evening everyone welcome to the select board meeting today is Tuesday April 16th this meeting hearing of the air select board will be held in person at the location provided on this notice members of the public are welcome to attend this inperson meeting please note that while an option for remote attendance Andor participation via Zoom is being provided as a courtesy to the public the meeting hearing will not be suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the virtual broadcast unless other wise required by law members of the public with a particular interest in a specific item on this agenda s make plans for in-person versus virtual attendance accordingly this meeting will be live on zoom and channel 8 the public May access the proceedings by joining Zoom meeting ID number 8979 8793 or by calling 92925 6099 for additional information about remote participation please contact Cari Anon tanellis assistant Town manager at ATM a.m. us or 97877 28220 extension 100 prior to the meeting if I could ask everyone to 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 liy and justice for all all right do I have any amendments to the agenda I make a motion that the board approve the agenda as presented seconded all in favor I and chair says I the agenda is approved we have one announcement on Saturday April 27th at 0900 at meet at Sandy Pond for the townwide cleanup okay and no other announcements correct correct all right okay anyone here for public input all righty then Mr Irving Rockwood will be would you come on down for the Sandy Pond School Association update hi I brought a couple of things um just a quick show inel um and this is printed on both sides so everybody can see it nice very nice you will see a lot of these going up in about 10 days or so around town okay um we are having our grand reopening um celebration um and uh we will have uh music there'll be some food we got some speakers we got Senator elri and representative SAA and I hope somebody from the board select board and uh and we're going to have a bunch of a couple of talks activities for kids um it's going to be I think a nice time and we're looking forward to it it does Mark an important um uh you know phase in in the schoolhouse because at this point the building is effectively restored there are still some things that we would like to do over the longer run but from now on it really can be open safely and and on a regular basis and we're starting to get plans for things that we are going to do other very quick exhibits um one uh the Sandy Pond School Association was founded in 1908 it's 115 years old now and we were honored by the nishoba Valley Chamber of Commerce here late last year with this little plaque very nice yeah it's an association that's older than me and that's old and then I just had some uh we just did some new flyers and I thought I would just pass these around people would like to have some of those okay um and aside from that um we just like to say that we are in the process of putting together the final there's going to be a lot of final work to actually make this May 18th event happen Thursday we're going to start cleaning out the interior of the schoolhouse and there's a small amount of carpentry and painting that still needs to be done on the L that that is supposed to be done well in advance in May 18th so it's been by my Tally um basically about a 7year effort to get from when we started to where we are now and I would say there 2 years of delay built into that because of Co we would have we would have done this about two years sooner um and it's been exciting times have been fun times have been sometimes it were not so exciting or so much fun but it really feels good to be getting to this stage and I want to thank the town for the support that we've had for this CU it wouldn't happened without that I think the town had a lot of plure and assisting in that so yeah yeah yeah it's I must say that it's always it's it's sort of a fun assignment to be at at the at the schoolhouse when people come through cuz people are just so happy you know it's you know it's really an easy kind of thing uh to to deal with like I could take more happy times so that's the news any questions or comments or suggestions and I can't think of any okay all right all right right all right thank you very much thank you thank you for the update feel free to come by anytime okay all right do you serve coffee call ahead maybe oh I'm okay great all right with that uh okay uh town of air notice of public hearing for the air select board out of town Sewer Service connection public hearing the air select board will be conducting a public hearing on Tuesday April 16th 2024 at 605 p.m. air Town Hall 1 Main Street air Massachusetts regarding an application by eni 256 Air Road LLC to connect to the town of air sewer system for property located at 254 to 260 Air Road Littleton Mass the select board in their legal capacity is the town's Water and Sewer commiss commers will hear testimony regarding this request and will make recommendations pursuant to the town of air regulations chapter 435 section 2.2 the application will be placed on the April 22nd 2024 annual town meeting warrant Zoom meeting ID is 8979 8793 and call-in number is 92925 6099 for more information please contact ATM a. ma. us or 978 77282 to0 extension 100 okay we are now having a public hearing so if the representatives okay all right welcome back thank you if you could introduce yourself again absolutely uh good evening Madam chair members of the board uh for the record Chris Tula I'm a professional engineer with Greer Peterson here on behalf of energ north um as you know uh we were here back on uh what March 19th um to talk about the project sort of informally um for the obviously for the gas station development located in Litteton um we submitted the out of town uh sewer application permit and basically that was the first step and then we were looking for essentially a waiver to not have to go to this step it was determined that we need to come to this step which is perfectly fine um we just kind of need to get um hopefully approval and um sign off from this board so like you said we can go to