##VIDEO ID:MMciKy1DZ5A## good evening and welcome to tonight's meeting of the lunenberg select board today is Tuesday August 20th please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all in accordance with the requirements of the open meeting law please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and broadcast live over the lunenberg public access channel on Facebook live on the public access Facebook page and will be uploaded to the lunenberg access YouTube channel after the meeting the agenda lists all the topics which may be discussed at the meeting and are those reasonably anticipated by the chair votes may be taken as a result of these discussions not all items listed May in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by the open meeting law we're going to begin tonight with public comments are there any public comments from the board I attended active attack integrated response training that was held at the uh the high school um and this was a relatively new training I was told it was implemented about 18 months ago and it's designed to improve integration between police fire and medical personnel H with the goal to increase survival of victims in these mass shooting events um and invol Personnel not just from lunenberg but also from neighboring communities which I think is is really um of value because if God forbid an incident were to happen in lunenberg or surrounding Community you can bet resources from from lunenberg and the other communities would be pulled in so the the ability um for the Personnel across the different towns to train together I think is really um valuable and although the training was held at the the high school the principles of the training um apply to any any location so if if an incident was to happen at an office building at a store the same principles of this training apply so I was able to observe two scenarios um and the instructors explained to us the priorities and how the priorities change at different stage of the incident and the reasons behind the priorities that that um were in place so overall I mean I think it was it was very informative for me um you know the obvious thing is unfortunately we have to have these types of trainings but it is very valuable um and I want to I want to thank uh chief gaml for the invitation to observe and for all those involved in the training the instructors the volunteers and all the First Responders from lunenberg and the surrounding communities who participated because I think it was um for them it was a two-day training um I spent half a day there but um I think it was very very valuable all right are there any public comments from the public Mrs licio Ronda licio 181 Reservoir Road the members of this board are elected to conduct the town's business when members of this board sign a contract on behalf of thousands of people it is assumed and expected the exact terms of the contract will be honored it should not be necessary for a member of the public to come forward and say it out loud it is an obvious Unwritten rule one member of this board has repeatedly demonstrated disregard for just about every category of rules governing this body open meeting law and policies in addition to blurring and crossing the boundaries of his position how can anyone turn a blind eye to the negative impact he has had on the board and the negative impact he will have on our ability to attract a qualified candidate to fill the town manager position he has already violated the public trust and his mishandling of the position a case like this is exactly why the provision allowing for a recall of an elected official exists it allows the people to remove a member who fails to conduct business and a manner consistent with the town's best interest how can anyone think or argue the vice chair's continued service on the board is good for business public comments made last at last week's meeting suggested anyone who supports a recall is doing so in haste and it and in an attempt to divide the town that is not the way I see it if the vice chair does not resign I will support the recall effort and I can only speak for myself and say it is not personal it is strictly business as of right now the chair is under the vice chair is under the oath he swore to serve the town of lunenberg he should be thinking about what the oath means I have thought about it and I think it means he should resign it would save time and money while preserving his reputation and more importantly restoring the town's reputation and the ability to conduct business thank you thank you Mrs Lucio are there any other public comments I see two on Zoom so I will go ahead to Mr beardmore hey good evening uh Peter beardmore 282 Pleasant Street uh speaking on my own behalf tonight although I'm a member of the school committee and a few other committees in town um I know that on your agenda tonight is a further discussion on the arpa funding uh and it's not clear to me um that the the full extent of the $10,000 request for uh further assessment on drainage of the track and field uh was was fully explained or understood and I I just like to take a minute to expand upon that uh last year you appropriated $50,000 in arpa funding uh for this purpose and uh a study was conducted in a report was just published to the school committee uh that outlines drainage issues and uh work that needs to be done starting at the very Hill at the top of the Track and Field Complex and going down to the track itself uh there are massive drainage issues behind the retaining walls it's affecting really the entire complex um and there are it is further uh causing problems uh down on the track and the the per field itself however unfortunately that $50,000 only brought us down to the track and not the space underneath the track or the turf field um as it's turned out because of all of the drainage issues uh that turf field is at the end of its useful life cycle uh and we may be in the course of the next year or two uh dealing with a safety problem that that may limit or or end its use uh it needs to be replaced um but I don't think in good conscience anybody is going to propose a plan to go and borrow money to replace that Turf Andor track without a full understanding of the drainage issues beneath that space and what can and should be done to ensure that there's proper drainage under it um these are supposed to last 10 years we're about s or eight into the current turf field and and because of the the drainage issu ises that we're experiencing if you go on a a heavy rain day like we experienced you know a couple of times in the last several days the water actually gets under the rug and you like hydroplane uh on top of that field uh and and it's certainly not playable but also all of that rubber content that exists to to soften it um moves with the water and it's just it it's beat up and and it needs to be replaced but we shouldn't replace it without a full clear understanding of really what needs to be done to ensure that the entire complex is properly draining uh that we can maintain it well into the future this $10,000 will complete that assessment and give us a plan such that we can bring forth um a a real plan uh to to to ensure that we can use that that facility over the long term unfortunately I think we all thought that the $50,000 would do the whole project but it didn't uh and and an additional 10,000 uh I think is going to get us to a point where uh we can bring forth a recommendation that will allow for uh the continued use of that facility uh both in the near and long term and I would appreciate your reconsidering the priority of that particular project thank you very much thank you Mr beardmore um Harry I see you have your hand raised as well oh you're just going to have to unmute yourself how about now that's good uh we can't really hear you though the volume's a little low uh okay so my name is aric kubet I have resided at 125 Howard Street lunenberg since 2009 firstly I would like to thank all members of the select board for your dedication and service to our town I very much appreciate your Insight and thoughtfulness and at times it seems like a thankless job especially for one that is volunteer I am chair of the lunenberg uh Library Board of Trustees and I know the effort that goes into just that I know that effort pales compared to what all of you do on the select board and I sincerely appreciate it that said having watched recent select board meetings I have to say that I am taken aback by The Strife that is so evident not only between select board members but also barbs thrown from fellow lunenberg residents in particular directed and person derogatory comments towards Michael Ray Jeff I am not taking any position for or against what others may think about Michael Ray but I feel compelled to express my personal experience with this gentleman Michael Ray has been the select board liaison with the library and I know that I am accurately relaying the opinions and thoughts of all of the trustees of our library and our library director saying that Michael Ray has always been extraordinarily professional and understanding of all that we have shared with with him he has been amazingly responsive very timely and overall an excellent Advocate and asset to the library a huge asset our opinion of Michael Ray could not be higher and I thought a bit of contrast with other opinions that I've heard is merited once again thanks to every member of the select board for listening to what I had to say and for your dedication to our town thank you Harry are there any other public comments Mrs Lincoln Debbie Lincoln 46 Hemlock Drive I apologize usually I speak from my heart so I don't need notes I am heartbroken so I'm going to read this statement I'm here as a private citizen not representing the four Town groups I'm involved with I'm not going to say I love Lunenburg but but simply that it is my hometown that I am an LHS graduate and that I chose to raise my family here but right now it seems as though it is not my hometown I feel as though I am in the 16 1690s in Salem OR the 1950s we where we are hunting down witches or Communists have we be become so toned deaf to Civility and Community watching our national leaders debate not policy but mock each other's golf games or tear each other's characters apart and now as it trickle down to our dear home each week during public comment we listen to Citizens lamb based accuse and finger point our public officials each week we listen to the growing list of vacancies on committees and boards and town employment positions and lately each week we listen to a dysfunctional board who can't get anything accomplished because it is so mired down bickering amongst itself it would take a blind deaf and dumb no stupid person not to see the obvious divide how does any of this help Lunenburg and yet every week volunteers employees and a new town manager are sought given the current state of affairs who in his or her right mind would step up into this Viper's Nest there is so much that needs to be done to move forward in this town to heal to thrive drive to become a community again please be the example we need and don't play into the negativity around us now I promised you and I promised myself that I would never come before you without something positive to say so Carter I would like to thank you for your fresh ideas and New Perspectives in your short tenure you have paid more attention to the Council on Aging than your predecessor did in 7 and a half years Caesar I know that you have a steep learning curve and you're not getting a lot of support but I think you're doing a great job and Michael you deserve a lot better hang in there thank you thank you Mrs lincol are there any other public comments Mr Lincoln Pete Lincoln 46m Lock Drive i' like to address this statement to the people watching in may not know me my name is Pete Lincoln I'm 82 years old and I shouldn't be here tonight I'm nearly blind blind in my left eye I have two knees that need to be replaced and I'm suffering some condition that gives me constant headaches this is going to be difficult for me to speak to you I should be home with my little dog watching the ball game and preparing for talking baseball but I abore what has been going on in this room for the last couple of months I have hor it I love lunenberg says everyone Talk's cheap the cost of action is colossal let me tell you what I've done in my life I spent 38 years 38 years teaching seniors how to adapt to the toughest part of their life in the next 20 years I volunteered the Council on Aging to help seniors deal with the including parts of their life Debbie and I have spent our lives for lunenberg with our friendships our work and our wallets that's loving lunenberg we've admired Michael Ray Jeff from since he was a freshman in