Select Board- April 16, 2026

Good evening, everyone. I call to order the select board meeting April 16th, 2026. I'll rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

of the United States of America, and to the Republic

Okay, and we have a great way to start. tonight's select board meeting. On the heels of our election on Saturday, we have the opportunity to swear in two members of our select board, one returning and one new. So I'll call Paul Munchback, the town clerk, up. We can start with swearing in Steve Acosta, who is beginning his first three-year term with the select board.

Thank you, ma'am. This cross will be for my name. I, Stephen Acosta, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially, in the best of my ability, perform the duties Please perform your duties as a member of the slide board for the town of Dedham, Soho, and New York.

Excellent. Welcome to the board, Stephen. and next we Michelle Person Reilly is joining us virtually this evening and so the town clerk will swear Michelle in over virtually.

That's Michelle Carson Reilly for the record. And at this time, Michelle, you can raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state the name.

I hear you.

We're going to do a volume check.

Not a good virtual meeting unless someone's on mute. There we go.

It's not you.

It's working now. It was the owl, Michelle. Is it working now? Yes.

I solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially and to the best of my ability perform the duties as a member of the select board As a member of the select board, for the town of Dedham, so help me God.

For the town of Dedham, so help me God.

Congratulations.

Thank you all.

Thanks for your patience.

and I'll open it up to the two sworn in members if they would like to say anything at the start of their term.

Sure. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to take the opportunity to thank the voters of Dedham, the residents of Dedham, who have entrusted me with this position. I'm very excited to get to work, very excited to work with the four other members, and thank you for having me.

Great. Thank you, Stephen.

Likewise, I am honored for the opportunity to continue after just a short start to the board. And after a full three-year term, I look forward to continuing to work and the three of you and to join Stephen. Thank you Stephen for joining us and thank you to all for the support.

Thank you. Next up on our agenda is our annual reorganization where the select board has a tradition of of offering the chair and vice chair role at the beginning of each new term. And so given that tradition, I will open up nominations for the role of Chair for the 2026-2027 term.

Madam Chair, I would like to nominate Jim MacDonald for the position of Chair of the Select Board.

Second.

Hearing a motion and a second on the roll call vote. Michelle? Yes. Stephen?

Yes.

Dimitria? Yes. Jim, and the chair votes yes. Welcome to the position of chair. and I have as outgoing chair, I do have a few comments in my appreciation for the past year and the opportunity to serve as chair. And so just to take a moment to reflect on this past year and thank my colleagues for their support throughout. I would consider that the guiding priority of my year as chair was to

Be collaborative and look for collaboration across boards and committees. increasing opportunities for communication. We've had this conversation, this thread of conversation throughout the year, but good governance doesn't happen in silos. And I'm proud of the enhancements to this collaboration. that has happened. Last spring we started with a critical collaboration at town meeting, bringing together the select board, school committee, and finance and warrant committee. to present a joint message about our budget challenges and revenue forecasts. Our budget and revenues require continued close attention, management, and joint consideration as we navigate the services our residents want and need the pressures of escalating expenses and the need for continued review of our revenue capacity. That joint effort set the tone for the entire year.

Over the summer, we launched the Facilities Master Plan process, working jointly with the school committee to form and co-lead at the direction of Dimitria Sullivan on behalf of the Select Board, the Facilities Master Plan Steering Committee. This project recognizes that what we all know to be true, that many of our town and school facilities need attention maintenance, and in some cases, replacement. And planning for them must be coordinated and meet the needs of the community. The community asked for a vision for how to move forward and that committee is charged with doing the work to inform that vision. Communication between boards and committees has increased with additional collaboration between chairs and vice chairs of the select board, school committee, planning board, and finance

Warrant Committee, and Parks and Rec to discuss issues across our boards, and this enhanced communication will help us tackle town-wide challenges together where relevant and appropriate in breaking down silos between committees and departments across town. Through the town manager's office, we launched the National Community Survey, giving us data-driven insights about what our residents are thinking and need. and we received the final report from the Deficit Reduction Committee which provided critical recommendations for our long-term fiscal for our long-term fiscal sustainability. And that information was shared out to the community through community listening sessions with great participation and feedback. Recognizing the importance of strong leadership, we established a formal policy governing the annual town manager performance evaluation, bringing structure and consistency to this important responsibility.

Informal discussions with the school department started earlier in the town manager's budget development process, and I'm confident that that will continue to help steer us in the years ahead. and finally we conducted select board strategic planning and priority setting. Tonight we'll consider forming an implementation work group Working Group to turn those priorities into action. And throughout the year, we've reviewed and established key policies from the pilot policy to license fee schedules and more. to help create clearer, more effective governance to meet our responsibility for our town's needs. So it's been a busy year. And none of this happens without collaboration. So I want to thank my select board colleagues for their strong participation and support.

We are all town volunteers and the work that we do together is both vital, happens outside of our day jobs and personal and family obligations. It isn't always easy, but I do genuinely appreciate the collegiality that this board operates with and continues to operate with. I also want to thank the town mayor, Manager Leon Goodwin, and Assistant Town Manager Nancy Baker, who have been outstanding mentors during this past year in my role as chair, and continue to provide critical leadership to our town. And I also want to thank all of our town staff who continue to make all of this work possible.

So anyway, thank you for the privilege of serving as chair for this past year, and I truly have appreciated the opportunity to serve, so thank you.

Thank you, Ron. I have a few comments, but before I get to mine, I'd like to open the nominations for vice chair.

I nominate Dimitria Sullivan as vice chair.

Is there a second? Second. Any other nominations? Hearing none, on the vote, Michelle?

Yes.

Steven? Yes. Erin?

Yes.

Dimitria? Yes. And the Chair votes yes. Thank you.

Thank you.

just have a few brief remarks before we continue with the agenda. First of all, congratulations to Michelle and Steven on the election to the Select Board. I look forward to working with you along with Dimitria and Erin. and Steven, you are the 22nd member of the board that I have had the privilege to work with. And at some time, I will read all 22 names, because I think for some of us, there's a lot of history in this town and there's been a lot of great people that have sat on this board and saying their names sort of reminds people about who was here before us and who really set the path for a lot of things that we do today. and Erin, thank you for your leadership this past year. Many of the initiatives that you started this year, I guarantee will be continued. and thank you for the honor of being chair for the upcoming year. We are heading into a year that will be filled with challenges.

The number one issue I believe facing us is the financial impact to our taxpayers based on spending. We have been talking about a fiscal cliff for a while now, and it looks like that could be happening soon. I have asked Mike Butler to come to our next meeting to share the presentation he has made with the Finance and Warrant Committee that sort of outlines where we were, where we are, and where we are potentially going. I also want to bring back a few of the outreaches that we have done in the past. One will be the town-wide summit. We'll have two town-wide summits this year. We'll have one in September and one in February where we will ask key departments and boards to come to report on their status and to really talk about their challenges. As we go into the year, it's important that we collectively continue to have conversations and talk and be prepared. and also Town Hall to your neighborhood.

