Dependopticon encourages growth for students. Okay, thank you. Now, folks, point of clarification. You may ask. Madam Moderator, Tom Sager, Rolling Lane. I want to make sure I understand what the IT director just said. He said that the primary use of the funds here is for the video equipment, but some of this line item, is also for network security, implying if we voted down, we will make our network look less safe. Is that correct? He's nodding his head. Yeah, Mr. Lombardi can come up and answer the question, and then I promise we'll move to a vote. Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you, sir. You are correct. This is an addition. It's video and network security. Thank you, sir. Okay, so we are getting, going to prepare to vote. We are voting on the motion to amend. The motion to amend is to delete line item number eight. So, the window is open. If you are in favor of deleting line item number eight, vote one, or yes. If you are opposed to deleting line item number eight, then vote two or no. So, we're all clear. The motion is to amend. The motion is to delete line item number eight. If you are in favor of deleting 1220, vote one. If you are in favor of deleting line item number eight, vote two. If you are in favor of deleting line item number eight, vote one. The motion to amend is to say that 2255 is voted the $250,000 for town IT. If you are in favor of deleting it, vote one. If you are opposed to deleting it, vote two. And, just so you know, this is a motion to amend, and so it is a simple majority. The underline motion, this capital budget here, this requires a two-thirds majority. Okay. And, so we have 61 people voting yes, and 178 people voting yes. All right. voting no the motion does not carry okay so I think we've we've debated line item number eight plenty we still have line item number ten left $100,000 for the cybersecurity firewall replacement is there any other questions on this line item ten we're on ten we're doing ten still IT hundred thousand dollars that matter I thank you Tom Siakka rolling Lane I recognize you sir I was horrified to see the comment in the warrant here and hear it again from the IT director that we haven't had updates since 2022 my question is are we chronically underfunding IT security here and should we do it again? should we be encouraging more funding of this incredibly vital function on the part of the town you want the IT director to answer that the floor is yours mr. Lombardi Nick Lombardi IT director I thank you for that question I can't stress enough the cybersecurity posture that we require to protect everybody and to protect the environment and to protect the public and to protect our data and when I say our data I'm referring to your data your tax information your resident information all information that the town holds of each individual resident within this town including children and pretty much all residents okay our data is at risk we are constantly getting bombarded with threats of bad actors they want our data the reason they want our data is because then they can hold us ransom okay and those ransoms aren't a thousand dollars they're not a million dollars they're hundreds of millions of dollars and this is your data that I cannot prevent from being accessed without the support of these funds mr. McCall is going to help answer the question as well I would just like people to know that Mr Lombardi is our new IT director we brought him in in the last year and he came in from the the Commonwealth of Massachusetts working in a large agency doing IT security there I recognized when I got here having spent part of my career in IT and networking with a large corporation that we had deficiencies at the end of the day we are a customer service organization here at Town Hall and that doesn't extend when we meet you and greet you at the clerk's window or the treasurer's we have an obligation to make you safe and secure in our buildings and we have an obligation to make your data safe and secure and so I've had extensive meetings with my facility my chiefs as well as the IT director to find out what we can do to improve the safety of our buildings including locking it at night putting appropriate cameras up and ensuring that the access that we have is appropriate and as many of you probably know through your own experiences in covid more and more we're getting employees that want to work remotely we have a diverse workforce we do have the ability to log in after hours and we have to ensure those connections are secure and that is why I've tasked Mr Lombardi with looking into this so I just wanted to help answer that question thank you thank you Mr McCall Mr Bernstein hey Bernstein Gleason Lane I have a question for the facilities director and my question is specific to network security and cyber security only not video security the question is could you with your current staff effectively spend more money this year in order to better improve our cyber security and how much could you effectively spend this is in preparation for an amendment Nick Lombardi IT director to answer your question we are underfunded for cyber security and the staffing that I currently have before our systems are aged our systems are not secure I cannot implement security measures with the current level of funding to appropriately protect your data how much is a good question um at this point in time uh you know I I'm looking at it roughly a million dollars would be my first estimate on getting our systems up to date and I'm not talking about song I'm not only talking about software but I'm also talking about hardware this is every aspect of our IT infrastructure one million dollars in the current fiscal year okay let's um you're as you're at Mr Bernstein you're asking the question asking