Select Board - October 8, 2026

So I call the Thursday, October 8th meeting of the Select Board to order. Mr. Chairman?

Thank you, Chairman MacDonald. At this time, I'll call a meeting of The Planning Board to Order.

First item on the agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. Please rise. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. So the first item on the agenda is a joint meeting with the planning board to interview candidates for the planning vacancy. Jonathan Costello, are you here? Amber, do me a favor please. Just one more I'll ask if Jonathan is outside? Nope, okay.

Okay, the next item we have is the official swearing in of firefighters. Mr. Chairman what is the wish of the planning board?

Mr. chairman thank you for recognizing me. with the understanding that Mr. Costello is not here this evening. He was scheduled, just for the public's knowledge he was scheduled for an earlier interview I believe it was at the last planning board meeting. Unfortunately, he couldn't make it. We rescheduled for this evening for 630. Doesn't appear that he's here so at this time I would seek a motion of four. to adjourn the meeting of the planning board so you folks can get on to your meeting.

Second.

Motion made by Mr. McGrail.

I'll make the motion, you can second it.

Thank you. Motion made by Mr. McGrill, Mr. O'Brien for the record if you could Amber, if you can note that Mr. Brian is running late through traffic and he couldn't be here at this time but I'll catch him outside and let them know that we've adjourned. I'll second the motion all in favor? and on the chair vote side. We really appreciate it, thank you members of the select board.

Thank you. Good night. Thank You. Thanks Jim.

Do you want to switch to your... Other seats? Nancy, thank you. Thank you. Yeah, we're gonna list the planning board individual did not show for the interview. So if everybody is out there can we check to see if everybody's there? If they are? If their in let's Let's bring them all in, please. Thank you.

You need a little more space? Yes. You can get a little bit more space now. I know, we're cozy at the end here.

So the new members up here in the front on the right, please. Those that are being promoted. On the left, please Not that I'm separating the firefighters from the officers, I'm not.

and so on.

Couple of seats up front, too. You don't have to stand. If you want to come up front? No? Okay. Thank you.

of the United States.

Everybody all set?

Okay, good evening.

Welcome.

A few minutes early.

Tonight we have the official swearing in of a few promotions as well as some new members. So Chief, turn it over to you please. We will start with the promotions individually then after they get sworn in, they will be pinned individually. The new members will be as a group sworn-in and then individually we'll call up whoever's gonna be pinning you. Chief?

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all for having us here tonight, this is an important event for us we get to promote some new members well promote some long-standing members and welcome aboard for new members, and this is exciting. This is fun for us so we really appreciate that. Tonight first we want to promote from Captain to Deputy Chief, Deputy Chief Tim Jenkins.

By the way, your family members if anybody wants to take pictures you can stand. You can come behind us. You go in front of us whatever you want to do please

Thank you. Hi, Tim Jenkins.

of True Faith and Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. and all who support the Constitution thereof. So help me God, I in state name, I Tim Jenkins do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially and to the best of my ability Delia, performing the duties as a deputy chief

Can you stand? Who are you going to have pin you?

My kids. All right, come on up. Let's see how this is gonna go.

you can go right up in front here

Thank you.

Oh wow.

That's a first.

Chief. Our next promotion is going to be from Lieutenant to Captain, and that's gonna be Captain Eric Levesque

to some of the experts.

Captain, who's going to be pinning you?

That's my son Joshua. You remember him from like five years ago. He was a little shorter than that.

You can get up and go around. There you are.

Our third promotion tonight is from firefighter to lieutenant, and that's gonna be Lieutenant James Sheehan.

I in state name. I, James Sheehan. To Solomon's Square. To the Solomon's square. I will be a true faithful agent. I, Stephen A., do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially and to the best of my ability

Henning Mead, my beautiful wife.

On behalf of the Dedham Fire Department, we're proud to welcome aboard four new firefighters who recently graduated the Mass Fire Academy on October 2nd. We have Brian Fitzpatrick, William Casey, Patrick Cochran and Jeffrey Hickey.

At this time I want you all to reach your right hand and repeat after me.

One at a time, if you could just go in the front and whoever's gonna be pinning you, just tell us who it is. Follow me?

So as I have done for a long time, you're gonna get a chance to say a few words. So if you want to, fine. If you don't that's fine too but we will work our way down start with Deputy Captain Lieutenant and then the four new members so deputy please. If you want to go up and stand with Dad, go ahead. You can. You know what?

All right here.

Here goes number two.

You too, huh? Right here okay? Hello, everyone. I'd like to begin by congratulating the new members of the organization on graduating from the Massachusetts Fire Academy. It takes a lot of hard work to make it through firefighter training and all of you should be extremely proud of your accomplishment. Also, I'd like to congratulate Lieutenant James Sheehan and Captain Eric Levesque on their new roles within the organization. Your hard work and dedication doesn't just meet the standard. It is the standard Good luck in your new positions. I'm truly honored to stand before you tonight as I begin what may be the final chapter of my career, As I thought about what I wanted to say tonight, I realized I kept coming back to the same three groups I felt compelled to address.

Yeah you wanna sit there? You want to take it? First, the organization I'm extremely proud to be a Dedham firefighter. The people I work alongside are committed professionals who continuously train to perfect their craft Your dedication to providing the town of Dedham with the highest level of care, compassion and service motivates me to be the best firefighter I can be every single day. Second, the people of Dedhem You can rest easily knowing that you are protected by some of the finest fire, police and emergency medical professionals anywhere. These men and women train relentlessly to respond to any emergency you may face We are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and we're only a phone call away. Finally my family to my parents, siblings, father-in-law. Thank you for always believing in me.

Your support never wavered and I am forever grateful to my kids Tim, John, Maria and Catherine. And my nieces Sydney, Kelsey and Sophia I hope to make you proud and be someone you can look up to one day. and finally the MVP of our home team, my wife Carolyn. You pushed me to be the best version of myself while I was studying, you were picking up the slack. Yard work, housework and changing more diapers than any one person should ever have to. I wouldn't be standing here tonight without you. I am forever grateful to everyone who has helped me get to this point and I'm excited for the challenges ahead. Thank you all for taking the time to be here tonight.