the um the town meeting next week I'd be happy to answer anything any questions about the project talk about it um I do have on my flash drive a copy of the utility plan um I have a copy of Dan's letter which we've obviously been working with Dan and town manager um for this application project um I'd be happy to answer any questions or like I said I have that information available all right so if I remember correctly you were asking to hook up your sewer only correct that you would uh do the cost of connecting the sewer to our sewer which would also benefit down the road anyone down in like the Willow Road area uh residents who um currently are not hooked up to town sewer the ability to be able to hook up to town sewer you are you using any of our water we we are not so we're working with uh the owners of 186 to 192 Littleton Road they're actually doing the main line um we were originally doing a septic system on the parcel uh it was determined that hey there's a potential to connect into this main line so we basically have a gravity line across um uh 2A to this to this um this new line and then ultimately that line uh will go down uh Willow um and then there's the potential for connections based on Dan's letter um for U 5960 62 and 64 Willow Road to connect into that um so it's like four resident home corre all right um I'm just going to share what Dan had provided yeah Madam chair through you I I sent Carly a a sketch today that we put together at DPW just to kind of summarize this because it does get a little confusing as you talk about it but you know in a picture it might make it a little clearer um so yeah Carly's sharing the screen now so basically the the red dashed line on here is the propos osed new sewer M mhm and that eventually is what the town would take over this would be installed by the developer and you can see coming off of that red dash line there's some red uh orange dashed lines those are potential future sewer connections for residents of the town of a that could tie into this new main that gets installed and then the purple dashed line or the um con the purple Dash going across the Town Line into Littleton that's the gas station not that one kly the other one the other way that would be the gas station and the other purple one is a would be a private sewer connection for the 186 to 192 mobile mobile homes so that's essentially kind of in a nutshell a picture of what what is is going on up there to to try to help make it a little clear what's being proposed okay and didn't you also tell us that there is a resident um I don't know which property that um currently their septic system is a little iffy so this would benefit them right so yeah it was a 62 out there they did have a a poor percolation test I learned from talking with the Board of Health so they were asking where the town sewer is because it would be advantageous for them to tie into sewer so so that isn't you know an advantage to that that area does have per po poor percolation and also the Waterway Bennett Brook does have an ecool ey impairment as well so another reason to get septic out of the the area is an environmental benefit for that but but those are some positive considerations for this uh this develop propos development okay you have any questions no I think um all men were answered last time okay uh anybody else does anybody have any questions I have one yes Sarah I have just so EAS for I was wondering what that property was this like map 30 16 yep so uh the uh the comment is um regarding the property basically where the cursor is right now um so they right now it's uh currently used as overflow parking for tractor trailers uh it's going to remain uh the same use um because this the gas station across the street we're going to have some um some tractor trailer park U some tractor trailer um fueling locations um the only change that we're doing on the site across the street is we are improving some of the storm water management uh we we actually came before this town um met with the planning board and um some of the comments were um basically there there's no storm water treatment there today can we do something so we basically have a small little drainage basin in the back uh which will actually infiltrate any storm water runoff but everything else on the site is going to remain the same it'll continue to be used as truck parking and there's actually going to be some uh some Landscaping maybe even some picking tables and just something to sort of you know beautify up the corner um cuz it is just an open you know paved area right now okay I'll you keep the paper thank you okay anybody else well I mean I I think that this is a win um for the town uh and win for some of the residents and everything um and we have the capacity we can handle everything yeah so I did summarize that in my memo and i' I've you know put together a presentation for the town meeting as well yeah so it's part of the projections we've done when we last signed an agreement with devans um so it is it within our our projections to include something like this that comes up so okay um and then also it would you know benefit those residents out there and we could take the capacity yeah that's that's the part I like I like that's a win for them yeah and the out of town connections they they pay the highest tier rate too as well just so that would help contribute a little more for the the town's people by them paying higher rate okay yeah all right anybody else have any comments or questions do we need to vote Madam chair I would recommend that the board um if the hearing is closed take take a vote to just recommend the matter to town meeting it's obviously on the warrant in the DPW director has a brief presentation for a town meeting okay I'll make a motion that the board um recommend the application to town meeting M okay seconded all in favor I and chair says I okay we'll see you at Town Meeting thank you very much thank you mam chair make a motion that the board close public hearing oh Jour on public hearing close yes CL second all those in favor I and chair says I okay all right well thank you very much so okay all right Mr Neil Angus from the Devon Enterprise