##VIDEO ID:9mQEIHkEp3g## how are you good how are you hey guys hey hello I had extended day today so I was like sorry am my exact time you always got an excuse no excuse it was extended day legit so car I just requested that we combine the Blandford Chester Water Commission report with the uh meeting with the board meeting so we could all do it once okay okay yeah that makes sense because we're here for the board to hear it okay so we're just going to combine it go ahead me go ahead you go wait okay meeting's open um and we are being recorded a couple times are we yes both okay so first we have meeting let me look at those real quick um do we have meeting minutes no do we no we don't okay so motion table um the meeting minutes executive session meeting minutes of September 3rd until second I I all right um let's see so motion to go to new business Lanford water department water department is there a second second all in favor I all right basically yeah if you want to join us up here approve yes come on on down so we're gonna go ahead and for shared Christina big table nope she's thank you right there's a space up there too so go ahead not where should I go sit you're welcome to sit here here this okay yeah absolutely view of course well hello everybody nice to see you again good to see you and it's uh really glad to be here to um Express how U great this whole process has been the efficiency and regionalization Grant and I think our compatriots here will share the same view that it was a resounding success before I get ahead of myself excuse me I should I should introduce my fellow commissioner Jim Zimmerman hi Jim from Chester nice to meet you rad Curry is that Pete yeah sorry I'm not seeing too good Mike and Gordon of course and I'm TJ and I'm Karen yes he's really the one in charge here the glue that keeps everything together right right so again we're happy to be here thanks for inviting us and um I'll turn it over to whoever wants to start the conversation the only thing that we have combined meeting is uh shared services juster blanford discussion and next steps so you guys have it okay well I'll start off by saying that I think um that that we're not in agreement that it was a great success I think we we worked really hard to try to make it a success but there are accounting issues and there are communication issues and um I think personally that it was a little premature to do this because when I came aboard Gordon had us on track with a plan to make the water department in Blandford what it needs to be and that's going to take a few years and we're really not in a position where we're ready to take on uh you know a partnership with anyone we need to get where we need to get to and then possibly down the road it's something we can consider and that's just a summary of where I think we are with this okay so we're currently at a place where we are sharing the water operator correct yes okay as of this week we're not at this at this at this point as of today um we had a little earlier meeting with um Bob and Andy and um Andy Andy kind of made a suggestion this that because of the grant funding um we got to do a little transferring back and forth between our account their account you know um to basically even everything out paying him out as no so Stephen Stephen worked over in blanford so Mario and Isaiah are kind of a wash but Stephen worked over there and but we paid him out of our half of the grant stepen worked in Chester Chester and we paid him because he was our employee so we're a little on the negative side so we had to submit um to get reimburse for that okay so and when we get all that back we have like a couple more days here there and then all the grant funding will be all done um but yeah as of right now all the all the funding for that is pretty much I I think Andy said there just pretty much you're all gone or you're just you got you're the same way just a couple more days of it and it's pretty much all gone on their side too um it's going to work out to where we virtually spent every last dollar of the grand yeah we're about we're the important we're a couple days shy of it no you know give or take one way or the other so but it's it's pretty pretty darn close so going forward you you're not planning on continuing to share the operator is that um well we made stipulation where Steven will be more more full-time when we are um one thing we found out over this summer is that in order to keep up with demand that the EP requires of us there's no way we can do four hours a day and do that so you need him more than that here yeah yeah there's there's just I mean the one thing is it's act with with having like you know Mario and Stephen Isaiah there occasionally too is it's allowed us to really realize how behind everything we are I mean um so that's that's that's the that's the one notific notice that we've gotten you know it has exposed even to another water distribution system Mario 2 and it's it's lot Isa to come in and see another water you know water you know situation too and and see how we run how they run it's given them both the experience I think on both sides it given it's given them hope you know hopefully a little more confidence on both sides um but clearly that was the huge benefit cross training for Steve and Isaiah both they're both ex exposed to operating both plants yeah they've been around both of them and stuff like that and gives us more options going forward which was the whole point of The Apprentice program that we partnered with the Gateway yeah so to to that in that regard I would say it was an overwhelming success okay do we have money in the budget for the amount of hours that you yeah yeah we're we're yeah we've already gone all over that okay um um with Mario that's that's another issue we can it's you kind already kind of know about that due to Christina I talked with rainy and stuff so um that's a different situation um but the the the big issue was a lot of was communication that that was a main okay a main failure Point um Isaiah's missed a lot of time with us um a lot of times we we've made the motion that he should have he should be calling direct supervisor and he doesn't he'll he'll either call Stephen or I'll hear about it you know second second wave or whatever like that I don't hear about it directly which when you're trying to schedule out you know you don't hear about it right away it it affects so like overseeing one employee with two no so he doesn't so like the big issue is like I know you guys had a lot of issues lately or you still have them but like the last five five weeks or so and I've got I've got dates down here we've I've gotten no notification um as to when he is or isn't going to be there I was never notified about the fact that he was only going to be working three hours a day for us when he does work in blanford um which affects how I'm going to schedule my workday because now I can't send him out to do what I was going to have him do so um that was a huge thing the other issue is is is basically that was a major Personnel issue change and that should have been something