It's been a while since we've done those and what that is, is we'll get the department heads together and we'll go to a couple of neighborhoods over the year, two, maybe three, and we will present the department heads of whatever challenges or whatever they're working on and give the public an opportunity to come and to ask questions. We know life is difficult and hard for folks. They can't get out. But if we go to them, maybe that will give them an opportunity to come to us and to share what issues are facing them. You know, Dedham is a great place to live, to work, and bring up a family. Together, we will continue to make sure that this happens, continues. Thank you.

Thank you, Chairman MacDonald. So I want to thank everybody for the opportunity to serve as the Vice Chair again this year. I'm looking forward to it. Welcome back, Michelle. Excited. And welcome to the table. As we chatted before, the transition from school committee over to select board can be a little bit challenging. but I know that you're going to be able to navigate that very well, right? It's a whole new world over here being on the select board. and Michelle you know you bring your expertise too from your background on FinCom as well so everybody brings something you know really valuable to the table. Aaron, I do want to thank you personally for all that you've done as the chair. It has not gone unnoticed. You have been constantly working, constantly doing it, and I know it's very difficult.

As we said, we all work, we have families, and then to take this on, and I think it's really, you did such a great job because you truly love it. and you loved being chair and it showed. I think you welcomed everybody to the table to have a conversation and I do thank you for that. It's not an easy commitment but you've done it with determination and commitment so thank you very much. It has not gone unnoticed. Jim, I'm looking very much forward to working with you as the chair. If you need any tips or how to navigate, I'm right here, right, just in case. Absolutely. So thank you, everybody, and looking forward to this year.

All right, I might be a little rusty, so Erin. So the next item on the agenda is open discussion. Is there anybody, the Dedham citizens open discussion? Anybody online? I don't see anyone. Okay, we'll move on to the town manager's report.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board, and congratulations to Steven and Michelle on their Elections. I think I look forward to working with you, and I think we'll have a great year ahead of us. As we have the last number of Town Manager budget reports, I want to just give you a brief update on the FY27 budget. We did meet earlier this week with the Finance and Warrant Committee, who finalized their recommendations on all warrant articles within their purview. including the FY27 budget, which is Article 3. After great detail of discussion and an examination, the Finance and War Committee voted to move forward the recommended budget which includes an increase of 6.33% for the schools and 4.5% for the municipal side. That will be the recommendation that goes to town meeting for their May vote. they also voted and deliberated on a number of other articles.

All the information is on our town meeting page and I encourage folks, whether they're town meeting members simply residents who want to know how it all works moving into town meeting to take a look at that page because it does have a lot of great background information and that help feed into the process. Moving on, the town green, as everyone can probably see who drives through the square, we've been hard at work putting up the pavilion. It's the last element of the green. Boston Pergola has been out there installing the roof this week. I spoke with them yesterday. They expected to complete that either yesterday or today. I haven't actually been down there today, but there's a little bit of electrical work to do probably next week, and then they'll all that complete and we'll be able to take down the fence and move into enjoying it for the summer which standing even out there for a bit in the sunshine yesterday it was warm so it'll be very nice to have that covered area for everyone and

I think residents will certainly get a big benefit out of that. While we're talking about outdoor spaces, I wanted to remind everyone that last year we were able to construct using ARPA funds in collaboration with the Parks and Rec Commission a splash pad at Condon Park. We're working with Parks and Rec and the contractor on that to get some training and then get that up and running this springtime and we're planning a a community ribbon cutting for that together with Parks and Rec and we'll invite members of the community to that to get it going and hopefully enjoy a warm day out there with everyone because I think that's going to be a great amenity for the summertime adjacent to Condon Park. and again that was funded with ARPA funds, no local funds were used on that project. And then last but not least and I'm sure perhaps

Member Sullivan, we'll talk about it a little bit more detail later, but the Facility Master Plan Steering Committee will be holding a community listening session on April 29th at 6.30 PM. That's going to be a hybrid meeting. will be here at Town Hall and online. We'll have Arrow Street, who is our consultant on that project, will be providing an update for the community on their efforts today, including their initial analysis of the buildings that they've inspected today, and they've also started reviewing documents, historical documents, et cetera, and they're putting together their initial analysis of what their findings are on our town buildings and the conditions, et cetera. This is the first of several community meetings, so we're encouraging folks to attend. and to continue to have dialogue with us throughout this process because we really do value community input as we make these decisions that will shape the buildings in Dedham for years, decades to come.

So again, happy to take questions at this point in time. Do you have any?

Anybody have any questions? Michelle?

Yes. Hi. Thank you. Thanks, Leon. Thanks for the update. Finance and Warrant Committee. I did watch that meeting and the budget. for their discussion, which was robust before the vote. I'm wondering, is it possible for us to, I know there was a discussion of three, initially, three different options they were discussing, and discussing, I think, a fourth was considered factors of confusion. But could we get the information on the three original ones? It looked like they presented both the amount of the increase and then what it would mean for the excess levy. And I would be interested in us being able to look at those.

Sure, I can share that with the select board. I'll do it this evening after this meeting. But in general, the three different scenarios that were discussed, were the original recommended town manager's budget, which is what was ultimately approved or recommended by the Finance and Warrant Committee. But then there was what we're calling sort of like the half the half improvement to this school plan, which was a 5.75% increase to the school budget, a 4.5% increase to the town budget. and that was about a $400,000 difference, I believe, in funding. And then there was the level service budget for the schools, which was 5.29% increase over the FY26 budget. and that one also included a 4.5% town side budget.

So the different scenarios were just variations of different school funding scenarios.

But I can send out. I did hear you say you'll be able to send that to us. Sure. Okay, thank you.

and also Michelle, one of the items that Mike Butler will talk about, he does the analysis and I know he presented this to Finance and Warrant, and one of the notes is, if the town manager's FY27 budget was adopted, it would leave the excess levy at $768,000. This year, it is 2.5. So I think that will be important for next meeting when we have that conversation about the net position. update also on what the action the Finance and Warrant Committee did. Dimitria?