Commission on a pocket Forest project update hi Neil how are you long time see we never see each other anymore hi hello Robert well thanks for having me Madam chair um and uh happy to give this uh quick update um on our pocket Force project uh it's this has been a great collaboration between uh devans and the town of Air U over on the west uh East Main Street uh section I'm sure you guys all know where the force is located within walking distance of town hall um this is a MVP grant that we got from the municipal vulnerability preparedness program uh it's dealing with climate change uh mitigation and adaptation and resilience uh so it's a great opportunity this is I always say that this pocket Forest is like another green infrastructure tool in our green infrastructure toolbx for storm water management but it has so many co- benefits the storm you know storm water management air quality uh you know access to n nature screening um there's so the list goes on Wildlife benefits um so it's a great great opportunity um can I do you mind if I no not at all click yeah down at the bottom yeah there we all right cool thank you um so just a quick why acket Forest I just mentioned half of the reasons why um storm water quality uh improvements uh mental and physical health benefits people having access to Nature Closer To Nature has been proven there's been studies shown that they have uh it's has mental health and wellness benefits uh air quality you know trees and and vegetation As Natural filters uh you know and if we can plant them in a more intense manner we just compound those effects and it just becomes that much more valuable so this is a nice picture of the uh pocket Force Under Construction last year uh it's been a year uh since and uh this is what it looked like last fall or just in getting into the fall after the summer uh so quite a bit of growth it's going to take a few years to get really you know really up and and uh and full but the great thing about this is that it's uh it's it's value added it continues to the benefits continue to uh occur uh cumulatively over time versus traditional storm water type infrastructure which degrades over time this appreciates with time so it's actually an investment in the community for multiple purposes um so you know there's some questions on why we chose that location uh at uh at the corner of East Main Street and and Main Street uh and and there was a big public uh involvement process we did a design shet uh in town hall here uh got a lot of great Community input on where these these uh pocket forests could go um and this site was chosen due to its proximity to the railway uh and the high volume traffic of Main Street uh you know High diesel emissions high high particulate matter from the diesel exhaust um these types of green infrastructure tools are great uh tools to help filter those pollutants you know if we could add this neighborhood is also our our maximum heat island neighborhood it's so asphalted it's hotter than any other neighborhood it's very dangerous for the folks that live there with respiratory so it will help with heat island that's a great Point Allan um yeah uh reducing pavement cover uh and decreasing the actual micro climate of that of that area so again that that filters into the health benefits as well uh and you see a couple pictures here one from the design shet another from as I mentioned this is a partnership with devans uh we are as part of this grant we're building five four four new pocket force in addition to one the one that was done on East Main Street uh we're doing two more ende Deans under construction this year one is at the air Shirley Middle School the other is at our uh playground by the United Native American Cultural Center um so those two locations are are you know are very visible uh there's a lot of open space on you know uh there's large parking areas so it's a good spot for tackling Urban heat island as well and then the grant includes another two pocket for us in air next year where we're going to be working I'll show you the locations of those in in a minute but just want to kind of give you guys another visual of of what this looked like at the beginning um we installed some uh some temporary drip irrigation uh for the first couple of years to get the pocket Forest really kind of started um we've really focused on nutrients uh in the soils to really inoculate the soils to have a lot more uh uh nutrients in them to help that pocket forest grow really quickly it's a very dense forest system that's going to be developed uh but that density will create all those mult you know the m multitude of benefits um so again this is what it looks like today we already showed that but this is a three-year effort um it's more than just planting a few trees it's about education public Outreach awareness um you know we've developed a how-to guide as part of this we're working with the schools this is a copy of our like a snapshot of our howto guide We're working directly with the schools to create an educational curriculum on kind of the Urban Ecology of these systems so really you know getting into the school system and teaching our next Generation about the value of these elements uh we're really proud of that and you know that's part of why the state granted us this money to do this is because it's not just a planting nice planting project it's an education and awareness tool um tons of community input I already mentioned this uh some great pictures from our planting day uh you could just see the 100 people pled that Forest a year ago hund of them a a great ter turnout and the and the collaboration continues you know we've connected with the St Andrews Church uh we're connecting with the Boy Scouts next week to do a you know a cleanup a spring cleanup to get ready for our pocket Force first birthday um but we've also had a lot of people coming to the area to learn about how we're doing this there's other pocket Force being developed in other towns and cities across the Commonwealth and we're even partnering with um a Berkeley California uh to help develop educational curriculum they're helping us with the educational curriculum stuff as well well