that you guys should have contacted them about and made arrangements for that whole thing that that was just that was a massive massive hit I mean that was a big issue for you and you guys should have made arrangements for that just let me just in insert you made me aware some time ago that Isaiah was not responding to you directly and Advising you when he was not going to be in for whatever reason right I've spoken to him on two different occasions not recently but back when you first brought that up right and was assured that he was doing that so I'm hearing for the first time now you say that he didn't do that I spoke to him the day after we spoke and I just to can reconfirm it and I did do that I didn't know he was I didn't know he he was leaving at you know after 3 hours up until just like a week and a half ago just before I left for vacation that's so we're basically being you know what I mean and that that's that's the thing is he putting down he's doing you know eight hours in blanford he's doing three and he's going to Chester for four and the question is too is why what takes an hour to go 15 minutes so it sounds like managing is difficult when you have a couple communication it's a failure in communication and he's like I said I have not spoken to to Isaiah in a good three weeks I mean kind of has more than one boss and that's difficult no he he he just I don't know if he's afraid to talk to me or whatever or whatever you know hey you know what sometimes I let the phone ring you know what I no no choking around I know if anybody in the water has an issue with it have no issue with that then go ahead and laugh but it's like I'm very serious I mean I schedule out for the month they know what they have to do and when I lose an employee and and I don't have that person there I've just lost a day worth of work yeah somebody's paying for it and you know what blanford's paying for it Mike said it right off the bat he called it out and it's unfortunately it's I watch day to day and I know what they're doing they know what they're doing every day and when I don't get notified or told or in and it's unfortunate that it happened but it should have been communicated to them and we should have made some kind of arrangement or some change as to what was going to happen because it's that's a that was a major schedule change that was that was a major impact not only on you but it impacts us so you didn't know about it you didn't know that he was only working three hours here no that's a conversation now did he have did he sign his pay sheet or did he sign his pay sheet saying he worked four hours here I'd have to go back and look right I don't know because then that would be that would be a financial issue on your guys de side at that point um I can't answer that because I right and I I don't expect you to because you didn't know if you didn't know you didn't know um so is this something you guys want to I'm just trying to understand like going forward do you want to continue to have any of the arrangement that we've had anything shared do you want to I don't know like what are the stipulations with the Grant I would have to talk to Ira and see the grant is expiring this coming Monday but is there anything like that we're supposed to follow through with just the the final reporting just the final signing off on it okay which I think I think we're there we got the numbers worked out so that's not an issue I guess the the issue is what would the next steps look like sure and I'm hearing that would be disappointed hearing that at least two of you don't I feel as as water commissioner I'm here to look out for the water customers of blanford in the very beginning when we first started talking about this my only question was you know I I know what the customers need they need clean water they need a decent rate I said is is joining up with chester gonna provide either of those things and I never got that answer I still don't see what the benefit is for the Blandford customer okay operators that was a big benefit okay it might yeah but the other thing that you that you guys did is you turned around and you sent requests to Stephen to H to sign up in a higher on as a Chester employee as a secondary operator on weekends yes yeah but the whole goal with this was to basically try to bring them in and create a a situation where it would be a permanent full-time position that offered benefits and because that's the only way we're going to retain somebody in this kind of Market is it has to be yeah competitive with benefits and we we're we're able to do that but the fact is that again it's just something that you guys just kind of pulled out of left field and in the text you want him to go over and sign up now if he signed up and did that he would now not be a blanford Chester shared employee he would be a blanford employee a Chester employee shared which means he would now lose his benefits that would do no justice to him and then what it would do it was turn around and put a bad taste in an employee's mouth that blanford has invested five plus years in in grooming to bring up to this position and putting us at risk of basically pissing him off so bad he leaves so wait you're saying that Stephen is going to work full-time for Chester blanford okay but they wanted to basically hire him as a Chester employee but the thing is while he works for blanford if he became a Chester employee he would now no longer be a shared employee with full benefits he would be a part-time employee in I'm having a hard time now help me understand what what we offered him or asked him to do was to be the secondary operator for two hours on Saturday and two hours on Sunday I'm I'm track of how that's going to impact because you asked him because you asked him to sign up to be an employee you asked him to fill out an application correct yes okay so now he's a Chester employee doesn't preclude him from working for blanford no but why he's under the grant if you needed him to work under and help you guys out as the weekend person the grant has nothing to do with that but as as the blanford as a blanford employee you could have reached out to these guys and try to made arrangements for that that way the time that he would have worked for you on the weekend would have went towards his benefit package instead now he works for us and then he gets a little part-time you know part-time Stipe in there so what do we need to do going forward what that's up to you guys we need from I just take what was presented to me and I now pass it down the line now if I'm understanding it right he's a full-time employee for you yeah and he's going to be a part-time employee for Chester that's what so H how does this affect his blord benefits I I don't understand that it's just like you're an electrician and and then you know uh on your weekend you do some side jobs I mean how how does this affect his benefits I that's where you're losing me you're saying because it was done during the time when we had a contract in place between the two towns now the contract is over now the contract is it well the 15th it will be