6 o'j want to open the meeting so is there any records that have to be R any examination of SL board meeting ail 22nd I wasn't table those all right we are open and are we being recorded being recorded um so motion to table the examination of the meeting minutes from April 22nd 2024 to next meeting second any discussion all in favor I I um I'm going to wait Mr gates to get here to move on to the dog hearing so we'll just try to get through a couple things quick um is there any audience participation public comment come down as I mentioned several weeks ago I keep you a breast of the progress with the old town hall building which is now the post office and uh the training center for the fire department we have received one uh check for $100 toward the renovations we have two major proposals in which we are told we should have official answers on by the second week of of uh August and we're looking forward at this point to doing the project probably the second week of September if everything comes to place uh one of the interested parties to fund it uh came up and sized up the size of the operation felt it was doable and also looked at B Centennial Park and said that needed to work too and maybe they'd have enough resources to help with that too great so it could be a larger project than we originally planed that's great so that's what things stand as of today great thank you George good work I appreciate it all right um we're going to hold off on Highway he's in the conservation meeting so when he um comes over we'll move on to that do you want to start um Christina with administrative reports or do you want me to move on to action items um you can move on to action okay all right so I would make a motion to appoint Nathan qualic as electrical inspector for the town of blanford for the term July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2025 second any discussion all in favor I I you guys want to grab there's two seats here take seats here I know we have fing chairs elsewhere I'm gon to see okay okay you sure um all right motion to appoint um Christina ferera as Town Administrator for the term July 88 2024 through as long as we want to keep June 30th 2025 uh any discussion all in favor I I thank you all right um we have warrant number two for payroll for payment is this one that we've seen and we're just signing on Joanne or we haven't seen this one yet didn't even hear what you said I was concentrating here sorry that's okay warrant number two payroll for payment it should be in there okay and the AP paper should be in for Warrant number three as well but not payroll for Warrant number three it's not so we can approve warrant number three too no you can't no okay not ready yet just number two okay these look different this week yeah that's the Vadar oh go everybody got a raise but us no no stiens got raised um motion to approve warrant number two payroll for payment second any discussion no all in favor all right all right we got three here that's a refund warrant there I did the agenda last week I didn't put those on there oh the um the other warrants the other warrants um next up we have a motion to authorize Town Administrator Christina fera to approve Grant contacts for us second any discussion all in favor I I hold on I have sign all right um hello do you guys want to I'm actually just going to start the hearing if you guys want to sit up here and I'll call other folks up sorry it'll solve our no worries it'll solve our chair issue all right okay so um our under new business we have a dangerous dog hearing so hold on I got to follow follow a script and bear with me um so I'm going to read the hearing notice into the record um and then ask I want to make sure that we confirm that the notice was published posted and served to all interested parties just was time um so Pur pursuant to General law c140 section 157 the town of lford Select board will conduct a public hearing to determine whether two dogs owned or kept by um Mr cier and Thomas um in the town of Lanford are dangerous dogs as the term is defined in said statute this notice is issued based upon a report concerning incidents that occurred on July 3rd 2024 where um your dogs attacked and injured dogs owned or kept by Richard Gates and iine Gates of 39 herck Road blanford Mass 01008 so Jo we just have to make sure we have keep a copy of that with the minutes for the hearing okay that um Okay so first we'll establish ground rules for the hearing um testimony is going to be limited to the issues directly related to the subject matter of the hearing only one person will be permitted to speak at a time all discussion will go through the chair all parties will be expected to conduct themselves civil and argument between parties will not be permitted the proceeding should be recorded which it is and the recording will be preserved um before I take testimony I'll swear in any Witnesses it's all very official um and after we we're done taking testimony then we move on to the stage where uh the board which is TJ and I will will deliberate and decide um make a DEC a deciding vote so um just got the date and everything on file I would have ACL do you want to come up pull up a chair um M Mr fraer and Miss Thomas if you guys want to pull up a chair um and then you want St understood okay all right um Mr gase did you want to start with um making a statement about the incident sure um so before you do I just have to swear you in okay uh so raise your right hand um and repeat after me the testimony I'm about to give the testimony I'm about to give in this matter is