so we're we're kind of partnering on these things so it's making an impact beyond the local area this was the first pocket Forest to be planted in central Massachusetts we are the first here in there yeah it's it's it's been a great you know showcase and continues to be I mentioned the two sites in devans air Shirley middle school and the museum uh unac uh playground area again two highly exposed sites um and the two in air that we're looking at are the at the High school and the other at Sandy Pond uh Schoolhouse um you can see here a picture of the Sandy Pond Schoolhouse area you know one of the reasons that was chosen high high volume traffic Street heavy trucking business right next door with heavy Trucking yep so uh great air quality benefits there's a nearby stream it's going to help filter the water so air quality health benefits the list goes on and just a little uh kind of uh visual of what this is what looks like right now um so it's it's still in its infancy as Allan likes to say it's our infant pocket Forest uh but in a couple of years uh you're going to see it uh grow up to you know help screen and help buffer uh some of the nearby roadways again all those air quality benefits storm water Urban heat island issues and in you know 20 to 30 years uh we're looking at you know a complete uh you know forested area that's going to screen the traffic uh screen you know help screen and buffer noise and air pollution from the railways as well as the roads so um we're we're excited to see it evolve and continue down this process it's like I said it's receiving national attention as well as local uh the environmental Business Council of New England uh has been it's been nominated for the Community Choice Award so please uh get out there and vote because it is based on community input so um that's uh EB c.org Community Choice Award uh and vote for that project if you know just brings more recognition to the local area of the great work that's being done and just in closing uh I did mention we're hosting the first birthday of the Paca Forest Allen has been a tremendous uh help in in getting this organized uh we're excited to celebrate you know where this Paca Force has is and where it's going uh so I hope you all can join us on Saturday the uh April 27th same day as cleanup day but uh it's different hours so we're hoping morean and then go and enjoy the forest have your lunch at the forest take your trash with you we'll have trash we'll have trash bins there uh but yeah come grab a bite to eat you know enjoy some music we're going to be doing tours um and I wouldn't be remiss be remiss if I didn't put a Shameless plugin for our Earth Day event that we're coordinating with air as well too uh with the aid of uh of your DPW director Dan um so we're happy to be partnering on that on April 22nd as well too um so uh thank you for your time don't forget the t-shirts um and yeah any questions feel free to reach out to Allen or myself um and I just wanted to uh leave you all with a present um and become honorary stewards of the uh the pcka forest and and I hope you wear these with with proud with pride um just they'll Collectibles you sell them on eBay 20 years from now you're kill them so they t-shirts with our pocket Force air Devon's pocket Forest logo um so would love for you guys to wear these with pride and represent uh and and promote our pocket Forest so let's see April 22nd is Earth Day so everybody can everybody can go walking around on mcferson road and or ride their bicycles and then at 7:00 that night night be up at the high school for town meeting so you all should have all your energy out and everything and be ready okay and then on April 27th at 0900 you'll meet at the Sandy Pond uh Beach you'll start clean up you'll end up at 11:00 over at the mini pocket Forest well you will say happy birthday happy birthday grab a bite and celebrate it wow that's actually very exciting two busy days so hopefully the weather will be awesome on both those days well again I appreciate your time and I appreciate you know the tremendous uh assistance with uh your economic development director uh We've you know this has been a great Cooperative uh relationship between devons and the town of a so thank you thank you thank you very much very good those are pretty good all right all right Dan hey again okay what's going on through you madam chair so the DPW memo and update the first item on the agenda is change order one this is for the Sandy Pond Road sanitary sewer Rehabilitation project um so they've they've almost completed the sewer lining out there we had one hiccup on the final liner where the liner wasn't long enough it was 20 ft short so they had to pull it out and order a new one 20 ft short and it was about in it was almost yeah 20t short it was a 400t liner and they only had 380 ft somebody mismeasured and I think it was the supplier but anyways that's they have to come back and do that final segment in a couple weeks otherwise the Project's um complete um so the the change order for the project is actually a negative change order so to reduce the amount so um the projects came in uh high enough that we didn't want to do the lateral service connection lineer we didn't have enough funds to do that which wasn't a critical item the mainline pipe was the most critical item to do not the lateral Services connecting to the pipe so we'll we'll put that into a future uh contract and we've taken it out of this one so basically the reduction is $439,000 29232 and I'd recommend the the board um sign that for Signature by the chair okay any questions no I have no questions all I'll make a motion that the board approved change order number one for the Sandy Pond Road sanitary sewer Rehabilitation project for a reduction of 43929 to. 32 in the contract price for Signature by the share thank you second all those in favor I chair says I it's approved you want me to pull up that yeah please Carly for the next one yeah oh sorry stop sign where did it go wait hold on one sec there we go okay all right the second item on dpw's agenda I know you're still sharing it Carly um so the police and the DPW received some concerns recently from residents