okay so at the 15th he's still going to be a fulltime employee right and if he chooses employ can't work part time if he chooses to do that at at this point he can do whatever he wants but the point of the fact that they try to do it while we're under contract well that's that's going to be water under the bridge in the 15th correct so it it so I I my job basically it's in the past I understand that but I'm here to give you as I'm here to relay what has happened all right so I mean going forward I mean we we know the history of the past we just did so going forward what what what are you expecting what what do you want moving forward I that's their just that's their call their I think it's a lot of work to do this and I'd rather see him spend his time doing things that Blandford needs him to do it's a lot of work to do the shared to figure it out to schedule and and to come up with the accounting and all this other stuff gets very confusing I'd like to see him go back to where we were before this started working on what we're doing to improve blanford water so and not spending five hours a day trying to figure out how to accommodate another Community that's that's all okay that's where I'm at that's that's over the 15 right I I just want to make it clear that the excess and um the efficiency and regionalization Grant had nothing to do with our asking Steve to be the secondary operator on Saturday and Sunday it didn't then it doesn't now and it won't next week they're two separate issues completely I don't know why we're conflating them they have nothing to do with each other whatsoever a whatever he does with blanford is is up to him and up to you yeah and I think whatever he does or doesn't do with chester that's fine it's you said I don't see it down so his priority would be to blamer because this is his full-time position corre all right and uh if he has to come in on Saturday or Sunday for blanford then he can do that but he would have to notify their operator that he would be unavailable and that has made that has been made clear to him and to us that blanford is a priority if he's scheduled to work every other weekend as he is it's not every weekend it's every other weekend if something came up in Lanford where you guys needed him that's a priority there's no question that yeah because it's fulltime job the point of the whole thing is it was a shared operator Grant and we were still involved in that and you tried to hire them without even telling us you're on your own side you're looking at it to a completely different no that's what you did though he told us up there trying to hire me for the weekends it had to do with the so if you wanted to have him then when it was a shared operator you should have just said to us hey can I have him on the weekends we need somebody for the weekends now until the until this contract ended well to do with that contract that's where you're complaining you're not under isn't isn't the employee responsible for talking with his employer about that he did he did so so I feel like we're circling a little bit just a lot of stuff behind the scenes that that we don't know about you know what I mean they're doing their own thing they don't notify us so if you're working together you're working together and I don't see it you know so it sounds like at this point starting after the 15th he's no longer a shared water operator he is a blame fore water yeah he want there no concerns at that point right so you're tell I'm hearing loud and clear that doing any more sharing with chester is not something that you are interested in at this time corre correct I I said I can't speak totally for these guys but from what I understand with talking to Gordon talking to him all us talking together at other meetings and talking to these gentlemen I always thought it was a good idea to do something of this sort problem is like I said originally I don't think we're close enough yeah with where we're at because we have all these upgrades going on in our town they have a ton of upgrades that you're doing am I correct in saying that you got some stuff you're doing down there we lot of here yeah so at this point yeah I I really think like ke said it's just too much to try to force these two entities together yeah maybe at a later date when time can be discussed you know without all these other problems in the air I think maybe at that point it might be something that would be maybe feasible at that point but right now I don't think okay I mean we had a lot of good experiences there a lot of positive that came out of it I mean we learn a lot did we not learn a lot we learned a lot both yeah we did we learn a whole lot about different things we needed to do yeah and I think uh that was part of putting this together was the learning issues of those things so that we won't make the same mistakes what you're saying is both sides learned a lot yes and uh not only about each other but about ourselves too right right I I understand that so going going forward what is his name isah which one Stephen Isaiah the one that's coming on full time with Sten huh Steve yes he's been with us for five years okay so he'll be full time with you and if he takes part-time work with chester that be up him his decision after 15 that's his I all right so everything happened now that we're we're airing are the points that were positive and the points that were negative and we understand that now there is a communication problem that has to be solved but it's between the three of you it's between Steve your uh board and Chester's board all right and communication only works when you talk to each other and uh the way I see it that's over with so we you we Aid our grievances we AED are uh the positive things that came out of it so moving forward Steve will be your full-time employee and he can also be Chester's part-time employee or well that's his option his op okay so he's not going to lose any benefits right right okay so so should there be a motion just to say that we it's not no longer going to be shared employees going forward after the 15th of September um and who does that motion I don't think you need a formal motion for that care that's part that's part of the grant the grant is expiring Monday the 15th the grant expires that's the shared services but there was a possibility those shared services could go on after the Grant I think you probably a motion if you decided to continue it we're just going to come we'll just let it so it's yeah okay that I think that makes sense if you need something different then I don't think we do just let it end quietly that's all okay you guys have anything else for us while you're here anybody other issues you get oh yeah we love issues so we should be doing a motion to end the shared uh chest water and U that's going TW no no I'm talking about the actual meeting that Shar oh the meeting our meeting yeah um so I don't know I yeah yeah I think we can just leave think you're good I think it's it's all spelled the only thing I would suggest is that Andy Andy Myers who's in our unofficial CFO this whole thing and done a great job