the truth in this matter is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth excellent thank you so when this happened I was away actually I was in Florida my father recently passed away so I was down there taking care of business but I got this call from mileen um about this incident um where these dogs came onto our property and attacked our border colleague um who was in our yard uh we we feel like it was totally unprovoked by our dog um and we we firmly believed that these dogs were trying to kill our dog based on the nature of the attack that they went for her neck and actually ripped her neck open it required um several surgeries and how many total trips to the emergency vetenary hospital five five two five including two surgeries so um Eileen was able to um well these dogs had our dog Rose pinned under our pickup truck and they were circling the truck and continually trying to get at her I was able to to separate them somewhat um and uh called 911 and the chief of police and the ACL responded and we thank you for your promise responsive your your assist dilene it was very traumatic I mean there was a lot of blood and um it it it was uh a difficult scene so ien was able to to um get them somewhat away from Rose and then our other dog was in a pen our beagle was in a fenced in pen and alen was trying to get Lily this dog out of the pen and when she opened the door she tried to get the gate open and one of these dogs was trying to get in and get at at Lily um after they had done what they did to Rose and I was trying to pick lily up over the fence to get her out and the dog was jumping up and biting her legs trying to pull her down right so she didn't to go hospital right so I put Lily back in the pen and uh was able had the presence of mind and was able to get lure these two dogs into our garage with water they didn't leave they stayed in our yard and actually laid down under our tree for for a while and I was able to with water get them into our garage and close the garage door and and get them penned in there so um uh then uh the chief showed up and helped Eileen with rose Eileen was able to go secure our goats we have chickens and goats as well and um then alen was making calls to the various veterinary hospitals to see where where we could take Rose um and uh she she took them took Rose to the hospital um so I mean it's still traumatic to us I mean we feel like we can't leave our our property with the animals we have now between our dogs and our goats and our chickens that if these dogs return we feel like you know they have like a Killer Instinct and they're going to if they come back they they're going to try to kill something else in our yard and and since then we've talked to a number of our neighbors on herck road that apparently there's some history with these dogs uh killing chickens up the road and showing up on other people's property uh where um things were done to contain them and and find the arms and and get them returned back to where they belong so we feel like there's sort of a pattern with these dogs showing up on herck road and uh when they show up on herck road we think they're looking for something to kill so in summary that that's what happened okay and you also provided um the select board with copies of all of the that bills pictures right um and we have the all we'll keep that with record um with our notes right um thank you Chief did you um want to make a statement so I SAR you in first though yep um so the testimony I'm about to give in this matter is the truth the testimony I'm about to give in this matter is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth okay so um I was fortunate enough to be here at the at the station when the call came in I went down there um I observed Rose in uh at the time she was being held by Mrs Gates and uh we we looked at her underneath and she was all torn up um pretty significant injuries so um I had her grab a towel and I held on to her kept her calm inside so that Mrs Gates could go and secure the goats and whatnot the dogs were at that time secured in the garage um you know in my dealings with these two dogs uh in the past I've had them up at the blanford kennels um one time before when they were running at large this time I had them up at the kennels they've always been very uh friendly to people um and and excited to see people uh but the minute that they see another animal um they they just start they they start growling and they just be they appear to become very aggressive so uh my concern is for just the safety of the community right now um not necessarily people in the community but the the other animals in the community and they do tend to I think they've just gotten sort of the feel of the herck road area so they tend to sort of migrate that way um I know during quarantine and and Jess might be able to speak for this but um they they were they got loose and uh they were running around again trying the the owners were trying to um Coral them in um but I've had conversations with both parties so the engage okay thank you did you guys want to make a statement sure okay I'll just have you um raise your right hand testimony I'm about to give in this matter is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth testimony about to give us the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yeah so I mean I'm again we feel terrible what happened it's not it's a sad thing um I mean the times that got out we had I guess our neighbor been setting out fireworks and ended up getting through our screen window they were freaking out I