HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-02-25-HATS-min Hanscom Area Towns Committee (HATS)
DRAFT Meeting Minutes
February 25, 2016
HATS Members. Peter Braun, HATS Chair and Lincoln Select, Steve Ng,
Concord Select, Michael Rosenberg, Bedford Select, Joe Pato, Lexington Select
Other HATS Representatives. Amber Goodspeed and Sharon Williams, Mass
port;
Others in attendance: Lt. Governor Karyn Polito; Chris Willenborg, Head of
Military Assets Task Force; Rep Gordon; Mayor Cahill; Tim Higgins, Lincoln;
Rep Jay Kaufman; Michelle Ciccolo, Lexington Select; Jennifer Burney, Lincoln
Land Use Director, Michael Lawson and Jane Hotchkiss, Select Board members
of Concord, MA
Introductions and Announcements
Mr. Braun opened the meeting at the Lincoln Town Offices at 7.30pm.
Lt. Governor Karyn Polito
Chair Braun introduced and welcomed Lt. Governor Karyn Polito as well as Chris
Willenborg to this evening's meeting
Lt. Governor's Introductory Remarks: Lt. Gov. Polito was thankful for the
introduction and that Chris Willenborg could be in attendance. She served in
House of Representatives for 10 years with Rep. Jay Kauffman who is great at
representing local issues and finding a common ground to make progress Rep
Gordon was also in attendance The Lt Governor provided the meeting with a
history of public service.
The Lt Governor wanted to discuss the community work she is involved in but
also wanted to hear HATS perspective Their campaign was based on making
Massachusetts great everywhere with the priorities including schools to provide
an excellent education, safe neighborhoods to live and work in, and provision of
economic opportunity to bring security to people's lives. These are the essence
of the priorities for the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts
A team was built to include Jay Ash, former Manager of the City of Chelsea, and
Stephanie Pollock, who has a conservation law background and experience in
transportation The goal is to develop policies to help communities with
leadership and for future success and opportunity. The first realization was that
the Community Compact Program could not be an unfunded mandate - it is a
voluntary program communities can choose to be a part of to determine best
practices and is funded by a budget line item. This program was announced last
July and was signed today as the 155th Community Impact Discussed
examples of best practices used to create cohesiveness and solve problems.
There are incentives for good decision making and bonus points received when a
community becomes a member community of a Compact as well as assistance
through qualified aid Streamlining is a priority and can help the budget process
by focusing funding where it is best serving the community Survey responses
were taken into consideration and included suggestion regarding changes in
procurement, revolving fund flexibility, and evaluation tools, and included in a
Municipal modernization bill that will give more tools and control to the
communities to ensure a successful future
The HATS community is a great way to communicate current happenings and
issues that come up and she expressed thankfulness for their role. The task
force ensures the 6 bases contribute to the discussion and keep abreast of what
is expected in the future. The airstrip at HAFB is critical to activity in the area
and this is why such an investment has been made to the airstrip and the tower
— it protects the asset to be leveraged for more economic activity in the future. It
is amazing that HAFB is a $6B enterprise providing over 16,000 jobs in the four
HATS communities and the reason for its success is largely to do with
community support. MA is #1 in the country as the most innovative state and we
are proud of this status, having taken many years to get to this point. A lot has to
do with the workforce, people with the right skills in the local communities
Mr. Willenborg thanked everyone for their kinds words. Several months ago he
visited HATS and provided an overview of priorities. A lot has been
accomplished with support of legislation $2 9m has been invested in
communications tower to help HAFB and collaborative partnerships with
academic and private entities that are working toward cyber security. A goal is to
connect bases as well as NEMA to improve communication; this benefits the
military and the Commonwealth One effort through the P4 Community
Partnership is the co-generation plant which will lower energy costs at the base
and surrounding communities. A proposal will be brought to the Air Force in the
near future. It was recently announced that local representatives (Tsongas,
Molton, Markey, Warren, Gov. Baker) have included funding for the 1st phase of
a recapitalization effort for MIT Lincoln Labs at over $450M total but the first
phase is $40M to get the design phase underway. In December, they hosted 30
public defense CIO's to view their innovation ecosystem and meet with private
sector partners and gov't partners. They hosted an incredible AF/Army business
innovation day with over 275 attendees at Ft Devens They are hosting a
smaller event in March on the Cape and in Western MA in June.