Good evening. Thank you for everybody coming here. I appreciate the big turnout. I first want to thank Dedham Fire, you guys have been awesome to me. I grew up in Springfield. I'm a Springfield kid, born and raised. I am much happier here. This is a better spot to be. My family has taken care of me I would not be here in front of you being able to do the job I do without the support my family, my wife, my kids, the extended family. They put up with me. You guys just deal with me two days a week. They're dealing with me the rest of the time. The guys in the fire department listen to me way too much as it is, so I'm just going to settle up with thank you very much. And to the new guys, congratulations and have a good career. Looking forward to working with you.

Thank you guys all for being here. Hearing Lieutenant still sounds pretty funny to me. Luckily, Paul Sullivan works at this department and will still be calling me a probie for the next 20 years. At least he's good for one thing. If anyone's heard my speeches at weddings, you'll know I'm pretty excellent at talking about other people and their accomplishments. As for myself, I can't think of anything I'd like to do less. I know it's very surprising for a firefighter to not want to talk about himself, very rare. So keeping with that fashion, let me shout out all the great candidates that took the test. Many of them would make damn good lieutenants. The residents in Dedham should be thankful that there are so many firefighters looking to better themselves, the department and the service that they give the public. Thank you to Chief DeVincent and my many mentors of the Dedham Fire Department. To my family thank you guys for being here

to my two big brothers, thank you for yourselves being such high achievers which gives me and my little brother competitive side the drive to pursue more alongside you both. Lastly, thank you to my beautiful and hardworking wife. You've never doubted any of my pursuits in that I can't do something whether it's getting promoted or doing something around the house. or fixing something around the house. You just must not hear the YouTube videos I watch on how to fix a ceiling fan for dummies. Thanks again to everyone and to group four, I look forward to proving myself to you guys so thank you all for being here.

Thank you all for being here tonight. I just wanted to say it's an absolute honor and a privilege to be standing here before you. Thanks to Chief, the town of Dedham, and the Dedham Fire Department for having me, and I look forward to working with all of you.

I just wanna say thank you to everyone for being here tonight. Very excited to be afforded this opportunity and look forward to having a great career in working with everyone here in this room.

Good evening, everyone. I grew up in Dedham so I'm really lucky and proud to be serving my community and look forward to working with everyone.

Yeah, I just want to thank the town of Dedham, the fire department, Chief DeVincent. Thank the other guys who were with the academy. They helped me, pushed me and everything. And to my family and my wife Mary, thank you.

Thank you. You guys did okay, first time. We'll start with some comments from the board in general. Stephen, please.

All right, let's go first. I just want to congratulate the members that received a promotion. It's based off your dedication and hard work, you've earned it and doing great work and to the new members, welcome aboard. Across the candidates who were promoted and the new firefighters I actually know a lot through just growing up here, many of them as teammates knowing that there really aren't better candidates for firefighters and for the fire department. So it was a theme throughout, but they're just an elite force that help keep us safe and just my personal experience That's completely true. So congratulations to you all and thank you for all that you do.

What an impressive group. I think this is the most swearing-ins that I have witnessed in one night, and it's just so impressive and so wonderful for a new members to get to see what the future may hold for them. And so learn from these other guys and be safe, Thank you all for your service to date and for everything else you'll do for the town. We are so fortunate to have you all, it's such an important role and I'm just very grateful that you're doing it. So thank you so much to all of you.

It's so nice to see a full room of family support here today. It is not lost on us that this is a full family commitment when you sign up to be a firefighter and advance into leadership, Thank you for sharing your sons, husbands and fathers with the town of Dedham. We appreciate your sacrifices within your families as well as the work and sacrifices of our firefighters and so forth. We understand that also the job is a full community commitment, and I know that each of us have experienced the relief and safety connected with your service in our own ways. Congratulations to Deputy Chief Jenkins, Captain Levesque and Lieutenant Sheehan for your stepping up into leadership roles. and I know that you'll do a great job at that.

And thank you to our new firefighters as well. Just wish you great strength, fortitude to get through difficult shifts. We we wish you throughout your entire career and journey. And know that you will enjoy the support in pride of your department, your chief, and all of us. So congratulations and thank you so much for your public service.

Dupuy.

So I just want to say thank you to the new recruits, and thank you for choosing a career where you're actually dedicating yourself to protecting others and serving others. And we truly appreciate that. everyone who received their promotions. Your hard work, your dedication to the town, to each other has not gone unnoticed and we thank you so much in talking about knowing them from when they were your schoolmates and I've known a few of them since they were very young stay safe, take care of each other as you know. And to the families we cannot thank you enough because there is a lot that is put on the families that every time they walk out the door you want them to be safe, make smart decisions. and we thank you for, and we're grateful for everything that you do for Dedham. And we're thankful to all the families for sharing them with us as well too. Be safe, thank you. I can't wait to see you from sitting over there.

next time sitting over there. Thank you.

Congratulations. Congratulations to the seven of you, to the deputy captain and lieutenant. You know within the town of Dedham we have a history of promoting from within So when Chief DeVincent became chief of the department from within our department, that opened up opportunities for members to move up. And that's what it's all about within our fire department here in Dedham, it's about taking care of each other and working up through the ranks to whatever whatever you aspire to. So, to the deputy, to captain and lieutenant I know the work that goes into studying it's not easy. The test is competitive

and the amount of personal time that you take in order to advance is really amazing. But I also know that by putting yourself into positions you are, You continue to be responsible for those that are underneath you. So the command structure within the Dedham Fire Department is one that is well tested. And as I look at the members over there who have been promoted, they are well-tested There's nothing that they haven't seen, there is nothing that the haven't done. and they also learned from other members of the department as they were coming up through the ranks. Because when you're an officer, you have a huge responsibility of the members that are underneath you. And so for the new members what you see over there are those, they're gonna take care of you. They're gonna make sure that you're ready. They gotta make sure you have the equipment.