think would have been for a safe place and just away from the noise um the chickens in this incident were the only times we've seen our dogs heard of them being gred and seen that and we brought Remy rer to dog parks they'll do that on the regular um they've been fine fine with my brother's dogs and everything else I can't justify what they did whatsoever um at all and I won't try to Define that but I don't believe they are like violent in nature when because we have them around our family's dogs random strangers at dog parks and you know there's not an issue I feel like in a way they you know they're probably doing that out of fear as well and I can't justify what they did but I don't believe them to have kill instin um I don't know really what else I can say about it okay thank you did you want to say anything sorry as well as we do have we did get several quotes already through venting companies okay we should have something started in the next month or so but we're just going to working tightly mortgage bills and all that trying to make everything work just put it as you can thank you is there anyone else in the audience that wanted to make a statement before we move on oh sorry goad we go ahead I'll just have you raise your right hand um could I get his name please sorry yeah I was supposed to have you give your name and um address address yes will you just 16 her thank you um testimony about to give in this matter is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth the Tes we're about to give is the truth uh guess in this matter yes nothing with the um I had the dog show up at my house in earlier mid June um they were friendly with me they were never in contact with my dogs but I was able to Corner them in a uh in a back room of our house um Mr Frappier ended up coming down and getting him and telling me that once one of the dogs gets out the other one follows them and they were uh out running around town I didn't witness them being aggressive but it certainly speaks to the pattern that at least two or three weeks before this incident happened they were loose in my yard running around I was able to get them back to the owner and without a resolution I'm concerned to walk my own dogs on the road at this point um and I would hate to have to try to protect my dogs from their dogs and I'm what that fail thank you I sorry the testimony I'm about to give in this matter is the truth the testimony I'm about to give is true the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the truth um so I was there but dict did a good summary and you have my summary in my pictures and um I I don't know why it happened either um know you know Rose is an older dog and she's um partially blind and death and I don't understand why it happened either um uh I and when when they Remy went after lily as I was trying to get out of pen I don't I don't understand that either um but I know that I just maybe talk how I feel about the neighbors we are where we live on a country road in glamford we are subject to Wildlife but we do make Provisions to protect our animals from life and um at least in our experience we haven't had them come up to the house so quick so close so I feel as so uh these dos because they're used as humans um we're more comfortable coming closer to the house and the wildlife um and I do feel nervous when I leave the house um I just maybe over time they'll go away but I just would feel better if the dogs were always contained and know that they're uh cannot come back on her because like you said they seem to want to come back to road I will say they were not mean or aggressive towards me at all and they actually backed off when I wanted them to stop chasing those um but I do most important is if they could be contained in night or whatever it takes to keep them off here Ro and we can kind of sett down on our street um because they still have other animals there not and of course Rose and liily did you want to make a statement uh name and address please carington 41 wara Road and animal inspector um the testimony I'm about to give in this matter is the truth the testimony of about to given us matter is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so um but the dogs under quarantine which is pretty standard when there's sort of a biting incident I will say they are very very friendly with people you have some very athletic dogs I saw the hole from the window that they jumped out of and it's pretty high so my only concern would be I know you got quotes for fences but I would want to make sure spending that money that your fence is at minimum probably at least six feet or higher um considering that window that they jumped out of um that would be the only thing that I'd have to say they are very friendly with people I haven't seen them with the other animals you know I know they were very friendly coming to the door and everything else um and I I walk heric frequently as well I would hate to be on her and have any dog come at me while I'm walking a toddler a baby a friend and three dogs or horses or whatever else it is a pretty F World anywhere in wford is um but I hate to see anyone else get hurt or even your dogs get hurt know in that matter because there are other laws that can be takeen into an AFF people um your own VES thank you Jess um okay could I yes something yes so obviously we incurred significant expense at the vetenary hospital for hoping that we could work something out that we could recover okay those costs I don't know if that part of the that's something I should probably um have asked Mark I don't