Yes, thank you. So I was very interested. I watched it as well, and it was a very robust conversation, and I do sitting in this seat have concerns with what was presented as you know as your budget and then what was voted. I would like to see a chart showing the taxpayer impact on property. Not just the average, right? I'd like to see different bands, and I believe that we produced that last year as well, too, because we always talk about the average. But I think that we should really see, people should see where they're going to fall, right? And what kind of increases this means. I've been saying this and this I know we're not fully discussing the budget right now This is not the first time that I'm going to be saying this. I don't know how we continue to increase the taxes at the rate that we are increasing the taxes. I don't know what the solution is right now, but

I just don't know how you keep on going and so I do have concern because we've gone from the level of 5.29 to 6.33 conversation for later on. The other item that I would like to request is I believe talking about historical data, there were times that there were other towns that we compared ourselves to. It was not just the neighboring towns. So when I look at the charts and I see the Wellesley and the Westons and the Dovers, and we say, well, we're below them, right? Or we're in the middle, and I've said it before, Fantastic, right? But what about looking at towns that not just surround us, but maybe mirror us as far as our demographics, you know, our service expectation, housing values, income levels, etc.

I would like to see us look at that as well too and see where we're at in comparison with them too. and the more information we have, the better off we're going to be in either defending this going forward or trying to see solutions to help the average taxpayer in this town on how we can go forward. Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes, I'm all set for right now.

Michelle, all set? Okay, thank you. Move on to the consent agenda. Is there a motion, please?

I guess I can resume that every now and then. Move to approve the consent agenda, including requests for signs, DHS concert fundraiser, DJWC, Summer Concert Series Signs, Block Party, Van Brunt, Ave, June 28th, 26, 2 to 7 p.m., Aaron Knapp Cellars, Request for Wine, Malt, Winery, Brewery, License for Farmer's Market, 6-17-26 through 10-14-26, MBACC one day beer wine license 5-14-26, 6.30 to 9 p.m. Second.

Discussion? Hearing none, on the vote, Michelle.

Yes.

Steven. Yes. Erin.

Yes.

Dimitria.

Yes.

Chair votes yes. The next item on the agenda is a discussion of vote grant acceptance. Jeremy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, select board members, and thank you for the opportunity to seek your acceptance of a $30,385 state grant for the construction of the Sawmill Lane Pollinator Pathway. And you'll see a plan in front of you. On March 24th, 2026, the Healy-Driscoll administration announced that the town of Dedham was one of 12 organizations out of approximately 300 to be awarded funding through the Department of Fish and Wildlife at the state. This expedited grant, which must be completed by June 30th, 2026, is a collaboration between the Conservation Division, Public Works Department, and the Parks and Recreation Department to improve the town-owned property, again located at 21 Sawmill Lane. 21 Sawmill Lane is located behind East Dedham CVS at DeLapa Plaza and runs along the western banks of the Motherbrook

The project will improve the property from which has been historically neglected, overrun with invasive plants, and been a source of unauthorized camping and illicit activity. The grant will fund the installation of 11 native tree saplings, 117 shrubs and wildflowers, a stone dust pathway, a rain garden, educational signage, and a bench for wildlife viewing. DPW will contribute the labor of installing the plantings and other features as part of an in-kind staff time match. The grant also funds two exciting community-based features, a seed-sharing library and an art walk along the Sawmill Lane Bridge, which is owned and maintained by the state. The Seeds Sharing Library will be similar to a Little Free Library. An Eagle Scout from Troop 3 in Dedham will undertake this project as their final Eagle Scout project.

The art walk will involve the temporary installation of 40 weatherproof vinyl stickers of nature-themed artwork from local artists and will be placed along the sidewalk of the Sawmill Lane Bridge through the summer and fall. The Art Walk is a partnership with the Motherbrook Arts and Community Center who will facilitate and is facilitating this call for artists. The request specifies that the artwork must have themes broadly related to nature. The Natural Environment, Dedham Landscapes, or Pollinators. The call for artists specifies that artwork cannot include violence or mature themes. Selected artists will receive a $125 gift card from the Motherbrook Arts and Community Center, which is funded by both the grant and a match from the community center. We anticipate sharing with the Select Board the final selected pieces before installation and also will work with the state to coordinate installation.

and close within the memo that I provided to board members were a few outstanding examples of artwork that we've already received from local Dedham artists. The deadline for submission is May 7th. Once permits are in hand, DPW expects the installation of plants and other park elements to take about five weeks. Staff from the Conservation Division of the Planning, Zoning, and Natural Resources Department and DPW will jointly manage this project. coordinate community partnerships and oversee the implementation. We'll continue to keep the Select Board informed and seek input as appropriate through the process. Thank you, members.

Thank you. Questions for Jeremy? and Michepet.

OK. Thank you very much. I appreciate the work that everybody did on securing this. I do have a few questions for you. As far as the public art approval, can we clarify whose jurisdiction this

this is on the sawmill bridge which is under the jurisdiction of the state and we will coordinate the installation with the state

Okay, so it's not under our jurisdiction whatsoever? No. No or yes? Okay, so why are we being asked? We're accepting...

Well, we're accepting the grant. This is a $30,000 grant from the state, which needs a select board to accept the grant.

OK. I have a couple of questions and concerns when I mentioned the art project and I appreciate you going over what the guidelines are going to be and I know that we have a policy for the Select Board on approving any kind of artwork, et cetera, right? In this day and age, you never know, and we never want to have a precedence wherever we go with things. So I do have a little bit of a concern with that even though it's not under our jurisdiction. that it's still in our town and we are accepting that grant. So somewhere I think that we have some involvement with that as far as approving the actual artwork that goes up. That's my opinion. There's five people here. So I just would throw that out there for discussion. That would be my opinion on that. As far as the long-term maintenance, So who's going to be responsible for all that?

Is that going to be the state, then, if it's all theirs?

So just to clarify, the sawmill bridge belongs to the state. The 21 sawmill lane belongs to the town. So there's the town property, which is why we applied for the grant, and that's why the select board is approving the acceptance of the grant to make those improvements. But the art installation is occurring on state property. So there's two different things happening in this grant.

So that is ours, that's our jurisdiction, and then this is, okay. All right, so thank you for that clarification. So with that being said, maintenance.

with DPW and Parks and Rec have traditionally done some maintenance in that area, and they've indicated that they will continue to do maintenance in that area to keep it. the invasives out, the gravel raked and et cetera. These are native plant species. The intent is to try to have a low maintenance area there to the extent possible, but we do acknowledge it will take some management and maintenance in the future.

So there could be some increase in costs for taking care of the property, right? Because we'd have to be aware of that as well, too, because of illegal dumping, and I think you kind of referenced that a little bit as well, too, right? Is that could be... even more of an inviting area. All right, are there any other grant obligations with this besides the fact that we're going to have some sort of maintenance? which I understand. Any other obligations whatsoever?

As I depicted, DPW will be installing all the species and all the hardware. and that's an in-kind match to get the grant.

Okay. Okay. All right. So that's it. Okay. That's really it. I mean I do think it will be very nice to understand why it's getting done but but that is my concern is the artwork. Again, I thank you for that clarification on who it falls under but I think that we should make sure publicly that we agree with the art selection or even the choices and then let them decide which one gets selected. That is my opinion.