is on on vacation and when he returns U this weekend I'll ask him to to reach out to secretary Cronin okay and see what the absolute drop dead date is for filing the final report okay thank you would think we would have so Christina had been working um to make sure that all paperwork was done actually has sent me everything that you guys have and it was very complete and thorough so great exchanges you guys have to do in between there I don't know if you said that there was something yeah they we they sent a check to us we sent a check back to them it's it's just it's just paperwork for the Mone at this the ma I know that Don hadn't responded a couple times that we were so on your end if you just want to let him know that you know that this is happening and he needs you know if he could be involved so that we can make sure we don't miss any deadlines we that would be great yeah thank you guys yeah Jim did you have anything you want to add or ask pretty much says it I mean you know I'm I'm sure in the future you know we'll be would be looking to each other because of the fact that uh you know there's only a limited pool operators in the state yeah and unless we sort of grow our own Workforce yeah and and create a Workforce to stay in these communities you know we're going be all hurting so and that's what we have to look forward to is uh we have to uh grow our Workforce to keep the operators in this in the towns yeah absolutely collaboration is the key I think and and that was the the big success of this was developing an encouraging existing operators and creating a new one and AC cross training with Steve and Isaiah I think that I think that was a big plus hope you guys will feel that way after some period of time as well I think we have Kristen Smitty coming to the next meeting maybe I saw that she Ed 30th 30th so she'll be able to update us on how that's going through Gateway the that program so I'm interested to hear kids yeah cool that's great Martha Martha Kristen she's doing it now oh some believe someone else is they they do have the program funded again so okay all right so we fre to move about the country yes thank you for coming I appr was a pleasure thank oh yeah that hasn't been taken care of yet working on we've um got an interm um superintendent Highway superintendent and he is aware that that is a top priority okay so um do you have contact information I still have so I spoke for an hour and a half this afternoon okay yeah just if you want to share with um so so Mike has it in case he needs it um but he's aware and I believe he's already met with like a vendor or something cool okay yeah yeah I kind of like give the heads up on the don't point at me there is magical hydrant there he is I know what you heard about from the insurance company if anything no no they're probably going to turn it down all right thank you guys can grab thank yes bringing Ry four times okay um waiting room we going arm room public hearing CBG WP up yeah okay did we do we need to let him in hi everyone I've met some of you but not all of you uh I'm Joe Hagopian I'm one of the Community Development planners at uh pvpc and just going over some brief uh wrapup items on an fy20 award we had uh that okay you know like everything that started in 20120 just kept going and going so yeah so uh this award includes uded uh the Ada self assessment and transition plan which was completed a little over a year ago at this point and uh the housing rehab program uh as of last month we had construction on the final home complete uh this brings us to a total of 12 homes that have received uh rehabilit uh excuse me not 12 seven homes uh through the program that have received Rehabilitation uh when we initially put in the application we put in for up to 12 units and you know largely due to you know increasing increased construction costs that we saw across the board uh we didn't have as enough funding to cover a full 12 units and there were some hiccups along the way some internal staff changes on our end and I know with the town as well that uh kind of prevented us from getting this program going as fast as we wanted to you know as we did but we ultimately were able to provide uh Rehab Services to uh seven homes uh throughout Blandford uh the last one just completed I believe uh end of July or at some point in August uh so ultimately you know after what was a little bit of a rocky start uh we were very encouraged to see uh the turnout we got at the end especially the movement we saw with homeowners and contractors in the area over the past six months especially nice excellent um so I would my brain just fried for a second is there any reporting that we need to do for this um I think that we is this invoice the last thing that you need from us so there's going to be another uh couple invoices going through I believe uh we're still waiting for uh was it uh August payroll to go through and for the last couple items and I know uh payment had been received on our end for that uh last program or that last project and I know we have a couple more outstanding things like just like some registry of deeds filings that'll have some more payments but uh the end date for the grant is September 30th so we'll have a little bit more uh payroll just for the couple things myself and my colleague Chris who's our Financial Coordinator have to do as we close things out make sure every Project's paid out and everything's correctly filed with the registry of deeds But ultimately not too much left after this meeting now and then a couple just waiting on a couple more things to come in through the mail from some homeowners okay thank you so much I'm so glad that those people were able able to uh get the you know get to go through the program I know that they were really thankful for all the assistance and got some good work done on their homes so absolutely yeah and it was great to see and from the clients we've worked with especially in the past few months who had construction wrap up they were all so thankful and like I know it some of these programs it's hard to tell when you haven't done a housing rehab program in a community in a few years because I believe the last one we had in blanford was fy10 that was technically a Southampton grant that included Southampton Montgomery Blandford and I want to say Granville as well so it had been a while and you know so it's takes a little time to get going but ultimately you know I know we were able to do a lot for the people that helped and that's and especially you know a couple or two septic projects in there that really yeah those were big yeah changed the world yeah yeah thank you that's awesome um all right so I'm going to make a motion to approve the Pioneer Valley um Planning Commission invoice number 36 housing rehab I think it's an amount of um $2,645 79 is there a second second any discussion you you got to do that out of order all in favor I all I thought that because it's connected sorry do you see the connection I'm sorry sort of all right um thank you do we so it's a legit hearing is there anything else we need to do before closing it or are