know and I'll read to you in a minute the list of things that we can rule on um after we make our decision and it does talk about insurance I don't know in terms of reimbursement if the town votes on that I think that that's something that you guys have to work out between yourselves but I can double check with Town counil alen came to our house and she uh me and her did talk briefly about it um we do plan on working working working at okay I no problem on doing that whatsoever thank you okay um okay so we did that part sorry um we have all the evidence all right so we're going to I make a motion to close the evidentiary portion of the hearing is there a second second uh any discussion all in favor I I okay um so so we are now going to go into the deliberation part of the hearing um so we're going to deliberate an open session and what I'm going to read to you is so we have two um options we have a nuisance or dangerous dog declaration um so I'll read to you what the definitions are um so TJ um first of all an attack is defined as an aggressive physical contact initiated by an animal yeah dangerous dog is a dog that either without justification attacks a person or domestic animal causing physical injury or death or behaves in a manner that is that a reasonable person would believe poses an unjustified imminent threat of physical injury or death to a person or a domestic or owned animal a nuisance dog is a dog that by excessive barking or other disturbance is a source of annoyance to sick person residing in the vicinity or by excessive barking causes damage or other interference a reasonable person person would find such Behavior destructive to one's quiet and peaceful enjoyment or is threatened or attacked livestock a domestic an animal or a person but such threat or attack was not grossly disproportionate reaction under the circumstances so um I would make a motion to um declare the dogs um Remy and Ruger um as dangerous dogs um hold on I want to make sure that I'm wording that correctly uh so I move based on the following facts uh doed at this public hearing including but not limited to um the facts that were um stated by witnesses as well as the evidence um provided that the select Bo of Blandford find the dog complained of the dogs complained of are a dangerous dog by reason of and then I was um the dangerous dog definition that I just read is there a second to discuss oh I have a couple of questions do you want to do second and then we can discuss it huh second to discuss second to discuss okay go ahead okay uh what have you done to uh restrain the do your proper prop lately sir um we had we had a temporary fence put up but now we've had three fencing companies come we're having a fourth quote come on Tuesday um we are getting a quote for two quotes one for six foot chain link and another for uh 8ot vinyl um and we are hoping to have that done as quick as possible no have you considered an electric then yes we have we had one put up and when they crossed over they got scared of the electric instead of running into the yard they ran off and every time they shoted them they got they would keep running and soon we got them back in the yard then they were fine but I don't think they understood the concept of if they leave the yard it shocking but now every time we go outside with them we have him on a leash he's in the bathroom we every day yeah there's nothing mentioned what kind of dog are um one is Remy smaller one she's 17 different breeds from Chihuahua to Great D um and then the other one is H next okay so um I do have a list TJ of um remedies that we can read through once we determine um if there was a violation if the dangerous dog um if we approve this motion that I made and then we can talk about some remedies okay um so I would vote I I okay um okay so some of the remedies um that we can impose are um so we can order uh one or more of the following remedies so the first one that the dog be humanely restrained but not chained tethered or otherwise tied to an inanimate object including a tree post or building and then other Neath that we could do that the dog be confined to the premises of its owner keeper either indoors or Outdoors properly sheltered from the elements in a securely enclosed and locked pen or a dog run area with a secure roof and if enclosure has no floor with sides less than 2 feet embedded into the ground um and then so those are the only two options in terms of like keeping the dog on the premises um but we can adjust that so if we don't want to require them to put in a um a dog pen because this talks about a roof um and you know Char we don't want require them to put something with a roof but we just want to require that there's a six foot or taller fence yeah that's properly secured yeah I can go with that um and so so that's for that and then the other one says when removed from the premises the owner or keeper the dog shall be securely and humanely muzzled and restrained with a chain or other tethering device having a minimum tensile strength of 300 lound and not exceeding 3 feet in length so that would be um keep taking the dog off property yeah the next one pertains to insurance that the owner or keeper provide documented proof of no less than $100,000 insurance for claims resulting from intentional or unintentional acts of the dog or reasonable efforts to obtain such insur insurance if the policy has not been issued it sounds like they're working that out yeah for themselves I don't know if we want to that's a a wrer on your home insurance yeah yeah um the next one um that the owner