They got to make sure where your personal protective gear. because today's firefighters face dangers that you can't even see. We can see the fire, we can see this smoke. But you can't see what's hidden within the furniture, within the car fires, within a train fire. The chemicals that are out there today are really the hidden dangers but these men over here have the experience to know of what you need to do. And we in the town of Dedham are responsible to make sure that you have the best equipment. That you have updated equipment, that the turnout gear that you wear does not have PFAS in it. because that is the hidden danger that is killing firefighters throughout the country. So we will make sure that you have your gear, we'll make sure as things change and come up that we will get you that equipment but it's up to you to utilize it.

It's up for you to wear it, and it's also up to be safe and smart when you go on a call because a lot of times when you're going into somebody's home or on the scene, it is their worst day ever and they look for you to bring them peace sometimes. To know that we have a department that cares about them, that will take care of them, take care their families. And while You take care of their families, just make sure that you take care your own family because when you walk out that door to go to work nobody knows what you're gonna face. and the worry that they have, they need the reassurance from you. That you're doing everything you can to to take care of yourself and to take of your brothers and sisters. Whether it's the brothers and sister within the Dedham Fire Department, but if you go to another community or mutual aid, it's same thing. But that training is so, so important

and my wish for the new guys is that someday, you'll be able to achieve a different rank, but after a long successful career retire and get that pension really.

Congratulations.

So now we'll go outside, and we'll take a couple of pictures. We'll first take a group with the board and families can whatever you wish to do but thank you to the families again for coming in. And also to the members that are here that will be working with you. Thanks for taking the time to come in and show your support, can always count when we have Dedham firefighters being promoted that there's always members here, so we appreciate that. Thanks. So we're gonna take a five minute break and Nancy did receive a text from Mr. Costello that

he had a conflict and couldn't make it, so my sense is that we will proceed next Wednesday at six o'clock with the planning board to select candidates based on what we have received. Okay, thank you everyone. Now moving on to the agenda. Dedham Citizens open discussion? Seeing anybody on. Okay, Thank you. Town Manager's report.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the board. So just a couple of quick items for you this evening. I wanted to... notify everyone that we will be holding a donor recognition ceremony for the town green on October 22nd at 5.30 p.m., and that's to thank the folks who made the town green possible, all the donors. And unveiled the plaques that were recently installed there so we're working with the folks, the friends of the town green as well. The folks who are on the Town Green Planning Committee to organize that and of course all the select board members will be invited in and other folks from the community so That'll be a nice event and hopefully we have good weather on October 22nd. Very excited to announce late breaking news that we received a park grant for the Lewis Playground at Memorial Field. And you may recall last year, we were talking about a capital item there to replace the playground which is

I believe a little over 20 years old, Past is Useful Life. Well we had applied and we delayed that project so that we could apply for a park grant and we were notified today that we've now received a grant in the amount of $409,248. which is a great offset to the cost of that project. So we still have to go through the capital project, but there there is an article at this year's, this falls town meeting for the funding for that. So very exciting news there and thanks to all the folks who worked on that grant application to make that possible. and then last but not least, together with member Acosta. I attended a groundbreaking ceremony today at 110 Sturgis for the Vantage project there that's being built by the Nordblum companies that's a, it's a very exciting project adjacent to Legacy Place. Very close walking distance to the commuter rail

and it was made largely possible by some work of the select board to help the applicant apply for a commercial conversion tax credit, which they did receive to the tune of three million dollars. really helped push that project over the finish line. And they acknowledged that today and thanked you all for your support of that grant. So, that will create 154 units of apartment homes here in Dedham We expect the completion sometime in the spring of 2028 and again, it's one of the few projects that has been permitted in the last several years. It's actually moving forward so we applaud the Nordblum companies for making that happen and it's good news for the town of Dedham.

Thank you.

That completes my report.

Great news on the grant, and I think that there are Tiles or bricks that have people's names on them? Will there be some effort towards maybe putting them somewhere

Typically we'll do that. And yeah, and we've already talked about the fact that there were families recognized there and individuals so we will be trying to figure out a way of incorporating those or giving them back to the families depending on their ability to reuse them.

Okay, great. Thank you.

Thank You I'll set okay thank you consent agenda please

Move to approve the consent agenda including Block Party, Stony Lee Road 1024 4-7 PM Lincoln Street 1031 6-9 PM Gifts $250 from DJWC to Endicott Estate for the beautification and upkeep of the estate. $60 to Council on Aging from Steven Epstein, and $25 to Council On Aging Sharon Anufram Drain Layer Approval, Dig It Hardscape and Excavation Services LLC. Second.

Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Thank you. Next item on the agenda, public hearing request for common virtual license Press Cafe. Okay.

Hello I'm from Press Cafe

Yeah, hi. Can you put your camera back on please?

Yep.

Thank you. Sorry about that. How are you? Very well thanks. Okay, do you want to tell us about the request please?

were looking to do service at the old TGI Fridays as a quick-service restaurant. we offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. We are open from 5 a.m to 10 p.m. We're not serving alcohol at this location and we are a quick service. Come in, order, pay at the counter and then we deliver all the food to you or you can take it to go.

Okay thank you. Any questions? and the Board. This is a public hearing, any questions from the public? I'm hearing none, may I have a motion please?

Move to close the public hearing. Second.

Discussion? Hearing none all those in favor? Aye. Thank you what is the wish?

moved to approve a request for a common victual license for Press Cafe, 750 Providence Highway, Dedham.

Is there a second?

Second.

Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Thank you. Thank You guys have a great night Next item on the agenda is discussion with Jason Layout, Whiting Avenue and Walnut Street. Welcome.