about the intersections of summit AV which Cho at AV where they intersect with coolage Road they're um currently existing they're four-way intersections and there's no no control no traffic control at all no stop controls um we've had near misses and we've had you know Witnesses say seeing people drive through in in both directions in all four directions so um you know clearly seems like some stop control would be um a good thing out there so myself the town engineer the police work together um we went out to the site um observed the site saw some of the concerns and also used our our um regulations mutcd it's called is the signage regulation in the country and mass doot also follows that with certain amendments to it um these being too local roads the jurisdiction for adding stop signs here lies with the select board it's in the town's traffic regulations and I summarize that in the memo um so in short you know we recommend um putting in the stop signs on the approaches to coolage Road coolage road is more of the uh Main Road and Summit AV what sh it a the the connecting more uh smaller local roads in this case um to help um have a safer intersection C over there so I do have some pictures I had in the packet you might have them Carly but it kind of shows some of what you see as you approach the uh they might be further down in the PDF if you scroll down but yeah you know here's some of the approaches when you're coming from the West to on Summit app toward coolage um but yeah if you scroll down there's an especially that one's a little tricky there if you're on right up yeah that one you can see kind of to your right if you're driving there's no stop control think you're going to keep going and a car could be coming from the the right hand side there uh and you could be in a a collision um so these are some of the photos this was in the packet I think there's one more where it really shows some obstructions if yeah you scroll down um so right there yeah right here this one yeah to your left there's some pine trees along the side there which you know we can trim back to a certain point to the right of way but you know those are are creating quite a visual obstruction so as you're coming along which choose it have you know you wouldn't be able to see a vehicle coming coming north and coolage it' be in that case so so um you know the warrant very much seems like it's there so you know we recommend putting in these these authorizing the town to um you know maintain stop signs at this intersection as as I presented here so are these going to be just regular stop signs you're not putting the flashy one just regular okay yeah problem neither do I those are my old stomping grounds I'm surprised I guess I don't I just used to stop and pee um all right I'll make a motion that the board authorize the town to install and maintain traffic signs at the approaches to coolage Road from Su Avenue and from watch huset Avenue West in accordance with the town of air traffic regulations and as presented here in seconded all those in favor I and chair says I it's approved all right great we'll get those up there okay hold on we got a question Pauline good evening and thank you I'm so sorry to interrupt your meeting I missed public input um I just was curious when or if there is a timetable for the stening and painting of the Adams and centr ab crosswalk uh area that was um I I appreciate all the signage that was put up last year but it's still a challenge to get across and I know that there was some plan for the spring to do stenciling and signage for no parking and the I don't half rounds is that what they would call Dan that you have on Main Street and so on I'm just curious about a timetable for that I I don't have a set date yet but you know we're at that time where we're taking the painter out and putting the plows away not on wood um so I can get back to you offline on a once I have a a date set for the uh the stenciling that's something we do in house so we'll we just got to get our painter out and get it going so that's fine I appreciate that I'm sure it's going to be U met with what all the construction that's going on over here as well so I appreciate and I thank you for that okay thank you okay uh next the next item on the agenda for DPW is a water supply update uh so you know working with Kimberly the water and super SE superintendent it's very similar to past um months where the the well Fields have had little rest 10 hours of rest on the weekend which is decent one positive thing is we've been able to get out and start our our flushing our hydrant flushing you've probably seen us out on the evenings doing that so we've had enough Supply in the uh in the tanks to be able to keep that moving um we haven't been able to do a full round of that in a a year and a half or so um one thing that we do recommend at this time for the board is to you know as of May 1st um authorize or I guess vote to implement the outdoor water use restrictions which are typical and are required by our water management act permit um so that's the May 1st odd even um and no no watering between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and in in my memo there is a a requested motion so we would recommend effective May 1st that vote at this time and we'll keep monitoring the water supply like we do monthly and and any further restrictions we would do later so isn't that what the sign says like when you're on Park it's so the sign always says that but you so and we never take down the sign but you need to have this voted on every time even though the sign is there like every day yeah it's just yeah it's it's I guess a best practice to have the the Commissioners voted every year yeah even though it's kind of required by your permit but right cuz that's what I'm saying I mean we already have the sign so but okay yeah all right yeah I I don't have a problem so um I'll make a motion that the board vote to implement the outdoor water use restrictions effective May first uh um for mandatory no outside water use between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and mandatory odd even outside water restrictions um even number street address water on