high school he himself was remarkable in his intellectual abilities is a way to analys to analyze Town Affairs my wife and I continue to consider him a close personal friend and Confidant so I said again we abhor what has been allowed to crucify his character there's no ground swell to remove him most of the people I've talked to don't even know what's going on or care remember 400 people voted our elections there's no ground Swell this is not the kind of town situation we had with Richard Carlson who stole thousands and thousands of dollars from our children as far as I can as far as I can comprehend he's being accused of creating a toxic atmosphere creating a toxic atmosphere my little dog pesky creates a toxic atmosphere two or three times a day at home but we're not going to get rid of her this attack is the work of a single man aided by a few flunkies and parasites who jump at the fun this man has a history of hatred of Michael since his induction his election early on he called him hey Kumbaya boy Kumbaya boy that made me sick he also was attacked the recent member of the select board Lou Franco one of my favorite guys in town the sharpest cleverest person you could meet by taunting him in public places one and done baby one and done one and done this is loving lunenberg see a particular pattern here be careful Caesar this is nothing but a lynching party and I implore the good people of lunenberg to not be complicit in it do not sign this recall petition or participate in any of this vindictive action this is not loving Lunenburg we were given a jaded Turkish proverb about I think clowns in castles I offer a truth spoken by one of our greatest Americans who gave his life to bring all of us together as one people A house divided against itself cannot stand A house divided against itself cannot stand Abraham Lincoln from The Book of Matthew Peter bmore we just heard from Lifetime lunenberg resident and Cracker Jack lunenberg high school student recently noted on our Facebook post serious topics for lunenberg staffing issues employees pay financing software debacle new buildings trash compacting finding a new tone manager but instead we'll spend more time distracted by this hunch and hunt each of you Selectmen was elected with confidence that you might find paths to for solutions for our problems put your Collective energy to do just that focus on the positives to make lunenberg the best place it can be and put your egos in your pocket thank you thank you Mr Lincoln are there any other public comments ments all right seeing none we will move on to announcements I have a few the lunenberg agricultural commission will be hosting an Agricultural Fair on October 5th from 10:00 a.m. to 2: p.m. at TC pasos there will be tractors hay rides games and vendors for more information visit the adcoms Facebook page at lunenberg agricultural commission the second Town official meet and greet will be Thursday September 26th at 5:30 p.m. at Low Places Ranch it'll be a great opportunity to network with Town officials local businesses and enjoy some good food drinks and a DJ overnight roadwork and line painting will be taking place tonight to include crosswalks stop bars and school stencils around the center of town for a full list of streets that will be painted visit the town's Facebook page or website and finally the state primary election will be on September 3rd in-person early voting will begin this Saturday and will be held every day until next Thursday for hours for inperson early voting and more information visit the town's website are there any more announcements Communications from other boards I have one from the school committee dear interim Town manager members of the lunenberg select board and members of the finance committee thank you for your continued support of Lunenburg Public Schools this letter is to request the allocation of the recent increase in Chapter 70 funding to the school budget for the upcoming school year as you may know the fiscal year 25 conference committee budget was released recently and lunenberg has received an additional $ 31,8 182 in Chapter 70 funding over the governor's initial proposal it is clear that the legislature intended for these additional funds to support our schools therefore we request that the funds be designated for appropriation to the school department at special town meeting in November in light of the ongoing hiring challenges faced by superintendent Burnham these additional funds though not extensive could significantly help in addressing pressing needs within our school system ensuring that our schools have the necessary resources is crucial for maintaining the high standard of Education that our children deserve kindly consider including this additional 31,8 $2 in the school budget for the upcoming Academic Year your attention to this matter would greatly benefit our students staff and the overall quality of Education in our community thank you for your attention to this important issue and for your continued dedication to the welfare of our town respectfully the lunenberg school committee any other Communications from other boards all right sure does the board have direction for me to include that in the fall town meeting that what I was waiting for a comment and that was what I was going to recommend that we forward that to the interim Town manager for inclusion since obviously that's the direction should be yep all right moving on to appointments up first we have the request for special event license and one day wine and beer license for St bonfice parish's October Fest on September 21st 2024 this is a familiar request but I'll go ahead and have you guys uh speak to the event I'll open it up to questions good evening everyone um Tom Bodkin 64 be Street um Tim Murphy 97 Island and uh we're here tonight uh I counted I couldn't remember myself but I guess it's the seventh time uh seventh annual October Fest and so we're here for the um license one day liquor license and also the special event license and um we're happy to take any questions sure are there any questions from the board well the first thing is obviously Mr Bodkin is not prepared he do not have his St bonfice shirt on I this is this is almost started doesn't after seven years it doesn't feelit like it used to but um it was a little too chilly tonight I we brought the autumnal weather with us but U this is preparation for October F if you come down on the 21st you'll see me in my my full September 21st full 10 to 6 and what one of the differences this year wanted to note is last year if everybody remembers we had that hurricane that was threatening um and of course you know leading up to that we're like well we might have to ask to move the date to the following Sunday but everything worked out we went ahead on the Saturday so part of this application we wanted to just have the alternative rain date of the following the next Sunday the next day following day thank you it's okay why I'm here lawyers we're not exactly officially this is something Mr chair that has as as the applicant has said has come up for the last seven years it's been a very successful Town Event fully supported everything seems to be in order in the application and uh I don't see any reason not to approve it any other questions or comments I'll offer a comment sure uh thank you for putting this on every year in the clam Chow I had a couple years ago was excellent so hoping to have it again this year yeah we got it from Conrad so now we've got to go back to their source so we got we're working on that but you're all welcome to come please 10 to six and I I also want to just make a mention that um Miss Aubrey who's new in that position she was really fantastic to deal with and um oh yeah and and she was you know she had big shoes to fill but she did them very it was very smooth process so that was nice well Mr chair I would entertain a motion that we well not entertain I would make a motion that we approve the special event license and one day wine and beer license for St Bona's parishes uh October Fest on September 21st 2024 with a reain date of September 22nd 2024 second any additional discussion those in favor say I I those oppose no the motion passes unanimously thanks much thank you very much hope to see you on the we're going to the October Fest meeting at church there all right moving on to interim Town manager report the uh select board's resolution requesting the emergency declaration uh with respect to nooba Valley Medical Center was submitted to a wide variety of State offices and upon the suggestion uh of one of our Representatives was forwarded to additional um State officials I don't know if you see it but the commissioner of uh the Department of Public Health did declare yesterday uh that this Hospital provides essential public Medical Services um to what extent that will impact things it's it's hard to say certainly the dation continues to push uh the state um has taken extraordinary uh action with one taking it by eminent domain to sell it and there's remaining hopes uh that something yet can be found here uh I want to follow up on the agricultural commission uh we did give them uh authority to use the space uh between the adult activity center and the TC pasos building for their egg provided they uh participate in pre-event planning with our Public Safety officials police fire making sure the tents are uh appropriate electricals appropriate and the like um they have been talking about a vendor applying to the select board for a one-day liquor license that remains to be seen you'd if they do you'd actually have two actions one to Grant the license and the second to allow them to serve on public property as the property owner um in conformance with your uh open container bylaw um I'd like to recognize Judith Ernst for her service uh on the cultural Council I know uh she wasn't there uh my understanding is for a lengthy time but we appreciate the service of each and every volunteer uh I'm not going to Bel labor the list of vacancies that we have uh except to say uh that we did pick up one vacancy uh on the storm water task force um and on the Sewer Commission I'll be meeting with them tomorrow night um it's rumored they have some possible candidates uh and if they do if they don't um I will be Penning a letter in conjunction with the the remaining members to everyone in the sewer district pointing out that their service relies upon people being on this commission uh and um encouraging one or more uh to um to get involved so we'll we'll wait another week or so on that but I've talked with Bill I talked with one of the Commissioners today uh that seemed to be received favorably Mr chair I just want to clarify when you say we picked up a vacancy I'm not sure did did we get one more vacancy or we got we filled the position one I'm sorry we um have received a resignation which triggers one additional vacan oh so we actually added okay so when you said we picked up a vacancy the vacancy is increased yes I'm I just want to make sure cuz I didn't understand thank you um we have begun the process uh I met with Cara McCarty if I'm saying it correctly um and she has started to develop a form which can be filled in online and signed electronically so people can then just send it to us electronically um you know attach a resume we want to try to bring us uh a little bit more forward uh in the meantime uh interested persons can find the volunteer application uh on the town's website and uh I'm I'm going to make an offer that if anyone has any question about any of the commissions you come on in and meet with me and if I can't answer your question I'll get you connected with the chairman of that commission or the staff member whatever it is because I I understand everyone is um short of time uh and if you're concerned at all about how much time something might might take by all means we want to try to assure you of that that uh that you could take on this additional responsibility uh the network administrator uh we're still trying to get those interviews set up the chief tells me he has a number of applications for Public Safety desk clerk that look good to him he'll be scheduling interviews uh I'm told uh over the next few days uh we're looking for additional seasonal Cemetery labor I'm afraid that uh the one we did app Point worked a little bit and then went MIA on us um administrative assisting assistant uh we made an offer that was rejected um we'll keep working on that I am pleased to tell you that I have what I think light a candle uh final interview for land use director tomorrow um we do have a small practical exercise we've set up for them we'll hand them some plans and ask them to do a quick site plan review uh and we've invited a representative uh from the planning board the concom and the zba to observe