Good evening, everyone. Jason Momoni, Director of Engineering. So before you this evening is the start of a process to lay out a public way in the town of Dedham. This one's A little unusual, typically we're dealing with private ways becoming public ways. But this is for all intents and purposes an existing public way that was laid out back in the 1800s, and although we have town meeting vote and documents associated with that, we could not locate the actual layout at the Registry of Deeds. So we need to reestablish the layout within a section of Whiting Avenue and Walnut Street, which is specific to our Safe Routes to School grant that we are currently working on with the state. in order to proceed with that design and to do the right-of-ways, and the acquisitions that are going to be required later. We just have to reestablish this layout so we can move forward with the project.

So for you tonight is just the layout plans and any questions or concerns that you might have on this step, which is just your intention to lay out the ways.

Thank you. Questions for Jason? If there are, do you have a question? No. Okay. What is the wish of the board?

I move that the Select Board vote our intention to lay out a public way in accordance with the plan entitled Layout Plan as prepared by BSC Group for the date of September 18, 2026 and refer the layout plan to the Planning Board for its report.

Second

Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Okay so how long does this process gonna take?

I'll be going to the board, planning board next week. I'll coming back to the select board on the 22nd and after that vote it will be down to the clerk's office and ready at that point for town meeting. And then after town meeting I'll come back we'll do the order of taking and then issued the notice of taking. So roughly a month or two between now and when we issued the Notice of Taking, so not too bad.

Thank you.

All right thank you very much have a good evening.

Next item on the agenda is public hearing. Change of manager, BJs? Council?

Good evening.

Hi, welcome. Introduce yourself please?

Good evening members, my name is Neil Mooney. I'm an attorney representing Wormax Corporation which does business as BJ's here in Dedham and I'm here with the proposed new license manager Mr. Jose Serrano I believe the application has been filed with the board and is complete. I'd be glad to give a brief, very brief summary of Jose's background. Please. We'll open any questions from the board. He's been with BJA since 2021 and for the past year he served as a licensed manager for the Northboro BJ's Club which is also licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. He has also managed BJ's Clubs in Quincy, Waltham and Framingham for two years prior to joining BJ's in 2021. He was a store director at Target, and for 11 years prior that he was an assistant store manager at Home Depot Jose is replacing Siphonius Gabrimerium, who was approved

as licensed manager by this board two years ago in 2024, Sifonius has taken another position with BJ's at a club that's located closer to his home. Jose is TIP certified here in Massachusetts. I have a copy of his TIP cert with me if the board requires it. The board should also have an updated list of Dedham Club employees who handle alcoholic beverages sales, and they are all tips trained. Jose is very familiar with the alcoholic beverages operations at the club and with the responsibilities that come with the license. And he will be on the premises for at least 40 hours per week. BJ's and I are confident that he is well qualified, and will excel in this role and we're happy to answer any questions from the board.

Thanks, Councilor. Board members have any questions? I have one, can you tell Jose or council what is BJ's policy on asking for identification for those that wish to purchase beer wine liquor within the store?

So BJ's policy, we require ID for all alcoholic beverages in BJ. Does it matter who you are? The register is going to The register's gonna prompt an ID. They have to physically obtain the ID in their hand and they have to input the date of birth of the person purchasing the alcohol, so everyone's going to ask for an ID Is there any override? The only override can be allowed by the club manager or their direct manager. So it would be supervisors or salary managers, but there's no override to change a date of birth or anything like that. It has to be scanned and accurate.

So when the date of birth is entered, BJ's point-of-sale does the calculation to prove that they're 21 years of age? Correct. That is correct, yes. Thank you. Anybody else? Okay, this is a public hearing. Anybody from the public? Seeing none, where's the wish?

Move to close the public hearing? Second.

Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Thank you. What is the wish?

Move to approve a change of manager from Sophonius Gabramariam to Jose Serrano for Moromax Corporation doing business as BJ's Wholesale Club, 688 Providence Highway, Dedham. Second.

Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Thank you. Good luck. Hope I don't see you again.

Well, I won't comment.

All right, next item on the agenda is the report of Dedham Senior Property Tax Relief Policy Study Committee. So I'm gonna turn this over to, even though I didn't tell him I was, to Steven. Since this was, and Steven can before Michael you start Jimmy, I'd just like Steven just to give a little even though you'll be doing it. I think a little history of your article and so forth please thank you So

Back a couple of years, I worked with a few town meeting members, other board members and residents in the town to put an article before town meeting that would create a committee to look at how we relieve senior property tax in Dedham to investigate what you're doing. The most that we can, are there things that we How easy would it be to do some of these things? Some things more complex. So that was Article 26 of the 2025 Spring Annual Town Meeting. Committee had nine members, a member of the Select Board which I followed the chair when I joined the Select board. A member of Board of Assessors a member of the Council on Aging, town treasurer, a resident age 65 or older appointed by the moderator. A resident age 60 or older with experience in municipal finance real estate related fields

one representative of the senior advocacy or community services organization, and one resident with interest or expertise in property tax policy, economic development, or local government. Also appointed by a town moderator. I just have to say that the group was phenomenal, very well-rounded, very dedicated individuals. All of our meetings were public and posted on Den TV as well so members of the public are interested in watching how we work through some of those details, please do. But the meetings were great and I learned a lot from the members that I served with was a great opportunity. So we did provide a report, that report is in the packets and full but today the chair and vice-chair of the committee Michael Leahy from the Finance More Committee, and Jimmy Kataboski are going to lead the presentation just with some high-level summaries of what the report contains.

Thank you. Welcome. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Stephen, thank you for introducing the committee the way you did. I hope that time doesn't come off our agenda time. I want two minutes back

You're having an early start.

Well, you have 30 slides, so I'm not... Oh, we're not going to go through all 30, so yeah, we are going to do a very high level... We appreciate your time though. Yes, no, excuse me. And at this time, again, Stephen introduced me and Jimmy. I'd like to introduce the rest of the committee if I may?

Please.