the specific question are you saying that you could effectively spend 1 million dollars in addition to your current budget in the current fiscal year Nick Lombardi IT director no I cannot effectively spend 1 million dollars in this fiscal year what can you effectively spend I believe in this year I can effectively spend 300 to 400 000 to improve our network security and that's in addition to what if the current budget passes you would you would spend okay so at four hundred thousand dollars let's see divide the formula for every ten thousand dollars we increase the budget your taxes as a family go up by two dollars mr Bernstein okay then make the amendment because I don't want I don't know how accurate this information is in comparison of what that say for example our Finance director might say are a town manager all right Madam moderator yes I propose that we increase the cybersecurity budget for this year is that line item 10 mr mr bernstein it is by 200 000 that is half of what the i.t director is estimating so it's a good first step all right is i was just going to ask is there a second okay sure mr o'hurley go right ahead brian o'hurley sears road member of the capital improvement planning committee i recognize you sir my point of order is is that motion properly before the town under the cipc bylaw any request for capital funds has to be reviewed first the capital improvement committee thank you thank you so what i need to do is speak to uh does mr mccall wish to address this or do we have town council no not at all sorry would town council like to answer that not really come on up mr jenkins come on up yes if you right yeah i do so mr herr o'hurley has raised the point that there's now been a motion to amend uh line item 10 in the capital budget to increase it by an it's right now it's at a hundred thousand dollars to increase it by an additional two hundred thousand dollars so to make it three hundred thousand dollars correct mr bernstein and mr o'hurley's question the point of order is is is that legal is it within within scope or we are permitted to increase the budget that much thank you certainly may the floor is yours good evening everybody uh my name is david jenkins i'm from kp laura and i'm your town council tonight uh thank you for letting me be here uh i always say one thing at the beginning anytime i speak for the first time and that is as town council we have no view on the appropriateness of the amendment uh our only role here is to make sure that we do this the right way so i have two concerns with the proposed amendment first the capital procedure requires that any capital project be brought before the capital committee as a condition precedent to town meeting action that has not been done here my second concern and why i believe that the the motion is out of order is that it more than doubles the requested line item as you folks probably know as well as i do the purpose of the warrant is to give the public knowledge and warning as to what topics are going to be discussed here at town meeting it's very common to have budget items reduced it's very uncommon to have budget items increased from a 100 000 to 300 1000 is outside the scope of the warrant because the increase is so dramatic
so for those reasons i believe that the uh the motion is out of order thank you mr jenkins for that so based on that mr bernstein there's the issue that um in particular concerns some of them uh that have been put out there and i think this is a this association um can have olive light and I really can't wait to hear your thoughts on that uh lizzie ben mies or jackie kill for the commutt that you don't just November haven't reached the GMO basically a commission right now that's really true it was instantly filed it was impacted by something he's working on along a number of other issues in the community that i know i think charlie broек no one else emirates this thing it didn't make a difference between part and that's what i'm trying to say right now The issue that in particular concerns me is, I mean, the cost is one thing, being a taxpayer, but that's one thing. But it's the condition precedent not being met beforehand, and on that basis, I will have to rule it out of order. Understand? Sure. Is this okay? Is it point of order? Okay. Yeah. I accept the ruling. I just want to say that several years ago, this town came within one phone call of losing several million dollars of its assets to a hacker, and were it not for one clever banker, we would have been out the money irredeemably. So if we are in that state, we need to fix it. I agree I can't fix it here, but we do need to fix it in forthcoming budgets. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Bernstein. You had a question. You were up here first. Go ahead. Michael Young, Orchard Lane. I recognize you, sir. Thank you. Ms. Lombardi mentioned the concern about protecting our data. I just was wondering if the protection also would extend to infrastructure. Is there any sort of access that a bad actor could get to water supply, or electrical, or things like that? Do you want to address that, Mr. McCall? Nick Lombardi, IT Director. I recognize you, sir. Sorry. I keep going back and forth with questions here. The environment's are secure for our utilities. Thank you, sir. Mr. Harris, you can raise a point of order if you want to. Yeah, sure. You're welcome to. Meaning? Yeah. I've ruled that it isn't. If you want to challenge it, you can. But it's... Okay. You can... You're welcome to. But it's probably not going to change my ruling. But give it a shot, Mr. Harris. I'm open. I'm all ears. George Harris, Holiday Road. I recognize you. Madam Moderator? Yes. The town meeting is supreme, is the supreme authority, subject only to federal law, state law, and bylaws. This body has the authority to make any decision it chooses, regardless of what some other board may have said is a policy or a practice. I am also a lawyer, and I take a different opinion than my brother does. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Harris. I appreciate that. Yeah, but Mr. Sciacca was there first. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was there first. I had a question. Madam Moderator, Tom Sciacca, Rolling Lane. Yes. I would like to ask town council, through you, if a $300,000 increase isn't acceptable, how much of an increase would be acceptable? Well, you know, we also have the issue about the fact that the condition precedent wasn't met either. So it's not just a matter of the dollar figure, right, Mr. Jenkins? Thank you. Ms. Weinstein. Thank you. Susan Weinstein, Concord Road. I have a point of order, please. Yes. According to the bylaw 20-3, it stipulates except for emergencies as determined by the town manager. So I would like to verify that the town manager has not determined that there's an emergency. Determined that there is no emergency. I see. So you're putting everything on his lap. Fine. Mr. McCall, would you like to answer that? No. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Moderator. You're welcome. With all kidding aside, I think if I had an emergency, I would have called upon this body through a special town meeting or some other means to take immediate action. This is something that has gone through the Capital Improvement Planning Committee process. It went through review with department heads. So while it is extremely important, I do not know that I would think it rises to the level of an emergency for the exception under the newly formed bylaw that we have for the Capital Planning Improvement Committee. Again, I don't want to make it sound like it isn't. It is extremely important that we protect our data, our departments, and our people. But I would respectfully ask your support for the line item as submitted and not as an emergency. Okay. So are we ready to vote? Okay. Okay. Thank you. Al Matthews. Al Matthews, Old Connecticut Path. I recognize you. Given what was said about the dire state of the town's cyber security, what would constitute an emergency? Yeah. Yeah. I think, yeah. That's, I mean, we could really scare everybody here, I think, a little bit. And I think we also don't want this, we are on television, right? So this is, this is live. People can hear all this. And I don't think we necessarily need to be distracted. Okay. I think we should be doing this. And I don't think we should be disclosing everything. Right? But, okay? Someone want to answer that question? What would be an emergency, Mr. McCall? This is completely hypothetical. I see. This is completely hypothetical. Again, I would think if we had catastrophic event, we have the potential for flooding. We've seen in the back on Pelem Island Road, my last town, they hit, the town hall got hit with a microburst. There might be situations where we wipe out some of our data. We may have to do something. But we're not doing this. Some of our data, we have various rooms throughout the town where we store IT equipment. There might be a situation where a significant portion of our network or our data or our equipment got knocked out and we would have to take immediate action. Now, there are some measures. We have certain expense funds, but this is part of a planning. I think we could respond within some of our budgets and we have the ability to go to the finance committee for certain reserves if something like that happened, but it would have to be extremely significant emergency for me to ask for a special town meeting to come back to transfer these sums of money to update our network. I hope that answers your question, sir. Thank you, Mr. McGaugh. Okay, ready to vote, folks? Second motion under Article 10. This is the capital budget. We're preparing to vote here. It stands as is. There are no changes to it. Okay, if you are in favor of voting for the second motion under Article 10, vote one, yes. If you are opposed to it, vote two, no. This is a two-thirds majority vote on this article. Yes, motion number two, this is the capital budget, the whole budget, the whole budget. It stands as is as written in the warrant. You're welcome. Yeah, we already voted on that. And the voting window is closed. So we have 224 votes in favor, 15 votes opposed. The motion carries by 93%. So that motion carries. Is there anything further with regard to Article 10? Hearing none, I declare this article disposed. Okay, don't go anywhere, folks. We've got a consent calendar. We can get through four articles, possibly, very quickly. Ann Brensley, Barney Hill Road, select board member. I recognize you, Ms. Brensley. Thank you. I move you, madam, that the town vote to approve Articles 11 through 14 under a consent calendar and approve said articles as printed on pages 52 through 54 of the warrant issued for the 2026 Annual Town Meeting. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Brensley. Is there a second on the motion before I go through it? Thank you. Okay. So this is your second consent calendar. And I'm going to go through the, I think it's four articles on it, and it'll be, and if you want to hold, then yell out hold on it. So the first article is Article 11, choose town officers. That's on page 52 of the warrant. Second article on the consent calendar is Article 12, hear reports. It's on page 53 of the warrant. The third article is Article 13, sell or trade vehicles and equipment on page 53 of the warrant. And then the last article is Article 14, reaffirm remote participation in a town meeting. That's on page 54. Any holds? Hearing none, we will move right to the vote on this consent calendar. Okay. If you're in favor of the consent calendar, vote 1 on your handset. If you oppose the consent calendar, which is Articles 11 through 13, vote no. 14, sorry, through 14. Thank you. 11 through 14. If you're in favor, vote 1. If you're opposed, vote 2. All right. The voting window has closed. And with 216 votes, we're going to move on to the consent calendar. Okay. So, with 216 votes in the affirmative and 5 votes in the negative, the motion carries. Anything further on the consent calendar? Hearing none, I declare that article disposed. Moving along to Article 15, long-term water supply construction funding. Madam Moderator, Michael Wegerbauer, Blossom Lane, Vice Chair of the Board of Public Works. I recognize you, Mr. Wegerbauer. Do you have a motion? Madam Moderator, yes, I do. I move you, Madam Moderator, that the- It is the motion. That the town vote to appropriate the sum of $38.6 million for the construction of a Happy Hollow water treatment facility and a connection to the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, MWRA Water Systems, and authorize the town treasurer with the approval of the select board to borrow up to said sum in accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 44 Section 7 and 8, and any other enabling authority and issue bonds or notes of the town treasury. therefore. Thank you. Is there a second? Thank you. Would you like to speak to your motion, Mr. Wegerbauer? Yes, I would. Thank you. Do we have slide one up? Thank you. To be very clear, direct, and transparent, none of Wayland's currently permitted water supplies will comply with the new federal EPA four parts per trillion PFAS standards that go into effect in 2029. Let me emphasize that. None of our water will meet these new requirements.
They're set to go into effect in 2029. What does this mean for Wayland? It means that unless we implement a solution to provide compliant water, we'll be in a situation similar to the one we faced in 2021 when MassDEP introduced new PFAS standards. At that point, our primary water source was declared non-compliant, and we began distributing bottled water for drinking and cooking. This is definitely not the situation we want to be in again in 2029. In addition to these more stringent PFAS compliance requirements coming our way, our current infrastructure is failing and requires a major overhaul. In this fiscal year alone, our current temporary PFAS filtering system has failed multiple times, requiring us to activate our emergency MWRA connection three times to date, a very expensive option. Can we go to slide two? Thank you. Stated simply, we need a new system, one that can support Wayland's water requirements for the long term. Can we move to slide two? Okay. Thank you. So what have we done to date? Well, for the past five plus years, staff, board members, and engineers have examined a very wide range of options to deliver PFAS-free water. After significant analysis, we settled on a robust yet flexible solution that is the most cost-effective in the long term and provides a great deal of reduction. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. So we've worked on this solution across the board since the former overhaul, background up and then meaningful remodeling. So at this point the Basket jag přijner subgroup is putting the expansion equipment they just got off of with their next initial reveal that they need to resolve in boss working feet that's nicely connected, but also to kind of replace the old weight comes from all $3.3 MILLION IN DESIGN FUNDS APPROVED SO FAR, AND WE'RE NOW AT THE POINT WHERE WE NEED YOUR APPROVAL TO BORROW THE FUNDS TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION. WHY IS THIS SO URGENT? WELL, IN ADDITION TO THE 2029 COMPLIANCE DEADLINE AND THE CURRENT ONGOING SYSTEM FAILURES JUST DESCRIBED, IT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT WE PROCEED NOW SO THAT WE CAN SECURE THE $7 MILLION MWRA ENTRANCE FEE WAIVER, WHICH IS TIME SENSITIVE. SIMPLY PUT, VOTING YES TO THIS ARTICLE IS A YES VOTE TO WATER AND WAYLAND. VOTING AGAINST WOULD HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES IN TERMS OF OUR ABILITY TO SUPPLY POTABLE WATER TO THE TOWN OF WAYLAND. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT WE NEED AND REQUEST YOUR SUPPORT TONIGHT SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER SAFE AND COST EFFECTIVE WATER IN WAYLAND. WITH THAT SAID, I'LL YIELD MY REMAINING TIME TO SELECT BOARD CHAIR CAROL MARTIN AS THE SELECT BOARD IS COSPONSORING THIS IMPORTANT ARTICLE. THANK YOU, MR. WEGERBAUER. CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I RISE ON BEHALF OF THE SELECT BOARD. IN 2019, THE TOWN LEARNED WE HAD UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS OF PFAR IN OUR WATER SYSTEM. SINCE THEN, THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND THE DPW STAFF HAVE PUT FORTH AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF EFFORT AND DUE DILIGENCE ON OUR BEHALF TO DEVELOP A PLAN THAT WILL PROVIDE US NOT ONLY WITH A LONG-TERM WATER SUPPLY THAT IS IN COMPLIANCE NOW AND IN THE FUTURE YEARS TO COME. BUT ALSO VERY MUCH MORE. IT'S BEEN A SIX-YEAR JOURNEY AND WE'RE NOT THERE YET. TONIGHT'S VOTE TO AUTHORIZE CONSTRUCTION FUNDS IS NOT ONLY THE NEXT STEP OF THIS PROCESS, IT IS A KEY STEP. AS IT WILL ALLOW THE TOWN TO PROCEED WITH APPLYING TO THE MWRA. THAT IS, SUBMITTING OUR FINALIZED APPLICATION. BY APPROVING THESE FUNDS, WE WILL NOT ONLY MOVE CLOSER TO ACHIEVING OUR GOAL, BUT THE TOWN WILL, AS MIKE HAS MENTIONED, BE ELIGIBLE. FOR THE $7 MILLION ENTRANCE FEE WAIVER. A HUGE SAVINGS. AS CO-SPONSORS, THE SELECT BOARD VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO SUPPORT THIS ARTICLE AND WE WORD YOU TO DO THE SAME AS WELL. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. OKAY. ANY QUESTIONS? ANYONE WANT TO GO TO THE PRO OR CON MICROPHONE? SEEING NONE, WE'LL GO RIGHT TO VOTE. OKAY. SO IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR AND SUPPORT OF THE PRO OR CON MICROPHONE, WE'LL GO RIGHT TO VOTE. OKAY. SO IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION MADE UNDER ARTICLE 15, THE LONG-TERM WATER SUPPLY CONSTRUCTION, VOTE ONE ON YOUR HANDSET. THE VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN, FOLKS. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO THE MOTION BROUGHT UNDER ARTICLE 15, VOTE TWO OR NO. ONE FOR YES, TWO FOR NO. WE HAVE A TWO-THIRDS VOTE REQUIRED. ONE FOR YES, TWO FOR NO. THE WINDOW IS CLOSED. AND 209 PEOPLE VOTING YES AND 12 VOTING NO. THE MOTION CARRIES BY 95%. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ANYTHING ELSE ON ARTICLE 15? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THIS ARTICLE DISPOSED. ARTICLE 16, 25 HOLIDAY ROAD PRELIMINARY DESIGN ENGINEERING STUDY AND APPRAISAL FUNDING. IS THERE A MOTION? BILL WHITNEY, WOODRIDGE ROAD AND A MEMBER OF THE SELECT BOARD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MR. WHITNEY. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ARTICLE 16 BE POSTPONED INDEFINITELY. OKAY. IS THERE A SECOND TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY? THANK YOU. DO YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION, MR. WHITNEY? YES, PLEASE. THERE HAS BEEN SOME CONFUSION AND, FRANKLY, MISINFORMATION CIRCULATED REGARDING THIS WARRANT ARTICLE. I'D LIKE TO SHARE THE SELECT BOARD'S PERSPECTIVE ABOUT THIS MATTER. THIS 13.7 ACRE PARCEL WAS ACQUIRED BY THE TOWN 70 YEARS AGO FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES, BUT NOTHING HAS EVER BEEN DEVELOPED ON THE PROPERTY, SCHOOL RELATED OR OTHERWISE. AS NO CURRENT PLAN EXISTS FOR USE OF THE PROPERTY, THE SELECT BOARD PROPOSED THIS WARRANT TO BEGIN A CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW THIS PROPERTY MIGHT ULTIMATELY BE USED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE TOWN. RECENTLY, THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S CONSULTANTS ENGAGED IN RELATION TO ITS K THROUGH 8 FACILITIES MASTER PLAN, IDENTIFIED THIS PROPERTY AS A POTENTIAL SITE FOR A POSSIBLE FUTURE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. NOT MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT THE PROPERTY, HOWEVER, IN TERMS OF WHETHER THERE IS ANY SITE CONTAMINATION, OF THE CHARACTER OF THE SOILS TO SUPPORT SUCH A STRUCTURE, OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROPERTY, THE ELEVATION OF THE GROUNDWATER, OR THE AVAILABILITY OF SUFFICIENCY OF UTILITIES TO THE SITE AND THE LIKE. OUR BOARD FELT THAT HAVING ANSWERS TO SUCH QUESTIONS AS THESE WOULD BE HELPFUL TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE AND ITS CONSULTANTS AS IT DECIDED WHETHER TO FORMALLY PROPOSE THIS PROPERTY AS A SITE FOR A POSSIBLE NEW SCHOOL. ALSO, WE PLAN TO AWAIT THE DECISION BY THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE BEFORE CONSIDERING NON-SCHOOL USES FOR THE PROPERTY, INCLUDING MAINTAINING THE STATUS QUO AND COMPLAINING WITH THE CONSULTATION WITH THE VISIONING COMMITTEE THAT INCLUDED NEIGHBORHOOD REPRESENTATION. IN VIEW OF CONCERNS RECENTLY EXPRESSED BY THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, HOWEVER, WE NOW PROPOSE THAT THIS ARTICLE BE POSTPONED INDEFINITELY. THANK YOU. ANY QUESTIONS? ANY DEBATE? IF NOT, WE CAN MOVE RIGHT TO A VOTE. NOW, REMEMBER, THE MOTION BEFORE YOU IS TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY. ARTICLE 16, THE 25 HOLIDAY ROAD ARTICLE, THE MOTION BEFORE YOU IS TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY. PREPARE TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF POSTPONING THIS INDEFINITELY, VOTE 1 ON YOUR HANDSET. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED, VOTE 2. VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN, FOLKS. REMEMBER, IT'S MOTION TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY. OKAY. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. AND WITH 196 VOTES IN FAVOR AND 15 VOTES OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. THE MOTION IS TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY. OKAY. ANYTHING ELSE ON ARTICLE 16? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THE ARTICLE DISPOSED. STAY WITH US, FOLKS. I KNOW WE'RE LOSING BODIES, BUT STAY WITH US. OKAY. ARTICLE 17, PETITION FOR LIQUOR LICENSES. IS THERE A MOTION? MADAM MODERATOR, BILL WHITNEY, WOODRIDGE ROAD, MEMBER OF THE SELECT BOARD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ARTICLE 17 BE ADOPTED UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. AND IS THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 17 WORD FOR WORD THE SAME AS THE ARTICLE TEXT PRINTED IN THE WARRANT? IT IS. OKAY. IT IS BEING BROUGHT UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PROCEDURE, WHICH MEANS THE MOVING PARTY INITIALLY WAVES THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO THE MOTION, BUT DOES RESERVE THE RIGHT SHOULD THERE BE OPPOSITION OR A QUESTION. IS THERE ANY OPPOSITION OR ANY QUESTIONS TO ARTICLE 17? IF NOT, WE'RE GOING TO MOVE RIGHT TO A VOTE, FOLKS, OKAY? LET'S PREPARE TO VOTE. IF YOU'RE IN FAVOR OF ARTICLE 17, THE PETITION FOR LIQUOR LICENSES, VOTE 1 ON YOUR HANDSET. THE VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN. IF YOU'RE OPPOSED TO ARTICLE 17, THEN VOTE 2 ON YOUR HANDSET. ONE IN FAVOR, TWO OPPOSED. OKAY. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. AND WITH 152 VOTES IN FAVOR AND 22 OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS? ANYTHING ELSE? WITH THAT, I VOTE ARTICLE 17 DISPOSED. EXCUSE ME. THAT WAS, YEP, ARTICLE 17. MOVING ON TO ARTICLE 18. STAY WITH US, FOLKS. STAY WITH US. LOTS TO COME. YEAH. COMMUNITY PRESERVATION. COME ON. DON'T LEAVE. LET'S GO. RIGHT. IS THERE A MOTION ON ARTICLE 18? YES, PLEASE. SUSAN WEINSTEIN, CONCORD ROAD CHAIR OF THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE. I RECOGNIZE YOU. AND THE MOTION IS? I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ARTICLE 18 BE ADOPTED UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. THANK YOU. IS THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 18 WORD FORWARD THE SAME AS THE ARTICLE TEXT PRINTED IN THE WARNING? IT IS, INDEED. IT IS. IT WAS BROUGHT UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PROCEDURE IN THAT THE MOVING PARTY INITIALLY WAVES THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO THE MOTION BUT DOES RESERVE THE RIGHT SHOULD THERE BE OPPOSITION OR QUESTION. WITH THAT, IS THERE ANY OPPOSITION TO ARTICLE 18? ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? IF NOT, WE'LL GO RIGHT TO A VOTE. PREPARE TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF ARTICLE 18, VOTE ONE ON YOUR HANDSET WHEN THE VOTING LIGHT IS ON. AND THE VOTING LIGHT IS ON, FOLKS. SO VOTE ONE IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF ARTICLE 18 AND VOTE TWO IF YOU ARE OPPOSED. ARTICLE 18 WE'RE VOTING ON. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. AND WITH 153 VOTES IN FAVOR AND FIVE OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE ON ARTICLE 18? NO, THANK YOU. WITH THAT, I DECLARE ARTICLE 18 DISPOSED. ARTICLE 19. SUSAN WEINSTEIN, CONCORD ROAD. IS THERE A MOTION? YES, PLEASE. SORRY. CHAIR OF THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT THE TOWN VOTE TO APPROPRIATE THE SUM OF $362,060. FROM THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUNDS LISTED AND FOR THE SPECIFIED PROJECTS A THROUGH G. WITH A THROUGH F AS PRINTED UNDER ARTICLE 19 ON PAGES 61 TO 63 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING. AND ITEM G AS FOLLOWS. THAT THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 16D OF THE 2025 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING WHEREBY TOWN MEETING APPROVED THE APPROPRIATION OF, QUOTE, $400,000. FROM THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION UNCOMMITTED FUND TO BE EXPENDED FOR RECREATION PURPOSES BY THE FACILITIES DEPARTMENT FOR REHABILITATION OF THE PLAYGROUND AT WAYLAND TOWN BUILDING, END QUOTE, BE AMENDED BY ADDING AT THE END, QUOTE, OR FOR CONSTRUCTION OR REHABILITATION OF PLAYGROUNDS AT ANY OF THE WAYLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS, END QUOTE, WITH EACH SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS. ONE, THAT THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION BE PROVIDED ADVANCED NOTICE TO ARRANGE FOR ARCHEOLOGICAL MONITORING OF ACTIVITIES. THAT INVOLVES SOIL DISTURBANCE. AND TWO, WITH EACH OF THE FOREGOING APPROPRIATIONS TO EXPIRE AND FUNDS CREDITED BACK TO THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUND FROM WHICH THEY WERE APPROPRIATED, IF NOT SPENT FOR THE SPECIFIED PURPOSES WITHIN 36 MONTHS FOLLOWING APPROVAL OF SAME AND THREE, ANY UNUSED BALANCE REMAINING FOLLOWING COMPLETION OF SAID PROJECTS SHALL BE CREDITED BACK TO THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUND FROM WHICH THEY WERE APPROPRIATED. IS THERE A SECOND ON THE MOTION? THANK YOU. DO YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION? I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT THE MOTION DIFFERS FROM THE ARTICLE AS PRINTED IN THE WARRANT IN THAT IT ADDS THE PROVISION FOR AMENDING THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUND PLAYGROUND APPROPRIATION FROM THE 2025 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING. WE'VE ADDED LANGUAGE TO PROVIDE THE TOWN WITH FLEXIBILITY REGARDING WHICH PLAYGROUNDS WILL BE REBUILTED OR CONSTRUCTED USING FUNDS THAT WERE ALREADY APPROPRIATED. WE'RE NOT ASKING FOR AN ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION. AND THE NEED FOR THIS ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE APPROPRIATION. IT AROSE BECAUSE OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S DECISION TO MOVE THE CHILDREN'S WAY TO HAPPY HOLLOW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WHICH HAPPENED AFTER THIS ANNUAL TOWN MEETING'S WARRANT WAS CLOSED. OKAY. AND AS THE MODERATOR, I'VE REVIEWED THIS AND I'VE SPOKEN TO TOWN COUNCIL ABOUT IT. THE MODERATOR DETERMS THAT THIS CHANGE IN THE MOTION FROM WHAT WAS WRITTEN IN THE WARRANT IS WITHIN THE SCOPE, SPECIFICALLY THAT IT DOES NOT CHANGE THE SUBSTANTIAL CHARACTER OF THE PROPOSAL AS OUTLINED IN THE WARRANT. NOR DOES IT FURTHER RESTRICT IF PASSED THE LIBERTIES OF WAYLAND RESIDENTS, WHICH IS WHAT UNDER THE MODERATOR'S RULES ARE REQUIRED TO BE MET IN ORDER TO BE FOUND WITHIN THE SCOPE. SPECIFICALLY THAT THE SAME FUNDING SOURCE, THIS ITEM G, THIS $400,000 APPROPRIATION THAT WAS MADE AT LAST YEAR'S TOWN MEETING COMES FROM THE SAME FUNDING SOURCE AS ITEMS A THROUGH F, AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT IT DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY ADDITIONAL SPENDING. THE MONEY WAS ALREADY APPROPRIATED LAST YEAR. AND LASTLY, IT GIVES THE TOWN ADDITIONAL FLEXIBILITY. SO THEREFORE THE MODERATORS RULED IT WITHIN SCOPE. DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING FURTHER TO SAY TO ADDRESS IT? I WOULD JUST SAY THAT THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE CONDUCTED A REVIEW OF THE PROJECT APPLICATIONS THAT WERE SUBMITTED AND WE RECOMMEND THE PROJECTS AS LISTED ON PAGE 61 OF THE WARRANT. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM. BUT THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS WITH REGARD TO ARTICLE 19? ARE THERE ANY DEBATE? IF NOT, WE'LL MOVE RIGHT TO VOTE. FABULOUS. BE PREPARED TO VOTE. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF ARTICLE 19, VOTE 1 ON YOUR HANDSET. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO IT, VOTE 2. VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN. PLEASE VOTE. 1 IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR, 2 IF YOU ARE OPPOSED. OKAY. VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. WITH 154 VOTES IN FAVOR AND 6 OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. ANYTHING ELSE TO BE SAID ON ARTICLE 19? IF NOT, I DECLARE THE ARTICLE DISPOSED. ARTICLE 20. IS THERE A MOTION? CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MS. MARTIN. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT ARTICLE 20 BE ADOPTED UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. AND IS THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 20 WORD FOR WORD THE SAME AS THE ARTICLE TEXT PRINTED IN THE WARRANT? YES, IT IS. OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND AS WE DISCUSSED, MOTION IS BROUGHT UNDER THE ABBREVIATED PRESENTATION PROCEDURE. THE MOVING PARTY INITIALLY WAVES THE RIGHT TO SPEAK ON THE MOTION BUT DOES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK SHOULD THERE BE OPPOSITION OR A QUESTION. DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? I DO. BY THE WAY, IS THERE A SECOND TO THIS MOTION? SORRY. THANK YOU ALL. YES. SUSAN WEINSTEIN, CONCORD ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU. SORRY. THANK YOU. I WAS JUST WONDERING HOW OFTEN HAVE WE HAD BALLOT QUESTIONS IN RECENT HISTORY THAT THIS WOULD APPLY TO. AND I'M THINKING THAT IT DOESN'T APPLY TO STATE QUESTIONS BECAUSE IT ALREADY HAS THAT REQUIREMENT. QUESTION MARK. CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD, SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. IT'S A GOOD QUESTION. IT DOES NOT IMPACT STATE QUESTIONS, BUT IT DOES IMPACT WHEN WE ARE TAKING VOTES ON DEBT EXCLUSION QUESTIONS AND OPERATING OVERRIDES. IF I MAY, THIS PAST, THE REASON THE SELECT BOARD IS PROMOTING OR PROPOSING THIS ARTICLE, WHICH IS ONE OF OUR KEY CONCERNS, IS WHEN WE HAD THE QUESTION ON THE BALLOT IN DECEMBER, WE WERE SHOCKED ACTUALLY TO FIND OUT THAT WE WERE UNABLE TO SUBMIT AND DISTRIBUTE INFORMATION TO THE RESIDENTS. RIGHT. BECAUSE WE WERE TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT THE RESIDENTS ABOUT THE QUESTION AND WHAT A YES VOTE MEANS AND WHAT A NO VOTE MEANS BECAUSE WE, THE TOWN OF WAYLAND, HADN'T ADOPTED AND ACCEPTED THIS STATE STATUTE. SO WE SAID, THIS IS IT. WE GOT TO PUT THIS ARTICLE IN. SO THANK YOU FOR ASKING THAT QUESTION. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ANNETTE LEWIS, CLAPIT HILL ROAD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, MISS LEWIS. I JUST NEED A POINT OF CLARIFICATION. IN B-2, IT SAYS A FAIR AND CONCISE SUMMARY OF EACH INCLUDING A ONE SENTENCE STATEMENT DESCRIBING THE EFFECT OF A YES OR NO VOTE WHICH SHALL BE PREPARED BY THE CITY SOLICITOR TOWN COUNCIL. IS TOWN COUNCIL PREPARING THE SUMMARY OF THE QUESTION AND DESCRIBING THE EFFECT OF A YES OR NO VOTE AND IF NOT, WHO IS PREPARING THE CONCISE SUMMARY AND SHOULDN'T THAT BE STATED IN THE ARTICLE? CAROL MARTIN, LAKE ROAD, SELECT BOARD CHAIR. I RECOGNIZE YOU. THANK YOU, MADAM MODERATOR. I ACTUALLY THOUGHT THIS WAS IN THE SECTION B AND IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT TOWN COUNCIL WILL PREPARE THE SUMMARY AND THE ONE SENTENCES ABOUT THE QUESTION AS WELL AS THE PROS AND THE CONS. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? PREPARED TO VOTE? YES? OKAY. SO PREPARED TO VOTE ON ARTICLE 20, ACCEPTANCE OF THE MASS JOURNAL LAW CHAPTER 53, THE VOTING WINDOW IS OPEN. IF YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF THIS MOTION, PLEASE VOTE 1 ON YOUR HANDSET FOR YES. IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO IT, PRESS 2 FOR NO. VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. WITH 141 VOTES IN FAVOR AND 8 OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE ON ARTICLE 20? SEEING NONE, I DECLARE THE ARTICLE DISPOSED. ARTICLE 21, IS THERE A MOTION? YES, MADAM MODERATOR, HAPPY HOLLOW ROAD, MEMBER OF THE SELECT BOARD. I RECOGNIZE YOU, SIR. THANK YOU. I MOVE YOU, MADAM, THAT THE TOWN VOTE TO AUTHORIZE THE SELECT BOARD TO ACQUIRE BY GIFT ON SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS THE SELECT BOARD DEEMS APPROPRIATE, PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY EASEMENTS PER SHARED USE PATH BEING A PORTION OF THE MASS CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL FOR ALL PURPOSES AND USES INCIDENTALLY ADDED TO AS PRINTED UNDER ARTICLE 21 ON PAGES 65 AND 66 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TIME MEETING. ALSO TO TRANSFER THE CARE. CUSTODY AND CONTROL OF CERTAIN TOWN OWN PARCELS LOCATED AT THE TOWN CENTER FROM THE BOARD OR COMMISSION CURRENTLY HAVING CUSTODY THEREOF AND FOR THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH SAID PARCELS ARE CURRENTLY HELD TO THE SELECT BOARD AND FURTHER TO AUTHORIZE THE SELECT BOARD TO CONVEY TEMPORARY EASEMENTS ON SAID PARCELS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND RECREATION AS PRINTED UNDER ARTICLE 21 ON PAGES 65 AND 66 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TIME MEETING, TO AUTHORIZE THE SELECT BOARD TO ACQUIRE BY GIFT ON SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE SELECT BOARD DEEMS APPROPRIATE TEMPORARY EASEMENTS FOR A SHARED USE PATH BEING A PORTION OF THE MASS CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL FOR ALL USES AND PURPOSES INCIDENTAL THERETO, AS PRINTED UNDER ARTICLE 21 ON PAGES 65 AND 66 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TIME MEETING, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE SELECT BOARD TO ENTER INTO AN EXECUTIVE MEETING. ALL DOCUMENTS, AGREEMENTS, AND INSTRUMENTS, AND TAKE ALL RELATED ACTIONS NECESSARY OR APPROPRIATE TO CARRY OUT THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 21 AS PRINTED UNDER ARTICLE 21 ON PAGES 65 AND 66 OF THE WARRANT FOR THE 2026 ANNUAL TIME MEETING, UPON SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS THE SELECT BOARD DEEMS TO BE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE TOWN. IS THERE A SECOND? THANK YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTION, MR. FAYE? I WOULD. THANK YOU. TURNING TO THE MOTION. MR. FAYE. THIS PHOTO HERE YOU'LL SEE THE MASS CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL WHICH IS THE LONGEST DEVELOPING RAIL TRAIL IN MASSACHUSETTS. IT CONNECTS 27 COMMUNITIES THROUGH SHARED USE PATHS AND STRETCHERS FROM BOSTON ALL THE WAY TO NORTHAMPTON. RIGHT NOW THE USABLE TRAIL BEGINS IN WALTHAM AND RUNS WESTWARD. IN 2019, A 4.7 MILE SEGMENT WAS COMPLETED RUNNING FROM THE WAYLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY TO JONES ROAD IN WALTHAM. THE STATE IS NOW WORKING TO EXTEND THE TRAIL FROM THE WAYLAND DEPOT WESTWARD TO THE SUDBURY WAYLAND TOWN LINE WHICH WOULD CONNECT IT TO THE RECENTLY PAVED SECTION IN SUDBURY CREATING A CONTINUOUS PAVED PATH. THIS WORK HOPEFULLY WILL BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF 2029. TO COMPLETE THIS TRAIL EXTENSION, THE STATE NEEDS EASEMENTS ON CERTAIN PROPERTIES. AN EASEMENT IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT THAT GIVES SOMEONE LIKE A CONTRACTOR OR A GOVERNMENT AGENCY THE RIGHT TO USE A PORTION OF THE TRAIL. CERTAIN PROPERTIES ARE THE GIVEN TRANSITION OF A PRIVATELY OWNED PROPERTY FOR SPECIFIC PROPOSES, SUCH AS STORYING MATERIALS, OPERATING EQUIPMENT OR INSTALLING UTILITIES. IMPORTANTLY, THE PROPERTY OWNER STILL RETAINS FULL OWNERSHIP OF THEIR LAND, THE EASEMENT SIMPLY ALLOWS LIMITED ACCESS FOR THE DEFINED PURPOSE AND TIME PERIOD. IN THIS CASE, THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND RECREATION, D.C.R., IS SEEKING THESE EASEMENTS TO COMPLETE THE RAIL TRAIL. THE TEMPORARY EASEMENTS WOULD LAST FIVE YEARS. ALL ASSOCIATED COSTS OF THE RESPONSIBILITY OF DCR, NOT THE TOWN OF WAYLAND. AS PART OF THIS CONSTRUCTION, THE STATE PLANS TO INSTALL A NEW BRIDGE OVER THE SUNBURY RIVER JUST WEST OF RUSSELL'S GARDEN CENTER. TO COMPLETE THE RAIL TRAIL, THE STATE NEEDS TO SECURE A PERMANENT EASEMENT DESIGNATED PARCEL BP1 ON LAND CURRENTLY OWNED BY NP WAYLAND LLC, THE NEW OWNERS OF THE WAYLAND TOWN CENTER. THE PURCHASE PRICE FOR THIS EASEMENT IS NOMINAL, UNDER $100. HERE'S THE KEY DETAIL. DCR CANNOT HOLD THIS TYPE OF PERMANENT EASEMENT DIRECTLY DUE TO ITS OWN INTERNAL RULES AND POLICIES AROUND LAND OWNERSHIP. AS A RESULT, DCR ASKED THE TOWN OF WAYLAND TO ACQUIRE THE EASEMENT ON ITS BEHALF. NP WAYLAND LLC HAS AGREED TO THIS ARRANGEMENT. IN ADDITION TO THE PERMANENT EASEMENT, DCR ALSO NEEDS TO ACQUIRE THE EASEMENT ON ITS BEHALF. IT ALSO NEEDS TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION EASEMENTS, EACH LASTING UP TO FIVE YEARS, ON SEVERAL PROPERTIES. THESE INCLUDE A PARCEL NEAR WAYLAND DEPOT, APPROXIMATELY 17,800 SQUARE FEET, DESIGNATED TE3. THIS IS THE ONLY TOWN-OWNED PARCEL INVOLVED. THEY ALSO SEEK EASEMENTS RELATIVE TO THE PROPERTY OWNED BY NP WAYLAND, WHICH I MENTIONED BEFORE, RUSSELL'S GREENHOUSE, BOSTON EDISON COMPANY, AND THE WAYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. AGAIN, DCR IS NOT A PROPERTY OWNER. DCR INDICATED IT CANNOT DIRECTLY HOLD THESE TEMPORARY EASEMENTS DUE TO INTERNAL POLICY. SO WITH THE PERMANENT EASEMENT, DCR ASKED THE TOWN TO ACQUIRE THEM. THE SELECT BOARD VOTED TO SUPPORT THESE ACQUISITIONS WITH ONE CLEAR CONDITION, THAT DCR MUST COVER ALL COSTS AND EXPENSES THAT THE TOWN INCURS IN ACQUIRING THESE TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION EASEMENTS. DCR WILL BE FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR CONSTRUCTING AND OPERATING THE MASS CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL. THE DETAILS OF THOSE RESPONSIBILITIES WILL BE FORMALIZED IN A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE TOWN AND DCR. ONCE CONSTRUCTION IS COMPLETE AND THE FIVE-YEAR TEMPORARY EASEMENTS EXPIRE, THE ONLY PROPERTY INTEREST THE TOWN WILL RETAIN IS THE SHARED USE PATH EASEMENT ON THE NP WAYLAND LLC PROPERTY. ALL TEMPORARY EASEMENTS WILL AUTOMATICALLY END. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. FAYE. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? OR DEBATE? IF NOT, WE CAN MOVE RIGHT TO A VOTE. BE PREPARED TO VOTE. FOR ALL IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION UNDER ARTICLE 21, VOTE ONE ON YOUR HANDSET FOR A YES. FOR ALL OF YOU OPPOSED TO THE MOTION, VOTE TWO. THIS IS A TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY VOTE, TOO. THE WINDOW HAS CLOSED. VOTING IS DONE. WITH 141 VOTES IN FAVOR AND FIVE OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES BY MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS, WITH 97%. ANYTHING ELSE ON ARTICLE 21? SEEING NOTHING, I DECLARE THE ARTICLE DISPOSED. FOLKS, IT'S 1022. WE HAVE, WE'RE ON ARTICLE 22, WHICH IS A HOUSEKEEPING AMEND ZONING BYLAWS ARTICLE. YES, YOU, BE MY GUEST. HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH? ELISA CARTER, CHAIRMAN BRIDGE ROAD, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO ADJOURN. TILL TOMORROW NIGHT AT 630. IS THAT TILL 1? ANY SECONDS? ANY TIME. YEAH, UNTIL TOMORROW AT 630. OKAY. IS THERE A SECOND? 645. ALL IN FAVOR? ALL OPPOSED? YEAH. SHE'S MAKING A MOTION TO ADJOURN. SHE'S ENTITLED TO DO THAT. I THINK I HAVE TO, I THINK I GOT TO TAKE A, I CAN'T DETERMINE IT. OKAY. SO WE'RE GOING TO PREPARE THE VOTING WINDOW. WE'RE GOING TO VOTE WHETHER OR NOT TO ADJOURN UNTIL TOMORROW. SO ALL IN FAVOR OF ADJOURNING, VOTE 1. ON YOUR HANDSET. ALL OPPOSED, VOTE 2. WE NEED A SIMPLE MAJORITY VOTE. IF THIS IS A MOTION TO ADJOURN, THAT'S IT. TILL TOMORROW NIGHT AT 630. THE VOTING WINDOW IS CLOSED. AND WITH 109 IN FAVOR AND 30 OPPOSED, THE MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT. SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT AT 630.