those interviews and I'll collect their thoughts afterwards as to what their re action uh was um and that is my practice going forward on department heads to involve user agencies um I do always have to point out as I've told you a couple times it's not necessarily a democracy it's my name that has to go on the memo at the end but I think getting their their insights is important and so that will be my practice for the time uh I'm with you um our uh assessors data collector did start this morning had her onboarding Linda's very pleased she seems to be settling in quickly uh and with respect to the Sewer business manager I will be meeting with the Sewer Commission tomorrow night we've put forth a name for their consideration and ratification uh and I've agreed to uh go down and meet with them at their their 6 p.m. meeting uh and we made an offer on the conservation Administrative Assistant which which has been accepted at this point in time and is going through its final background checks we'll have that for you so um yes we have more vacancies than we care for but we're we're making progress and I think that's that's important uh on the um procurement front uh we're getting bids uh on the roof at the adult Activity Center they're due uh next week um we've given you the timeline for the historic property survey Town manager recruitment Services we sent that uh to the chair of the screening committee uh as of this afternoon we hadn't received any any comments but we did let them know uh that if there were some we could get it adjusted tomorrow uh otherwise we'll get that out um we we did meet last night and we did approve it as a committee so the Mr Murphy who's the chair of that committee should be getting that to you because we did agree on there were very minor changes okay good so we'll we'll hold that to get Mr Murphy's comments in the morning then um and um I am uh you know we've uh given the link for uh State training it's a it's a video webinar kind of module uh but Julie will be taking the uh OSD the office of operational services division uh for the state bid how to use that and um as soon as she's completed that and just a little more comfortable with it uh we'll get the bids for the library Shades um I did attend the budget task force although uh I understand I sent the thunderstorms that disrupted my internet South um I think member mki said that as soon as she got my text that I lost my internet the flash of light was in her window um we did do the final interview Mr Bernard Julie and myself and we'll have that in front of you on September 3rd uh we're going to we spent some time um although I feel like the guy who's dog a his homework something happened to one of my memos but when we get to arpa I think that the spreadsheets will work well on it the good news is or the bad news depending upon how you look at it is you have a little more money to spend than we initially thought um I did meet with um suzor they have a weekly it meeting I sat in on that um I pushed them on two fronts one they said that our server was built to mun's specifications I've asked them to send those specs right back and certify that indeed because the server was prepared before you did your software update to make sure that the software um or that the server fits everything required by that software update um I want to make sure they didn't send us something and there's something not quite right um we have started to look you have 110 users licensed using your munus software um and we have a considerable number of people who have licenses on our Office 365 um Z and I agree that it's it's time to go through those lists and make sure um I I'm not convinced that every time somebody leaves us we decommission them and so we need to see where that uh is all about and we did talk at length about the drive mapping because it's literally driving me crazy trying to find where everything is um I'll be in the office with you next Monday Tuesday and Wednesday um and available by phone or or email as I've tried to be the last few days um and that's what we've been up to this past few days any questions for the interim Town manager I have one um thank you for looking into that SharePoint um convers potential conversion I did get a note um from a resident that's also on several committees that the Parks Commission at least I believe and the capital planning committee are using SharePoint not Google Drive so as you're continuing to do that it'll be interesting to know what committees are already using that yeah we're I I think we need to take a global view at this because suz's initial reaction was well wait a minute we think the the selectman have the license that's needed for SharePoint well if you do why are we over here and what I said to them was I'm I'm sure it was an economic decision at some point in time but when we've got some people over here on SharePoint and we've got some people here on Google Drive and we have some people who are on boat depending upon you know what it's just challenging is a word you'll probably hear me use a lot and I apologize if I overwork it but it it's it's frankly it's difficult to know where things are and to share things so we've asked them to take a little bit more of a global look at it than just the selectman would like to be on share point so that's going to take a little bit of time I appreciate your efforts to streamline that but but I I do think that there's there's something there we need to take a look at I want to Echo as well Amanda's comments thank you for that um I have a question we're about to discuss arpa here in a second and um I know that the roll out for arpa um was a bit delayed uh many organizations um were commenting back you know four or five months after the board committed funds going into this year um saying that they hadn't received the funds yet and so the question that I have is twofold the first is um have the funds actually been made available to all the organizations that haven't spent them uh and then the second part is and have those organizations's been made aware that they need to have everything under contract uh soon so that way we don't reallocate or recommit those funds to the best of my understanding you have three independent agencies that required uh contracts uh and I have copies of those and um can share them with the board if you've not seen them previously um I can also tell you uh that after the finance director and I went through these the other day um we agreed that we need to be more proactive in terms of staying on it now I did start to meet with some of the users the morning um and tell them that uh or ask them where they were in getting the money spent and pointing out that at some point and I didn't know when that might be if they didn't get their money spent and um I'm using that phrase I'm not trying to drag this out by saying committed uh that there might come a point in time where the board had to say enough's enough and that that window starts to get smaller I want to thank the agency I met with uh for having their purchase order for approximately $16,000 in equipment uh in my email shortly thereafter so we'll meet with each one of them um and uh between the finance director and myself this is a a real priority um it does take time time uh and so that's why when you get to the uh the first spreadsheet the arpa reprogramming um it'll show you a little bit more money that you have to spend uh and when we get to the prioritized there's one item that can actually be bought out for a little bit less than was requested um we'll do our best counselor and I think that the finance director and I will be meeting on no less than a weekly basis to make sure we're trying to push this forward we may not be popular in some Corners when we remind people about this yeah no I understood I I heard some frustration from some of the nonprofits that were really hurting for the money and and couldn't touch it for for again four five months after it was committed um because you know the town uh Administration implemented some new process that they didn't know about for the first 3 or four months and so it was very delayed so that's why where I'm coming from is my concern is that you know if the money didn't touch people's hands until February or March and then we're sitting here pulling it back which you know we're going to have to that we at least give them some Runway to say hey this is coming you know we need you to expend this and really get that push out um that wasn't out to get the money in their hands um but it would be good if we can get the push to get them to spend it I will reach out to the three entities that I was given contracts for I'll accomplish that this week uh if there is a particular entity that someone is concerned about just shoot me an email and I'll get to them as soon as I can all right thank you all right any other questions for Carter all right so let's move on to Old business and starting first we have review arpa funding requests and committed funds so I reworked the compiled prioritization list you'll find it under final compiled arpa requests prioritization 2024 uh so the tab that you want to go to is average so Mr chair y before we get into the request can can the interim Town manager review where we stand with the the current funds this the spread she that was put in the drive sure um it's called arpa reprogramming 202 24815 mhm and the $60,000 and this is where the dog at my homework comes in I apologize um there was a memo that explained this better um the 60,000 consultant for arper reporting um I've asked you to rename arpa Administration and IT staffing challenges the boys club uh and Girls Club for their FY 24 after school programs is fully expended um I will reach out on the $25,000 this week in followup to member jeffy's um request the Turkey Hill Lions Club food pantry equipment is fully expended the um Public Access uh is about halfway through uh and there was um approximately $116,000 in a purchase order approval submitted to me today uh so that's going to bring them into the $40,000 range um and that was a very positive conversation and I think the director understands the need that my drive to not just get the money committed but to actually get it expended um we do have the mun ipal building design committee uh I I don't know frankly much about that I will say that's a fairly large undertaking if we have to go through designer selection we we really need to get that underway sooner rather than later if we can uh the police department has about $5,000 we've targeted that as being available uh to be reprogrammed um the select board um the these are the ambulance the 506 the challenge there will be that the chief will need to make sure uh that every dollar is committed or expended the ambulance isn't going to be in until next spring and if he's under the 506 that's it's going to be too late if he doesn't have um everything under contract or fully expended he's promised me that he won't leave any money on the table um uh the Board of Health uh let's see that uh uh the um uh staff salaries was fully expended the Public Health Mission was fully expended uh there's about $1,700 left on the Tor capacity I'm not sure exactly what that was all about you've got about uh 20,000 in change [Music] 206,000 uh on the FY 23 tax assessment isip you have for fiscal 24 and 25 bills sitting downstairs that approximate that much plus a commitment to pay for the FY 25 interim services to Vision in about $5,000 uh which uh I'm told was to be paid out of arpa but was never slotted in here um if we rename that the remainder for FY 2425 valuation Services uh will still have a little bit of a deficit there uh but I've worked with the assessor and I think between their operating budget and the reprogrammed money up above we can cover uh all of that the only good news in it is we have bills in hand and can spend the money not great news but so I'm sorry can can we take just one step back the FY 23 tax assessment issue you said there's roughly 26,000 yes um and where is that that's already earmarked for something is that it's not it's it's should be could be available for reprogramming except you've got over $21,000 in bills for fiscal 24 related to assessing that haven't been paid and you've got approximately $5,000 for your interim valuation services with vision now let me bust those two apart I'm told that the 5,000 was to be paid out of arpa that had been the plan but it was never slotted in anywhere the bills that are overdue I I don't know how that happened but we got a couple choices we at the fall town meeting appropriate money and pay them as a late Bill I'm really trying not to appropriate any new money at the fall town meeting cuz I just I'm not as comfortable with the budget as I'd like to be so but it's an option the