or keeper provide the licensing Authority Animal Control Office or other entity identified in the order information by which dog may be identified including for example photographs videos that exam tattooing or micr trip I don't think we need to do that on Chief already um the next one that the dog be altered so it's unable to reproduce I don't are the dog okay um the last one which I'm not interested is euthanizing the dock um that's sound question okay so um I would motion to um order that the dog be the dogs be confined to the premises of its owner or keeper either indoors or Outdoors properly sheltered from the elements in a securely enclosed um and locked fenced area minimum of six feet we don't need to add that up does that make sense does anyone I I move for option okay um all in favor I I um and then I would move that when removed from the premises of the owner keeper the dog shall be securely and humanely muzzled and restrained uh with a chain or other tethering device having a minimum tensile strength of 300 lbs and not exceeding 3 feet in length second any discussion no all in favor I I um don't want to do the insurance how are we feeling about insurance how are you guys is that pertains to you it wouldn't affect you now no have you looked into a wrer on your homeowners no not yet it's not that much they're not going to get one with a shepher and something that looks like a pit yeah probably not you're right yeah um so the F the fence the requirement to bury the fence is that included what you um I did not add that would we can we can talk about that um this one this in here has it two feet embedded into the ground is that typically what fences depends on what kind of fence you do and most fences the posts are dug into the ground we if we do a six foot chain link um I do the same thing with grandfather did was chocolate Labis which you then put another piece of chain link over the grass let the grass go through it so it can't be dug out either okay um would you be more comfortable if we amended the motion to add something regarding um creating a barrier for I think that's I think that's important that they can't dig their way out okay no that's what we plan on doing okay so we'll Joan add an amendment to that motion regarding the fence um that a barrier um be put in place so that um dogs can't dig out of the fence I don't know how you want to work that have to do it tomorrow any words C the tape okay could keep up with that um is there anything else that we feel needs to be added to make I know there's a lot of her gr people here if anyone wants to yes so what are repercussions if the dogs do get out again or if they do harm another animal um that's a good question um I don't know if totally responsible for that for and then we'd probably be looking at youth in the I think for adop if that happened and I don't plan that ever happen so just so you know we could never order um an issue directing the dog um be removed from the town to another town that's not part of our conversation we can't um Sarah I don't know legally I think that we would probably have to have another hearing and then it could go to the uglier side of um okay the remedies question um with a dangerous dog hearing since they have been you know by the town said that they are dangerous dogs I'm pretty sure that means that they can't ever leave those owners they can't ever adop or sell those dogs to anybody else do you know Jess if that's yeah that's true I I was going to say I feel like there are some stipulations to that you probably would be able to give them up if you were giving them to day but with a danger do tag on them okay okay Jen you said that that you believe that's accurate as well yeah that's accurate they they can't unless they're being surrendered they can't go to another they can they could go to another person but the town that they would be going to and the people that they'd be going to would need to understand that they've been deemed dangerous dogs I W have to be noi I understand yeah okay so I I did want to say too that there's um there is a a so if the dogs were to get out again um after this decision is made then the town could potentially take this to a court yes and if the judge the judge could determine that um punishments up to 5 $500 or 60 days in jail if the if this you know decision is not followed and then for a second offense beyond that then it goes to $1,000 fine in 90 90 days in jail so just to kind of give you guys ideas that once they make this decision it's sort of set in stone and I'm sure you'll explain if they don't agree with your decision what their steps are I don't have that did they if they don't agree did they um so if if you don't agree with the decision that they make today you'll have 10 days to contest by filing the order um through this through the court and then the court will I do have that set you up with you know a date and you go and leave your case to them so you written notice would be sent certified first class mail as soon as possible um to all interested parties um for right of appeal um to the town if that was something is there a timeline for this um for them to get the fencing in yes um there's not one specified but we can put one in place what do we think a reasonable timeline for our F depends if our company will let us Finance um I got another credit card to do that but we've got fores from 9,000 from 6 to 9,000 right now and right now we and we're going just right now Patrick paycheck just getting through a mortgage I just started do doing dve on CDL we are getting to a better