This five o'clock.

Which

note MGL 7C38, section 20F, have we ordered funding the chair in the public body?

Any person may make a video or audio recording of an open session of a meeting of a public body friend with the meeting to ready meeting.

Beginning of the meeting with the chair to go inform other attendees of any circuit boardings.

Meetings being reported by the Burger Red, CTSB, Department of Great Barrington.

Any member of the public wishing to speak at the meeting must receive permission of the chair.

The listing of agenda items or those reasonably anticipated by the chair, which may be discussed at the meeting.

Not all items listed may be discussed and other items not listed, may be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.

Select board's announcements or statements.

Thank

you.

I hope this beautiful weather continues up until Saturday.

So

yeah, I just wanted to say a few things.

And I just wanted to say thank you to everybody at HIC for putting that together.

I'm sure it was a lot of work.

And then I also want to do similarly for the uh 9-11 ceremony that was held at the Great Barrington Fire Station and also the presentation of the new memorial for 9-11 out in front of the GD Fire Station.

Everybody involved in putting that together and making that come together.

It was uh very it was a great event and um as always um really really drives home um you know the whole situation and looking back on that time that won't always uh be remembered.

So just want to thank everybody involved, uh put something like that on in our town.

So thank you.

Uh

town managers report for September 14th.

The town has received correspondence for the Massachusetts Historical Commission regarding the Ramsdale Public Library renovation and addition project.

The letter provides important feedback from uh for the town and the trustees to consider as we get to work need and balance the appropriate restoration and preservation of this historic building with the library's operational community leads for the future.

The correspondence will be included in my town manager's correspondence packet, which will be posted later tonight or tomorrow, and will be reviewed and discussed at a joint meeting between the library trustees and the select board scheduled for September 22nd.

The

sewer commissioners, which is the select board, um, will meet Thursday, September 17th at 5 p.m.

via Zoom to address several important financial and infrastructure matters.

The agenda includes a review of sewer rates, discussion on the upcoming special town meeting, warrant article, and associated project scope, as well as discussion and a possible vote regarding the Mass DEP nitrogen grant that just became available.

This is uh these discussions are part of the town's ongoing work to plan responsibly for the financial and capital needs of our wastewater system while continuing to pursue outside funding opportunities where available.

As we approve, um excuse me, as we approach the conclusion of interim police chief Adam Carlotto's one year appointment.

I have made the decision to move forward with negotiating a contract with Chief Carlotto to serve as Great Barrington's permanent next police chief.

This next step provides an opportunity not only to establish community continuity and leadership, but also to um to look intentionally at the future of policing in Great Barrington.

As part of that process, Chief Carlotto and I will jointly be launching a community survey asking residents to share their priorities and expectations for the police department over the next 10 years.

The feedback will help shape the goals and priorities established for the chief and the department and provide provides a meaningful benchmark for accountability and future evaluations.

This is an opportunity to prepare strong consistent leadership with a clear community vision for the next chapter town and its police department.

Excuse me, the town in partnership with the Affordable Housing Trust and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission is moving forward with a new accessory dwelling unit program to help create additional housing opportunities in Great Barrington.

The program will provide 0% interest loans that may be fully forbidden after 10 years for eligible property owners who create ADUs and maintain them as rentals for income eligible households.

With 150,000 available through the program, this initiative is attended to help address the upfront costs associated with creating ADUs while expanding appropriately scaled housing options within our community.

Additional information, including eligibility requirements, and application materials is available through the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's Great Barrington ADU program web page.

Work continues to strengthen and stabilize the South County Connector and establish a more sustainable regional transportation operation.

Over the last several weeks, I have been meeting directly with town administrators from participating communities to improve communication, better understand community needs, and establish a consistent regional approach.

The Regional Transit Transportation Advisor Committee or RTEC will meet on September 16th at 3 p.m.

with the agenda focused on reorganizing the committee's consistent with its charge, reviewing the current status of the connector, discussing regional coordination and service priorities, and establishing a clearer framework for our tech's advisory role moving forward.

At the same time, our most immediate operational priority remains recruitment and staffing.

We have significantly expanded outreach for transportation operators and our leadership positions, including working with participating communities to promote these opportunities throughout South County.

The

goal for being straightforward to hire qualified people, get them trained and on the road.

We are doing that.

We have actually made several hires already, um, and build the staffing capacity necessary to provide safe, reliable, sustainable service to the communities to serve.

The

newly appointed community care team held its first meeting on September 10th, beginning the work of the town's one-year pilot initiative.

The initial discussion focused on identifying and prioritizing areas where the team can add value, including community communication and education, trauma informed services, support for vulnerable populations, coordination among agencies, and greater awareness of the town's trust policy.

Members also discussed opportunities for training, strengthening connections with existing service providers, learning from similar efforts and the region, and ensuring that racial equality remains the center value of the team's work.

The community care team will focus next focus on developing a vision statement and prioritizing goals and the areas of focus to guide that their pilot year.

The team's next meeting is scheduled for October 15th at 5 p.m.

Lastly, the town has confirmed a training session for members of our boards and committees and commissions for Tuesday, October 6th at 6 p.m.

to be conducted in partnership with town council.