other option is to pay it out of these monies and get it paid faster and cleaner yeah and all that would require would be for us to revote and extend cover that's it okay if you adopt this spreadsheet that's in front of you and I'll work my way down through it okay um those bills will be on the next warrant before you well we can't accept this because for those lines you don't have any values uh it's the remainder I mean basically we're we're we can do that math here quickly uh the Board of Health on the covid response is fully expended um we are awaiting a report on the athletic field study uh Mr beermore is it beardmore um spoke uh I don't know if they were looking when we get to the other spreadsheet for some extra but we're looking for that to be fully expended uh the Chromebooks I'm told by the finance director is available to be reprogrammed that once the override went through this was then made available for reprogramming so my understanding is that the athletic field study is complete that's that was my understanding for this that's our understanding also we just haven't seen the invoices for it yet um the water district on their master plan uh is fully expended on their public education um is expended uh the DPW snow trucks they're sitting at Madigan's when Madigan gets to them it's five weeks each to build them out um I'm being a pass to Bill Bill's being a pass to them uh we certainly would love to have them in time for snow season mhm um these are similar to the ambulance we have to make sure at the very end um and if we have to go a little bit over over to make sure it gets done we we'll have to do that uh the Water District we actually got uh another one of their invoices today uh so they appear to be on track uh to get their um Pilots uh done and the sewer department um I'll when I meet with them tomorrow night I'll ask them and Bill where they are on the manhole repairs we need to get that out uh to bid uh the exterior envelope I will be meeting with um please accept my apologies as I go through names especially with my last name is it m m is his first name m is his first name um I'm meeting with him on Thursday touring uh the library facility talking about his operational issues and of course you know where are we on getting this money spent um because they have about $90,000 there that we've got to get moving um so when you do all that the Parks Commission um they did open the designer um proposals last week uh cultural Council we've got to talk with them uh and then of course the uh supplement support for the 24 revaluation um I I don't know how the number was put together but it doesn't look like it it covered everything that pass du bill that I spoke with you about so um I know that you had anticipated $ 313,50 180 but when we put the interest in for July it actually tallies out at $339,700 two and some change now that interest will continue to build every single month the good news is that once you get past December 31 it doesn't follow under the expenditure rules you can keep rolling along with that so it provides a little bit of a contingency um if something goes wrong someplace but um as I said I I really want to thank Public Access because we had that conversation and the purchase order came in and that's I'm I'm hoping we can have as successful conversations with the other participants Mr chair yep regarding the I I I want to make sure because it's been up in the air and I know that the prior Town manager had questions about the $1 million for the park because of the way it's been used I want to make sure that that is indeed protected and that under some rules somebody going to say we didn't do something right cuz it's a million dollars um I'll I'll get a little bit deeper into it all right so the changes that we can make tonight on this let's just summarize it so we're renaming essentially the consultant for arpa reporting to arpa Administration and IT staffing challenges right yes we can do that tonight and then down to the fiscal year 2425 valuation services and that's coming from the initial support for FY 23 tax assessment issue yes and we can either that one tonight we can just tack the name on and uh move forward or we can do the math and plug it in if this is something you're supportive of okay and then finally is the schools right the Chromebooks network security upgrade and 911 compliant phone system yeah the 300 and um change available 331 includes the five 5122 from the police department the 1707 from the telephone the 101 640 from the Chromebooks okay so it does include all of that it does okay cuz it was my understanding that we were accounting for the 101,000 from the schools too so okay and then uh July's interest right okay so all right so basically we are just changing the name for those two and as you said the 5,000 approximately 5,000 approximately 1,700 they're in the 339,000 that we're considering unallocated so we would have account for that yes okay the 339 tallies that out all right thank you all right so are there any questions if yeah well if we under available balance uh for the initial support for FY 23 tax assessment issue for some reason that number is you got eliminates blank so we need to put that in that's the 23,000 that the inum town manager said we have or 26,000 approximately but it's not there so we' want we'd want to make sure that cell is f filled same thing with the the other renaming one just carrying across that 60,000 to the available balance yep does that change the numbers at all or it it doesn't it just okay yeah clarifies as opposed to renaming um what I'm hearing is let's actually move the dollars within the accounts okay yeah just so we can track yeah easier I think um in addition to those just general changes uh it would be helpful if we had another column um that instead of cuz I think right now everything that is committed and under contract is falling under available balance um and it seems that there might need to be another column that says um committed and under contract and that way we can separate out what that remainder is and then it would be helpful you know I see for example like we have some trucks ordered you know but where the trucks 480,000 were they 475 um so if they're already ordered we should have that dollar amount and so it would be helpful to kind of know for those things under contract the value that is under more of an acrel approach to it than just a cash approach yeah we we can do that and you said you're meeting with the library tomorrow no Thursday morning if I remember correctly yeah cuz there's 190,000 there the sewer Commissioners tomorrow evening okay and I I know from my updates on the U meeting with the library that they had um that they definitely have been moving forward on that project uh they ran into some delays uh related to some HVAC work and identifying an HVAC vendor um you know they reached out to me on that one and I I did speak to the project architect uh maybe a week or two ago and that is moving forward um now so they did have a little bit of a delay but they can I'm sure they'll give you the full rundown when they when they meet with you but I just offer that for the benefit of the board okay and Mr Mr Vice chair is there anything um with the municipal building committee 225,000 I can answer that so I know that Carter is not as uh familiar so you know after our last meeting the copy of the RFP was requested I think I sent it over the next day um and you know where just to kind of I don't want to take too much time but the history here is that we've previously gone through um this process and hiring architect conducting all the space needs all the things that happen in usually the schematic uh design phase and our Target was the TC passal building at that time so that architect you know met with all the staff we came met with Community organizations we worked for years um and what we identified toward the end of that project was the price tag of roughly $30 million and it didn't address the Ritter building and it didn't address Town Hall so we repurposed that group um to kind of take a better look at the more historic buildings town hall and r come up with kind of a better Vision better plan and so this last step is taking uh as and I can forward you the RFP as well it's taking all the existing data that we already have and Repro helping us reprogram it into this building and the one uh across the street in a new new build and I think we already have a pretty good Vision already for what we want to see um but it's just that final kind of component of kind of drafting up what this going to look like and then cost estimation that's really the the major component so is it a design contract then it it it is but it's it's it's in the um it's it's part schematic and then part uh design development so has that RFP been been reviewed I'm just wondering the timing getting yep so do we have enough time and enough Runway to get that under contract by the end of the year we do so I mean typically so where we're at on this one is I did reach out to to the assistant Town manager about a week and a half ago um and and asked for us to schedule a time to kind of review it and then I also mentioned uh that you know I'm trying to Target getting a meeting together I don't have the date yet um from the municipal building design soon you know by the end of the month maybe the first week of September um and so the expectation is that it's going to be out to bid for about four weeks that's pretty standard um and then that that allows us then to bring it under contract uh in around October beginning of October that's the target that's the goal and then the expectation is that we'll work um roughly uh mid October November December January so that way you know it's a couple month process and we can wrap it up in time uh for everything to be in the budget going into um the spring but I think that you know if the municipal building design committee does not expend These funds and and there's clearly you know no no Pathway to do so than I do you know I would agree in reprogramming it but you know again again um you know this is the funds are here to assist in bringing the information at town meeting so so my question is when is that deadline I think when when when is the you know Fisher you know cut bait we did talk about that last week and we all from what I remember sort of agreed that in the beginning of October we want everything to be settled but it doesn't sound like this could be under contract by October is what I'm hearing or in October at least well see we keep pushing now see it's it's it was September now it'll be beginning of October into October before you know it we're November yeah personally I'd be before the first meeting of the last meeting of September or the first meeting in October would be the latest that I would feel comfortable that we had enough Runway to give the money to somebody any not this money but any money to somebody else to do to have enough yeah have enough time to do something with it um I think I think you know probably not today but I I think that we need to you know as we look at the list uh as the next step in the process I you know I think we mentioned last week it's it will be helpful to identify what those things are that we can quickly um bring under agreement by the end of the year and within a month or two um a realistic timeline all right is there any more discussion on that for now I'll keep bringing it up every week because I've been bringing it up for two months yep no I understand all right so can we vote now to redirect the consultant for arpa reporting to arpa Administration and IT staffing challenges and then initial support for fiscal year 23 tax assessment issue to fiscal year 24 and fiscal year 25 valuation services and that's it right it's the only two things that we need to actually vote on tonight yeah the others just go roll into your reprogramming already accounted for all right is there a motion I would move that as as spoken second any additional discussion those in favor say I I those oppose no the motion passes unanimously thank you for your support on that of course so I just did the math real quickly um that total is 6,800 2938 so we're going to have to subtract that from the total that we're working with as we move into the next spreadsh sheeet all right wait yeah I'm confused sorry the total was fresh spreadsheet in the next day or two yes um but that included the reprogramming uh in the yellow on the right um and it accounted for the two items you've just reprogrammed okay so what we have to work with today is $339,700 56 and depending upon what you do with your allocations possibly an additional $114,000 I can describe to you as you go through the requests well now you've got me curious you keep finding more money I didn't know