we good this is a little bit just one of those formal requirements since it was just for having you know seven the primary meeting was just to have a formal discussion to formally change the number of units serviced from okay 12 to 7 there's some fine line where it's considered a substantial change that it's kind of not clear until we get told one way or the other on specific projects if you're at that or not and okay there's always going to be you know projects being more expensive than you expect at the time of the Grant application and that's been something we've been working on with some of our other Housing Programs sure okay all right so yes do do you need anything from us as far like do we need to do any Grant reporting on this or you yeah so I've been I do uh pretty much all the grant reporting on this I'll have one final quarterly report and that'll just be uh when uh finances go through I think I'll just it just needs I forget if it's Town Administrator or select board chair signature on the final sign off certifying that everything is correct you know the final finances are correct but everything's reporting is handled on our end okay thank you of course yeah all right thank you so much we appreciate it right thank you all have a good night you too bye bye thank you bye Christina do you need that back I'm going to throw on the recycling then that's fine okay um all right now we got highway highway do you have a report for us or do you want me to skip you my report would be today was a day how go um you're welcome there's an awful lot going on there'll be awful lot more very soon um um Christina is giv me some of the major issues we were addressing them okay as we're going right now okay and honestly there's like three or four meetings the rest of this week with couple vendors uh engineering firm and a few other situations that I'm trying to recy okay but I'll have a better answer next next week okay can we ask the highway department to pick up the bags of uh clippings that are over in Bice Park apparently the menit saw a tremendous need for their work there cleaned it up and they left the bags and bags and bags of uh weeds but they need to be called away and disposed up okay um that could be a highway or it could be uh what's John no I'm thinking Watson Park Watson Park Doug thank you that doesn't go to the yeah but he would bring it to are they in plastic bags George or large large 80 gallon bags oh and it's not finished it's not no it's not finished yeah we'll talk about that later um rainy um not trying to be Mr Nice Guy but uh we we could do that because I I wouldn't mind going and checking out the park anyway okay um and then I have to go to Transportation anyway um so I can grab one of the guys and we can uh okay that would be great how many bags would you say there are I'd say there's six or eight oh okay so we can just okay all right we can do that tomorrow I appreciate it thank you yeah I know I don't want to talk about B Centennial we we need to just we're just gonna get back on that but now that we have a TA and we're going to get someone doing it again on a yearly basis it's just this year was a wash unfortunately the timing was just terrible I believe there was money approved for it yeah but Mike put it out for bid he no but he didn't put it out for bid got he started yeah it was like he started and then he left and then it was like one of those things that was not our top priority because we had all these other you know things going on and it's just I know I drive by it and I'm like oh finance that we approved it yeah there was there was money um approved for the tree trimming and we did that we got that done but then the person that used usually did the cleaning up moved to Tennessee and so it was sort of a last minute thing yes position it was a a cont we were Contracting her to do the yeah is it fair to say it's not easy to find these people as well it's not and yeah and to find reasonable and the money in the bicentennial is almost out and so we were also trying to figure out how could we replenish that trust and not use up all the funds because it's not increasing at a rate where it's sustain um so I mean it was more there was all sorts of things going on with Bicentennial but we're aware of it and it will be on our plate for making sure that we get someone to put it to bed before winter I don't know if that's going to happen but to clean it up in the spring at least it'll be something that's on ouro well it really needs to be done twice a year not just yeah yeah exactly yeah got Seasons there I hear you and N every other week attending to yeah all right we here and there but there's nowhere to get rid of them that I'm not bringing them in my yard I know right who wants them you're fun you want them in your [Laughter] yardi I'll think I have trees Town Administrator what do you got for us okay so um last week I spoke with Josh strapper and I didn't speak with Cynthia but she's part of this too and they let me know that they did receive our notice of non-compliance okay and he said that the fence is being constructed which was news to me I had no idea but I thought that that was wonderful so I asked Chief duil to take a ride over there to confirm that you know it is and she said yes it is it's being put up so that's where we're at now with the uh six wman Road the defense dog situation um who does the inspection after it's up so once it's up I'm going to ask um Jason and chief dubiel to both take a look at it okay um oh um I'm working on getting the warrant together for a special town meeting in October what date are we thinking that I'm not 100% sure yet I think we're still waiting to hear back from uh Weston Samson to see what yeah and they would give us they said they could get us stuff in about two and a half weeks yes so once I can confirm that we have something to even present yeah then I would make a date but it does we do need to post two weeks out yeah so I will be checking oh also I reached out to Elm electric regarding the electricity in this building I sent them everything that we have so we have an electrical engineering plan that was done by Tom cordone m um all the notes from our prior electrical inspector John I cced our current electrical inspector they have an estimating meeting which happens once every two weeks their next one is tomorrow so they're going to take all of the information that I provided and present it at their estimating meeting okay and hopefully we can get a quote just so that I can know what ballpark we're in as far as what procurement laws I need to follow when going out to bid this is a quote for the Quick Fix not the long it's a quote for everything oh this is the quote for everything yes are we where are we at with I feel like last time you mentioned something about like a quick fix yes so we had um eversource come out they did the best that they could uh they cleaned up and according to Mr hoppy you said it it's keeping the basement and where the electrical is right now relatively dry but I think the damage is done at this point right so like the water has been coming down through