December 10, 2025 – Cultural Council – Video & Transcript
December 10, 2025 - Cultural Council
I am in India. So, it's 8.05 p.m. Do I have a motion to start the session?
I make a motion that we begin the meeting. Thank you, Kevin. Do I have a second? I second. Thank you, Mustafa.
So, this is a roll call. So, we have Mustafa, just say, here. Here. Marie. Here. Naresh. Here. Mariam. Here. Kevin. Here. Inyan. Here. Missing are Charles and Donna.
Today, we're going to finalize the grant decision. We had an initial vote, and I am going to share a spreadsheet now. Naresh, do you have a spreadsheet that you want to share? I do not. I do not. Okay. So, I will share a spreadsheet with the vote distribution as it stands right now, and we will go over this. So, this spreadsheet just has the bare details. It has the name of the applicant. It has the applicant's city. The project title, the total project expenses, the amount requested, and the initial vote. Right? So, when I tallied it up, so the things that have agreed and are highlighted are very marginally agreed. So, let's, what I want to go through first is all the disagrees and make sure that we are disagreeing on them so that we can remove them completely from the count. Right? I'm going to erase this, and we'll do this afterwards. So, if you can identify them by number, because I can't see that particularly well, just by number before you give the rest of the information. Is that okay? Yeah, so it's, it's, it's an, yeah, it's an order anyway. So, number one, Acton Community Center, Child's Play Theater, we had, most of us had disagreed. Does anybody else have any other arguments for us to give them the grant?
No, I'm willing to go along with it this year with our numbers the way they are. Okay, so, are we okay with refusing the grant to them? Yes. Okay, perfect, so I will, okay, then we have number 14, which is the Sudbury Savoyards.
The project title is Gondoliers, they're from Sudbury. We had a disagree on them. Does anybody have an opinion about?
Welcome, Donna. Hi, don't we?
Okay. I'll let it go, too. Okay. Are we agreed that we're going to refuse them the grant? Yes.
The other ones, there was a contention for both the public library ones, that is, we had equal agree and disagree. So, we either vote again.
So, I think we will vote again. So, let's first take the Conversations for Change, which is number 19. You know, I thought I had pretty much, I was heavily involved in that. And I thought I'd better, I don't know, abstain. Abstain. Thank you. Okay. I think I'd better abstain from now. That's fine. So, I'll go around the table and let's see if Indian and Mustafa, I'll give you a minute to read it up. It's what it is in your spreadsheet that I sent you. So, I'll start with Naresh. Naresh, do you agree or disagree? Okay. Agree. Okay. Donna?
So, I'll be, for the Conversations for Change, the donation for $1,000 would be? Don't worry about the amount. No, no, no. I'm just saying, for that program, conversations for change and the juggler performance, Henry the juggler. So, it's not, it's not between, it's, don't, don't think about it as this versus that. Do you agree to support Conversations for Change?
Yes.
Marie? Oh, you're abstaining. I'm abstaining, yep. Mariam?
Yes, 100%. I attended one of the sessions and I think they're really important.
Kevin? I'll abstain on that one. Okay. Um, Indian? Wow.
Um, not sure. I'll abstain, I guess. You'll abstain, okay. Mustafa?
Um, before I say anything, I just want to let you know that the spreadsheet you sent us, we can only see half of the description. It's not letting us look at the entire thing. Okay. Or, I can, wait, let me try something. If you download it, you can, like, uh, expand the self. Oh, okay. Okay, thank you. Um, I will, I will agree.
Um, and I agree as well. So, we have three abstains and five agrees. So, I think we will go ahead with this.
Okay. Uh, and the second Wayland one, Henry the Juggler performance for kids.
Um, Naresh? I disagree. I disagree. I would not to, yeah, not to find this one.
Um, can I just get like a minute? Sure. I'll come back to you. Um, Marie?
Um.
So, it's number 20. Uh, I mean, we've done it in the past and I like to do, I like to contribute to them because they're so heavily, um, used by Wayland people. But, that's why I like it. This one was a hard one for me to vote on. Yeah. Um, I was gonna, I, all right. My initial thing was to say yes on this one. Okay. Okay. Miriam?
I would rather use the money elsewhere.
Donna?
Agree or disagree? I would say, uh, I'll agree with this. Kevin? I'll disagree on this one.
Mustafa? I think I'm gonna disagree with this one as well.
Okay. Indian? I think I'll agree on this one. Agree. Okay. So, we do have a tie. You know, um, there's, I agree to. So, there's four agrees and four disagrees. Um, so, I will give you all a minute. So, let's come back to this at the end after we go through the others. Okay. And we will figure this out. Okay. And then we have the last one, 24, York, Matt, uh, Willie Nelson, um, so we were neutral on that. So, do you all want to go read that once more and then let me know? Does, what, what's the difference between neutral and contention? Contention, so there was a agree, disagree, neutral. There were three votes. Yeah. So, uh, the neutral kind of won over. Contention is where agree and disagree were equal. And so, and so neutral would, neutral would be like people didn't agree or disagree or? Exactly. Okay. Thank you. So, um, let, let's go over that again. Um, I can start with Marie.
For the Willie Nelson? Yeah. I'm going.
I'll open. Let's see. Um, he's not a priority on this one. Agree or disagree? I agree. To fund or to, to not fund? Yes. To, to not, not funding. Agree to not fund? Not funding. Okay. So, okay. I'll agree to not fund, I guess. Okay. Um, Indian? Um, I disagree.
So, you don't want to fund them? Right. Yes. Mustafa? I think that we should not fund them.
Donna? Yes, I'd say yes to not funding them. Mariam? Um, also disagree. Naresh? I disagree. Don't fund them. Kevin? I'll disagree on this one. Okay. So, this is kind of unanimous. So, it shouldn't have been neutral. So, this is a disagree. Well, I liked it because it lent it, uh, some, uh, variety to the offering. He is different and I did watch the video. And he's good. But, um, let's, yeah, let me just go on. Um, let me just go on one one.
All right. Um, and then we only have one more thing that to the, uh, Henry the juggler. Um, I'll be ready to vote again on that or do we want some more time? Yeah, I'm not changing my vote. So, I'm ready whenever. Um, I'd like to vote yes on that because it's a children's offering at the public library. I think it's the one for this cycle. That's why I would like to vote for that. Okay. Okay. Um, anybody change their mind about it? Because we had, we had a tie. Um, I, I will change my mind.
Mustafa, go ahead. Oh, no. Sorry. I just wanted to say that I think we can use the money for something else that, um, that could be more beneficial.
Did you, in the first round, did you vote disagree or agree? I, yeah, I don't think we should give the money. No, but in the first round, did you vote disagree or agree? Disagree. Okay. So, we still have a tie. Um, I'm changing my, my vote. I think what Marie said makes sense. There is not other children programming that we're funding in Wayland. Okay. All right. So, the agrees win by one vote unless somebody else wants to change their mind.
All right. So, this is an agreement as well. Okay. So, now, um, let's do this. It's not working.
Okay. So, we're still way over what we have. Mm-hmm. Um, Nuresh, can you remind us of how much we have? One, zero, eight, two, five. Okay. Okay. So, that's how much we have. So, we need.
See, in my notes, I only granted about $7,000. So, I mean, because we have a little more leeway than I thought.