I know I wish I I wish I wish we could stop you didn't tell that earlier so if we can go to the copy of prioritized the final one the copy of the copy oh yeah copy of copy of prioritized the online uh four B4 payroll services and implementation assistance currently at 106 I want to make sure I'm on the right document first of all what document are we on what's the name I saw it in copy of copy of copy of copy yeah okay so the 106,000 for the payroll services what you're talking about yes if that is deployed on January 1 that number drops to $92,000 and where does that 14,000 come from the reason is you pay $112 or $112,000 for deployment and training and then you only pay one half a year of services for the balance of the fiscal year which is about $166,000 so there's $228,000 your next two years are 32,000 a piece 64,000 64 plus the 28 is $92,000 now for the wrinkle I asked the finance director what is your plan and year three you know I've seen towns hire five cops on a grant and then you know oh great so what are you going to do in year three so the finance director's plan was that in fiscal 26 he would ask for $10,000 towards this turn it back to free cash in fiscal 27 he'd ask for $220,000 turn it back to free cash and in the third year he'd ask for the full boat and that's how he was going to implement it I'm not sure that asking um the finance committee to support taxing individuals just to turn it back to free cash is going to be met uh favorably so if you assume that um you are going to expend 10,000 in the second year now it's 22,000 in the second year and if you expend 20,000 the following year it's 12 so that 92,000 I know I'm sorry um that 92,000 drops further but in my view you have to have a plan to absorb this over the 3 years you got to you got to be able to land so that the budget doesn't have shock of all of a sudden I mean it it's small but every small shock adds up well I mean it's not a shock if somebody says this year be prepared in two years that I'm going to ask for it and the next year says be prepared the next year I'm going to ask for it you know it shouldn't be a shock then it's a shock when you don't get any word about it and then one year somebody says oh we need this money but people do have short memories when that find fin Bill comes due am I making sense as to what yeah I just need some clarity so what you're describing is a position and this is a new position this is software for the payroll okay so all right so I understood the payroll services as a software but so okay so now I understand so what you're saying for the implementation in our spreadsheet it's a little uh over overwritten but assistant um what's that word implementation assistance okay so it's just implementation assistance from the vendor that's providing this this is an additional staff yep they'll they'll deploy it without training you if you want yep yep yep yep implementation is okay so what after we have it for three years there should be no implementation assistance then it's just what then it's just the subscri it's your annual subscription which depends upon on your number of employees uh and roughly to in today's figures that would be 32,000 a year okay so from my perspective I don't see that that's going to raise any eyebrows at all and that's what the software is that's what the software is that 32,000 could go up 3 years from now that's the that's the it's not a this three years are we locked in to that my understanding is that they'll give you we would have to yeah to get under under the rule that we're trying to comply with yeah they'll give you a three-year contract is my understanding now do understand that that's per employee per W2 per transaction uh so if your employee count were to go up dramatically and I don't think anybody anticipates that happening uh that will EB and flow a little bit depending upon how many folks you have on the payroll all right so by delaying the the implementation to January 1 we save a quarter we we save the that's where the 14,000 comes from and January 1's good because uh W2 all your tax reporting are done at that time of year so does the finance director agree that's a good time to switch over and and everyone involved in this in the payroll process uh this is his suggestion okay um I did receive a comment from uh an employee uh and I have suggested to the finance director and I think he agrees uh that within the next week or two we get a meeting scheduled for munus users different users um and discuss with them uh where he wants to head what he thinks that is see what any concerns there might be um and that would give us if if that just is met with absolute violent opposition would still give us some time to to work around it um but I I think he agrees that meeting with the users group would be a wise thing to do so is there any downside of waiting till January 1 I don't see any okay we stay with the manual process that's not very efficient for another quarter and a half and and I on to that U Mr lonzo's Question um you know when I've experienced these kind of payroll changeovers uh usually uh in my experience there's been some kind of overlap so that way the payroll administrators um have uh the practice of running kind of a dummy through the system uh and then also making sure that the payroll and I don't know what the Cycles are but that first payroll that's due in January that you already had about month lead into kind of doing the test systems then making sure that everything everyone's aware uh has been trained up in December where I would assume decent amount of people would take vacations um so you know I and so my comment then is I could see a benefit and doing this in December um do you think the savings would also be there in December might feel a little bit of overlap but we have some you know we've still got a lot of numbers floating around yeah um if this is something the board is amable to uh and after the users group um has the discussion we will have to issue an RFP um and that will give us a sense of whether or not we may need to make any adjustments uh but you've also given us that Running Room up in the very first item that you relabeled that if we're off a th000 or two or 3,000 we can cover it yeah I I'm always a fan of resolving today's problems today cuz tomorrow will come with its own uh so you know sooner the better but whatever your recommendation is I will support so I think you could um if you're a meable if you like that project I think you could safely reduce that number to 92,000 which would give you another 14,000 in change to that bottom whatever it was 339 y um which is around 353 and change it would be about $14,600 or so yeah sounds just yeah all right so do we want to go through that list real quick so it's in final compiled arpa requests and the tab that you want to go to is average so Mr chair we The Proposal was made last week and I said I wanted to just I asked about how the median was calculated was it the true arithmetical median or not and after reviewing how it was done it is the actual arithmetic median it wasn't doing anything like that I am in support of the median as it takes into consideration outliers from the general Bunch so of the five of our votes it takes into where does the middle point that there'd be equal number of either side so it finds out the real Center instead of average which if you know one one outlier actually adversely you know changes the whole average number if there's one single outlier so I'm for and I see there is a median tab I am for the median so I guess I just see it differently than you do I don't see one member having a completely different ranking than the majority as an outlier I think average gives us all a fair you know equal 20% vote so that's just sort of my opinion I think a statistician would not agree with that I mean we're members of a five body board right our say should account for 20% of the final outcome well I well it's not it it should be that what the grouping should be what's in the middle of the grouping there's there's that argument so again if somebody if there's a group of three or four that put something here here and one person puts something over here that puts the average way away from what the majority of the board voted mhm and that's that to me that is problematic I think that's what median is designed to account for I hear you I understand you I think I just have a different perspective on it so I mean we can review the Practical differences between average and median and what's funded and one and not the other uh from my understanding if we go with well just to interrupt you I I look at the two rankings and because I have projects that I want to see funded or not funded I'm just no I understand I'm not saying principal right okay I understand that um so I also didn't update the median tab to account for the extra 27,000 or so uh cuz I found out when I got here um but based on what I was looking at in median the DPW garage floor replayers those two capital projects the DPW garage floor repairs and the DPW partial roof replacement we're included the median um but not the average and those are also Big Ticket items so it would push down a lot of the other smaller uh purchases that you know I also thought that we were sort of favoring as well because they're easier to get under contract those would be pushed out so that's also one of the benefits that I saw with using average is that we can sort of prioritize that 125,00 to those smaller easier to get under contract projects okay but you're but in in that estimation you're doing exactly what I said I wasn't doing so you're looking at the results and justifying the tab you want by the results you want and all I'm saying is that I mean like that shouldn't you you shouldn't be like okay this these are the things I want funded so that tab is more appropriate to me it's either either the average is better or the Medan is better aside from the rankings I mean have that I it's the five member board so whatever the five members you know the majority of the five members want to do is ultimately the decision MH my opinion is average I I think that whatever we do the public needs to be able to replicate in many cases uh I don't I'm not confident that the average person um or rather the median person uh can figure out how to calculate a median um you know I think that those of us who you know studied in math I you know but outside of people who have that specific experience um doing you know mostly college level math and again I don't know what they're teaching in the schools today I don't have kids I don't know if they're teaching medians and averages um but I think the I think most people are familiar with average um and so you know for now I'm okay with average but I'm also okay with you know if we walk through this list and and we decide that we think something needs to get funded and swap things out you know then we do it but I support the average and I support the median selectman Moore you're the only one who hasn't voiced an opinion here I think on this one I go median um just with with knowing how you know a lot of St statistical classes I've taken in my own history um I would agree that median I think would be appropriate here okay so we will go with the median uh but we will have to um rework the spreadsheet a little bit or at least do some math while we allocate this to uh account for the extra money that we have so so you can add a um a running total to a column I don't know if you can I that gole sheets um so I stopped it uh to where it would be fully funded just so we could see which actual requests were included uh if you see that's under the amount allocated so if you go all the way down for the tab it's 312,000 um so we'll just have to um add more in to get up to 339,000 um actually 353,000 if we do that if we if we yes we have to um change the 106,000 000 to 92,000 as well but yep you're right I'm not seeing that column of your your running tally like we had last week it's amount allocated all it's not a if you just have to scroll all the way down to the bottom to see the amount okay the total yeah all right so and then there's the Courtland Circle isue oh yes that's right so I also added that in as well uh because we discussed it uh and Carter's recommendation based on conversations that they've had is to fund um contribute in the amount of 12,500 uh so let's see where is it I didn't add it on this one but what I'm going to do is I'm going to see if I can open in this in Safari it's kind of annoying that I can't actually work on this while we're here um if I have this done right it looks like that falls well above the 350,000 3 300 53,000 we have to allocate um I don't understand what you're saying looking at the list where is Village of flat hill here it's like five six below where