that we still lost electricity keep Los electricity but he says when he goes down there he's noticing that it's not as wet as it used to be I think as far as like any sort of quick fix I I don't know what it might not be because I think the damage to the conduit is is done do we think that we should try to incorporate this with a special town meeting because it sounds like we're G have to it is on my list okay yeah yep no did uh uh Elm send someone out to give it a look no yet having their estimating meeting tomorrow yeah so I'm not real familiar with what that even really would entail but I would I would think that they're going to sit down and look over all of the information that I provided and perhaps set up a time to come out and give some quotes or or a quote for what we're looking at we would still I'm assuming we're going to have to go out to bed the question is you know how much is this what are we actually looking at because we don't have any hard numbers um yeah at least nothing documented yeah so I think that would be the first step for us to get an idea of what this may cost overall and then get started on the uh the bid process okay in the meantime I would like to say though that uh Mr Hoy he's having some issues because he has to come here so I feel so bad I don't know how to I don't know how to rectify that either what do you think I didn't know she was going to talk about it I put it on the agenda because John's coming to me saying Russell's getting fed up himing he's getting fed up with touch that thing down there he makes statements like if you hear a big bang so yeah that's not good you know I don't know if you're aware but it's like am I exaggerating at least eight times in the last month oh more than that I would say I don't know about all of them and this is not like a soon we can this has to happen once I hear from Electric I can ask if when they come out do they think that there's any sort of something they can they can even if it's not a fix it's something they can do for it when it goes off that we can get it back on without risking lives would be you know Ser I think after looking down at that well that's in there uh if we could keep the water level down otherwise get that grass out of there and put some kind of sun pump to keep the the water level down that might help for a shortterm solution but I would like to talk to them about that yeah cuz that would be something you know or you talk to them about that yeah and uh my fear is that and that is that's totally valid my only fear is that the damage is sort of done right oh we know that that's why I would suggest to some pump to keep the water at a certain level so it's not getting up and HD in that yeah Mary did you I I just wanted to say that through process of coming in and trying to run something on the yeah scanner over the weekend that I had to do for the town apparently when the power goes off quirky things happen either to the phone to the printer to the computer it's computer huge just not good I know well that's such an Antiquated system that's been that like that since they built the building yeah what the electrical problem that okay see now now that whole system is illegal Joan did you something yeah happy keeps repeating that the whole panel needs to be replaced I don't know how much he knows but he knows pretty much everything about this building and I just I find it interesting that the transfer station people get paid more money than happy does and he knows everything about this building that's awful yeah that's something we'll have to bring up it's time you brought it up yeah I mean yeah so many people deserve more money that work here well it's not even Equitable for cred I know it's yeah yeah okay um well if to Hoy gets fired we'll hire him okay all right hourly emplo works like I don't know what is he work 15 hours a week yeah yeah he just he just does everything though um to hire somebody to do this yeah to take care of that take yeah really that's needed for a build yeah that's all right um action item I have may lumpsum payment um I don't think I don't think this is something we talk about I think we just have to yeah already signed it okay yeah we're not gonna I already signed it yeah we're good okay um approved warrant number four five five refund and number six so we've got some warrants you want to take a look this is a refund this is oh okay too much in my head hear this is to Crazy did you get that information I'm just looking at invoice from Cooper did you get that stuff you needed from Cooper after reached out now three times can you please I know that you speak with Bruce sometimes can you please let him know that we need that information that Christina has asked for what I'm just I've reached out to him three separate occasions asking for historical information on what um septics he's pumped and the dates of service for us oh for coer yeah oh okay thank you did he did he send a bill he a bill he has no problem sending bills it's the information that I need that I'm having difficulty getting I have his bill I will spoke thank you you need to sign that and you need to sign this all right so motion to approve um payroll warrant number four pay warrant number five refund warrant number five and AP for payment warrant number six so second um any discussion no all in favor I I all right um and then we already did the pvpc thing um we did that Resident complain milk weed berries in the playground what are milked toxic berries okay George he skipped over our audience participation and I believe I was supposed to be on the agenda tonight I had communicated that was next week you said George I've got you on next week I know I asked for tonight I don't remember that but I've got you on next week too late next week what do you want George come on now I need 15 minutes of your time oh that's a lot come on down is it about milkweed berries no it's not about milkweed berries it's about your appointment of me as chairman of the committee to do something about the post office and Bicentennial Park was that was it just painting it was painting the post office not the part right okay so let me tell you what's the all I contacted I well first of all I assessed what we needed to take care of the post office building and I figured it cost about $700 to do it to do the painting to do the painting cleaning do the uh the railings take care of the flag pool okay um I went out looking for the 700 $100 I found $500 or excuse me $100 from um Hall Forest Products they were very kind and send a check for that which I have in my possession I also contacted whip City fiber because they're generating quite a bit of money from our town and after about six weeks of working with them uh they made a commitment of $500 for the project wow and my third Source was the Home Depot Foundation which I sent a request in for and they agreed to come up and look at the building and see what was necessary and two of their administrators came up and we toured the outside of the building and this was about six weeks ago mid July and they were so appalled at the look of B sentennial