We're happy to present all the art that comes in to the select board. If there's any issues, we're open to your input, of course.

I think that that would be a good idea, but I'd leave that to colleagues on their thoughts on that as well.

Thank you. Sure. So I'm looking at the, what would the access points be to the park?

Let me look. I believe probably from, don't quote me, Condon Park. And then you also have from Sawmill, the Sawmill Bridge.

Okay, so it connects to the, so Condon Park, there's the parking lot, so you would either go onto the field or go through the parking lot down a path, I'm assuming? and can you then walk from Condon over to the bridge? I guess I haven't explored the backwoods there. So it would go behind all of those buildings and that dotted line there on that map, is that a path?

We're looking at the Google map. I would say the dotted line is probably maybe a property line. and so forth.

My understanding is there is a connecting path between Condon Park and this property that kind of winds along the mother brook there. and we actually had some, I don't know if they were in the packet for you all, but there were some historical photos from the 1980s. Apparently this used to be DCR property that was at some point transferred to the town and back then it was Grass, and there were benches, and it was more well utilized back then, and then at some point it fell into town ownership. and then sort of overgrew with those invasives, et cetera. So we're hoping to open it back up and encourage folks to be there which will hopefully dissuade some of the negative stuff that's been happening.

That red dash is the proposed path. That's not a property line that you see.

and the path, is that part of the plan? I haven't been back there. So is this a dirt path? Is it a clear path?

Stone dust. Stone dust, stone dust path.

So it's actively a stone dust or the grant will fund us to...

This grant is funding that supply of stone dust.

And $30,000 can do all of this?

With our labor. So that pays for the materials and the DPW labor will.

Yeah, and then access from the bridge, are there stairs? I go there all the time by car, but I can't say I've walked there.

I don't believe there are. I believe that's pretty much at grade right there. I mean it does drop steep down by the bridge, but I'm pretty sure that this is at grade.

But to some degree, you would likely be walking through the parking lot of Dillard Park Plaza.

No, that would be going, this is all on Town of Dedham property.

Okay, so you can access it. Okay, I mean, I'm curious. I love opening up the access there. It's a beautiful resource. I mean, every time I do drive by on wheels. I always think it's a nice, and I often see people sitting on the benches over there, so I'm curious about it, thanks.

And I will say, DeLapa Plaza, since their rejuvenation of the property has made it more, better in the back of their property. And I think we'll highlight the investment by the town to rejuvenate that park. So it'll be much more welcoming.

Okay, great. Thank you.

Steven and then Michelle. Quick question. On the note of welcoming, the plan only has one proposed bench and I just didn't know if that is just conceptual at this point or if the plan would be to only move forward with one bench.

That's I'm guessing based on the budget. That's what we have. Yeah, bench is not cheap.

Michelle.

Yeah, thanks Jeremy for the presentation and thanks to my colleagues for their questions. I had some of the same questions related to maintenance and access points. but overall I really appreciate the work on the application and congratulations to each one of only 12 chosen out of 300 applications is exciting and I do The questions they're asking get worked out that there's a lot of wins here in terms of improving what is a really neglected area which may lead to increased utilization and therefore safety improvements there. but also at the same time addressing invasive species. and promoting art and gardening. And I just like all the collaboration I'm hearing on this project in between different Dedham downtown apartments and the local nonprofit organization, artists and scouts. So, you know, the youth involved too.

So I think there's potential for this to be a really great new job for Dedham when the details are all worked out. So thanks for your work on it.

Thank you. Please.

Jeremy, you mentioned that behind the plaza has improved. I mean, the last time I went there, there was a post office to be on, you know. Have they done improvements back there?

They have cleaned up the property measurably. All the dumpsters.

That looks very nice.

The dumpsters are screened. I mean, it's not like the front, but the dumpsters, they have the dumpsters, they have mechanicals, and they have some vacant spaces back there, but they've put some investment back there. There's cameras, there's lighting to make sure that it maintains that high level of security.

Good. Very good. Thank you.

Anybody else? If not, I'll entertain a motion, please.

move to accept a state grant in the amount of $30,385 for construction of the Sawmill Lane Pollinator Pathway.

Is there a second? Second. Discussion? Hearing none, on the vote, Michelle?

Yes.

Steven. Yes. Erin.

Yes. Dimitria.

Yes. And the Chair votes yes. Thank you. Thank you members. I think you stay in there for the next one. Next item on the... Agenda, Discussion, Letter of Support from Select Board, Dedham, Mass Works Project, Elm Street, and the National Drive Signalization. Jeremy.

Thank you again, members. Thanks for the opportunity to provide an update on the current Mass Works design project centered around Legacy Boulevard. In addition, I'm seeking a letter of support, which I just placed in front of you from the board for an FY27 Mass Works construction grant submission for the signalization of Elm Street and National Drive. Next slide, please. Before we dive into the projects, it's important to highlight that over five years of public-private partnership efforts have gotten us where we are today. I will note that the infrastructure planning is part of a multi-pronged approach to economic development in the Legacy Place area. The town is also set to begin a zoning study of the area in which member Paris and Reilly is also participating to plan for future growth, incentivize infrastructure improvements, and increase the town's tax base. In 2021, a road safety audit was funded by private property owners to have state agencies audit the intersections around the Legacy Place area.

Typically, this is the first step in getting the attention of state agencies for future transportation infrastructure improvements. In 2022, the Planning Board asked the private property owners of the Legacy Boulevard area to develop solutions to the ongoing traffic congestion and significant safety issues in order to accommodate any new future development projects. In 2023, private property owners hearing loud and clear the Planning Board's message hired transportation firm Bowman to develop conceptual plans to address the Planning Board's concerns. but also to plan for infrastructure improvements to allow for future growth of this important economic engine of Dedham and the Commonwealth. In 2024, the privately funded concept plan was used as a basis for the submission of a MassWorks grant to go from concept to actual buildable plans. As a reminder, MassWorks is one of the state's largest and most competitive grant sources for local infrastructure projects.

The state recognized the efforts of Dedham, the significant investments by the private property owners of the Legacy Boulevard area, and potential economic development associated with an improved transportation infrastructure and awarded the town $1 million to advance the plans. Since then, the town consultant team, Bowman, and private property owners have been working toward final plans that can be structured with an eye toward seeking funding from Mass Works again this year for the signalization of Elm Street and National Drive. which is the secondary entrance and egress for the Legacy Place area and funding next year for three other intersections which you will see on the next slide. If you could go to the next slide please. Since the intersection of an actual drive, I'll highlight them. So there are four intersections that are part of this design project that we're at right now to get to constructible plans. One is town-owned. That's what we're here primarily to talk about tonight, the intersection of Elm Street and National Drive.