place but I can I hope to have it done in a few months but I hopefully within two months to have the yard fence um again that's I can't control when the company can start or any of that but it's we are making a decision at the end of the week which company to follow through with and that's the most information I have right now I can't make them work any at any Pace because that is up to them and their contracts but we plan on settling the contract at the end of the okay um what how does that sound to you guys in terms of blank I know that sounds like kind of a long time to be nervous seems felt like a long time yeah um seems like weeks would be more reasonable than months but I'm just wondering if we could um set a date for like a contract to be signed to have it um you know to be moving forward with the installation um a month we can Char we'll be able to at least have a down payment to the fence while still working with to give her exactly what we her as well personal finances my bill our bill what would be reasonable for you to me so that the do are there and St at your house until this fence comes and you think the F would construction I can I mean I can contact whoever I need to after we sign the contract when they can start but I without having a contract I can't say when it would be put up um so I only I have nothing to do with their company so I'm not sure about that but I can keep in contact with you you know as day-to-day basis as it go so we could set a limit um of let's say what were you thinking I'm sorry well like dick said it probably should be up to us yeah no yeah but um as long as we're seeing progress okay and that the dogs are still contained for for all of us on the street so um we could set like something like a 3- week and check back and make sure that progress has been made that's fine um but in the meantime until the fence goes up anytime they're out um per the second motion that we made anytime they're out so you're taking them out you'll need um muzzles and you need them on like a three foot no longer than a three- foot leash yeah um is there anything else any other places that they're escaping from your home like the window situation like what are you doing to um so yeah with the AC we have will have it completely screwed and nailed into the frame so they can't get out of that and the rest of our windows are secured and locked okay all the doors are locked so there's no other way unless they went through glass which I don't imagine would ever happened this was a cartoon that this won't happen Okay okay so why don't we um car yes can I just make two requests as the Animal control officer if the dogs do in fact get out I'm contacted immediately yes even if you see them if they're not on your property that you contact me is that a 911 all my information you can call 911 I'll give you my cell number I could do that that would also be probably a quicker way of getting a hold of perfect perfect that way I can at least make my way up that way and kind of keep an eye on things to make sure that they're not anywhere um the other thing is is that I don't believe either of the dogs have been licensed in this town yes they have yeah so I just show me proof of that I don't have on but we did everything at this town hall and there should be record of f record of it here then I'll double check I could not find it there's that the radies vaccinations everything was registered here okay so are they currently registered right now all right then I'll go and check on that again I couldn't find it today yes it's all done all right um so let's oh sorry go sorry so just from review of timing of things again so so what you voted on tonight takes it back tonight except for this appeal period ites effect what's the requirements for the dogs as of when we leave here so as of when we leave here um anytime they're off the premise they have to be with the owner with a muzzle on a leash that is no longer than 3 feet and they um are starting the process of the fence so we were going to put a Time on the fence um so let's say that um what's our next meeting in two weeks the 12 the 12th um in 2 weeks we can see a contract that you've started moving forward with some sort of dates from the fence company yep okay and then just obviously you're urging them to let them know that it's important so that you can let your dogs out yeah does that work you think okay so if we can add that to theend as well I just does that like not clear up but does that um sort of make everyone feel okay leaving here like we've based on everything we're good going forward so if if we on her road if we see the dogs I would call 911 or um Chiefs yeah okay did you have a question yeah yes probably unrelated but do we have a le la this any we have the state um laws in this town is what we adopted so whatever leash law there is for the state we do have that in our bylaws doesn't the town bylaw say something that like a dog owner is supposed to have control of their dog at all times is that's still part of the state law that's state law the dog doesn't have to necessarily be on a leash but it has to be under complete control of the owner at all times okay um so I think I you we're good then um I would entertain a motion to close the public hearing sh um um in favor I I okay thank you guys everyone for goinging down good luck thank you thank you very much so next up we have suar Robins okay um next up we have um suar Robins we were going to um make a motion so I'll make a motion to accept Su Robins uh revoke trust dated April 1st 2008 as amended is there