Yeah. Um, so, so, we need to reduce this by at least $2,360. So, let's start going. Where did you say we are now? With these? We are at $13,185. Okay. So, we need to bring it down to $10,825. Uh, can I just ask a quick question? Yes. So, the $13,185 is the total amount that we have agreed to fund. But $10,800. No. No, it is not. It's not agreed to. We have agreed to fund them. But the amount is at our discretion. Okay. So, they have asked. So, the total ask is for $13,185. We can reduce people's numbers and, um. And so, the $10,825 is the amount we are trying to cap to give? Yes. That's all we have to, to give. So, that's our budget. $10,825 is our budget. And is our goal to give all the money? Or do we want to save some? Or is, is. We have already, um, done that, right? Like, we've put aside some money, Nuresh. Yeah. So, we actually have $11,860 to give. But in the last meeting, we voted to save $1,035 for our own purposes. Right? So, I'm subtracting that to get $10,85. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. And, um, Mustafa Ninian, I do send out meeting, uh, minutes. So, if you haven't attended a meeting, read them because they're pretty detailed. So, uh. Thank you. Might help, Pallavi, if in this box that you have right there. Yeah. Just type in $10,35 and say, uh, for WCC funded, uh, separate funding. Yeah. Something like that. For our own. Yeah.
Would any of that change since the, uh. The, uh, HRDIC is not going to use the, the fund we set aside. So, if you didn't set aside any. Specific. Yeah. So, so. We just set aside to support anything, right? So, we still have two, two different ones that will, I, um, that we can fund. And we can also figure out something. I don't know if you guys saw it, but so, uh, yeah, so yeah, it doesn't change, Miriam. Okay. Okay. All right. So, let's go. So, first thing I want to do is look at the budget versus what they're asking. Kind of see what percentage they're asking. Like, for example, women of Ireland is asking a hundred percent. Um, so is Dennis Weiss. Um, so, and, and whereas you can see that the robotics team is asking a very small percent. So, do we want to, um, fund a hundred percent of these or, or say that, hey, you know, there is, there is room, you can, you can, you can always go for less and you can seek funding elsewhere. So, let's start to look at that. Can I ask, can I ask a question first? Yes. Um, for people who are return grantees, do we know how much we funded? I think it would be helpful to know how much they were given last year so we can assess how much we want to give this year. Last year, we, I, um, I have, I don't have the numbers from last year, do you? I have the numbers that won't be funded last year. I sure do. Let me find it. Well, I downloaded, didn't have it.
It is on the, I know we had a spreadsheet somewhere.
Yeah, I, I downloaded one, but it only has like, um, up, uh, problems ACG and I didn't give the dollar.
Um, yeah, it was, you know, when you go back the past years, past, when, past cycles, I should.
Yeah, um, let me see. But we have to go to the end of the dollar. Yeah, um, no, I'll find it. Okay.
We have about 10 new feet open. Sorry? We have about 10 grants from last year that we applied this year. Um, we did, I remember sending, um, a spreadsheet to everybody. I'm sorry, I'm not finding it.
But in general, I, um, the rule of thumb is we shouldn't be thinking about that. We should be looking at the merits of the program, um, as is and deciding on that rather than thinking about past and future and so on.
Does that help?
Sure. Okay. So I'm just going to start from the bottom. Um, women of Valen podcast, their budget is a thousand. They're asking for a thousand. Um, the first vote is do we all agree that we should be, we should give them the whole thing. Um, Marie?
Yes.
Donna?
Yes. Hello? Yes. Okay. Yeah, I think we should give them, uh, 50%. Maria?
Uh, I think full percent. Full? Okay.
Kevin? This is the one for Valen, right? Yeah, it's the Valen women's podcast.
A hundred percent. Um, welcome, Charles. Um, Charles, what do you think? We should give the women of Valen podcast a hundred percent? Or something less?
We can't hear you if you're speaking.
All right. Um, while you figure that out, I'm going to go to Mustafa.
Um, I agree to give a hundred percent.
Indian? A hundred percent. So we will leave it at a hundred percent and we'll come back if there's anything else. Um, Dennis Weiss.
So are we going to give a hundred percent of what he's asking? So, um, again, I'll start with Marie. Can you come back to me on that one? Oh, here we go. It's wise. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I always have a question about these. And so, is this something the school will actually want to give? I, I usually, uh, like look for a letter of support from the school or something. They actually want to do this. And I'm never clear about these, uh, people, uh, who offer programs. So I'm always never clear about that. So it's something that he will offer to the school. The school can take it or not. Okay. So we can pay them or not, depending on what they say. I can. No, we can't do that. So. Well, I know. I mean, we won't pay them. We won't pay them if he, if he doesn't give it. Correct? He has to. No. No. No. Once the, once we have agreed to the grant, we give it, um, he could do it in another school. You know, uh, but he has to show that, um, he, it costs him something to do it. Right. Like, so when he submits for reimbursement, he has to prove that he's done it. So it doesn't necessarily have to be in Wayland.
Oh, that's tricky. Okay. Oh, I don't have to think about that as a second. Would you help someone else to pull people in? Sure. Maria? Maybe, uh, we should hear from any Indian if they think this will go over well at the Wayland High School or not.
Uh, me personally. Yeah. I feel like these have always kind of been, like, out of touch. That's how I view it. So it's up to me. I wouldn't do it. Yeah. I agree as well. It's always, like, they, they, I don't, I don't see any valuable effects or changes coming from them, from these types of things. I think there are better ways that, like, school, like, the schools can communicate with the students how these are wrong. Um, yeah. Yeah, that's pretty much what I think. Can I just ask, so you'd rather see them come from the school itself, as opposed to bringing someone else in? Is that what you're saying? Or is it something else? I can't, I can't, I can't hear you. Do you mind repeating your question? Oh, dear. Can you hear me now? Yes. Okay. I'm just asking, if it comes from the school directly, does it have more value? Or is this just a general comment on this type of program? No, it's just a general type of comment. Like, there, I've experienced both, uh, where it comes directly from the school, and also where they bring an outside speaker. And yes, sometimes the outside speaker, you know, can, you know, like, they, they, they make a couple students, you know, connect with them, but the overarching majority, the overwhelming majority doesn't, doesn't have any effect on them. So that's why I don't agree with giving, with this type of method. Yeah. I think in this case here, we should suggest to the applicants, yeah, the applicants need to, um, provide some kind of recommendation from the school or something like that, if they want to do stuff like that. Yeah. And I also just, Can I just ask a clarifying question? Um, so for this specifically, is the school asking for the, the money to teach this to the kids, or is there an outside organization asking so they can give this to the kids? So the outside organization is asking so they can present it to the kids. Okay. Thank you. Um, should we, should I tell you what? Yeah. Sorry. Should I tell you what I think we should do as the budget or? Um, yes. So the, the question in front of us was, should we give a hundred percent of what they're asking or not? But having heard both of you, I want to take this back to vote again, of whether we should fund them at all or not. Um, does anybody agree about that? Yes, I do. Yes, me too. I second that. Okay. Okay. So let's take this back to vote, um, whether we agree to fund them or not. So funding them, agree or disagree? Um, Marie? No, no vote. Uh, yeah, disagree. Okay. Nuresh? Yep. I disagree. We should not vote for this.
Do not fund this. Sorry. Mariam? I would say partial funding.
Coming directly to the William High School or anything and hearing from both the young participants. No. Charles, I'm still unable to hear you. Is anybody else able to hear Charles? No, no. No. Can you put it in the chat, Charles, so I can get a vote from you?