Mr. Braun thanked Mr. Willenborg for serving, stating HATS has a great
relationship with the Task Force. He was thankful to see all who were in
attendance this evening
Mr. Pato is joined by Michele Ciccolo, fellow selectmen and member of planning
board. There are two issues he wanted to mention as follows: 1 . HATS had a
session for sustainability committees to talk about plans to move forward There
has been effective freezing of solar and PV deployments as they reach metering
caps from providers. Current projects are a 1 megawatt rooftop system and 2
megawatts at the landfill that are under evaluation now but understands that
similar projects have been cancelled in the past He encouraged support of
sustainable energy projects as economically viable opportunities; and 2 A more
regional issue is for community compacts to come together regarding the need
for enrollment shrinkage due to demographic changes. Growing areas are facing
the opposite problem as enrollment growth in Lexington has been 5% for the last
6 years and are at capacity Lexington is undergoing tremendous fiscal
challenges and needs assistance to accommodate this pressure. He was
thankful for the Municipal Modernization Act.
Lt Gov Polito said the solar program is important and they are looking to
strengthen it and continue it in a manner supportive of communities. There are a
number of ideas around bringing more energy support to the
Commonwealth. They are also supportive of water, wind, and hydroelectric
proposals to supply the Commonwealth A combination of these would be a
great portfolio of energy diversity to present to legislature. The enrollment growth
being experienced is a credit to the strength of the Massachusetts education
system and what its community is providing to families. Local formulas can be
evaluated that determine enrollment and impacts on budgets and there has been
much collaboration between municipal and school leaders Unrestricted aid can
also assist in these regards. Mr. Braun asked if this would include special
education and needs were discussed.
Mr Ng was thankful for the presentation and during his time on HATS there have
been great topics, discussions and work toward increased participation and today
the Lt. Gov. is draw and he thanked everyone for attending. He is joined today
by Concord Select Board members Michael Lawson and Jane Hotchkiss.
Communities are very interested in sustainability and solar energy and Concord
has been successful with a large array at the landfill (5 megawatt system) and
work on an RFP for another large scale facility in town. He expressed concern
about resolving the SRECS as part of this process. He attended an affordable
housing ground breaking recently and wanted to know if tax credits will be
increased for these projects in the State. The Lt. Gov. reiterated they are all in
agreement regarding the importance of sustainability and energy efficiency
programs. Regarding housing, communities can decide the right mix of housing
and tax credits are helpful in many ways and can apply to affordable as well as
workforce housing The Economic Development Bill has a lot of key components
around community housing and development, to include capital and operating
funds.
Mr Rosenberg stated that efforts have been a breath of fresh air and he
appreciates sensitivity to grass roots efforts especially during a time of
nationwide polarization. Bedford's issues are being addressed locally but he
expressed concern that they did not raise gas tax as it is an obvious source of
revenue The Lt Gov discussed infrastructure at a statewide level using a
statewide strategy The T was discussed and the need for it to progress to
current technological levels, i.e. no exhange of currency, stating that 3M paid for
it and 1M ride it but there needs to be a private sector plan to move people
around and connect with other transportation systems. Tolls were discussed as
well as funding requests for bridge repairs ($50M for the next 4 years) There
was $350M added last year to Chapter 90 funding (was at $1 M) and another
$200M was requested for this year.