second yep um discussion I would just um it's very generous of Mr rubbins um to leave the trust to the town um if I'm reading it correctly it is left for the care of the cemetery um on Main Street there in 2ford Road North blanford Road I'm sorry Blair Road yeah okay North blanford Cemetery thank you um which is very generous of them allv hi I I don't think I have to sign anything but you have to give this back to S signature but I had a page that said what what we needed to do the original must go back to Sarah and you're going to file a copy in the ta's office okay I'm G this over here for you all that sign all right um Watson Park leechfield oh Sarah just left you want me to grab her yeah Sarah and Ryan you see if she's no sorry was a TJ TJ had a question about the leach field that was a her huh I know right yeah having a party here so many people I feel we need like a street block party on her Road it would be a good Carew it would be fun yeah Sarah used to work for the water department um okay so did you want Sarah um and uh Ryan worked on the the lee yeah uh you a question what I did is that old mower that was very yeah I got that out of there oh good and I got that big roller out of there mhm and uh I pushed a lot of that stuff back off the leing field okay and uh what we really need to do is to get some of those small stumps out of there and rot a till it and plant grass okay is that something that you guys think you can do is that no no okay no okay so we can you want plant grass I'll play the grass but I don't want to remove stumps and uh root it okay okay um is there anything else so they will be doing um maintenance on the Le field I think two times there was two more I think it was three times a year okay um so we plan on doing end of August yeah and then like sometime in October is there anything else that you need them to do during the maintenance no but I I'll I'll try and get up there and pull those stumps out well no we'll we'll look into H I don't want you pulling stumps we'll look thank you you're pleas yeah so all right we'll hire somea stump Sal okay all right and do you uh let me know when you plan on doing that you guys can just Reach Out by email okay um so then we know uh what we're prepared to go in for in the end of August end of August yeah okay what kind of Maintenance uh just keeping back all of the vines and weeds and stuff like that keeping it clear yep mowing weed whacking brush cutting you guys cleared a couple small trees right just yeah yeah see the problem is is the roots will go down into the leeching field and then the trees will really take off so we have to walk we feed them good Grass Is Always Greener yeah right thank you very you're welcome um so then we should look into hiring some material of the stumps and that will be Watson trust you too um okay so no TJ do you removal of the stump or stump grinding you want you want it pull they're small they just you know small back H and dig them out okay there's not there's not a lot of Ro there right now okay um so that's just a small job maybe we can just do you have any locals uh local folks that you know of that we could reach out to well anybody could do it uh you know all you need is small you know uh Mark or you know anybody okay all right that's easy thank you okay um next up we have the cemetery gates um so we've been going back and forth of this for a while um we're talking about hold on which two GES are we talking about removing is it 20 and 21 it's 20 and 19a okay and what roads are those on 19a is on South ois Road and gate 20 is on Julius Hall Road okay and then I'd like to have the highway superintendent go up and evaluate the road okay you know so um the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission has agreed to take down those um two gates if we approve that um I was just looking at the um the text let me just look at the text from Nicole and let you know what she said so um the cost will be on Springfield Water um she said should the town vote to remove those Gates I will coordinate with our maintenance crew regarding a time frame for removal in the event that they are busy with another project the locks will be removed and the gates will be opened until they can be removed by staff um okay so I would make a motion to remove Gates 19a on Southwest Road and 20 from Julius Hall Road second any discussion in favor I I okay so um do you have Nicole Sanford's contact information I can give it to you I think no I don't you don't okay if you want to let her know just that we did vote in favor sure um she's also working on the um a new IGA um they're currently review reviewing it internally and she's going to send us out a draft as soon as possible and then they are working on a second IGA to contribute funds for the purchase of the new brush truck um that's currently under review now and will be sent to us as well as soon as possible okay do you want to let Pete know that those are going to be removed okay and then I did see an email that um they're changing see I I pull up they're changing the locks on the other Gates so that there's a pin so that um fire chief and I know that Adam saw that will be able to get into all the other Gates we don't have to worry about yeah in case all right is that all the stuff okay um Christina did you have anything else for us um so recently Mima had reached out regarding a hazard mitigation plan uh grant that I guess we were awarded back in 2023 at some point um it's an in-kind Grant which means they were presented with three quotes from Christopher they would match up to they