Park uh they said that they wanted to take that on as a responsibility also well we love them so we wrote up a proposal proposal we submitted it to the foundation it sat in the foundation takes about 6 weeks for them to process the request they came back with a $6,500 commitment to in supplies and things to do the job as well as Personnel to help citizens of pford with it that's fantastic I don't know whether you're aware of it but their policy is that they do not give money outright to projects they only give money associated with their employees participating in the project and as a partner with the uh project so I've met with them since we got the proposal which was since we got the funding which was about two weeks ago now I've tried to get in touch with Christina left two messages for her to call me and I haven't heard back from her um so I had to move ahead with uh uh moving ahead with publicity and setting a date and I met with the manager down at Home Depot and his assistant and the only date that was feasible this fall to put this together at this point is the last Saturday of September okay which is coming on very quickly is that the 30th no that's the 28th okay October 20 I'm sorry September 28th okay uh so what we are doing now is getting some publicity ready and getting it out into the community I'm hoping to meet with Adam Dolby I've been trying to get a hold of him for about four days now and he doesn't answer his voicemails um to coordinate I met with them during the summer and the firemen were very gho about doing and participating in this project um we are at the point now where it's a matter of getting Community people involved and so you need volunteers for that day we need volunteers for that day I checked out the release information that we need from people who participate um and I need to cooperate with the the highway department in terms of bling off the area okay I've met with the uh former um postmaster um who has moved on from Russell and he was very we we met several times and he was able to get clearance to have the sign taken down I don't know if you notic it's been missing out a week or so from front of the post office and that F that sign is getting refurbished and going to have a new sign in front of the post office um so they're going to take care of that there's considerable amount of um carpentry work to be done before the painting takes place and the brick work in the Benton Park needs to be uh pressure washed so that all the weeds are out of it and new um silicon put in the in the uh cracks um and we're working on getting a time and a place for that to take place cool um is there an outside water source on that that's the next problem we're dealing with and I'm there was a on the side there's not no there's no SP outside at all and I haven't been able to have access to the basement at all because of the uh um the the post office has access to the basement but they were not comfortable having someone else went to the basement I don't know what they're using down there but um I'm hoping our third flightman will make his hose uh available um so that we can either compensate for the power washing yeah for the power washing so we can compensate him for some water and so forth I don't think we're paying for Water by the usage yet so if we're not it might be okay yeah I don't know what he's you have to talk to him I won't speak for him I don't know what he's do back in town but we need to do that and I need to talk with the U the highway department about having some cones and things put up the ble area off so it's safe and we've I've talked with um Bo from Country Store about catering some snacks and possibly lunch and they're willing if all goes well um to put that together and use some of the funds that we're getting to compensate them for expenses on that so that's coming together um what I miss about we're going to put you in charge of more committees George you doing such a great job no you have to put me on salary to do that um the the um post office is Hope or working out a cost thing and I don't know whether we can afford it out of the budget and we work with or not but they have a program where you can stuff a a mailer in everybody's mailbox in town and on the ground and everything else and I'm we're looking at the cost of printing that and getting into people's mailbox in the next days or so um to see if that takes you know takes place and so forth we have a lot to do to get that done um so basically the task that we're looking at is replacing the molding around the training center door prepping the wood around the door for the Post Office prepping and painting the railings um painting the building um as you probably realize the second floor doesn't need to be done because that's all aluminum siding so it's just the lower first floor in the front and sides and and the back of the building it's two fls and that we were working out with the fire department because those guys can climb ladders Home Depot people can't climb ladders so we're working that out um I have devil uh they love joy coming over Thursday morning we're going down to Home Depot and choose some uh plantings and so forth to go in so they're set aside and they're not sols CU they're getting low on this Home Depot um to go in at the post office or the park park there's no planes at the park at the Home Depo all there's no plan that out at the post office it's it's in there so we're using his expertise on that um let's see what else will we then commit to taking care of the park pardon will we then commit to taking care of the park well that's up to the that's a budgetary item town we have committed to that it's just that we didn't have the you know it just never happens this year I've been trying to track down the missing $7,000 that was given for the fund and now I haven't been able to locate it yet but there is earnings from $14,000 coming in which isn't enough to sustain the work that needs to be done bottom of that with Chris dun too nowhere I think the town needs to send a thank you note to the for their work CU I I I don't know you know I don't know who they talk to in town all I know is I came by there Saturday morning and it was cleaned up and I think it was was part of the church who was in town doing the program on I know who we would I know that so it be young guy and four women I'm think I'm trying to think of his name now I can't if you think of it and send it to us we will get it thank you I will I will do that tonight because I have it at home um so oh the shutters are being replaced on the building um they're installing new lights and sensors flag pole will get I need the highway Department's help with that to tilt the flag pole down so they can be uh sanded and painted um and we're looking at the cost of having the bricks replaced on the chimney okay so that's pretty much where things are right now thank you very much Jordan I need a fund to put the money into that I have the check for $100 for and if I have any other donation we revolving fund for fire department I think that might work because it's half a fire department