Mr Braun brought up T communications and recent schedule changes and its
negative impacts on the communities. Delegation stepped in and pushed for
communication. The Lt.Governor thanked legislature for handling that and will
emphasize its significance for the future. Mr. Braun referred to a van pool
discussion at a previous meeting and asked for assistance enhancing these
services. Mr. Braun introduced Jessica ?? from HAFB, and Sharon Williams and
Amber Goodspeed from Mass port as frequent attendees sharing that Tom Glynn
will be coming to the meeting in May and was here last year. OPEB GASB relief
was discussed and efforts are underway to make this a priority to address as a
community
Tim Higgins, Lincoln Town Administrator, was introduced and stated his
appreciation for leadership in the Modernization Bill and that the Lincoln
Selectmen commented it makes things easier (this supports their goals of
working with for local communities and continuing their trust). He also is thankful
for the support of the military installations and the partnerships and support
around the Commonwealth in this regard. The Lt. Governor said they assessed
what works well and what does not; they did more of what was working well
Superintendent Nancy Nelson was introduced as a big part of the HATS
community. Mr. Braun did not want to leave anyone out and thanked everyone
else for attending, opening the meeting up for public questions Rep Kaufman is
proud of their role in the revenue elements of the Modernization Bill and
embarrassed by legislative inaction in regards to solar issue. He suggested
asking Sec. Pollack to attend a future meeting and become involved. The Lt.
Governor said the team in the room this evening is a testament to the success of
past conversations and she would be happy to return in the future
Air Force Base, MassPort Community Advisory Committee, Hanscom Field
Advisory Commission - Updates
AFB Some attended the pinning/promotion ceremony for Col Dunklee, the new
commander of the 66th Air Base Group, and hope to have him visit HATS in the
Fall. Michelle ?? of Lexington reported that a mission is needed for the new
group as there is uncertainty of focus and interests Vision and combined voice
was discussed Jennifer Burney was introduced as the new Land Use Director
and representative for Lincoln. The Executive Committee can share meeting
minutes with HATS as appropriate as well as bylaws. The mission statement is
being developed which can also be shared when finalized. Mr. Braun suggested
a quarterly report
HFAC. Mr. Rosenberg reported that there was no quorum at the last meeting. A
state of Hanscom report is planned from Sharon Williams at the March 15
meeting and Mr Braun will try to attend It was the last meeting for the Secretary
of the Port Authority.
Rt. 2 and 128 Projects - Updates, if any
Projects have been dormant but expected to begin again as weather has been
good, flow has been good and no complaints.
Bridge project over 128 is progressing well and rolling road blocks set up this
week Mr Pato will continue to forward announcements to HATS Committee
Rt 3/4/225 area has no new reports. Mr. Rosenberg said that there has been a
benefit for those entering Bedford from the west side
Appointment of Next HATS Chair
Mr. Braun asked for a motion to officially move the Chair position to Mr. Ng as of
the end of the meeting Mr Braun will plan to meet with Mr Ng to transition
website and responsibilities.
Motion: Mr Pato so moved
Second: Mr. Rosenberg seconded the motion.
Discussion: There was no discussion of them motion.
Vote. Approved 4-0-0
Future Meetings and Main Agenda Items
March -- No meeting
April 28 — MBTA Advisory Board Exec. Dir. Paul Regan
May 26 -- MassPort CEO Thomas Glynn
Future meetings will be at the Concord Town House unless otherwise notified
Minutes — January 28, 2016 Meeting
Motion: Mr Rosenberg moved to approve the January 28, 2016 meeting
minutes as is
Second. Mr. Ng seconded the motion.
Discussion: There was no discussion on the motion.
Vote. Approved 4-0-0
Mr. Rosenberg thanked Mr. Braun for his creative and emphatical leadership,
which is beyond recognition stating it has been a privilege to work alongside him
in this context. Mr. Braun thanked everyone and said HATS has huge potential.
Adjourn
Mr. Ng moved to adjourn. Mr. Pato seconded the motion. The meeting was
adjourned at 8.37 pm