even number dates and odd number addresses on odd number dates seconded all those in favor I chair says I okay okay great the annual outdoor water and um just one last item and it's one that popped up in the news over the past week on on April 10th um EPA announced they're finalized National drinking water standard for p and we just wanted to make sure that you know the town's people the Commissioners knew that the current treatment we have is meeting um all the requirements of the new EPA regulation all those um chemicals that are now on the epa's regulation are non-detect so we're meeting that currently we're not um concerned about that um kind of next steps you'll see in the future is the state will now revise their regulations which are the 20 parts per trillion for six analytes they have to come down and at least meet the epa's regulations um and also just in general the epa's regulations aren't enforcable until 2027 even though it doesn't impact us but there's several water you know supplies who are probably scrambling to deal with this and get on top of it now but luckily luckily in a way we're ahead of the're we're very lucky that we've been ahead of the game because the rest of the country seems to be now finding out about it and I'm reading these articles going where have you people been oh I guess it was just us that knew it so so yeah so no this is great and that's all I have okay thank thanks thank you very much all right Chief Johnson come come on now good evening Madam CH hi I'm the dep is going to come up too okay um the first one is the Recruitment and Retention um on the agenda um as you saw in the memo that we sent to you um and the Recruitment and Retention uh grant that we're going to talk to you tonight uh is just for our call department members our 12 members of our call Department um the discuss come up during the fy2 5 budget presentation that our call Department Sal hourly wages were very low um so they were given a dollar per hour wage adjustment in this upcoming budget if it's voted on at town meeting um we talked about coming back with a wage scale for our on call department members perhaps at the end of the summer before the next budget cycle in the meantime uh the deputy and uh come up with there's Grant funds that are available out there for Recruitment and ention of called department members This falls under the safer program similar to the safer grant that we have it it falls under that umbrella the Staffing for adequate fire and emergency response so what we' like to do tonight is um kind of give you the deputy was the author of the grant he can kind of give you a summary of what that Grant would entail and then we'd be happy to answer any questions you might have after [Music] that so like the chief said uh this is part of safer um so this is the the the other half of it essentially um so when they when Congress authorizes that money every year a certain portion has to be used for Recruitment and Retention volunteers um and the other the other portions are used for hiring um so we were lucky enough to to receive the hiring one and that's what we're coming to the end to now so we are looking to to to try to apply for the Recruitment and Retention um cuz Us in air we we use a combination Department right so we have uh staff of 19 full-time firefighters and that is augmented by currently there's 12 on call Firefighters and that's varied um you know over the years you know you go back 10 years or so it's probably 19 to 20 range you know it's Fallen more recently down to the the 12 or so um which impacts the volume of Labor they can put out um you know just looking through the numbers that we have that call Department puts out about onethird of the labor they used to um you know going back uh probably 10 or so years maybe 15 years years and that's what prompted us to apply for the other safer Grant to increase full-time Staffing so to kind of offset or alleviate some of the stress that's on the call department for lack of participation right they're they're working full-time jobs elsewhere um they're coming in on nights and weekends so there's all kinds of stressors that have reduced their ability to respond um and I think we looked at it that some of it can be we don't pay a lot I mean we we were paying um comparably to our neighbors uh uh we're probably one of the lowest um so that this grant tries to is Works in two parts the first is to improve what they consider to be a nominal wage it can't be more than 20% of what we would pay a full-time person um so it'll look to increase the wage sum um so we we went through and looked at a few attributes that we want to maintain or see people um always strive to have so being certified As A Firefighter being certified one and two so that's one of the nom stiens we built into the grant that you know potentially we can pay people a like a doll a dollar or two extra an hour while they respond to calls you know cuz that's when our call departments paid it's not an annual salary or stien it's hour for hour for what they work um so we can pay them to be EMTs we can pay them to be paramedics um the we can include training for any additional hires um so if we are able to expand our our call Department from 12 back to that 1617 number um so we looked at four being what we thought was reasonable for additional Personnel we could include the purchase of equipment their annual their initial physicals um their labor cost for the the three years of the grant um and their initial training um so when you and then on top of those two items we we laid out a marketing plan so we asked for additional set of funds to do things like um purchase some some written material um some signage a tent uh you know things that we can take to community events when we're doing recruiting we can take to the schools with us when we're um you know at their their college fairs or the different events we we seek to want to be able to recruit from going forward um so when you pile all those together it totals about $17,000 uh dollars so it's 107 800 was the was the grant um and it would be we applied for a 36-month period um you know it's very competitive just like our last one you know