it ends I have a I added I download it to excel cuz I can't deal with Google Sheets um and have a column of the running total yeah and sorting by median that falls that running total it's at 421,000 to to include so it is ranked 20th on the list 21st are you accounting for the fact that Carter's recommendation is to pay $12,500 that is in there I haven't adjusted I have to adjust down the payroll service mhm right subtract 4 14,000 so if I take that to 9 that should be 92,000 and some odd 100 let's see that update and Village of flat hill and that running total is still over at 420,000 just adding those 21 items um fully everything's fully funded right except for I if I dial into Zoom can I share my screen I don't really understand what you're saying so you're saying that you added you accounted for the fact that the payroll services 92,000 instead of 106,000 yes and you only added the $12,500 for the village of flat Hills to the total that's amount allocated and you're whereare and I sorted by median ranking median median prioritization and Village of flat hill Falls at number 21 and if you add all 21 amounts the total comes to 420 so you're adding all the ones that go down to I am because it falls 21 so something it's going to move up you brought up at the last meeting that we should also include the request for Village of flat Hills because have that agreement so something will have to come off the list the way that you're thinking about it yes because you're going to go all the way down to that point that's not what I'm saying we do I'm saying that we start from the top of the list working our way down to the point where we've completely allocated 339,000 700 plus you know the 14,000 but also include The Village at flat Hills request because we decided that we were going to include that yeah so it will be my point is it's going to Leap Frog things that were ranked higher based on our vill of flat Hills request is yes but that's also that was your recommendation I know I'm just being totally transparent out there that we will to to meet our agreement what we discussed last year that is what is required yes that's correct I and I I want to clarify I support the request to the Village of flat hill um as a as a note you know I think it's in our best interest to get that product to help move forward um but I don't recall us making a commitment uh as much as it was a willingness to be supportive I I recall two different meetings with the trustees and then walking out of them um and and then you know the third meeting seemed to be when we were able to you know come into agreement so I'm not trying to back off of the request but I I I I perceive it more as a request than as a uh commitment but regardless in my rankings it would have been funded um so yeah I doesn't even my ranking here doesn't look like I remember but um I I I support it I just want um I think my comment had um to be clear that it this is a onetime thing it's going to be maintained they take responsibility to maintain it going forward we talked about that yeah which right we talked about last year so so Rene is your ranking in here incorrect then I no I think it you gave it a 58 yeah no that doesn't sound right it doesn't sound right um but I've adjusted it so many times um let me see if I can find so I can actually work on it yeah I think that's that's a copy and paste error from a previous version I that's on me so what what you submitted though was a 58 so yeah but that that wasn't that's well my guess that if you I don't know what you will rank it but you know what with the meeting it really doesn't matter that that doesn't impact right well it depends yeah no well I mean we're doing math depends on what you rank it I guess all right it can rank it matters how wrong the 58 is yeah it's pretty wrong well there you go all right so I'm just reworking this real quickly this is turning into a little bit of Workshop which is good in my opinion so don't mind me while just sort of working away for a little bit yep would it be helpful Mr chair uh while you are working that spreadsheet for me to assist with uh warrants and minutes sure why not all right uh we have minutes uh from our last meeting um excuse me from the meeting on the 6th uh several members had revisions uh are we all comfortable uh with the minutes as presented yes all right yes and is there a motion I move that we approve the minutes of I'll tell you what what I'm approving when I get there a August 6 2024 second uh any additional discussion all right all in favor please say I I those oppose no all right minutes are approved may I comment of course um it was suggested to me last week as I was talking about it's Tuesday night and then we do an agenda that I try to think in terms of a two-e cycle and I I think that's probably a good idea uh so our plan I think Annie is sent you is uh tomorrow to send you out two sets of minutes for review and comment then we'll have them on that following you know ask for comments within a week then we'll have them on the following um agenda and um that's the goal that we've set for her uh to get two uh minutes of available for approval um at each of your meetings um a most recent meeting and then a furthest back meeting so we can try to close that Gap over time sounds good all right still working all right we'll go to warrants and select M if I can start with you so they can come down the other way this time to give uh the chair more time usually read them let's see them on them and then we have some stuff to sign as well okay so where is this one pable oh accounts yeah okay accounts payable in the amount of $724,999 25 that's all of these the whole well I didn't need to bring the whole thing down we don't thing let's take it thanks yep I sure did he have many things to sign thank you does it matter which one of these lines nope so I have it updated I'll add it to the Dr Drive um so one thing I will say about how I just did this like algorithmically if I got to the point where the next available request was too large to fund I would skip down to find a smaller do dollar amount one that I could fit sure so in that sense you will see some that appear leapfrogged but that's why that's fine uh so I got within I think about $1,000 I had to sign that too okay we don't have to read the license signatures do we sorry what the license just have to sign have to sign it it got approved so hold on one second and I will get that to you guys shortly through the drive thank you for doing that Caesar oh yeah no problem I knew this was going to be a workshop so uh so that's just for Caesar not last one okay so I just uploaded it it's called uploaded median or updated median it should be in the drive now all right so I'll let you guys look over that just two hold [Applause] on J pen I grabbed blue my pen yeah [Applause] your so the $339,700 plus what was the amount for from the the adjustment for the payroll services that was $1 14,674 120 that total came out to $ 34,37 7.76 and it looks like I got to $353,500 60 so it's within $1,000 that this list got to all right so I'm going to sign these things and then if you want I can like read through it as well for the public too all right have my pen back you can thank you thank you I'm going to have to put little chains on so in this um are we working out of the median tab yes we are working out of the median tab thank you so one question the consultant services for munus from the Sewer Commission yeah actually I was going to bring that up is that needed is that what you're asking yeah my understanding was that was covered that back the finance it looks okay can we confirm thats um because I've heard two different versions of that whether it was included in his request or not so we might need to go back to the finance director conf yeah so I'm pretty sure as well the finance director's request would be for everyone all departments but we can before we allocate it yeah what were you saying no Mr Alonzo was trying to find it on the spread oh I see um in the email we got from Ezekiel requesting it did State sewer billing as well right so we don't need to use that one okay so then yeah ignore that one another 6400 6400 6413 643 that should be easy enough to do this time okay so then that'll add can we just still I'm fine with moving forward but can we still just confirm that that wasn't an additional request yeah so you're saying you don't want to it would be good happy to move to just without that one and leave that money I would leave it allocated as it is and with the asterisk that we should ask and so our next meeting in two weeks if it's if it's not needed then we just go to something else that fits yeah I'm fine with that okay I I didn't want to speak for more but I just that's what she was asking thank you all right so where are we at now do we feel good about this list do we want to yeah we can go over it I'm not quite sure how to read it yet I know um wait wait what do you mean is it ordered is it just in numeric Did you sort it already yeah it's all all right soed so where do we stop um so if you look in this column yep amount allocated those are the ones that are actually being funded got it okay perfect that's all yep all right so I'll read it for the public now so using the median we are funding a munus consultant in the amount of 16,000 payroll services and imp M mentation assistance is for the new service $992,000 two intravenous Fusion pumps for Fire EMS in the amount of $7,500 new furniture for the public safety building dayum in the amount of $20,000 requested by the firefighters Association one year for the weekend food kit program can we pause there for a second sure so can we can you just walk me through how we got there because I think only one member noted half of the amount and all the other members did not note that at all and so I un I ranked it at for the full amount how do we how do we get to 50% of it um well I just I guess I just put it down but we can have the discussion if we want to fund the full amount I also I don't know I guess I just didn't put it down myself which is why I uh added it there obviously I supported it but yeah um we going to have a discussion on it do we you want to full fund two years I I've noted before that um you know the majority of the money from arpa was intended to be spent on the community and uh I'm familiar with the bridey program um where they you know they work with kids and families who are food insecure uh they provide weeken food kits they provide summer kits for families to help out and to me you know of the all the money that we're allocating you know this is definitely one that that to me is meets the Spirit uh and the letter of the law that provided the fund so I I support the full amount I'm fine with that what other members want to do I don't get to the same reasoning but I get to the same amount you want to fund the full amount yeah I think it's clear only one member said half and every four of us said the whole thing so yeah I think it should be the whole thing I think that's fair um all right okay but not because it's the spirit of the law because that's our ranking and we can spend it however we want and that's how it R yeah fair enough um so then that'll okay it should be pretty clear how that's going to be adjusted so it'll be an additional 9,000 actually that'll change what we can allocate it will um so I'm looking it'll be Council on Aging plus tree removal that's 75 plus 1,000 so it's 85,000 and then well I guess it depends on how we want to remove this right I'm not I'm not watching because I can't see the numbers live so we're 9,000 over so I think what would happen in this s in this case is that we would remove the let me just go back to my laptop so two things I would say Mr chair I mean I would say that first of all and I don't want to speak for anybody but I'll just put it out there because I think member mki said that her 58 is not correct so I don't know what would be correct but anyway what is that for for theill the V Village of flat hill it's it's got a low rating because uh where it's got a lower than possible I don't know what she would rerank it it may change the median it may not depending on what she ranked it but without the ranking change we can certainly remove a tree removal because I do think we did we may not have taken a vote for the village of flath Hill but we made it clear that we would support them so we the nearly the full weight of a vote that we said we would share that to the 12,500 and it is something that is potentially affecting that Basin not working to specification is potentially affecting lots of people down that road with lots of water we should address it and so I'd be for again Le frogging and taking the tree removal out and putting which one cuz we had a couple different 7500 one the one