And the three in the green are to the left of the screen and mostly southern. Dedham, you have Providence and Elm. You have next Providence and Legacy Boulevard. And then lastly to the most to the north is the intersection of Providence Highway and the Dedham Plaza. Those are all part of the scope for improvements, and Michael will actually talk us through a high level of what those are. Since the intersection of National Drive are roadways under the town of Dedham and private ownership, state review is not required. State review is required for the three intersections along Providence Highway. Review and local approvals can occur at a quicker pace than these state approvals. That is why that is the focus and our primary goal of getting this to get construction funding through the state, which would actually not require any town of Dedham funds. We'll be seeking all funding from the state to pay for the construction of this new intersection.

I'm going to now hand it over to Michael Wolfers, who's been the project manager from Bowman, to give the board an overview of this important intersection. and quick summaries of the remaining ones just for due to time and brevity. So thank you members.

Thank you, members of the board. My name is Michael Wolfirst. I'm a transportation engineer with Bowman Consulting. focusing on the Elm Street and National Drive intersection that Jeremy just introduced. We wanted to provide some context as to why we were looking at this intersection and the importance of it in terms of the greater scheme of access to and from Legacy Place. The intersection's scope is to implement a new traffic signal at the current stop-controlled intersection of National Drive and Elm Street. with that traffic signal, we would also have signalized pedestrian crosswalks and a means to manage traffic flows to and from Legacy Place via National Drive. The significance of this intersection is that it is one of three access and egress points to Legacy Place. There's this intersection,

there is a right in right out unsignalized driveway on Providence Highway and then there's the aforementioned Legacy Boulevard signal on Providence Highway. Now notably, while Legacy Boulevard at Providence Highway is kind of viewed as the primary access point to Legacy Place, when we counted the traffic volumes and have studied for the past couple of years, how traffic is accessing Legacy Place. We actually find that Elm Street and National Drive processes just as much traffic as Legacy Boulevard. So it's a really critical means to access. And it has actually outgrown its ability to accommodate traffic. The traffic level of service, that is the operations along National Drive, on a typical Saturday afternoon is failing.

And so that's the level of service F for that approach, which means significant backups and challenges for people trying to exit the road, exit Legacy Place onto Elm Street. It also is a challenge to enter that driveway as well, considering that it's currently unsignalized. As part of those years of planning studies, we found that the need to accommodate existing demand and also accommodate future growth projected for this area really required a traffic light not only for safety but efficiency of operation. Next slide, please. The concept that we have shown here for signalization of this intersection, I'd like to call out a few of the key components of the improvements being proposed.

the signal installation is obviously the primary component here and that allows the movements into and out of Legacy Place that is southbound heading into Legacy Place and National Drive exiting Legacy Place to be fully signalized. This allows for efficient access and egress. while also maintaining safety. We also would have all crosswalks fully signalized, which would be exclusive pedestrian phasing to allow pedestrians to safely cross at this location. without interfering or creating conflicts with the large volumes of traffic that travel through here. in addition you can see there are some geometric changes happening to the roadway where there are some hatched areas around some corners and those are proposed truck aprons and what those are

essentially areas that allow vehicles to larger vehicles to over track. So it's giving them a little bit of extra space. It's essentially like a flush curb that looks different so that Typical vehicles, your standard passenger vehicles aren't using that space. They're staying in the typical travel lane, but larger trucks are able to get in and out more easily without striking curbs. In addition, the traffic light, while accommodating growth and access and egress to Legacy Place, and so on.

The police at Dedham have done a great job of manning that location and trying to manage traffic flows, but a signal would be also an additional tool in their toolkit to be able to override a signal and and turn it on and off and dynamically manage traffic flows during those really heavy peak seasons that occur every year. Lastly, the National Drive exit itself is currently one wide right turn lane. and so the proposal here takes that wide right turn lane and splits it up into two lanes and what that does is it allows us to separate the right turning traffic, which is the dominant movement exiting with left turning traffic, which is technically not allowed today,

but occurs today and we've counted about 20 to 30 vehicles per hour during a Saturday afternoon that make that movement. and so we have some additional, I have some additional information specifically about that movement recognizing that it is not a movement that is technically allowed today. And so, next slide please. And so we've dug into this as part of prior planning studies and also for the analysis to support this design. and understand what the demands for that movement could be. Obviously, the starting point is what happens today, which we found to be on a typical Saturday about 22 vehicles per hour currently making that movement from what is effectively a right turn lane.

We've had, interestingly, a test case of the potential demand for traffic heading into the neighborhoods east with the opening of the Jefferson apartment gates through the ZBA. and a traffic study, not as part of this work, but a traffic study was completed which found that there were no anticipated impacts with opening that gate and since the gate has been opened, County, the town hasn't received significant complaints regarding traffic heading into the neighborhoods. Obviously, Legacy Place is much larger than Jefferson Apartments, and so we want to understand where is traffic going, and is there a latent demand for traffic to exit into Rustcraft Road, making that left turn? and so what we did was we use a traffic data vendor called Streetlight Data.

This is a company which specializes in collecting and aggregating large amounts of GPS and cell phone data anonymously. And what it allows us to do in simple terms is understand where people are going to and from. So not only how many people are turning left, or how many people are leaving, for example, Legacy Boulevard, but where are they going and what areas are they going to? What we found was that when you look at traffic exiting Legacy Place, not including cars that are already making a left turn, so just traffic exiting Legacy Boulevard and the driveways that I mentioned previously, about 1% of all traffic actually wants to go and ends up in the neighborhoods east of Legacy Place.

And so it's a very small share of demand, which when you take those percentages and apply them to the counts that we have, it actually ends up being the traffic that we're counting more or less. So what that's telling us in short is that the demand for this movement is really local access. We're not seeing through any of the data we've collected that there is a demand for traffic to make this left turn unless you happen to live or are destined for that area east of Legacy Place. and so that's what our considerations were looking at this and we understand the significance of it and wanted to make sure that we thoroughly looked at it. Next slide please.

And so in addition to the intersection at National Drive and Elm Street, which is where we would like to, as Jeremy mentioned, apply for a Mass Works grant, Jeremy also mentioned that there are three additional locations as part of the MassWorks design study, which MassWorks funded design study, which we are developing currently for those MassDOT locations along Providence Highway. The location at Legacy Boulevard and Providence Highway is obviously a major intersection. And so I'll just briefly go through some of the key points that we're looking at here and what we're looking to improve. For Legacy Boulevard specifically, This was a road safety audit location, so there's a documented crash history with the state, so there is a safety focus that needs to be addressed here.

We'll be looking at improvements to the of the roadway, the turning radii to make the movements easier and safer, as well as pedestrian movements, and then critically, City, Legacy Boulevard is currently failing today, much like National Drive, and so there will be options and concepts being considered to open up Legacy Boulevard and provide additional capacity to be able to effectively move traffic there. Next slide, please. Elm Street and Providence Highway is another major intersection as part of the Mass Works design project. and here we are looking at again a road safety audit that was previously conducted and looking to improve traffic safety at this location.