so we score poorly on certain things meaning that um our response times is are are in the 80 percentile for what we're expected to be and that's based on our career staff um so that has us rated low um but the volume of work that our call department is able to put out brings that number back up a little bit so our grant at least remains competitive so I'm hopeful that um we'll get through the first round and be able to get into what happens as it's scored electronically and then it goes to a panel to be actually scored by people reading it I think if people can get to reading the narratives they can understand the the issues we're facing and this just like say we would give us three years to building the cost um so the grants 107 I think annually uh you know potentially you're looking at if if we're successful in making everybody participate a lot more um you could be in the 20 $25,000 range you know in total increase cost for the call Department um you know more than likely it's slightly lower than that I think some of these numbers we I I plugged in the I would like to see it at this number you know at 200 hours a year for you know for our our call members but realistically it's probably more in the 100 150 range so you know annual cost going forward after the grant would be about that you know on our estimate uh but at least up front it will be covered as part of the Grant and I think the good thing this about this grant Madam chair is that that 107 there's no no matching cost it's just that would be used towards Recruitment and Retention and just some things would uh defer Capital anywhere felt like just greater than 25,000 Capital loan that we could spend elsewhere rather than you know like on Career firefighters are already there that potentially need get and we would this would be funded through that so our next step would be this so after talking with the town manager the grant was due last Friday which the deputy submitted the Grant in time um if we were to we we would let you know either way but if that Grant would to be funded we would come back to the board and look for you accepting that Grant to move forward so that would be our next step I think it was great for transparency that we get this out there we applied for a grant for the call department and I think to it gives us some time if we would to be awarded that Grant we can look and see where that fits in if we were to accept it where we what it looks like at the end of that three-year period you know what I mean cuz our call Department certainly is dwindling and and with the application in we're going to hold off on hiring those four empty spots cuz if we do we wouldn't be able to put them to that we're going to cap our department around 16 um is the number so we figure the the few months that we wait to hear back would be in the best interest of the town so if it works it's great we're going to hire them if it doesn't we'll still move forward with that be happy to answer any questions you might have about that I don't think I have any no okay great all right great the uh next thing uh on your second memo as you read we um received a grant award in the amount of $1 15,740 from the Community Foundation of north central Massachusetts this fund um purchases another a second ventilator for use in our uh for our Ambulance Service we had already had one um just so you know the uh Community Foundation of North Central massachus is a nonprofit charity and they give out about $5 million a year to um all the communities and Central Mass um this grant it's nothing new to us this is our seventh uh we've had seven grants received anyways um so what we're looking for tonight and the deputy can elaborate too a little bit on he authored the Grant on um you know the use and how we ended up getting one through a regional Grant and we needed a second one for our ambulance yeah it's part of um us uh being in in this area we we belong to nooba Valley EMS which is uh just an organization of all the community um that run that run ambulances so we applied as a group last year everybody received one ventilator anyone that had an ALS ambulance so we we received our first um it's gotten a lot of use it had a lot of positive reviews from from the both the patients and the providers that have used it so that's why we sought to replace it we had come through Capital but thankfully now you can yeah grab it off I think that was a plus we were able to remove that from the capital as we went through we found out by January that it was approved so we a to take that off the capital for this year excellent so I think do we need to accept that Mr pom brand or I'm not sure the next step or or it's just so you it was a it was a through the chair it was a grant yeah it was a nonprofit yeah it was a lump sum yeah Grant from the nonprofit I think we're all set if it was a gift the board would vote yep as a competitive Grant yep okay excellent and that's all we had thank you very much than you thank you all right Mr Pand Madam chair members of the board uh good evening uh as far as the administrative update you have in the packet uh the warrants that were reviewed and approved since the select board last met on April 2nd in terms of uh the administrative update it has remained all things town meeting and budget preparation and we're less than a week away um for a town meeting I believe we're in I know we're in good shape for that um good it's Monday it's on Monday I want to point out and I'll I'll have a couple of things on the town meeting it's the second item I have but from the administrative update just want to point out again that the digital budget book and the digital cleargov platform has gone live um you can find that link on the fincom web page the town manager web page the budget page the finance manager um page so yes it's everywhere so when folks get a chance to check it out um would' be interested in any um feedback positive areas for improvement um and suggestions so we're looking forward to that uh further developing I also want to uh point out and and thank uh the DPW um specifically Kimberly Abraham the water and sewer superintendent and Dan Vana the DPW director um we just