training building okay does that sound reasonable I just need instructions on how to do it come see me George okay thank you appreciate it George do you anticipate all this funding to cover everything that you're planning on doing I'm planning not to exceed the budget and the funding that's available okay and the budget is the right now we're looking at roughly $7,000 okay now the home Home Depot is all in terms of materials and their assistance yeah right so you're not getting a check for the 6500 it's just we're getting gift cards for the 6500 which I have already okay um they are they will know in the next week or so they it's a very interesting process but they have a process by which they recruit employees to work on these Special Projects so I'll be meeting with them again this week and probably every week until this happens just to keep fine-tuning everything and so forth when they came up here they did a complete assessment I have a four-page estimate of all the things they listed shutters and electrical supplies and lamps and cleaning spies and drop cloths and paint brushes and gallons of paint and everything else and that's how they got to the $6,500 level got it so and that and that's totally flexible now this is going to take place around one weekend one Saturday except for one day one day there'll be some prep that's an ambitious Pro there'll be some prep work ahead of time but I I I'm looking at anywhere between 18 and 24 people I so that I just looked I have puppy class and a field hockey clamp that day but if I can make it before or after I will okay um son John there you go I'm sure he'll be out doing cleanups pick some of these a while um we'll get some word out at the library yeah I I'm gonna have posters for all that stuff on sounds good and I got more of these things that can pass out too thank youor so that's what's happening okay good job yeah excellent so I will probably see you again next week to you is about happening yeah excellent thank you very much I appreciate it it sounds like a fun day all right um all right let's I'm so curious about the milkweed berries that you're telling me that they're a poisonous put some information about them in your was it an email that was a customer she should have one where are they coming stage roing out next to town hall near the playground okay yeah we got to get rid of those um next to the playground not is it like that area next to the town hall near the yeah there's an email if if she could just like send us a picture so we know what we're getting rid of and then who who are we asking to get rid of it um got to be happy the person that does Lawn Care is just like Mowing and weeding it's got to be happy defin he deals with bushes out in the it's probably going to be happy yeah and he wants to trim those bushes out in the front because they're past the kitchen windows ridiculous it's dark and there we really need to like we need a maintenance on our like plate for next yeah we need um and like someone doing more ground theed like it's just you know out to them okay all right um and then oh lastly I have um uh something on the building committee I was gonna read George is that um all right so uh I'm just asking you to be quiet because we're still making sorry thank you oh I was doing I was shushing you without shushing you because it's annoying to be shush is that the um one about looking for people yeah so I'm gonna just an update on the building committee hear you too okay can hear you I think that Rainey needs to hear this though because this is on the building committee and I know he's part talking right now okay so last Friday the fire chief Christina and I had a meeting with the engineers working on the fire department project it was determined that at this point in the process the building committee has completed the duties Mary I'm sorry thank you has completed the duties within their Authority and they have gathered enough information for the engineers to move forward with providing us with the specs and cost differences for the two locations chosen by the team the two locations selected by the team in order of preferences are the current buyer house location along with the home next door or the salt shed location our goal is to have the full spec designs completed for both locations along with estimated costs completed in time for the special town meeting in October enabling residents to vote on their preferred location for the firehouse uh just a side note there the engineers did tell us that coming up with specs for two places is going to cost more money they did not recommend it but we requested it given that the people in town had asked for the option to vote so so that's there we have asked Christina to work with Council regarding the process of possibly purchasing the residents next door to the Firehouse so we can swiftly start the process of understanding the cost and conditions of a possible sale we've also given direction to the engineers in this project to determine the cost of demolition of both buildings and evaluate environmental factors which may impact costs if any directives have been given to the engineers to design and create specifications for a firehouse that will support our community for many years to come swiftly move forward in order to keep the phase of the project within budget and meet our timeline of presenting informed options to our residents in the fall in conclusion we'd also like to thank the building committee for the time and effort they have put into the getting us to the point of this process we've determined is not necessary to create another building committee at this time however we want to extend our thanks to the folks we recently submitted letters of interest to participate in a new building committee and will'll certainly keep those folks in mind going forward if more assistance is required so um we are in a place where we're just waiting on the specs and estimates and we will um have that information the engineers will be attending the special town meeting to um present that information and the town people can then vote and then we can swiftly move forward with next steps at that point have have we have uh any uh contact with the people that want to sell uh yes do we have an idea what they're they are interested in um working with the town and Adam has contacted them and did you were did you contact them this week or I didn't I my first move was to contact Council and so I do have an answer on how to move forward with Council so okay good y Mary can you send me what you read please yeah I'm going to put it out on the or I'm not going to because I wouldn't touch Facebook with 10 foot pole but I'm going to have other people put it on the social media um for thanking the people that um had expressed interest I would love to have it tonight sure I'll it's on my notes I'll just send it to you yes I just have to say you know that's a pretty rotten way for all these people who have done all the work on that committee to find out through the gra Vine through the Great Vine that they're done well we knew that it was done last week didn't tell