that's like the one right above the the Historical Society right okay I mean we're going to have to do it anyway to get to that n extra 9,000 for brighte eyed we have to and then we can revisit it if depending on what the Director of Finance the finance director says about that M munus consultant money right okay so I have 54 I have about $3,000 that I can add back so I'm just going to do that real quick well we can hold off on 3,000 for the next meeting I mean that's to reallocate let's see what we have with the other one sure so okay I left off at bridey in the amount of 18,000 and then lunenberg Historical Society computer upgrades photocopier upgrade paint and repair exterior trim DPW garage floor repairs DPW par partial roof replacement M Mr CH I would you mind just announcing the amounts as well I think the last thing was a historical society computer upgrades in the amount of $1,269 th000 photoc copy up no not not $1,269 th000 $1,269 I'm just going to hit the reset button here we're really deep in the weeds here so yes computer upgrades in the amount of $1,269 photocopier upgrade $530 paint and repair exterior trim 5,200 DPW garage floor repairs 60,000 DPW partial roof replacement 65,000 if you if I may interrupt you there Mr chair even though you're on a roll that's fine those two as noted previously in this meeting are very high ticket items but they also are much needed repair but I would threw you to the interim Town manager this has to be FASTT tracked with the DPW we need to get somebody to see if they can come get a quotes and get people on this these aren't quotes these are bids bids okay sorry yep so if you can get bids for this in time so that we can that means getting an if ifb out two of them quickly fortunately they're relatively low amounts so they are um simpler to bid out uh we will need to prepare specifications and hopefully we can find an architect uh who can do that for us quickly yep and I just want an honest assessment if they come back it's no knock on anybody if we can't get this done quickly because we'll just go on to other things thank you Mr chair yep no problem Conservation Commission local match for Mass Trails recreational Trails program Grant in the amount of 15, , 4505 Council on Aging sale shades for backyard patio for bachchi and shuffle board quartz and other areas 2,000 DPW tree removal 25,000 wait is that one in there yes so that's um it is in there that's the other tree removal y so then Council on Aging triple- sided outdoor Message Board kiosk in the amount of 3,000 $498 185 Historical Society rolled map storage units $575 and then we're going to jump down to the Sewer Commission consultant services for munice $641 and we're going to ask if we still need that and then Council on Aging two ater onac rocking chairs $17.70 and then finally vill of flath Hill trustees detention Basin cleanout and replacement of Outlet in the amount of $122,000 and 500 $12,500 and then that brings us to a total of $351,900 60 we do have two listed below 112,000 are those erently put in there yeah those are painting in the meeting room office and long term strategic plan for it oh okay so um so I did an adjustment from adding brighte eyed back in as the full cost which might be why those aren't included now all right okay so those aren't in there right hold on one second yes they're they are not okay so I I want to offer a comment Mr chair sure um and it may sound a little bit like the one I've already given um so you know I think that in this you know I accept the rankings of the board we're a duly elected board uh we you know come into this we approach it I accept the rankings I just want to identify that there are several things on this list that could not be funded by any other means um you know we know that how the capital planning process prioritizes certain things and so to off the top you know we went out to multiple organizations we asked them to put to their best foot forward and come with some ideas um and what we've done is we've pulled $125,000 from the capital plan um you know that that I'm not saying it's not needed but it's really at the expense of these other organizations um that may be waiting years uh if ever to be able to get things done uh you know we heard the request from the uh school committee about the $10,000 that is needed you know that didn't make this list um we know that there's Booth repairs we have town meeting uh in in the schools you know that was a request in here um that didn't make the cut um we know that there's you know summer reading programs um that didn't make the cut um you know increasing capabilities for um technology in different areas painting in different rooms that didn't make the cut so there's a lot of low value items here that are you know 10,000 $2,000 $5,000 um so you know we we've already you know again the board came up with a process U we're going through it but I just want to identify that you know I think if we were going to go out and and I think I have I think the capital planning prioritization um which you know three members of the board highly prioritize and again we said we're ranking but but I just want to identify that there's a lot of other good that we could be doing here um and we're not but you know we did our list and I I again I'm not speaking ill of the DPW garage floor repairs um but I I my opinion and why that why those two items got a lower ranking for me um was because I think that it's not a I looked at it from the lens of you know some of these other things are never going to see the light of day um and this is an opportunity for them to see the light of day yep I hear you so it sounds like we've allocated how what are we up to Mr chair so I also added um painting and meeting room office which is the next lowest dollar amount that fits in for the lunberg historical society that brings me to $353,500 60 and I'm assuming when after we vote on this this final Spreadsheet will be sent to the Google Google drive or somewhere yes okay and and just and if I may just for clarity so we don't mix these up if we can remove all the intermediate ones from the Google Drive that didn't you know that sure it's okay to have last weeks or whatever but I don't want to have five copies and I got to figure out which one is the right one yeah so I'll add this now too just so we can all read it uh before we vote but but looks like this is probably going to be the um finalized one or even just putting the date on it too in the title all right so I just added it it's final updated median arpa and I'm going to delete the other intermediate one and it only has one tab which is the median so but like I said this one gets us to 353,000 53 uh do and then 60 that leaves us with about let me calculate it real quickly $1,324 2016 left over all right so do you guys need more time to review it or n I'm set thanks I'm fine with it all right anyone to make a motion to allocate this sure um I move to commit the funds uh as um stated by the chair second any additional discussion those in favor say I I those oppose no the motion passes unanimously all right can I ask how we get the this communication to the people that we just funded how this gets to them yep Carter do you want to answer that uh once I have a clean sheet uh we'll start to reach out the Historical Society uh some of the others we're going to have to have cooperation agreements with and um we'll try to get the word out this week I just wasn't here for the last time we was allocated we didn't discuss it oh we didn't discuss how it would get out the word so okay y well it's a good thing we did this time yes all right thank you guys moving on to draft Financial policy manual is there an update on this one Carter uh there is not uh we mentioned we circulated a document to you a couple weeks ago uh I have the comments on that uh we have one coming out to you uh on another matter this Thursday trying to spool these out one at a time all right any questions how about the board and committee handbook same same same approach all right cool moving on to current business discuss on flath Hill Road speed limit uh so we do have the results of the most recent uh speed test but our DPW director is still conducting fieldwork to determine exactly where um he thinks advisory speed limits and signage could go uh so I do want to wait for uh the results of his field workor and what his recommendations are first but I did want to add this as an agenda item so we're tracking it is there any addition on this uh is there any discussion on this tonight our um I mean I my opinion is that we should lower the speed limit to uh 30 mil an hour uh I think the residents requested 25 but I think 30 is appropriate uh I think that the area could be considered thickly settled um you know I mean it's you know not so thickly settled uh settled but I think it's it's thickly enough and specifically uh the area after the intersection uh on flat hill with uh paig so going from pige toward Reservoir where the road becomes more hilly and windy in that section of the road uh I think speed limit to 30 mph uh which reflects what people are mostly already going um I think would be appropriate yeah um so I know that's obviously going to be the focus of his field work is that area really around the lake so um I don't know if he'll suggest 30 or maybe 25 in that area I don't know so we'll see at least what his recommendations are and then he being Bill Bernard DPW director well I think he didn't he say it in his email he said in his email that he still has field work to do right is the engineer from mot that he's referencing in his email coming out or was that just a discussion no I think that was just um someone that he reached out to to get an opinion for um the recommendation from the math do engineer was not to reduce the speed limit on the entire Street to 25 mph power um so the state guidance for selecting speed limits is that you set it to the 85th percentile of of speed study that you do um and if you go any lower than that you're creating what they call an artificially low speed limit and they have research and data that suggests when you do that you're pretty much making it less safe because there are still people who are driving at that higher speed and then there are going to be people who slow down substantially to that artificially low speed limit which then creates conflict between those fast and those slow drivers um so that's why the math. engineer didn't recommend lowering it throughout the entire street so he's going to do field work to determine where we could put in advisory speed limits which go around like curves and like hills and areas like that right but just so people know advisory speed limits are not enforcable they're just caution just so people are aware and so for every with d with the dot here and with the uh police chief so far the two professionals who deal with this are against this and I generally without having any experience in this field I'm going to rely on the experts and the data that they find so so far with what we've heard I would be against lowering the speed limit I'm for the advisory signs I think those are always helpful all right is there any additional discussion on this for tonight yeah I think it's helpful to understand that you know if if our process was that you know people with professional experience um get to set speed limits then that would be our process but it's not um because I think that speed is perception and I think that when people live in a community uh they should be able to have a say on what their speed limit is on the you know roads that that go by them um so you know I do respect that there is room here to get professional input but I think that the role at the end of the day is for us to do what is fair for our residents um and if people in a neighborhood want to lower speed limit uh I think we should lower it so you know but we all can come to our own conclusions and different means and I do respect that we all have different processes um but I I I just want I'm really responding to Mr Alonzo that I hear him I respect him I get it um you know but I I think that our role here is to look beyond that um and take that into consideration while also considering the request of the people who vote who pay their taxes and who want to who are who are every day working to Build a Better Community uh for us yeah I hear both of you and I'm not sure exactly uh where I'm at yet which is why I want more information and more time to really think about it so well if I understand the process correctly even if we were to set a speed limit it still need needs to go to mass do and the registry of motor vehicles for approval in the end right I'm not sure on what state approval there is I'll look into that I think this this is um based on our Charter would that be