received um last week a $130,000 grant from the D to go towards the clear well U project at Grove um Grove Pond it was an unexpected Grant opportunity that uh Mary Jude pigsley the regional director of D out of Worcester um had thought of the town for this particular program approached the town and Kimberly and Dan did a real fast turnaround and we were awarded uh that Grant so that was um excellent work on on their end unless there are any questions from the board on administrative matters I'll go to just my two two items um briefly um the annual town meeting update as I mentioned as the chair mentioned Monday April 22nd 7 p.m. High School auditorium we have started the articles of the day have been running which link give us synopsis of each article and then link that to any supporting uh documents uh the warrant has been printed in mailed and I understand it it was arrived over the weekend at um households um the town clerk's office will have signs going up for that I will have the Motions to the board tomorrow as well as for the Town Clerk and the town moderator they completed the uh legal review and the and the confirmation of the numbers um I did meet with the town moderator last week um he's been H hosting office hours uh we met um to talk about the motions and also um the use of a consent agenda at to meeting for some of the Articles um that are standard annual business articles um could be moved by consent as the board knows through the moderator of course if a member of the floor has a question or so forth that question would be answered um it's designed to maximize the time time to be focused on you know the substantive articles all articles are important but um uh to focus that debate so I think we're in good shape on the town meeting update I don't know if there's any questions from the board on that and I'll just go to my last item uh so the Town opera fund status update I just wanted to give an update on that um some good news uh so I met last week with the finance manager the DPW director Town accountant assistant Town manager just to review where things stood um on the oper front um and as the board is aware we talked at length on on March 19th where this board took a motion for the 350,000 portion of 71 Sandy Pond to first use arpa and then if there's a balance go to udac I'm the pleased to report the good news is we won't have to we don't have to use any udag for this can all come from arpa um so the 350,000 uh for the town's portion of 71 Sandy Pond would come from arpa which would have minimal uh local impact and obviously the other 350,000 from CPA subject to town meeting approval on Monday and that'll be article 24 and we'll have a presentation on that so the reason that being is in the Opera Appropriations originally there was 300,00 000 appropriated for the by the board or authorized by the board for the Clear Pond uh Grove Pond clearwell project since then two things have happened one is the DPW director we have confirmation of from the Army is going to pay for the clear well at that time if you recall it was unclear we were no pun intended we were approaching the Army and the second piece is this D Grant of 130,000 towards the clear well project so that freed up uh 300,000 um just in this last you know week so as far as the arpa update and no you've already um taken the appropriate motions on on March on 19th I just wanted to update that um the Opera funds could cover the full portion of the land project and with all other outstanding Opera projects there still is at this time a balance of $66,500 um which we have until um until December uh 31st of 2024 and the reason for that is the 300,000 that was approved for the Grove Pond clearwell is no longer needed and there was also a small the HVAC repair for the library which the board authorized up to 75,000 um there was 1,680 that was unused or wasn't needed for the project and on the transfer station um uh feasibility study uh operational Financial study um the board authorized up to 20,000 for that and we it came in the bill came in under by 1500 so there's some small items that freed up some funding um but the big one was the clear uh the clear so just wanted to give a brief update on the arpa so at the end of the meeting on March 19th we had obligated all of arpa had a zero balance and now we're back to we have 66,000 select board um to discuss that because as mentioned earlier that the issue hasn't gone away of them potentially claing this back in the fall so Madam chair to your point we'll be coming back with some thoughts and ideas to stimulate a conversation with the board it's ultimately the purview of the board on that so it's an interesting problem to have not a bad one usually most cities and towns have the exact oppos opposite but um I just think it's funny I mean we were like all right we we we got it we took care of it now you're back almost there oh my goodness so so but no like you said it's a very it's a good Pro problem to have so so um that was the update on that and that really is the extent of my report if there's any questions from the board otherwise I thank you for your time and consideration this evening y I got nothing all right okay so nothing was listed under new business select board member questions just want to double check okay all right and we have two sets of many minutes uh for approval I had no changes or edits yeah I didn't have any changes so this would be for the March 19th 2024 and the April 2nd 2024 make a motion that the board approved the meeting minutes for March 19th 2024 and April 2nd 2024 as presented seconded all those in favor I chair says I those meeting minutes are approved so as a reminder everybody April 22nd is Earth Day mcferson Road will be open for walking bicycle riding and then later on that night please come to the air uh high school for an exciting town meeting and then on April 27th at 9:00 a.m. please go to Sandy Pond Beach to start cleanup and then make your way to to the pocket park at across the street over here at 11:00 for music and fun and say happy birthday and if there's nothing else I'll make a motion to adjourn seconded all those in favor I and chair says I good night everybody