Um, in the meantime, I'm going to go to Kevin. Is this on the, this one is still on the women's, um. No, no. We are at Dennis Weiss. It's number 22. Um, we're talking about the theft of dignity. So it's about the anti-bullying. I wouldn't fund it.
All right. Um, do I have a chat from Charles? I don't see the chat button at all. Do you guys see it? Yeah. I don't think there's a chat. Can you hear me now? Yes, Charles. Hi. Sorry about that. No worries. Okay. So can I just hear your vote before I finalize? Yes. I'm, I'm sorry. Uh, I can't walk and chew gum. Uh, can you repeat the, the prompt or what we're voting on? Okay. So it is number 22, uh, two on the, on the panel book. It's Dennis Weiss, and he is proposing to do a session on anti-bullying in the, in different schools. Yes. Um, if we have the funds, a hundred percent. Okay. Okay. So we still have the no's that, uh, outweigh the yes's. So we are not going to fund them. Um, what does that bring our number to? Yeah, I'm going to do that. So this is, so that brings our number down to 12, to, uh, 12,000 to 35. We still have a thousand four hundred and ten to, um, to decide on. Okay. Okay. So now we have the juggler performance, which is asked for 450. Um, are we going to fund them fully? So is that the library one? That's the library one for the children. So, um, so Charles, juggler performance for the library for the children. Yes, no, sorry. I'm looking at this on my phone. Is it, um, the ask is 450? No, it's for 450. Uh, yes. Um, I'm in favor. A hundred percent? Uh, yes.
Okay. Naresh? Yep. A hundred percent.
Marie? Yes. A hundred percent.
Donna? Yes. A hundred percent. Yes. A hundred percent funding.
Yes. A hundred percent. Maryam? Yes. A hundred percent.
Inyan? A hundred percent. Mustafa? One hundred percent. Okay. So this unanimously gets a hundred percent.
The conversations for change from, from the valent public, oh, that's, they're asking for a percentage. Let's, let's go over some of the ones that are asking a hundred percent. Um, Chris Swanson's songs and stories music concert. It's 225. They're asking for 225. Their budget is 225. Where are they performing this?
So they want to be able to perform it at our, um, if I'm not mistaken, at our Council on Aging. But let me, let me clarify that. I can tell you that he has a, a lot of recommendations from the Council on Aging. Yes. Yeah. You know.
Yes. So they're, uh, going to perform it at our Council on Aging. And It says Marlboro. He's from Marlboro, but he's performing. He's from Marlboro, but he's going to perform at our Council. So. Is that a hundred percent or could it be similar to the Dennis Wise situation? So, um, I'm asking right now for a vote of whether we give a hundred percent or partial. I meant, is it a hundred percent that the performance is happening in Weyland or can they go back on that?
So they are proposing to, um, present it at the, the, uh, Weyland Council on Aging, right?
So, which means that we will expect them to do that. But, so they're saying either the senior center or the library, depending on who would like to host us. And this is a trio. It's not just one person. Yeah, it is a trio.
That's good to me. I think for a hundred percent. So let's start the vote. Naresh. Thank you. Naresh is at a hundred percent. Mariam.
Sure.
Marie. Yes.
Donna. Yes. Kevin.
Yes. Charles. Yes. Union. Yes. Mustafa. Yes. Okay. I'm a yes too. So this also passes a hundred percent unanimously. Then we have number 13, David Politan, music from Memphis. So let me look at that.
He is from Natick, but I'll let you know in a second what he's proposed, where he's proposing to do this. So, sorry, it's number 11, David Politan number 11.
So he's proposing to do it at the Wayland Senior Center as well. I don't know what that's going on. I don't know what that's going on. So, let's go for the vote. A hundred percent or partial. I'm going to start with Charles.
Given the amount, I'm in favor of a hundred percent.
Kevin.
Yes. A hundred percent. Donna.
Yes. A hundred percent. Mariam. Yes. A hundred percent. Marie. Yes. A hundred percent. Because I, because of the variety it adds. Noorish. Sure. A hundred percent. Okay. Indian. Yes. A hundred percent. Mustafa. One hundred percent.
All right. So this also passes one hundred percent. Okay. And that's it for, oh no, there's one more. Andrew Hans. So this will be in number four. Um, he is from Natick as well. And he wants to do the, uh, Bad Andy, Good Andy, Bad Andy Trumpet Show. Um, in a second I'll give you details.
So he wants, oh, this is going to take place at the Wayland School of Music Abroad Program. So they're asking for funding. So they take a bunch of schools, um, musicians abroad to play. And, um, I'm trying to see where they're going this year, but, um, they will be going somewhere in Europe. And, um, they're asking for donations to that. So it'll be Wayland kids playing abroad. But, um, so on, on the page, it says, Bad Andy, Good Trumpet will present a free community event at the Wayland School of Music in the Harvard Music Association, United Global Artistry, and Wayland. Yes. Oh, okay. Okay. So they are, they are presenting it locally. They're presenting it locally, yeah. And it's going to be live stream. Is the Wayland School of Music a private organization? Yes.
It's not connected to the, uh, our school system. All right. So we're, again, saying 100% of partial. So, um, let's start with Naresh.
Yeah. I would say give them 50%.
Mariam? I would do 250.
You would do 250 or 50%. No, less than 50%. Okay. So that's, okay. 25%. Okay. Um, Marie? I, I was going to say yes with 50. 50. Okay.
Donna? 50%.
Kevin?
Kevin, can you hear us?
All right. Let's come back to Kevin. Charles? Um, I'm in favor of 25%.
Mustafa? I think 50% is good. Indian? 50%.
Kevin, can you hear us? Um, I'd say a hundred percent. Okay. All right. So I'm at 50% too. So, um, we will give them 50%. I'm going to reduce that amount here. So that we can see the numbers. Okay. Okay. There's also the mocktails and melodies asking for a full amount. Sorry. Um, okay. Let me see where that is. Can you tell me? Council on Aging. Okay. Yes. Okay. So let's go there. Council on Aging is asking for a 1100 for mocktails and melodies. So the idea is that they will have music and learn how to make mocktails. Or enjoy mocktails or something. Um, okay. Let's vote. 100% or partial. I'll start with Charles. Come on. Avlade, what are they asking? 1100.
Um, 100%. Mariam? 100%. Kevin? 100%. Marie? 50%. Aresh? No, 50%. Donna? 50.
Indian? 50.
Mustafa? 50%.
And I'm at 50% as well. So we're going to reduce that. 550. And then we're going to see, we have 360 still to reduce. Um, so now, um, I want to look at, I want to, I want to see which ones we reduced so that we don't lose count of those. We did use this and we did used.
Um. So, um, can we take a look at the World Cup fan draw from the Metro West tourism?
Can you tell me what? Number eight. It's a line eight on your. Okay. Line eight on my. So it's number seven. Okay. Yes. So this is, I'm trying to read.
Yeah. So, you know, uh, the World Cup is going to be, uh, one of the events, one of the host, uh, stadiums is Gillette stadium. Right. So, um, uh, not quite Metro West, but it's the Metro West bureau is, I guess, doing something with the fan zone, but they're going to be hosting most of the events in Bramingham. So I was wondering, um, why did most people vote agree on this one? Because I remember already disagree because it's not going to be held in Wayland. Um, and, um, I don't know the, the world cup is a, you know, a major event. I guess it would be cultural, but it's more sports. Um, and I'm a soccer fan. I don't know why, um, go ahead. No, I just want to say, I agree with you.