OK. Janine Murphy. She was the clerk, and I have to say she did a great job preparing the minutes for us. They were very, very detailed, and for that we appreciate it. Beth Dorff-Gustin is unfortunately not here this evening. Sherrilyn Sheehan Elisha Delaney, Richard Schoenfeld, Jason Caravaggio and of course Stephen Acosta. We also want to acknowledge Mr. MacDonald as he sat in on a couple of our meetings at the beginning before the election in April, Nancy Baker for getting things off the ground for us, and Diane Barry Preston who represented the Council on Aging group initially. Okay, that being said I want to tell you just a little bit more about how the committee approached the issue at hand. Of course, we started meeting in February.

And we did a lot of brainstorming discussing both the current processes current processes we included as being the little box on the real estate tax bill that asks for donations to the Tax Aid Fund. That was one of the processes. We also talked about the newly rolled out pilot program that was just pretty much off the ground right around the time we started meeting and then, of course, we tried to come up with some new ideas all of which are contained in the body of the report We also, as part of the approach, we analyzed local demographic data and we did some benchmarking. We pretty much repeated what the Tax Aid Committee had done a few years ago to pretty much updated the information that they had researched.

We checked peer communities in the area, quite a few of them actually to find out what they were doing program-wise et cetera, information wise et cetera on their websites and we found that Dedham was pretty much in line with what the peer community population was doing. And one thing that we did feel as though the issue was, was at the awareness of these programs in the town might need some work We just, everything's on the website. But drilling down to find it sometimes might be difficult for those who don't have the computer savvy that they need to do so, et cetera, et After the brainstorming took place, Jimmy Katabowski who I want to give a huge shout out. He is the main architect of this report.

He put all of our data, excuse me, all of out comments and went out and looked up and researched all this data and pretty much formatted the report for us to review and discuss during the remaining two or three meetings that we had. So hats off to Jimmy. So with that in mind, of course the executive summary is in the report. I'm going to turn it over to Jimmy to cover the high level screen shots that Amber will be showing us. And Jimmy, the floor is yours.

Great, thanks Michael. And echo Stephen and Michael's thoughts around it was a really great group to work with. Really a team effort and for me a really good introduction to getting involved in local government. So we won't go through the whole 30 plus slides that are contained in the report, but the main body of the report is divided into three sections. The who covers demographic data, the what covers potential tools for relief and the how covers how we get there. And for tonight, we just pulled out a few highlights from the report. So I'll start with the slide, The Who. Dedham seniors are aging in place and that's page seven of the PDF report And what this slide shows is that Dedham's population counts highlight a trend where seniors are really aging in place. So if you look at the total line, there's really been no change in Dedham's total population over the last five years.

The entire growth is in the 65 and over trend while the other age cohorts are all declining. So just looking at a population count view, we're seeing senior population rise total population flat so Dedham's really seeing an aging in place trend. The next slide that I'll cover is page eight of the PDF report, and this looks at again similar census data to what we looked at on that first slide but now looking at income data. and average median household income in the town is just shy of $130,000 per household. When we look at seniors, they said about $60,000 below that median income at around $67,000. and so when you look at the peak earners who are 44 and under earning around $180,000 per year

and the 45 to 64 age cohort earning around $165,000. Those two cohorts are really driving property tax assessments and other municipal costs while all households are paying the same property tax. and so we're seeing an income gap from the highest earning cohort of around $112,000. So seniors are both growing in town and they also have a median income that sits well below the average median income in town. So then finally on demographic data, just looking at how expenses compare to income. We looked at the average expense bucket of local residency costs so taxes, utilities, health care over the last five years, we've seen that grow by around 33%. And then when you bump that up against senior income.

So really, the average senior might have some mix of Social Security and a fixed pension. When you blend the social security cost of living increases with just a flat, fixed pension Income growth really sits around 15%, so an 18% gap between mandatory cost increases and just an average blend of senior income. and that creates a risk where seniors may face some kind of liquidity trap, where in order to keep up with rising expenses they may be forced to either erode long term retirement funds, liquidate assets or leave the town. and so that really covers the highlights of the demographic data. The next slide is page 13 of the PDF, and this begins to look at the what. So what relief tools are available for seniors today? I won't go through all of these but in our discussions we really found that

A lot of it is inadequate aid to meet the rising needs of seniors. And so some of these are state programs, statutory exemption 41C that's a state program, $1,000 reduction and Property Tax for Qualifying Seniors, tax deferrals, estate program. Dedham offers some local programs. The senior work off program allows 100 eligible seniors to volunteer for town departments in exchange for a maximum tax credit, and then of course last month the taxation aid committee was here presenting and that also provides emergency aid for qualifying seniors from voluntary donations. And so I won't go through the drawbacks tonight but for reasons laid out on the next slide, which is page 14 of the PDF. we got other options on the table.

So, we found that state rules were too rigid for a lot of the state programs you pay your property tax bill up front and you get the credit on the back end for local programs. We saw that a lot of those programs are either a lottery or a charity, a lottery in the sense that for the work off program there's 100 slots for many more seniors that qualify and the Tax Aid Committee is driven by voluntary donations. And then, the work-off program also has work requirements attached to it. So what we looked into as a potential solution was a local means tested senior exemption A program like this would allow Dedham to set custom local limits. It would allow them to lower the bill on the front end so that you're solving for that cash flow problem, that state aid has It allows Dedham to develop its own reliable, predictable formula.

And it's also accessible as a direct credit and not a job. There are no work requirements attached to it like the senior work off program and so on the next slide, page 21 we get into the how. So how do we think about additional options for relief? And it's split into three sections phase one, phase two, phase three really short term medium-term and long-term So we discussed a lot how we can optimize current programs in the short term to help seniors navigate the system. That involves both getting the word out around what programs are available to seniors and also gets the word our around soliciting raising awareness around the Taxation Aid Committee. could also offer applicants office hours at the senior center to help complete applications. And then for some of the local programs that Dedham controls, figuring out how we can reduce friction with the work off applications

or the tax aid applications. more medium term, so phase two. Really thinking about both continuing to raise awareness from Dedham's residents, businesses and tax exempt orgs around the Taxation Aid Committee and soliciting them for potential donations. And then as policymaking builds momentum, drafting any necessary state approvals that whatever potential options exist may need state legislature approval, and then also beginning to design the specific criteria. And then phase three more long term finishing some of those efforts and beginning to distribute relief. So finally, page 26 of the PDF really summarizes everything that we just discussed tonight around the demographic data, the affordability crisis that Dedham seniors are facing.