they would give us 75% of the total cost we would have to come up with 25% of the total cost somehow this never started to move forward I just found out about this recently so I do have a meeting with Donald gainley um and Michelle otou from the state to sign the acknowledgement of program requirements for this grant um it's it's important because it's important the town have a hazard mitigation plan without one we can't apply for other FEMA grants that would be super beneficial to the town like the brick grants for Bridges and culverts um the only problem is that these prices Christopher were quoted back whenever y probably not the same yeah but the grant is not going to change we've got 25,200 okay we have to match in kind 25% of that which 25% of the total cost which the total cost was 33,600 okay they're giving us 25,200 the town has to come up with 8,400 okay so Jackie knows about this I think they're going to discuss it at a finance meeting okay uh I just wanted to let everybody know I'm working on it because I don't want this to go away we need to get this plan in place if not then the town would have to pay for it in full and it would be a lot of money so I would imagine that the finance budgeted for that miss that difference they didn't okay not I've reached out and they can't there's not it hasn't been taken out from anywhere separate so I think it kind of just got started we got approved and then okay things happened and so you're going to get a new quote for so I reached out to Christopher and asked him who the three cup because anything over a certain amount 10,000 you have to have the three quotes he said he reached out to three different companies he gave me two of their names um one is a company in Northampton and the other one is a company not in Northampton I can't think of where they are okay um I do have their names the first company it did our Hazard mitigation plan back in 2016 okay um she said that she wishes she could say yeah absolutely we'll take care of this for you but they're very busy right now okay she said let me know what your time frame is I did speak to Donald again just to make sure like hey what are the deadlines here like I know that usually and he said once the state once we sign the contract we have 24 months so that's good okay we're not on like a ticking timeline right now but um I'm going to call the woman from Northampton back and let her know it'll it's not she she was thinking that I was going to come back and say we need a dumb by January and that just wouldn't be feasible she said it usually takes about 10 months okay to put a whole plan together um so I'm going to reach back out to her and let her know that CE they do sign it's 24 months from then but so so that should be doable yeah okay yep okay thank you did you have anything else for us I think so I have an update for Hilltown you scared me will you just please State your names yeah my name is John Carrington I am the Hilltown appointee for the town of blanford for the Hilltown Community uh ambulance uh I just wanted to up date the select board with that Hilltown is down on their second ambulance right now it broke down and was going to cost over $20,000 to repair uh so the association decided it would be better to purchase a second ambulance we are in the process ofing the second now uh we should have the purchase agreement by the end of this we and the should be F by theend you're a little choppy John John how is this going to affect our budget I heard that part um John you're choppy would you mind emailing this information to our TA so that she can have it his wife was just did Jess leave I don't hear the baby anymore oh Jess you leave already thank you I know right with just the one you want him to email yeah we just have him email because we're we lost them at the end there all right um anyone else we're good okay so we have two executive sessions I'm not sure quite how we so we're not going to reconvene but well we're going to do this one first because Dave is down there still is um Matt is Dave down in conservation still you don't sure all right you don't have to check that's okay is you just saw that's okay we're going to go we'll come back to them in a second thank you okay so um I guess I have to read both of them up so we're motion to go into executive session um accordance with GLC 30A section 21 A2 to discuss strategy sessions in preparation for thank you um negotiation um with Union Personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with Union Personnel second second um all in favor I I um not to reconvene and motion to go into executive session in accordance with GLC 30A section 2182 to discuss the reputation character physical condition or mental health rather than professional competence of an individual or discuss the discipline or dismissal of a complaint or charges brought against a public officer employee staff member or individual individual um to be discussed in such executive session shall be notified writing by public law at Le 48 hours prior to the proposed executive station sorry I'm reading fats provided however that notifications may be waved upon written agreement um and that person did not wave so they want to go into it ex session also not to reconvene car says yes yes all right let's make sure all of these are signed I don't think we signed any of those uh this is the doging stuff that goes back that's mine this is here oh that dog hearing was Zero fun oh my God I hate that's the second one I've done here and that one was a lot worse the first one was just a nu yeah I hate that