That we should probably not fund them. Right. Yeah. All right. So let's take this up for vote again. It's the Metro West tourism visitors bureau. That's asking for $500 to have a fan zone in Framingham. Um, yeah, their budget is 67,000. Yeah. That's a huge budget. It's a huge budget. What exactly goes on in the fan zone? So they watch games to get less. So let me read it out. Um, they'll spend time in three communities. From June to, uh, July, June 11th. The fan zone will include world cup watch parties, food trucks, art, um, crafts and arts fairs, and other soccer related vendors, vendor activities and live music.
So even though they're going to do it in three places, Marlboro, Franklin and Framingham, the idea is to attract people from the neighboring communities who are soccer fans to come and watch them. I would say yes to the full amount. Cause I don't think we're going to get anything world cup related closer to Weyland than this. Okay. So, um, let's start. So let me do two things. One is people who are for funding, right? So Noresh is not for funding. Mariam, you seem to be for funding.
Donna, do you want to fund them or not? I couldn't give you funding. Marie, I can't. Marie, um, if you're talking, I can't hear you. I'll come back. Kevin, do you think we should fund them? I'm, um. Um, Charles? Uh, at $500, yes. Um, Indian? Um, I think we should not fund them. Mustafa? I also think we should not fund them. Marie, can you hear us now? You lose Marie, I think. Yes.
Yeah. I don't see her there.
I don't want to make the decision of funding or not funding without her vote. Um, let's see if she comes back. Um, so what do you guys think about funding them $140? So that would give us our, uh, balanced budget. So out of $500, how much are you suggesting? 140. 140.
I'm just doing math, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not doing any. It's shrinking. Yeah. All right. Let's see $140. Um, let's go. Donna, do you agree to the $140? Yes. Okay. Okay. And Naresh, you proposed it, so you are agreeing. Uh, Charles? Yes, I'm in favor.
Kevin? Um, for none. Okay. Mariam?
I would rather wait until we go over the other stuff that are not happening in Weyland.
Okay. Um, so I think everything else is, uh, the Scottish festival is not happening in Weyland. That's the other thing. Um, but otherwise everything else is happening in Weyland. So the Discovery, um, the Discovery Museum. Um, yeah, Discovery Museum. Is that happening in Weyland? No. Well, it's the Discovery Museum. It's, it's in, uh, Acton. Acton. Acton. The museum is in Acton, yes. Yeah. Yeah. So, if we take... How much is the Scottish festival asking for? A thousand. A thousand. No, is that it? Sorry. Where is the Scottish festival? I just lost it. It's about the... Right on top of. Yeah. How much? It is asking for a thousand. Would we have enough to at least either give them... If we don't have enough to give them a thousand, could we at least give them five hundred? I mean, yeah, we can, we can reduce that. So, um, what if we, so the two things, the World Cup fan zone and this, right? So what we, if we reduce it equally, right? Um, reduce vote by 50%? Is that what your proposed in front of it? No, not reduce by 50%, but make it so that we come, we recover the 360. Right, right, okay. What do you think?
Murray, sorry, um, I didn't want to vote on this before I heard yours, um, thing. Can you hear me now? Yes, yes. Oh good, thank heavens. All right, I lost my connection. All right. So we were, when we, when we lost you, we were talking about the soccer World Cup fan zone. Yeah, actually you lost me before that, but can you hear me? Because I keep saying it's not responding. It is, I, we, we can hear you, yeah. Okay, fine. Okay, so, um, the World Cup soccer, I just thought it would be fun because it was something global, but if you voted no, I'm, I'm with, I'm with that. No, we voted yes for funding them, um, partially. Okay, and what was the partial? Um, initially, uh, Naresh suggested 140, so that will kind of bring us down, um, to the, you know, the, uh, uh, exact amount that we have. Okay, okay. Um, the other thing that they brought up is the Scottish festival. Yes, I've heard that, okay. So, we could kind of distribute the 360 between them and give both of them a little less. Works for me. Yeah, it works for me too. So, let's say yes. Yes, it works for me, yes. Okay, I'll have to do an official vote. So, Naresh, does that work for you? Well, let me ask you this. Yeah. If we're going to give the Scottish festival money, how much, how much would we be giving them? So, if we take away, so 360, so that would be?
180 plus. 180, sorry, thank you. 180, so it will be 720, no, 800. So, 820 is what would we be giving them? To the World Cup or the Scottish? Yeah. I'm sorry. 820 for the Scottish and 320 for the World Cup. Okay. Okay, all right. I'm in favor of that. Okay. Naresh, are you in favor of this distribution?
Marie, are you in favor of this distribution? Yes.
Charles, are you in favor of this distribution? Sorry, yes. Mariam, are you in favor of this distribution? Sure. Donna, are you in favor of this distribution? Yes. Nian? Yes. Taffa? Yes, I'm in favor. All right, so unanimously, we are in favor of this distribution. So, 820 for the Scottish festival and 324 World Cup soccer zone. So, we are all in agreement, I will send out, let's, I will, the things that we are disagreeing, I will send out the email right away. We are supposed to think about this. So, we will get back together. Sorry. Okay, I just have a question. When's, when's the Scottish festival in Acton? Isn't it, didn't we, isn't it in July or something? Yes. It's not. Yes, it's in summer.
All right. Well, we don't have a date on that, do we? Let me check. I don't think there was a date. We did. Okay.
July 11th. July 11th. Okay. We do have a date. All right, thank you. All right. So, the process now is that I will send out the letters to those who did not get the grant. And let me stop sharing. You can all see each other. Okay. And we, we have to give ourselves some time to make sure that we are okay with, with the distribution amounts and everything else of the rest of it. So, I will check in with all of you on by email by end of the month that we are all okay. And at which time I will send out acceptance letters to everybody else. Does that work for everybody? Yes, thank you. That works for me. Yeah, it does. Okay. All right. Thank you all for participating and just actually finishing this in an hour. I'm, I'm very proud of us. Um, I thought we're going to take more time, but, um, thank you. Thank you. And have a wonderful holiday season, all of you. And I will talk to you. Are we, are we not going to, uh, do the minutes or no? We will do the minutes. Oh yes. We have to vote on the minutes. Sorry. Thank you for reminding me, Marie. Yeah. It needs some changes though. Okay. Tell me, tell me what changes. All right. All right. I don't have it in front of me exactly. But I think on the October, there's a spelling of Wayland that is W-H-E-L-A-N. Okay. Okay. I think it should be Wayland. It's there twice. Okay. And my name, my name is misspelled on every document. That's another one. Okay. And on the November 12th, uh, they had, uh, I think it was me seconding the closing the meeting, but I, I watched the video and it was Miriam that did it. Okay. So Miriam should be put down. Um, that's, that's all I can remember off the top of my head. I had to say that. Can you, um, if you have marked it up, can you send that to me so that I can correct it and send it? Okay, I can. All right. So with these corrections, do we have a motion to pass the minutes for October and November? I motion to pass the minutes. We have a second. With, with changes, um, the changes that Marie suggested. Yeah, contingent on the changes.
Second. Thank you. So that motion passes and we will, once I make the changes, I will distribute it once again to all of you and I will send it out. All right. Um, do we have a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn meeting. Okay. Do I have a second? Again. Thank you. All right. So, um, the, um, motion to adjourn is unanimously passed.