Here, this is a major intersection, and so there's a need to maintain and so we're keenly looking at maintaining and reinforcing the vehicular operations, but also improving safety. So there will be pedestrian infrastructure, basically bringing the intersections up to current accessibility standards, ADA requirements, and doing those within the existing right-of-way that's out there today so that the project is constructible. Next slide, please. The last MassDOT location is Dedham Plaza at Providence Highway. The improvements being developed here are somewhat

Simpler, I would say, or a smaller scale than the other two locations on Providence Highway, simply because this is a smaller intersection overall. are important as part of the corridor, and so we needed to look at it together. This location will be primarily looking at additional ADA improvements. So those are ramp improvements, pedestrian signalization improvements, and critically, a fourth crosswalk on the southern side of the intersection where there currently is none. so that's page left. Next slide. And I'll hand it back to Jeremy here to talk about our next steps. Thank you, Michael.

So again, we're here to request the select board's support for getting more funding to construct this intersection. realizing that there will be, we also need, we're seeking next week support from the planning board. There's a planning board decision for Legacy Place that actually prohibited that left-hand turn, so eventually, if we do get this money, there will have to be a petition to go back before the board to allow that left-hand turn, which I hope they support. likely there will need to be traffic bylaw changes for the signalized intersection requiring public hearing by the select board. There may or may not require town meeting. There are four property owners that are involved at this intersection at Elm Street. mostly the town and the Avins, WS Development and some subsidiaries that have ownership interests. So we'll be working with all them because some of the infrastructure will need to be located

on some of those private properties. And we might need to see some kind of contracts, easements, and or takings. And that will be decided based on this grant. And of course, be seeking support from our local state rep and state senator. and then we'll continue to work on those three other intersections. Those are on a longer term and we hope that next year we'll be coming back before you at this time with seeking your support for construction funding for those other intersections. We still need to work with some of the property owners, especially at Providence Highway and Legacy Boulevard because truthfully, to enlarge that intersection requires private property. And so we're in discussions with all of them about understanding the impacts and how we can find a middle ground to make that intersection work. both to satisfy today's needs but also future needs. With that, thank you and thank you for diving into transportation.

I don't know if you do that often but I appreciate it and I know everyone loves to talk traffic and transportation.

Thank you both. This is a lot more involved than when I first looked at what the agenda was and I'm sure There are a lot of questions. I'm just going to ask one question before I open it up. Why did you come to the Select Board first and not the Planning Board? Why did I? Because the planning board, you just mentioned the left-hand turn and everything else. just curious of why the planning board didn't tackle this first.

Well, I will say time is of the essence also on this grant, not that we hope to submit this by Memorial Day. And I know you were first up as far as boards, but also, I mean, truthfully, either or. Both boards require public hearings, and both boards require approvals. So it's not really a who's first or next. You were first up on the agendas, and we wanted to meet with you.

Okay, thank you. Questions? Who wants to start? Can you take that down so I can see Michelle? Michelle? Yeah, okay. Michelle has her hand up, so let's go there first.

Okay, I'll start, and I might have other people to talk, but a couple things. But my first comment, it's more common, and I know it's on the part that we're not voting on tonight, but the Mass.org, the intersection of Allen and Providence Highway. I just want to say I'm glad to see folks looking at that. I have worried ever since the legacy place went up. and a number of workers that are crossing there, getting off buses, and also residents and shoppers, but mainly employees of Legacy Place, and I think there's important safety concerns there, so I'm glad that's being looked at. My main question really is, I guess there's two parts to it, but it has mainly to do with that left-hand turn. So one is just making sure I understand what exactly we're voting on tonight. It sounds like it's just the acceptance of the grant, and it wouldn't mean that we're voting that that left-hand turn is going to happen as part of the planning. Maybe I'll pause there first, just to understand what we're voting on.

I'm seeking support from the select board to apply for this grant.

Can I, Michelle, did you, did you, because I'm just seeing the letter for the first time. Yeah, sorry. Did you see the letter? So there's a letter, and we'll talk about that later, but I just wanted to let you know that we were given a letter, a draft today that would go to Secretary Paley.

I apologize, I brought five hard copies.

Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm not there to see it in person. You know, it is helpful when we have meetings, but I know time is of the essence. So I remember what a big deal the decision was about making that model upturn. If my memory is correct, it was really a concession to the neighbors as we were trying to get support. for that project years ago. So I know the materials mentioned stakeholder input, but I just would like to hear more about that and just have an assurance that understanding who's going to be able to weigh in or has weighed in, and how, and neighbors' thoughts on that. I'm somebody who wishes I could turn left out of there, so I will welcome it personally. But I want to make sure everyone that lives right there in the immediate vicinity, especially on West Brecht, is aware of what's going on and has an opportunity to weigh in.

There will be, of course, public hearings. We will be going far and wide for people to come. When we did this through the ZBA, which, again, was like a bit of a litmus test, the neighborhood really did not come out. I will say also another litmus test has been our holiday seasons. A lot of traffic has been sent down Ruscraft Road during those peak demands. The police have directed traffic to go left and I believe the chief has not reported any complaints from the neighborhood or not directly heard any complaints of sometimes during those peak demand of many cars going out that way probably onto E Street and back onto the highway. and again the data has shown that really it's the folks taking that turn are mostly local. It really is kind of out of the way if you're looking to circumvent going right back onto the highway to go left, go down central, take a right on east. longer trip.

but nonetheless, there was a reason that that was put in and here we are 20 years later and we will have the public hearing processes to ensure that folks have a voice and can state their concerns or hopefully support. because clearly a lot of folks are doing it.

Thank you.

Sure. Yes, I have a few questions. One, I guess, again, understanding that this scope is, I think, larger than I understood. I do want to just clarify what is before us. We just had a discussion. Because what's on our agenda is a discussion about a letter of support, but I think what you're actually asking is for our support for you to apply for a grant. And the grant is inclusive of a large number of traffic projects. Is that?

What we are primarily going to be pursuing is construction money to implement this concept that we have right now.

So the grant

is just for Elm Street National Drive.

So the grant is due by Memorial Day, and the grant is to construct these traffic improvements.

At Elm Street National Drive.

Yep. at those, okay, those two specifically. Okay. So that includes, again, just to get caught up because I'm understanding it much more having that presented to me than looking at the schematics. So that includes a traffic signal at the end of National Drive. and a left-hand turn out onto Elm Street. Correct. It includes the improvements. Sorry, the other improvement included the exit on Jefferson.