How current tools are designed for a lower cost era and what options exist if we wanted to pursue additional relief tools. And then the how really begins to lay out a plan for how we get there. Also want to shout-out that in the appendix of the report, is a sample Warren article to also kind of give anyone who's interested in the future an outline and a skeleton to begin some work on this.

First of all, thank you for all the work that everyone has done. I have to say reading this, listening to this probably one of the best comprehensive reports that I have seen come in front of me in a long, long time. The amount of thought the way in which you put together this report, concise. Easy to read, understandable and actionable. So I just want to say thank you for all the work that you put into this. And before I open up to questions from the board, make sure that this gets gets up and I would even venture that at the next summit, in February. This will be on the agenda, Nancy.

I'd like to have you present this to a wider audience because I think this is something that we hear about but we don't really listen, but tonight I think the way in which you present makes it very easy to follow so thank you. And then open it up for For questions or comments, I'll start on the right side first. Erin?

Sure, yeah. I mean, I 100% agree when I read this report prior to the meeting it really captured a discussion that I think we've had across so many issues in our town just looking at the needs of different segments residents. And so I appreciate the picture that your data and your presentation paints, and will help us think through how to come up with the right solutions. to both make sure that our residents can continue to be within our community

you know helps us think through how we move forward with community needs and so the data throughout the report was will be are able to be utilized across many different issues, so I appreciate that. And I see the work group took a process of whittling down from any options to a couple you're going to move forward with and so what are your next steps in terms of how you're going to further, reference that you're gonna further look into your whittled down options? what will that process entail?

That's a good question, Erin. Based on our understanding of the committee and its shelf life We were under the impression that once the report was done, that implementation of any solution potential or otherwise would fall upon whomever the select board would choose to do so.

And so the highlighted recommendations, those are the recommendations of the work group via this report? Exactly. Thank you for clarifying. Yeah, I mean certainly it's just a lot to absorb. A lot of information and Yeah, I mean we have to really think about what to do with these recommendations and how to move forward because Yeah, I mean it's the most comprehensive actionable report and also is helpful for us as we make other types of decisions across town. More of a thank you. I appreciate all the work that went into it, I read it carefully and look forward to moving it to the next step.

I mean, I think this as we had talked at a last meeting is that we're going to be establishing reviews and keeping up because we get presented with items. And sometimes they fall off. the taxation committee, was it? Come in and I got a nice note from the chair saying that he felt energized that we said we were going to actually think about it and do something. And I think that's what something like this, you know, it's on us to then, okay, what are we gonna do next? And I mean, that's a part of the further conversation we're gonna have because this is excellent.

Dimitria? Thank you for all of this, and I agree with what both my colleagues have said here as well as the information that was in here. Great job. And so when I was writing down my notes, the first thing that I did write is you know, I absolutely support moving this conversation forward and seriously looking at meaningful tax relief for our long-time residents without a doubt. How we get there, I'm not sure and I do understand getting the word out there and how do we get the word We have this conversation over and over again on communication. How do we do it? Put it on the website. I was recently on a... We have some construction work going on in our neighborhood, and I was on a call there. And I'll probably repeat this story over and over again, but there were about 10 of us

for this major construction going on, and that's OK. And at the end one of the residents had said I need some of this in writing because I have a neighbor who has absolutely no electronics. They don't have a computer. they don't have anything like that so I need to get this information to them. And it, you know, oh wow right? So there's still some people that are still like that, they don't have the access to the computer. They don't get the phones there living a different life than we do so I don't know how we get that communication out where we're going to put it mailing it to them, old fashioned. I don't know, dropping? But we've got to work on that and the different programs that are out there. And I thought that the statistic that really struck out to me was the 65 and over is and you said it's the largest growing population, right? That's right.

Yeah. The total Dedham population has been flat while 65 and over has gone up 13%.

And it makes sense when you think about it because we had conversation on another committee that I belong to on the facilities. And that was something that somebody had just said, that the population was getting older in the town of Dedham. And I think it's become where do you go? You can sell your home and people have said, well, sell you're home and move. But the question is where do you go? So there's a problem. right, there is a problem for seniors who are on fixed. And I know we talk about 65 and I sometimes say is it 62 in instances? But I'm looking forward to continuing the conversation and how we can help in what we can do for our residents. So thank you for all of your time on this committee.

Michelle?

Thank you all for all of this work and time. I echo everyone else who has said that this was just so thorough and so impressive. I've been looking forward to hearing what this committee would come up with, and this is more than I imagined. It's such a critically important issue. And I've many times asked and wondered, is Dedham doing everything it can to help those that are struggling? financially and with their taxes. So are we taking advantage of every program that's out there, everything we can do? What are we allowed to do? having this comprehensive report is wonderful. The situation that you outline in there, in terms of the problem it's not a surprise to anyone I think but that there is a problem of seniors struggling to pay their taxes in all of their bills, but having this data really helps and highlights that. And the same things that others have pulled out as what stood out to me

the 65 plus is really the only growing segment of our population and the stark number there that it's also the only group whose medium income is below the average 70%. of the 65 plus population is under the medium household income, so that really stuck out to me. So there's a lot to digest here and I'm glad we are not wanting this to be lost and make sure we figure out these solutions. So I guess, I have a couple of questions and I know the answers are probably in this report. And there's a lot to digest but I think it might be worth hearing a little bit more about our This question of are we taking advantage of everything that we can be doing and it seems like what you're recommending here with the warrant articles in the language relates to this means tested exemption, which if I understand right is something a state allows us to do but that we don't currently do. Is that correct? Is that just your kind of favorite option?