I make a motion that we begin the meeting. Thank you, Kevin. Do I have a second? I second. Thank you, Mustafa.
So, this is a roll call. So, we have Mustafa, just say, here. Here. Marie. Here. Naresh. Here. Mariam. Here. Kevin. Here. Inyan. Here. Missing are Charles and Donna.
Today, we're going to finalize the grant decision. We had an initial vote, and I am going to share a spreadsheet now. Naresh, do you have a spreadsheet that you want to share? I do not. I do not. Okay. So, I will share a spreadsheet with the vote distribution as it stands right now, and we will go over this. So, this spreadsheet just has the bare details. It has the name of the applicant. It has the applicant's city. The project title, the total project expenses, the amount requested, and the initial vote. Right? So, when I tallied it up, so the things that have agreed and are highlighted are very marginally agreed. So, let's, what I want to go through first is all the disagrees and make sure that we are disagreeing on them so that we can remove them completely from the count. Right? I'm going to erase this, and we'll do this afterwards. So, if you can identify them by number, because I can't see that particularly well, just by number before you give the rest of the information. Is that okay? Yeah, so it's, it's, it's an, yeah, it's an order anyway. So, number one, Acton Community Center, Child's Play Theater, we had, most of us had disagreed. Does anybody else have any other arguments for us to give them the grant?
No, I'm willing to go along with it this year with our numbers the way they are. Okay, so, are we okay with refusing the grant to them? Yes. Okay, perfect, so I will, okay, then we have number 14, which is the Sudbury Savoyards.
The project title is Gondoliers, they're from Sudbury. We had a disagree on them. Does anybody have an opinion about?
Welcome, Donna. Hi, don't we?
Okay. I'll let it go, too. Okay. Are we agreed that we're going to refuse them the grant? Yes.
The other ones, there was a contention for both the public library ones, that is, we had equal agree and disagree. So, we either vote again.
So, I think we will vote again. So, let's first take the Conversations for Change, which is number 19. You know, I thought I had pretty much, I was heavily involved in that. And I thought I'd better, I don't know, abstain. Abstain. Thank you. Okay. I think I'd better abstain from now. That's fine. So, I'll go around the table and let's see if Indian and Mustafa, I'll give you a minute to read it up. It's what it is in your spreadsheet that I sent you. So, I'll start with Naresh. Naresh, do you agree or disagree? Okay. Agree. Okay. Donna?
So, I'll be, for the Conversations for Change, the donation for $1,000 would be? Don't worry about the amount. No, no, no. I'm just saying, for that program, conversations for change and the juggler performance, Henry the juggler. So, it's not, it's not between, it's, don't, don't think about it as this versus that. Do you agree to support Conversations for Change?
Yes.
Marie? Oh, you're abstaining. I'm abstaining, yep. Mariam?
Yes, 100%. I attended one of the sessions and I think they're really important.
Kevin? I'll abstain on that one. Okay. Um, Indian? Wow.
Um, not sure. I'll abstain, I guess. You'll abstain, okay. Mustafa?
Um, before I say anything, I just want to let you know that the spreadsheet you sent us, we can only see half of the description. It's not letting us look at the entire thing. Okay. Or, I can, wait, let me try something. If you download it, you can, like, uh, expand the self. Oh, okay. Okay, thank you. Um, I will, I will agree.
Um, and I agree as well. So, we have three abstains and five agrees. So, I think we will go ahead with this.
Okay. Uh, and the second Wayland one, Henry the Juggler performance for kids.
Um, Naresh? I disagree. I disagree. I would not to, yeah, not to find this one.
Um, can I just get like a minute? Sure. I'll come back to you. Um, Marie?
Um.
So, it's number 20. Uh, I mean, we've done it in the past and I like to do, I like to contribute to them because they're so heavily, um, used by Wayland people. But, that's why I like it. This one was a hard one for me to vote on. Yeah. Um, I was gonna, I, all right. My initial thing was to say yes on this one. Okay. Okay. Miriam?
I would rather use the money elsewhere.
Donna?
Agree or disagree? I would say, uh, I'll agree with this. Kevin? I'll disagree on this one.
Mustafa? I think I'm gonna disagree with this one as well.
Okay. Indian? I think I'll agree on this one. Agree. Okay. So, we do have a tie. You know, um, there's, I agree to. So, there's four agrees and four disagrees. Um, so, I will give you all a minute. So, let's come back to this at the end after we go through the others. Okay. And we will figure this out. Okay. And then we have the last one, 24, York, Matt, uh, Willie Nelson, um, so we were neutral on that. So, do you all want to go read that once more and then let me know? Does, what, what's the difference between neutral and contention? Contention, so there was a agree, disagree, neutral. There were three votes. Yeah. So, uh, the neutral kind of won over. Contention is where agree and disagree were equal. And so, and so neutral would, neutral would be like people didn't agree or disagree or? Exactly. Okay. Thank you. So, um, let, let's go over that again. Um, I can start with Marie.
For the Willie Nelson? Yeah. I'm going.
I'll open. Let's see. Um, he's not a priority on this one. Agree or disagree? I agree. To fund or to, to not fund? Yes. To, to not, not funding. Agree to not fund? Not funding. Okay. So, okay. I'll agree to not fund, I guess. Okay. Um, Indian? Um, I disagree.
So, you don't want to fund them? Right. Yes. Mustafa? I think that we should not fund them.
Donna? Yes, I'd say yes to not funding them. Mariam? Um, also disagree. Naresh? I disagree. Don't fund them. Kevin? I'll disagree on this one. Okay. So, this is kind of unanimous. So, it shouldn't have been neutral. So, this is a disagree. Well, I liked it because it lent it, uh, some, uh, variety to the offering. He is different and I did watch the video. And he's good. But, um, let's, yeah, let me just go on. Um, let me just go on one one.
All right. Um, and then we only have one more thing that to the, uh, Henry the juggler. Um, I'll be ready to vote again on that or do we want some more time? Yeah, I'm not changing my vote. So, I'm ready whenever. Um, I'd like to vote yes on that because it's a children's offering at the public library. I think it's the one for this cycle. That's why I would like to vote for that. Okay. Okay. Um, anybody change their mind about it? Because we had, we had a tie. Um, I, I will change my mind.
Mustafa, go ahead. Oh, no. Sorry. I just wanted to say that I think we can use the money for something else that, um, that could be more beneficial.
Did you, in the first round, did you vote disagree or agree? I, yeah, I don't think we should give the money. No, but in the first round, did you vote disagree or agree? Disagree. Okay. So, we still have a tie. Um, I'm changing my, my vote. I think what Marie said makes sense. There is not other children programming that we're funding in Wayland. Okay. All right. So, the agrees win by one vote unless somebody else wants to change their mind.
All right. So, this is an agreement as well. Okay. So, now, um, let's do this. It's not working.
Okay. So, we're still way over what we have. Mm-hmm. Um, Nuresh, can you remind us of how much we have? One, zero, eight, two, five. Okay. Okay. So, that's how much we have. So, we need.
See, in my notes, I only granted about $7,000. So, I mean, because we have a little more leeway than I thought.