No, that was done by the ZBA two years ago. We just wanted to provide that. That was a quote unquote litmus test of allowing access on the rust craft that was prohibited back in 2004 when those two projects came in. Similar to what happened at Legacy, the abutters were very concerned that folks were going to bring traffic to their neighborhoods. and that's why, you know, folks from the Jefferson Station, there was a gate and they were prohibited from going out under Russ Graff Road.

Yeah, yeah. Okay. And so... if we agree to support the applying for a grant to construct these improvements that would also require a letter that would be part of an application package?

Yeah, they are looking for support letters by local officials and local towns that have a say or a permitting requirement.

Okay. And how much are we asking for?

I believe this intersection is probably, we're still crunching the numbers, but approximately $2 million. Yeah, plus or minus.

And are there any match requirements for this?

All the private sector money that has been put into this project thus far, almost a half a million dollars would be the match. There was no Town of Dedham money that would be a part of this construction.

Okay. And I think I have one more question, but it's escaping me at the moment, so I'll let someone else ask questions.

Thank you, Anna. Stephen, do you have any questions?

Yes, just to follow up on that. So if a million is matched, what we're requesting from MassWorks is a million. Two million. Okay, so it's not 50-50 match.

No, so the last grant we got was a million dollars. And the match for that was all the private sector funding that's got us to here. and we're gonna do that similar tactic here. There's no town of Dedham match for this, the money that we're seeking.

And the funding from MassWorks would go towards improvements that are sort of tangible to the multifamily overlay district, the MBTA communities district. Would that be fair to say?

I mean, the MBTA communities district is part of the Legacy Boulevard area.

I just think looking at this draft letter, I know it points out that we've adopted MBTA Communities Act. It just might be worth noting how proximal this is to that district just in terms of trying to boost our application to Mass Works.

which of course gets high regard when it comes to grants these days. Thank you. Dimitria?

Thank you. Erin and Michelle had said I agree with it, especially with the left turn. So the process will be that there will be public meetings about this, even if we accept this, there'll be public meetings regarding the left turn. As far as the intersection for Providence, I come home one with one all the time. to take that left and people can only make it halfway. It's such a scary, scary intersection as we all know. So I'm happy that hopefully we'll start looking at something like that as well too. The MBTA grant just made me think of the MBTA. There was discussion about a bus getting into Legacy Place. Where did that go?

So that's been paused. There was an agreement by FedCorp, Joe Federico, for his project that was approved back in 2023. for 274 units that he would provide space in the front of his 124 Quabbish for a bus stop. and he'd been working and a planning member, Jim McGrail, had been working also with the MBTA that they found that to be an acceptable place for a bus to stop. and unfortunately, as you know, that project has not moved forward. However, next month Mr. Federico will be back before the board for a new project. and the likelihood that I'm sure the planning board will be asking for that same bus stop to be located right there, which the MBTA seemed to agree that would be a great one for the 34 to branch off and they would be able to turn around.

Isn't there another project that's going back there at Legacy as well too? that went through some, I know that they were already approved, but Task Sturgis.

Yes, there's a 154-unit project. Hopefully, we'll be breaking ground in the next couple months at 75 and 125 Sturgis Way by the Nordblum Company. and then, well, yeah, Mr. Federico's proposed project.

Maybe some conversation with somebody who's shovel-ready to possibly move that over there and look there. and I know they have all their, sorry I'm looking over here, I'm putting you on the spot. but it could be a conversation maybe that maybe something like that because I know it's very how it's presented it was very community focused over there and that could be a benefit of getting a bus in there faster.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

So just talk a little bit about the grant. Is this a potential $2 million grant that the town of Dedham manages and the town of Dedham will then award contracts for the businesses to do the improvements?

I don't know the details of who would be managing the grant. Well, it would be awarded to the town. The town is the applicant. The town will get the funding. Who manages the construction, whether it's third party like such as Bowman or it's actually the town hiring. I don't know that yet and that will be worked out in the coming weeks.

and is this a competitive grant? Absolutely. How much, excuse me, do you know how much is in the bucket, so to speak.

I wish I knew the numbers from that. When we got in 2024, it was extremely competitive. It was similar to like we were 20 out of 300 some odd. But as I said, this is one of the largest tens of millions of dollars that the state doles out for infrastructure projects that they feel will lead to housing, jobs, and economic development and infrastructure. and as we've seen and I feel like Dedham is in a really good place with grants when it comes to the state. We've definitely been bringing a lot in.

First of all, thanks for the presentation. I think the letter needs a little work. Okay. So I'm assuming that this letter is a draft letter. Yes. And also, because of my position in the state, I cannot sign this letter. So we'll have to figure out who is going to sign it on behalf of the town. And just put that out there. But thank you. Any further questions?

My only question is just on the next step in the motion. I think based on this conversation, the motion is centered on approval to move forward with applying for a grant rather than a specific letter of support. Is that? It's not with the right. I don't think we're ready to submit a letter and also I think it's important to hear what the planning board says before we draft our letter because I think that there would likely be important points that we'd want to integrate. or even a potentially joint letter, I'm not sure. But I think what you're really looking for as a signal is can you move forward with putting this grant together to improve these traffic projects.

What I would love is for a support letter and that I can work with the town manager and or members of the select board to edit as needed a draft letter, the letter of support.

So just to follow up on Aaron's comments, you told us at the beginning you need this by Memorial Day. So that's over a month away. Yep. and I think there is time, but I think my sense is that there's support to move forward. but not to be specific for a letter yet because the letter will be part of a package that you're going to submit. And you'll be going to the planning board at the next meeting? Next Wednesday. Next Wednesday? So I think we can maybe give you a consensus now. And then after you go to the planning board, let's put a slot on the agenda April 30th. That still gives you enough time to do everything. And I just... just hearing the questions from the board, I think that's probably in an appropriate step.

So we can entertain a motion for the consensus to support pending a final decision on April 30th. And that gives you, you can talk to the planning board and give them our consensus if that's, if that works for everybody here. What do you think?

Yes.

So moved. Second?

Second.

Discussion? Hearing none, on the vote, Michelle?

Yes.

Steven? Yes. Erin?

Yes.

Dimitria? Yes. Chair Voeltjes? Thank you. Thank you. Thanks very much.

Great. Yes. And thank you for tackling the traffic issues there. No, thank you.

We certainly appreciate it. There's no doubt about it. especially I think Michelle and others, the comments about We all see the workers crossing that busy intersection from Washington Street. They get off the bus and they walk across. And I think that this, for their safety, this is a well... a well-timed project that will definitely help them. So thank you very much for coming in. Thank you all. Thanks, Keith. I know that's what, I'm trying to figure out what you were sitting here for. Thank you. Support for obviously Jeremy, of course.

Thank you. For Thursday night entertainment.

All right, we'll move on to the next item on the agenda, and that's appointment of two select board members to the goals implementation work group. Erin?