Or are there, I know there's a lot of things we do do but maybe don't do it as well as we could. Like you said, we need to get the word out more about things. But are there several options in here or things that we're just not even doing at all besides this one?

Well to answer the first question, I don't think we labeled a favorite. We kind of threw it all out there. You know one of the things that we did discuss and knowing that the pilot program was just rolled we thought it would be ideal once that gets off the ground and once there's a trend of hopefully payments from the non-profits, that a certain amount of that you know, certain percentage amount could go towards alleviating the tax burden for seniors. I mean that was one thing that I recall But like I said, we didn't really assign a favorite versus anything else. We just put it all out there.

I think you answered this. I had a question about what is the low-hanging fruit, right? Because some of these solutions would take time and there's people struggling now so it sounds like maybe that's getting the word out and expanding what we currently do.

Yes, and I mentioned the box on the real estate tax bill. One of the first things that came up in discussion was the fact First of all, that box is very small. I recall conversations in the past about even adding more to the tax bill which would pretty much hide that box even more so and a lot of people don't really look at their tax bills because their mortgage bank pays the tax bill. So, well I shouldn't say they don't look at it. They might not look at closely enough so we thought one of the easy solutions might be to put that donation box on a different quarterly bill like the sewer bill. That bill doesn't have as much, it's not as busy, it doesn't We also talked about inserts in that bill like some type of card or whatever.

We thought about the expense involved in doing something like that as well, knowing that we don't want to cost the town a lot of money for something you know pan out if you know what I mean so but those those I guess low-hanging fruit Jimmy if you can add anything else

I think just around supporting applicants in some kind of office hours session within the senior center, making sure that there's common application maybe for local programs so that if somebody's completing a state program, you're also completing that same application for local and I know Steven, I think you did some poking around in terms of does the local Dedham programs match some of the income thresholds that the state sets? And making sure that some of that stuff is

Yeah, it's sort of an open question. I believe we may not be fully taking advantage of all the state circuit breaker thresholds. And so some of the exemptions that are already on the books those are great because while they follow the state thresholds which are somewhat restrictive in this day and age as the report lays out, they do return some funds to the town by state funding. And that's why we had kind of thrown out the means-tested exemption as well because that's something we would control the limits of ourselves and while it doesn't take state money back, it does provide us a little more flexibility. So we kind of saw all these We pull multiple different levers and get more relief to seniors. I think if there is more relief, for some seniors, then maybe the tax aid money can now spread instead of $200 to each applicant. It might be $1,000 to an applicant who's really on the edge

So we kind of looked at these as being able to work in concert depending on what levers we pull. But a lot of these, some will take town staff by and some will taketown meeting boats to change things and so it'll take us sort of setting direction too. So a lot different paths, a lot of different options but a lot good stuff too.

One more question and then one comment Turn it over. And this might be, I know this is outside of the scope so you might not have an answer for this but I'm wondering if you just came across it. So seniors in particular was the focus of this committee and that is critically important but obviously we know we have other residents that struggle also Do you know if any of these ideas you have could be applied to other groups or are there other, did you come across other things other towns were doing or other options that we should be considering beyond seniors?

I think in some of the research there are some municipalities that have differential property tax assessment rates based on the median household value. We'd have to look into that more, but that is one way to target people who may be higher need.

And then my comment, and this is really for my colleagues and Leon. We don't need to answer this tonight but I think we've stressed the importance of not letting us get lost and I think really thinking about and how that happens. I know with some things we do like the master plan for the town, we have an actual implementation committee. Is that something we think about for this issue or is it dedicated town staff can focus on or just what happens. Like, what do we really do with this? So I think it's something to keep on our agenda of what's the best way to make sure we work through these options and make sure something comes of it because it was really great work and we don't want it to get lost.

Thank you. Steven?

I think I might have covered everything, trying to think if there are any questions that could get answered.

I have one question of Nancy. I do recall, maybe it's in the spring warrant The reports of committees, will this report make it into the report of committees? I just wanted to confirm that. Yeah. Spring. Right. Right, because I didn't see an article for the fall so I figured it would be awesome. Thank you.

Again thank you for the work and really there's a lot that sort of highlight the struggles and the reasons. And I like the way you broke it up, the who, the what. But when I look at the chart on I think it's on page 10, expenses versus income. And while somebody might look at and say Social Security, COLA 25%, but if you look at what is the average Social Security check, and the amount of money, it would put things into perspective that you're not talking big pensions that somebody might be getting from someplace else. Social Security are small. a small soap. Why 25% sounds like a lot, when you're talking about a $20,000 Social Security pension do the math.

It's not really a lot but then when I look at the average Dedham tax bill from 22 to 26, you know 28 and a half percent. Utility costs 38% and we're not even talking this year what utility costs are gonna be. Where some seniors are gonna have to making the choice, what do I do? Do I heat my house? Do get my medicine? Do buy my food? The utility costs are skyrocketing, and everything else. So I think that the numbers here really paint a picture of why we see folks struggling.

And I know there's other groups other than seniors, you know as Michelle referenced but the focus of this on seniors, the struggles and this is the reason why there are some that can afford it many, many more cannot. And that's why I think as we've discussed has just brought up, we as a board need to move forward with this however expeditiously as we can. whether it's an article at town meeting, whether it is making adjustments where we have the capability in some policies or adopting things that we haven't done so that we can have relief. and looking at the tax bills, Michael as you mentioned. You know those little check off boxes and the pilot.

And I'll be asking Leon later, I'll ask him now, you know, I want a report of who have we contacted What are the answers that we've been getting and sort of, we'll try to move forward on that because I think your suggestion by the way, suggestion of the committee to maybe take a percentage of a pilot and dedicated is something worth looking into if it legally can be done. And that's where we have to look in, so... Thank you for the work. This will get put up on the website, and I know as I mentioned earlier at the summit in why it's not our meeting my suggestion to the district chairs that you have 19 articles coming up at town meeting I think it is, whatever 16. whatever number, 14.