Yeah. Um, so, so, we need to reduce this by at least $2,360. So, let's start going. Where did you say we are now? With these? We are at $13,185. Okay. So, we need to bring it down to $10,825. Uh, can I just ask a quick question? Yes. So, the $13,185 is the total amount that we have agreed to fund. But $10,800. No. No, it is not. It's not agreed to. We have agreed to fund them. But the amount is at our discretion. Okay. So, they have asked. So, the total ask is for $13,185. We can reduce people's numbers and, um. And so, the $10,825 is the amount we are trying to cap to give? Yes. That's all we have to, to give. So, that's our budget. $10,825 is our budget. And is our goal to give all the money? Or do we want to save some? Or is, is. We have already, um, done that, right? Like, we've put aside some money, Nuresh. Yeah. So, we actually have $11,860 to give. But in the last meeting, we voted to save $1,035 for our own purposes. Right? So, I'm subtracting that to get $10,85. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. And, um, Mustafa Ninian, I do send out meeting, uh, minutes. So, if you haven't attended a meeting, read them because they're pretty detailed. So, uh. Thank you. Might help, Pallavi, if in this box that you have right there. Yeah. Just type in $10,35 and say, uh, for WCC funded, uh, separate funding. Yeah. Something like that. For our own. Yeah.
Would any of that change since the, uh. The, uh, HRDIC is not going to use the, the fund we set aside. So, if you didn't set aside any. Specific. Yeah. So, so. We just set aside to support anything, right? So, we still have two, two different ones that will, I, um, that we can fund. And we can also figure out something. I don't know if you guys saw it, but so, uh, yeah, so yeah, it doesn't change, Miriam. Okay. Okay. All right. So, let's go. So, first thing I want to do is look at the budget versus what they're asking. Kind of see what percentage they're asking. Like, for example, women of Ireland is asking a hundred percent. Um, so is Dennis Weiss. Um, so, and, and whereas you can see that the robotics team is asking a very small percent. So, do we want to, um, fund a hundred percent of these or, or say that, hey, you know, there is, there is room, you can, you can, you can always go for less and you can seek funding elsewhere. So, let's start to look at that. Can I ask, can I ask a question first? Yes. Um, for people who are return grantees, do we know how much we funded? I think it would be helpful to know how much they were given last year so we can assess how much we want to give this year. Last year, we, I, um, I have, I don't have the numbers from last year, do you? I have the numbers that won't be funded last year. I sure do. Let me find it. Well, I downloaded, didn't have it.
It is on the, I know we had a spreadsheet somewhere.
Yeah, I, I downloaded one, but it only has like, um, up, uh, problems ACG and I didn't give the dollar.
Um, yeah, it was, you know, when you go back the past years, past, when, past cycles, I should.
Yeah, um, let me see. But we have to go to the end of the dollar. Yeah, um, no, I'll find it. Okay.
We have about 10 new feet open. Sorry? We have about 10 grants from last year that we applied this year. Um, we did, I remember sending, um, a spreadsheet to everybody. I'm sorry, I'm not finding it.
But in general, I, um, the rule of thumb is we shouldn't be thinking about that. We should be looking at the merits of the program, um, as is and deciding on that rather than thinking about past and future and so on.
Does that help?
Sure. Okay. So I'm just going to start from the bottom. Um, women of Valen podcast, their budget is a thousand. They're asking for a thousand. Um, the first vote is do we all agree that we should be, we should give them the whole thing. Um, Marie?
Yes.
Donna?
Yes. Hello? Yes. Okay. Yeah, I think we should give them, uh, 50%. Maria?
Uh, I think full percent. Full? Okay.
Kevin? This is the one for Valen, right? Yeah, it's the Valen women's podcast.
A hundred percent. Um, welcome, Charles. Um, Charles, what do you think? We should give the women of Valen podcast a hundred percent? Or something less?
We can't hear you if you're speaking.
All right. Um, while you figure that out, I'm going to go to Mustafa.
Um, I agree to give a hundred percent.
Indian? A hundred percent. So we will leave it at a hundred percent and we'll come back if there's anything else. Um, Dennis Weiss.
So are we going to give a hundred percent of what he's asking? So, um, again, I'll start with Marie. Can you come back to me on that one? Oh, here we go. It's wise. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I always have a question about these. And so, is this something the school will actually want to give? I, I usually, uh, like look for a letter of support from the school or something. They actually want to do this. And I'm never clear about these, uh, people, uh, who offer programs. So I'm always never clear about that. So it's something that he will offer to the school. The school can take it or not. Okay. So we can pay them or not, depending on what they say. I can. No, we can't do that. So. Well, I know. I mean, we won't pay them. We won't pay them if he, if he doesn't give it. Correct? He has to. No. No. No. Once the, once we have agreed to the grant, we give it, um, he could do it in another school. You know, uh, but he has to show that, um, he, it costs him something to do it. Right. Like, so when he submits for reimbursement, he has to prove that he's done it. So it doesn't necessarily have to be in Wayland.
Oh, that's tricky. Okay. Oh, I don't have to think about that as a second. Would you help someone else to pull people in? Sure. Maria? Maybe, uh, we should hear from any Indian if they think this will go over well at the Wayland High School or not.
Uh, me personally. Yeah. I feel like these have always kind of been, like, out of touch. That's how I view it. So it's up to me. I wouldn't do it. Yeah. I agree as well. It's always, like, they, they, I don't, I don't see any valuable effects or changes coming from them, from these types of things. I think there are better ways that, like, school, like, the schools can communicate with the students how these are wrong. Um, yeah. Yeah, that's pretty much what I think. Can I just ask, so you'd rather see them come from the school itself, as opposed to bringing someone else in? Is that what you're saying? Or is it something else? I can't, I can't, I can't hear you. Do you mind repeating your question? Oh, dear. Can you hear me now? Yes. Okay. I'm just asking, if it comes from the school directly, does it have more value? Or is this just a general comment on this type of program? No, it's just a general type of comment. Like, there, I've experienced both, uh, where it comes directly from the school, and also where they bring an outside speaker. And yes, sometimes the outside speaker, you know, can, you know, like, they, they, they make a couple students, you know, connect with them, but the overarching majority, the overwhelming majority doesn't, doesn't have any effect on them. So that's why I don't agree with giving, with this type of method. Yeah. I think in this case here, we should suggest to the applicants, yeah, the applicants need to, um, provide some kind of recommendation from the school or something like that, if they want to do stuff like that. Yeah. And I also just, Can I just ask a clarifying question? Um, so for this specifically, is the school asking for the, the money to teach this to the kids, or is there an outside organization asking so they can give this to the kids? So the outside organization is asking so they can present it to the kids. Okay. Thank you. Um, should we, should I tell you what? Yeah. Sorry. Should I tell you what I think we should do as the budget or? Um, yes. So the, the question in front of us was, should we give a hundred percent of what they're asking or not? But having heard both of you, I want to take this back to vote again, of whether we should fund them at all or not. Um, does anybody agree about that? Yes, I do. Yes, me too. I second that. Okay. Okay. So let's take this back to vote, um, whether we agree to fund them or not. So funding them, agree or disagree? Um, Marie? No, no vote. Uh, yeah, disagree. Okay. Nuresh? Yep. I disagree. We should not vote for this.
Do not fund this. Sorry. Mariam? I would say partial funding.
Coming directly to the William High School or anything and hearing from both the young participants. No. Charles, I'm still unable to hear you. Is anybody else able to hear Charles? No, no. No. Can you put it in the chat, Charles, so I can get a vote from you?