Yes. As we discussed at the last meeting and a couple of meetings prior to that, after our Select Board Goal and Priority Setting meeting in January. all contributed to a final report that provided a range and array of priorities that we had discussed together and given the Scope and likely long-term nature of working toward many of those goals and priorities. We thought that establishing a work group

to consider implementation, which priorities to implement and on what time schedule to do so, that it was prudent to set up a work group among, inclusive of two select board members, to work on implementing that report.

Thank you. And since you were involved quite a bit in this, can we assume that you want to volunteer?

Yes, please. Thank you.

Anybody else want to volunteer?

I'm happy to do it also and I just want to say a little bit about my approach as I was thinking about this. I found our session really worthwhile and I would like to see progress on the main broader goals that came out of that session. and I know that we brainstormed a lot of different potential action items and I saw that really as a brainstorm and I think, and Erin just alluded to this too, I think part of this work is deciding which one of those kind of brainstorm actions, which ones make the most sense for us and how to time them. So not necessarily trying to get everything done, but making sure we're making progress toward the larger goals with the actions that make and the actual work that makes most sense for Dedham. So I'm happy to do that and bring those thoughts back to the board really for it. and a decision of how to move forward but we can kind of do the initial looking through everything and making some suggestions.

Thank you. Dimitria?

Yeah. So in reading everything, I kind of looked at those goals as very aspirational. And I think that's really what you were saying here is We've got to kind of harness those in and then bring them back to the select board to decide really what the goals are, what the priorities are, and not really just take that document and that's just not it. It's going to come back to us with suggestions on how we can move forward and which goals we vote on to move forward on and how we're going to get there. Excellent. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there a motion?

Move to appoint select board member Aaron Bowles-Welch and Michelle Pearson Reilly to the goals implementation working group.

Is there a second? Second. Discussion? Hearing none, on the vote, Michelle?

Yes.

Steven. Yes. Erin.

Yes.

Dimitria. Yes. Chair Valdez. Before we jump into executive session, any old or new business?

Let me just get my notes up, if that's okay.

Dimitria.

Thank you. So, as Town Manager Leon Goodwin mentioned, we are having in the facilities working group just as a overview site visits to all 24 facilities are completed at this point by our by Arrow Street, and they are now drafting the existing conditions evaluation metrics and developing the facilities database with all the existing conditions report expected in mid-May for the community and for our working group. The project is moving into its community engagement and needs assessment phases. And the first public meeting is on April 29th, and department head questionnaires are going out to all of them on April 24th. April 29th, a little bit more about the meeting just in case they missed it in the very beginning. It is hybrid, so it will be Zoom in person at Town Hall. in this room here featuring a project intro, high-level building findings.

We're going to have live polling and a small group budget exercise where participants allocate limited funds across building needs. the facilities master plan survey draft questionnaire is underway right now. being reviewed by the town and school staff and the community engagement subcommittee. Hopefully we have the survey launch on April 29th and the tentative date or the date that it should close is May 17th. So there's a lot going on behind the scenes right now. Thank you to all the staff and to the subcommittee for all their work on this, and for Anthony Rodriguez, who has really been a phenomenal co-chair in this committee and everybody who's at the table so that's where we are on that and if you don't mind I just have a couple other things that I want to bring here there was I saw on Facebook about recent break-ins to cars and just to remind everybody if you're not on Facebook and you're not seeing that that

It's not really an issue, but what it seems to be is when people aren't locking their doors or they're leaving valuables in there or they're leaving fobs in there, which, you know, the key, please don't do that. And if you see something, report it, call the police, let them know. and then on a positive note, I saw what I thought was just a fabulous idea. On May 30th from 10 a.m. until two o'clock, residents are invited to Ocean State Job Lot right on Providence Highway to help fill a truck with donations for Circle of Hope, supporting individuals and families that are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurities. Needed items are things like new t-shirts, sweatpants, sweatshirts, unopened sunscreen, clothing, like new clothing. Unopened Hygiene Products, etc. It's organized by Marks Moving and Storage and I just thought that that was such a wonderful opportunity for people to

You know, if you're cleaning out your closet and you have things like I do that have tags that I'm never, you know, I'm just not going to wear, you know, bring them, right? Bring them and give them. And if you're going to buy one shampoo, maybe, you know, buy two shampoos if you can and contribute there. So that's all.

Thank you. Thank you. Erin, anything?

That's it.

Michelle?

Yeah, I want to just mention that I don't know the dates, maybe someone can help me. I know the joint James Grace Landau is coming up. That's up to last Sunday in the club. and I also wanted to mention to look up the community cleanups, the community volunteers that have been organizing those. It's Earth Day this month so they kick off at several this month and then they'll be continuing each month for a while. I believe that information is on the town's website and will be soon.

Yes. Thank you. Stephen? Anything? No? Okay. Just a few items. Leon, I just want to remind you that the House budget came out yesterday. The closeout for legislators to do outside sections is tomorrow. So we should send a few items to Rhett McMurtry and ask them to include. I know, you know, Dimitri and I were chatting the other day about the condition of Keough Park's tennis courts, basketball courts. so maybe that's something that Rep. McMurtry can put in some funds to fix those and those funds would go through DCR not through the town of Dedham since We never were able to get the legislation passed to turn that over to the town.

But let's see if we can get a couple of items in to the rep tomorrow before the close of business. I want to say thank you to Nancy for the flag 250, Joe Hamilton for putting it up. He sent me pictures today. So if you drive by Town Hall, you will see the flag that this board voted on a couple of weeks ago celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country. There's a lot that's going to be coming up. And if you like those blue license plates, there is a lottery that's going to be that you can I think it's to the 17th which is tomorrow that you it's a free you can apply online and then there's going to be a lottery to draw I think it's the first 250 plates so we had a meeting yesterday in the governor's office and the LG said they have 70,000 of those license plates that are out right now.

So obviously 250 is going to be pretty good. And finally, just want to say thank you to Town Clerk Paul Munchback, the registrars and the staff. the most recent election. It's a lot of work between early voting, absentee votes, as well as election day to pull it off. and like other parts of the country where there's sometimes issues with elections, we are fortunate to have a town clerk that runs a spotless election. And this one was probably a little more challenging because in some areas there was a lot of write-in votes. And so just say hats off to Paul Munchback and his staff for another job well done. So, go ahead.

Ramble is the 26th, Sunday the 26th.

Thank you. So we do have a need to go into executive session. So I'm going to move to enter into executive session pursuant to Mass General Law 30A, Section 21A, Exemption 6, to consider the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property if the chair declares that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the public party. And I so move. Is there a second? Is there a motion?

So moved.

Second?

Second.

Any discussion? Hearing none, on the vote, Michelle? Yes. Stephen? Yes. Erin?

Yes.

Dimitria?

Yes. Chair votes yes.