14 okay all right I'm off so guess what there should be time for a presentation like this to come because the more you talk about it, we talk about increasing awareness. We talk about communication in a couple of weeks whenever that meeting is going to happen. My suggestion would be you know, Nancy can you maybe send a note to the district chairs that something they should consider adding as an FYI to the agenda, but thank you very much for the work and everybody else. Thank you, appreciate it. We'll be in touch. Thanks.

Good job.

Impressive, really.

That was... We have a template for all future committees. That's a pretty high bar. I know.

Okay, next item on the agenda. Let's see. Approval of minutes? Not tonight, okay. We will go to old and new business. Start on the left, Steven.

Don't think I have anything.

Okay. Michelle?

I'm all set also.

Dimitria?

So I do have a quick update for everybody regarding last night. We had the Facilities Master Plan Steering Committee Forum there were approximately 30 community members who attended and about, I think you said was it 21 or so? that were on teams. Committee member Justin Humphreys guided the evening, and so what had happened is I provided an overview of the plan's goals and what work we had done so far and Anthony Rodriguez from the School Committee also presented the latest votes that the school committee made. Even though we were really focusing on municipal buildings, we felt it was important to let everybody know that information as well too. Finance Director Brady Weinstein then explained the town's capital planning process, debt obligations and potential tax impacts So I think it was very well received.

We had some interactive moments where people got into seven different tables, and then on Zoom there were four people in a little breakout room there. and we had to envision, we were each given a building and we have to envision what we could do with that property. and then we chatted about it later on. I got some feedback and had people thinking about what we could do with property We had some questions, answers. Those that we couldn't answer, we are developing a FAQ that we will keep adding to and we'll be getting it out there. and talking to some people that were there, they thought it was really good. And there were some different faces there as well too. There have been some that have come to all of them but then there were definitely some different people that attended so Our work is really gonna start moving now that we know where the schools are at and our next steps, developing our next step.

And then we probably will have at least one more public forum and possibly two. So we'll keep you updated with that as well too. That's where we are on that, as far as the facilities. Thank you for that update and for the work to do that for me. You're welcome. and then just under, I guess something that was discussed today. Leon if I could in your update you had mentioned The development that went to the groundbreaking today, there have been other developers who have come forward and they've gone through the planning process but haven't moved. Right, and that this particular one had a tremendous tax incentive to move forward. And I think that's something we should probably look at in like what are the root reasons for that? Like what is causing that to happen with our developers

that we are having a lot go through the process and then not being able to move forward. is it the cost of things? Is it environmental, what is it if we could ever get a report or something like that to have those conversations.

Mr. Chairman, briefly I know that the planning board was looking into that and I've talked to the Planning Director about it a bit. A lot of it is driven by the lending market right now is just very volatile and expensive. But I believe that the planning board did dig down into a few more elements that they believe are driving some of this hesitance to move forward, and so I can get that and provide it to the select board.

I just happen to have been at a meeting today within a banking environment where this topic came up, it's not just a Dedham thing also. I may be curious to see what the planning board hears about Dedham, but there was a lot of talk about like loans being approved for construction and then they're not being drawn down and they were mentioning interest rates, we're talking about tariffs and costs of goods. I'm sure there's a lot of reasons but that sounds like it's not unique to us. Thank you.

So Leon, as I mentioned during the last report you know I'd like for us to receive a copy of the data behind what we have done with the pilot and I just want to have the board review it first before we have a public conversation so that we can look and see what has been done, and where we stand. And then we can respond back to Leon with questions and concerns, and it will have it on as a hopefully an agenda item I'd like to have that in November. So give an opportunity to look at that and just a follow up on what Dimitria was just saying about, and Michelle, about the environment for those doing construction that it's expensive. I was talking to somebody at a school and they get their steel from Canada,

it was cheaper than in the United States. And then with the tariffs, the long story short is that they received an additional bill for $750,000 for the same steel that they had brought before to be dropped. So there's tariffs are one thing that's impacting steel and others, the banking industry in the rates we know the impact that it is having on on folks looking to refinance or to buy a house. The rates are continuing to rise, and I think that's really putting in a damper on a lot and when I was driving down Bridge Street the other day, you know, I noticed Mosley's fence. So there is a fence that's up around Mosley. Half of the Parking lot is also fencing. And the question I have about that, is that the fence is blocking the sidewalk

and it's blocking the sidewalk from one end of the building to another, which means that anybody that is walking on Bridge Street has to cross and go to the other side, then come back. So I want to know is that fence up because there was an issue with the building? Is the building unsafe? Are they starting demolition? And if they're starting demolitions, is that demolition starting next week? Because you know the impact of people that walk on Bridge Street. There's a lot of people who walk on bridge street I just want to make sure that safety-wise, we're on top of it.

My understanding is demolition is starting imminently, but I will double check on why the sidewalk is blocked because perhaps there's another way of doing that.

Okay. Thank you. That's it for me. Anybody have anything else? I know James was looking forward to this meeting tonight, by the way. Not because he wanted to listen to us but because the firefighters were coming here so I'm sure he enjoyed that at the beginning part. So with that said, our next meeting we are going to the Planning Board I believe next Wednesday at 6 o'clock for the discussion on filling in the vacancy and then we have a lot on our agenda for the meeting on the 22nd including we have done some advertising for some of the available licenses liquor licenses so that will be in the 22nd and then the following meeting in November uh we will do we have a couple more that we will be doing So I initially did not want to throw four license hearings on for everyone.

It can be kind of long, so probably for the next few meetings we will be having hearings and you know that the process We have the hearing, we listen and then at the following meeting you know we make our recommendation.

Next Tuesday that we have precinct?

Next Tuesday is Precinct 1 and 2 at Town Hall.

Downstairs.

Thank you for reminding me. With that, a motion to adjourn?

So moved. Second.

Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Thank you.