Um, in the meantime, I'm going to go to Kevin. Is this on the, this one is still on the women's, um. No, no. We are at Dennis Weiss. It's number 22. Um, we're talking about the theft of dignity. So it's about the anti-bullying. I wouldn't fund it.
All right. Um, do I have a chat from Charles? I don't see the chat button at all. Do you guys see it? Yeah. I don't think there's a chat. Can you hear me now? Yes, Charles. Hi. Sorry about that. No worries. Okay. So can I just hear your vote before I finalize? Yes. I'm, I'm sorry. Uh, I can't walk and chew gum. Uh, can you repeat the, the prompt or what we're voting on? Okay. So it is number 22, uh, two on the, on the panel book. It's Dennis Weiss, and he is proposing to do a session on anti-bullying in the, in different schools. Yes. Um, if we have the funds, a hundred percent. Okay. Okay. So we still have the no's that, uh, outweigh the yes's. So we are not going to fund them. Um, what does that bring our number to? Yeah, I'm going to do that. So this is, so that brings our number down to 12, to, uh, 12,000 to 35. We still have a thousand four hundred and ten to, um, to decide on. Okay. Okay. So now we have the juggler performance, which is asked for 450. Um, are we going to fund them fully? So is that the library one? That's the library one for the children. So, um, so Charles, juggler performance for the library for the children. Yes, no, sorry. I'm looking at this on my phone. Is it, um, the ask is 450? No, it's for 450. Uh, yes. Um, I'm in favor. A hundred percent? Uh, yes.
Okay. Naresh? Yep. A hundred percent.
Marie? Yes. A hundred percent.
Donna? Yes. A hundred percent. Yes. A hundred percent funding.
Yes. A hundred percent. Maryam? Yes. A hundred percent.
Inyan? A hundred percent. Mustafa? One hundred percent. Okay. So this unanimously gets a hundred percent.
The conversations for change from, from the valent public, oh, that's, they're asking for a percentage. Let's, let's go over some of the ones that are asking a hundred percent. Um, Chris Swanson's songs and stories music concert. It's 225. They're asking for 225. Their budget is 225. Where are they performing this?
So they want to be able to perform it at our, um, if I'm not mistaken, at our Council on Aging. But let me, let me clarify that. I can tell you that he has a, a lot of recommendations from the Council on Aging. Yes. Yeah. You know.
Yes. So they're, uh, going to perform it at our Council on Aging. And It says Marlboro. He's from Marlboro, but he's performing. He's from Marlboro, but he's going to perform at our Council. So. Is that a hundred percent or could it be similar to the Dennis Wise situation? So, um, I'm asking right now for a vote of whether we give a hundred percent or partial. I meant, is it a hundred percent that the performance is happening in Weyland or can they go back on that?
So they are proposing to, um, present it at the, the, uh, Weyland Council on Aging, right?
So, which means that we will expect them to do that. But, so they're saying either the senior center or the library, depending on who would like to host us. And this is a trio. It's not just one person. Yeah, it is a trio.
That's good to me. I think for a hundred percent. So let's start the vote. Naresh. Thank you. Naresh is at a hundred percent. Mariam.
Sure.
Marie. Yes.
Donna. Yes. Kevin.
Yes. Charles. Yes. Union. Yes. Mustafa. Yes. Okay. I'm a yes too. So this also passes a hundred percent unanimously. Then we have number 13, David Politan, music from Memphis. So let me look at that.
He is from Natick, but I'll let you know in a second what he's proposed, where he's proposing to do this. So, sorry, it's number 11, David Politan number 11.
So he's proposing to do it at the Wayland Senior Center as well. I don't know what that's going on. I don't know what that's going on. So, let's go for the vote. A hundred percent or partial. I'm going to start with Charles.
Given the amount, I'm in favor of a hundred percent.
Kevin.
Yes. A hundred percent. Donna.
Yes. A hundred percent. Mariam. Yes. A hundred percent. Marie. Yes. A hundred percent. Because I, because of the variety it adds. Noorish. Sure. A hundred percent. Okay. Indian. Yes. A hundred percent. Mustafa. One hundred percent.
All right. So this also passes one hundred percent. Okay. And that's it for, oh no, there's one more. Andrew Hans. So this will be in number four. Um, he is from Natick as well. And he wants to do the, uh, Bad Andy, Good Andy, Bad Andy Trumpet Show. Um, in a second I'll give you details.
So he wants, oh, this is going to take place at the Wayland School of Music Abroad Program. So they're asking for funding. So they take a bunch of schools, um, musicians abroad to play. And, um, I'm trying to see where they're going this year, but, um, they will be going somewhere in Europe. And, um, they're asking for donations to that. So it'll be Wayland kids playing abroad. But, um, so on, on the page, it says, Bad Andy, Good Trumpet will present a free community event at the Wayland School of Music in the Harvard Music Association, United Global Artistry, and Wayland. Yes. Oh, okay. Okay. So they are, they are presenting it locally. They're presenting it locally, yeah. And it's going to be live stream. Is the Wayland School of Music a private organization? Yes.
It's not connected to the, uh, our school system. All right. So we're, again, saying 100% of partial. So, um, let's start with Naresh.
Yeah. I would say give them 50%.
Mariam? I would do 250.
You would do 250 or 50%. No, less than 50%. Okay. So that's, okay. 25%. Okay. Um, Marie? I, I was going to say yes with 50. 50. Okay.
Donna? 50%.
Kevin?
Kevin, can you hear us?
All right. Let's come back to Kevin. Charles? Um, I'm in favor of 25%.
Mustafa? I think 50% is good. Indian? 50%.
Kevin, can you hear us? Um, I'd say a hundred percent. Okay. All right. So I'm at 50% too. So, um, we will give them 50%. I'm going to reduce that amount here. So that we can see the numbers. Okay. Okay. There's also the mocktails and melodies asking for a full amount. Sorry. Um, okay. Let me see where that is. Can you tell me? Council on Aging. Okay. Yes. Okay. So let's go there. Council on Aging is asking for a 1100 for mocktails and melodies. So the idea is that they will have music and learn how to make mocktails. Or enjoy mocktails or something. Um, okay. Let's vote. 100% or partial. I'll start with Charles. Come on. Avlade, what are they asking? 1100.
Um, 100%. Mariam? 100%. Kevin? 100%. Marie? 50%. Aresh? No, 50%. Donna? 50.
Indian? 50.
Mustafa? 50%.
And I'm at 50% as well. So we're going to reduce that. 550. And then we're going to see, we have 360 still to reduce. Um, so now, um, I want to look at, I want to, I want to see which ones we reduced so that we don't lose count of those. We did use this and we did used.
Um. So, um, can we take a look at the World Cup fan draw from the Metro West tourism?
Can you tell me what? Number eight. It's a line eight on your. Okay. Line eight on my. So it's number seven. Okay. Yes. So this is, I'm trying to read.
Yeah. So, you know, uh, the World Cup is going to be, uh, one of the events, one of the host, uh, stadiums is Gillette stadium. Right. So, um, uh, not quite Metro West, but it's the Metro West bureau is, I guess, doing something with the fan zone, but they're going to be hosting most of the events in Bramingham. So I was wondering, um, why did most people vote agree on this one? Because I remember already disagree because it's not going to be held in Wayland. Um, and, um, I don't know the, the world cup is a, you know, a major event. I guess it would be cultural, but it's more sports. Um, and I'm a soccer fan. I don't know why, um, go ahead. No, I just want to say, I agree with you.