because we passed the 25 yeah we we adopted some some State some State provision so must some mgl without that we can't change otherwise we wouldn't even we wouldn't be considering this otherwise I'm not sure I'll look into it and get a better answer about that but that's where that is at this point so anything else all right moving on to minutes warrants action items we did most of that are there any action items I do have one you know given what we've heard in the last few weeks few months regarding employment and people leaving and whether or not we have exit interviews etc etc I think would be appropriate and I would recommend or suggest to this board that we ask for from the HR department a stateof the organization report so they could report to us on a document that says why are we seeing the things we're seeing are they anomalies are there other things going on I mean if it needs to be a confidential document it should be a confidential document but I'd like to know from that department what seems to be in my 18 years on this board an anomaly of you know the the churn in employees coming going and going all over I'd love to know what that is that I make that as a recommendation coming from the HR department because again this board is not positioned to do it themselves uh and that would be the right Avenue from the from the town manager or interm town manager in this case through the HR Director to come up with that report I have a question and it's sort of procedural that kind of follows up on that um your email earlier today that we do do I think it was today Mr um inter Town manager that we do do um exit interviews that's my understanding and we've sent you the form that uh is is being used and if you see something there particularly as a former so I know I did an exit interview when I when I left um but is there a vehicle or should there be or or should there not be a process where this board is privy to those is that something that it goes too much into dayto day I that's where I was saying where's procedural I'm not I'm not sure I think if it's a Personnel issue probably not available that form my guess would not be available we could possibly give you um because I think that's the vehicle for the the employees that are leaving that we keep talking about these issues to put forth their issues and if it doesn't get to our board how do how do we know what the issues are if they're not ever coming to us which is why I'm asking for this because that would be filtered we wouldn't see the actual exit reports but they can basically consolidate them kind of like what we do town man your evaluations town man so nobody knows who said what but you capture it and nobody and no Personnel confidentiality is exposed I can tell you my exit interview was not good I was very unhappy when I left left my time here um and I think that a lot of the times that information was filtered and didn't wasn't getting to this board it wasn't filtered by the way it was blocked like I didn't hear yeah I know from talking to you but I don't know from any other method so you know whether that report would fix this problem or not I'm not sure but I I would like there to be a more open line of communication um about whatever issues staff do bring forward because that was the vehicle and I know that it didn't get nowhere I I want to be crystal clear about something I want to get to this board all of the information at once but will consistently be doing so in a manner which tries to respect the division of roles and the charter MH yep and if you think I'm being pro too protective we can have a conversation but I do I do think we need to understand in that the charter is clear on what the divisions are um but certainly we will uh put together something uh on that issue yeah and there was a wall um this request that's being made by Mr Lonzo I've requested it many times uh and it was denied um and I think that what is important and I and and you know my how I feel in I'm going my feelings here how I feel is that people expect when they reach out to their elected officials they expect that their elected officials at least have it an awareness I mean if our role is to create policies that affect the entire organization if we don't know what's happening uh what's going on if we don't have a source of information um other than one that is as um selectman um why am I blinking your last name more I was about to say as s more just said you know filtered as Mr Lonzo said blocked um that there just wasn't that insight and I think that we I know that exit interviews for at least the last year or so were being conducted but I think that what's helpful is you know when there's a lot of turnover in a position such as conservation we've had a lot of turnover in that role that it would be helpful as we go to when when the request is for this board to ratify for us to be made aware of hey these are some of the challenges we've experienced this Ro previously as coming you know through exit interviews this is how we're addressing it going forward and and it's not so much that I necessarily need to see every piece of paper but I think that it would be helpful for for at least these comments to be acknowledged and I'm somewhere in between what's what's being suggested by my colleagues to my left uh part of me would thinks that an exit interview should be available um to the board and the other part of me says highlights should be available to the board but this current situation where we get nothing um to me is just not acceptable we'll we'll do our best to find that middle middle part of the road where neither of us get run over uh I appreciate your willingness to work on it because I can I know you know just from many of my friends that are still here in town there's still a a lot of frustration um so finding what that vehicle is as I'm trying to advocate for staff well understanding what our lane is is difficult so I think these conversations are helpful and I think for people our staff members that are watching it they know that we are trying to develop whatever may be the appropriate response and I appreciate your willingness to work on this absolutely my suggestion comes with full sensitivity to the Charter and Personnel issues but I also know in a large organization in the private sector and I don't see any different here as an executive body we should have no problem asking a director for a report on what they cover as a director so that is what I'm asking I am not asking to see nor do I want to see specific exit interviews they are they are private between the you know HR and the employee if they wanted to make them they can certainly make them public if they wanted okay but I don't want to ask for those but I do want to know as a collective body what are the highlights of those why what can we do to address the issues that clearly are outstanding here all right are there any other action items committee reports uh budget task force met last night and we discussed um expenditures and we had a couple of representatives from Bartholomew Bartholomew in um to talk about uh changes in investment options and I believe they will be presenting at finance committee meeting this Thursday in more detail um and I think our next meeting is uh September 16th uh Town manager screening committee met last night we finalized the uh well we made some Chang es to the ifb that I said earlier in the meeting that the chair will be submitting to you and to the HR Director for review and eventual birth into the world um and capital planning was going to be meeting on Wednesday but it somehow did not get posted so we are not meeting tomorrow and a new one has not been scheduled yet Economic Development uh development committee meets on Thursday and the master planning steering Comm isn't meeting again until October so I don't have a report tonight and I need to take some better notes and actually make a committee report for the first time in probably two months uh so I'll make sure I do that in September okay uh planning board met last Monday I finally watched it and it turns out I didn't miss anything because they had to continue all their public hearings um for various different reasons and um they did discuss the chapter 61 process um and how you know we didn't really get information out to open space and I know that there are conversations with staff going on about that to really um lock down a better process for that uh so and that's pretty much it upcoming meetings we will be meeting next on September 3rd and then September 10th public comments are there any public comments from the interim Town manager none Mr chairman are there any public comments from the public yes Mr pasos are we not meeting those are only meetings in September Dave pasos 56 Whiting Street um I haven't delved into it uh deep enough yet to be uh fully knowledgeable about this process um but I intend to do that between now and whenever our next finance committee meeting is I just noticed that we're not posted either for this week so I don't know what happened but looks like we're not meeting also um anyway I will be looking into the process uh home rule procedure act Mass General Law chapter 43b there are I believe three sections if I've identified them correctly Section 3 section 7 and section 10 that give the town of lenberg the option to seat a charter Review Committee um they're slightly different processes and uh I intend to bring this up at the finance committee when we do meet next I was hoping it was this Thursday um there is a sizable group of people in this town including me and the people I communicate with on a weekly basis that want the charter reviewed to put the checks and balances back in that have been removed over the last two revisions um there's way too much power in one person this is not a city we don't have a mayor um sometimes I think we'd be better off with a with a mayor and a city council than what we have right now but this process is going to take two years anyway so if people want to sign a petition this is the petition probably to sign again it requires one of the processes is 15% of the registered voters to bring it to a ballot there are two other processes which I need to study a little bit closer thank you thank you Mr pasos Mr chair one comment sure um Mr pasos I think I saw the agenda posted on the bulletin board downstairs for Thursday so did well double check on your way out okay sometimes on my phone it doesn't come up on not on the website not on the website that's okay not on the website it's not but it may be posted post it downstairs double check but I think I saw it I will thank you very much all right thank you are there any other public comments from the public yeah Zoom I know I just want to see if anyone else in the room wanted to make a public comment first uh Sue I see you on Zoom with your hand raised looks like you're still muted there we go can you hear me we can hear you hi um Sue D the director of the lunberg Council on Aging um T harit terce I usually don't go on to make a public comment but uh bear with me because I just wrote a couple of notes down that I'd like to say um I was watching the earlier public comment session concerning Mrs Lincoln's comment regarding the Intown manager has done more for the Council on Council on Aging since his arrival than the former Town manager did in the past seven years although I do like the interim Town manager very much I don't agree with that statement as the Director of the COA um I have to say that M lemu had has been totally supportive of myself as director and of the programs um at the center over the years that she's been here uh this leaves me feeling like my parents are getting a divorce and lack of a better term and I have to choose who to live with I'm not going to choose I have great respect for Mr Mrs Lincoln and the former Town manager uh I do agree that all of this turmoil and arguing needs to stop we need to move on and take care of town business and town employees and just let government do its job and do it the right way thank you very much thank you sue all right are there any public comments from the board can I ask a question are there other meetings on September are there other board meetings yeah I would have to look at the calendar let me see I was just wondering cuz only September 3rd and 10th were listed yep let me look sometimes they don't always have the full meeting schedule for a month okay typically just the next two um but looking at the calendar no there will be one on the 17th as well all right is there a motion to adjourn so moved second any additional discussion those in favor say I I I those oppose no it is 9:24 p.m. and we are adjourned thank you everyone at home for watching and we will see you in September have a good night your show and happy Labor Day