That we should probably not fund them. Right. Yeah. All right. So let's take this up for vote again. It's the Metro West tourism visitors bureau. That's asking for $500 to have a fan zone in Framingham. Um, yeah, their budget is 67,000. Yeah. That's a huge budget. It's a huge budget. What exactly goes on in the fan zone? So they watch games to get less. So let me read it out. Um, they'll spend time in three communities. From June to, uh, July, June 11th. The fan zone will include world cup watch parties, food trucks, art, um, crafts and arts fairs, and other soccer related vendors, vendor activities and live music.
So even though they're going to do it in three places, Marlboro, Franklin and Framingham, the idea is to attract people from the neighboring communities who are soccer fans to come and watch them. I would say yes to the full amount. Cause I don't think we're going to get anything world cup related closer to Weyland than this. Okay. So, um, let's start. So let me do two things. One is people who are for funding, right? So Noresh is not for funding. Mariam, you seem to be for funding.
Donna, do you want to fund them or not? I couldn't give you funding. Marie, I can't. Marie, um, if you're talking, I can't hear you. I'll come back. Kevin, do you think we should fund them? I'm, um. Um, Charles? Uh, at $500, yes. Um, Indian? Um, I think we should not fund them. Mustafa? I also think we should not fund them. Marie, can you hear us now? You lose Marie, I think. Yes.
Yeah. I don't see her there.
I don't want to make the decision of funding or not funding without her vote. Um, let's see if she comes back. Um, so what do you guys think about funding them $140? So that would give us our, uh, balanced budget. So out of $500, how much are you suggesting? 140. 140.
I'm just doing math, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not doing any. It's shrinking. Yeah. All right. Let's see $140. Um, let's go. Donna, do you agree to the $140? Yes. Okay. Okay. And Naresh, you proposed it, so you are agreeing. Uh, Charles? Yes, I'm in favor.
Kevin? Um, for none. Okay. Mariam?
I would rather wait until we go over the other stuff that are not happening in Weyland.
Okay. Um, so I think everything else is, uh, the Scottish festival is not happening in Weyland. That's the other thing. Um, but otherwise everything else is happening in Weyland. So the Discovery, um, the Discovery Museum. Um, yeah, Discovery Museum. Is that happening in Weyland? No. Well, it's the Discovery Museum. It's, it's in, uh, Acton. Acton. Acton. The museum is in Acton, yes. Yeah. Yeah. So, if we take... How much is the Scottish festival asking for? A thousand. A thousand. No, is that it? Sorry. Where is the Scottish festival? I just lost it. It's about the... Right on top of. Yeah. How much? It is asking for a thousand. Would we have enough to at least either give them... If we don't have enough to give them a thousand, could we at least give them five hundred? I mean, yeah, we can, we can reduce that. So, um, what if we, so the two things, the World Cup fan zone and this, right? So what we, if we reduce it equally, right? Um, reduce vote by 50%? Is that what your proposed in front of it? No, not reduce by 50%, but make it so that we come, we recover the 360. Right, right, okay. What do you think?
Murray, sorry, um, I didn't want to vote on this before I heard yours, um, thing. Can you hear me now? Yes, yes. Oh good, thank heavens. All right, I lost my connection. All right. So we were, when we, when we lost you, we were talking about the soccer World Cup fan zone. Yeah, actually you lost me before that, but can you hear me? Because I keep saying it's not responding. It is, I, we, we can hear you, yeah. Okay, fine. Okay, so, um, the World Cup soccer, I just thought it would be fun because it was something global, but if you voted no, I'm, I'm with, I'm with that. No, we voted yes for funding them, um, partially. Okay, and what was the partial? Um, initially, uh, Naresh suggested 140, so that will kind of bring us down, um, to the, you know, the, uh, uh, exact amount that we have. Okay, okay. Um, the other thing that they brought up is the Scottish festival. Yes, I've heard that, okay. So, we could kind of distribute the 360 between them and give both of them a little less. Works for me. Yeah, it works for me too. So, let's say yes. Yes, it works for me, yes. Okay, I'll have to do an official vote. So, Naresh, does that work for you? Well, let me ask you this. Yeah. If we're going to give the Scottish festival money, how much, how much would we be giving them? So, if we take away, so 360, so that would be?
180 plus. 180, sorry, thank you. 180, so it will be 720, no, 800. So, 820 is what would we be giving them? To the World Cup or the Scottish? Yeah. I'm sorry. 820 for the Scottish and 320 for the World Cup. Okay. Okay, all right. I'm in favor of that. Okay. Naresh, are you in favor of this distribution?
Marie, are you in favor of this distribution? Yes.
Charles, are you in favor of this distribution? Sorry, yes. Mariam, are you in favor of this distribution? Sure. Donna, are you in favor of this distribution? Yes. Nian? Yes. Taffa? Yes, I'm in favor. All right, so unanimously, we are in favor of this distribution. So, 820 for the Scottish festival and 324 World Cup soccer zone. So, we are all in agreement, I will send out, let's, I will, the things that we are disagreeing, I will send out the email right away. We are supposed to think about this. So, we will get back together. Sorry. Okay, I just have a question. When's, when's the Scottish festival in Acton? Isn't it, didn't we, isn't it in July or something? Yes. It's not. Yes, it's in summer.
All right. Well, we don't have a date on that, do we? Let me check. I don't think there was a date. We did. Okay.
July 11th. July 11th. Okay. We do have a date. All right, thank you. All right. So, the process now is that I will send out the letters to those who did not get the grant. And let me stop sharing. You can all see each other. Okay. And we, we have to give ourselves some time to make sure that we are okay with, with the distribution amounts and everything else of the rest of it. So, I will check in with all of you on by email by end of the month that we are all okay. And at which time I will send out acceptance letters to everybody else. Does that work for everybody? Yes, thank you. That works for me. Yeah, it does. Okay. All right. Thank you all for participating and just actually finishing this in an hour. I'm, I'm very proud of us. Um, I thought we're going to take more time, but, um, thank you. Thank you. And have a wonderful holiday season, all of you. And I will talk to you. Are we, are we not going to, uh, do the minutes or no? We will do the minutes. Oh yes. We have to vote on the minutes. Sorry. Thank you for reminding me, Marie. Yeah. It needs some changes though. Okay. Tell me, tell me what changes. All right. All right. I don't have it in front of me exactly. But I think on the October, there's a spelling of Wayland that is W-H-E-L-A-N. Okay. Okay. I think it should be Wayland. It's there twice. Okay. And my name, my name is misspelled on every document. That's another one. Okay. And on the November 12th, uh, they had, uh, I think it was me seconding the closing the meeting, but I, I watched the video and it was Miriam that did it. Okay. So Miriam should be put down. Um, that's, that's all I can remember off the top of my head. I had to say that. Can you, um, if you have marked it up, can you send that to me so that I can correct it and send it? Okay, I can. All right. So with these corrections, do we have a motion to pass the minutes for October and November? I motion to pass the minutes. We have a second. With, with changes, um, the changes that Marie suggested. Yeah, contingent on the changes.
Second. Thank you. So that motion passes and we will, once I make the changes, I will distribute it once again to all of you and I will send it out. All right. Um, do we have a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn meeting. Okay. Do I have a second? Again. Thank you. All right. So, um, the, um, motion to adjourn is unanimously passed.