##VIDEO ID:KSHVMZPpF7Q## good evening and welcome to the select board Board of Health sewer Commissioners meeting of December 4th 2024 uh time is 6: p.m. this meeting will be held in hybrid fashion with the opportunity for both in-person attendance and remote participation please note that while an option for remote attendance Andor participation is being provided as a courtesy to the public the meeting hearing will not be suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the virtual broadcast unless otherwise required by law members of the public with particular interest in any specific it on this agenda should make plans for inperson versus virtual attendance accordingly the meeting will be held in person in the main meeting room of Deerfield municipal offices in accordance with Mass General Law chapter 3A anyone intending to record the meeting must identify themselves to the clerk and provide their name and address for the record so call the meeting to order and um at this moment there's a opportunity for anyone in attendance virtually or in person to have 2 minutes comment about anything that's on the agenda or any other topic you'd wish to discuss seeing No Hands um I will uh move on to the next item which is hearings and appearances and at this point I'd like to welcome superintendent Darius matow hi Darius hey Darius good evening good evening so you're here to discuss a green green community's Grant and so I'll let you take it away yeah so um you know the town was awarded the green communities grant for the BMS system and some insulation work at the elementary school um you know really special thanks to the energy committee who made that happen um I believe I don't know where things stand um because I haven't talked the last week or so but if youve accepted the or not but um we are looking as a school looking for who's going to run the project and that would be under your the select boards purview to assign that um and there was some questions and emails going around regarding you know going out to bid and it has to be a specific I'm leaning forward because I'm having trouble hearing you guys but um that it has to be specific bids and that kind of thing regarding the equipment that's going to be used but um I just wanted to put out there we did some more research on that the Green community Grant um allows allows you to to use a select ever Source vendor without going out to bid great um and then you know if we use somebody like we did for some our other projects a company like Advanced Energy that's on their bid they then subcontract out to make sure that we get the specific components that we need to match our system right um so that would kind of be the direction that the school would take if you put us in charge of it like you have in other projects like the entry way to Dees um there's um there is also possibility that we could capture some rebate money on this which would help if there's any overage costs and that kind of stuff there's some um eversource um rebates as well um that could be attached to this the downside of doing that just going off my notes Here is that you may necessarily not get a lowest bidder but we also know lowest bidding can also be dangerous as well so yes it can the difference between going off a a selected list pre-selected list and going lowest bit but yeah that's the information I have on that but it's kind of in your guys' hands I believe if I'm understand correctly to get the thing kind of rolling did did we accept the grant yet or we did yeah okay so um there's no the logic is that uh Bill hrth and and Darius have been in charge of these past projects and an exceptional job they're they're more familiar with it than anybody they to me seem to be the logical persons to be responsible for moving forward to implementation and contracts Etc y um Christopher is there any reason why I mean I I I think the logic is compelling that if you work with a vendor you've worked with before who's knows the uh knows the components they've installed and compatibility Etc and I I see that you've sentent that written a letter to uh Deborah Anderson and in the AG's office um requesting that you be allowed to procure in a in the manual you proposed is that correct we actually haven't I don't think we're going to need to do it that way because because the we also you know in since that went out that came from um Jason Curtis from the energy committee one of his suggestions is to reach out for um to get the exception but green communities already Falls under an exception with eversource vendors oh good so okay and you feel comfortable you can get the the equipment that will match the other stuff right perfect okay yeah and that's that's how we've done the other yeah um energy projects in our building from you know the from boilers to you know the other installation work that we've done in a lot of the other schools yep and our um uh Mini Splits the heating heat heat pumps you know we work through a a part that helps us get those um done as well so I would make a motion to um to allow uh darus Modesto Bill hildr to manage the grant uh and project and then just kind of uh update us you know at various times throughout the project and reach out if you need any help um or you know you need some information happy to help but you know you guys have always done an amazing job on these projects and why mess up a good thing so the checks and balances still come back to the town for thebody listening in in the sense that you know all billing has to go back to the town so it's not like we can right run away with the school's not going to run away with the money so to speak we got to follow the grant rules and it goes back to you guys for checks and balance run away and buy a buy a business system that'd be great all right yeah so I guess I'll second second that okay um any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim hilchie I great and thank you for taking this on I appreciate uh the energy committee that I'm sure the staff does as well yes yeah really appreciate all the work to get this done be great and thanks again to the energy committee for taking the initiative on this absolutely Echo thanks to the energy committee for finding the money for us or getting the money for us yes um and thank you for putting me front on this so I can run to the CPC meeting next so all right that's good good luck good luck with that too take care good night thank you good night all right um and J is on NE uh we're going to jump ahead to see Janine is here from yes we we do have Candace just walking in as well oh Candace is just walking in the door um well okay we're gonna Jan we're going to put you on hold um come on down come on down we're not here yet oh you're not all here yet okay so we can go ahead with Jan then all right you're going to get to enjoy the solid waste management discussion sounds good all right Jan welcome hi good evening good good to see you again let me put a little more little more light on here can see me in my my dark house um hi good evening good evening I I'm glad I took a look at your agenda because there's a lot of solid waste items many Solid Waste items on it so I may be sitting here silently after uh after this good some residents would say there's always solid waste on our agenda that's I guess so um so I'm I was I was asked to um to be here this evening I don't know if you folks have specific questions about the the uh five-year extension for recycling processing or you want me to give you a little overview yeah I would like that so you know so that it's it's recorded So that any but resident can go back and and see what's going on over the next fiveyear period sure um so the town in 2019 um signed a contract for recycling processing and the materials uh this is for the transfer station uh paper and bottles and cans and it um goes to the Springfield materials recycling facility we call it the murf the mrf and um it's sorted both mechanically and uh by humans um and then marketed in the town um that initial 5-year contract had um two 5year extensions and so um what you have before you is the first 5year extension which would run from uh fiscal 26 to fiscal 31 26 or I think 30 um that's a little bit of funny math there with fiscal years yes and and um the financial pieces of it so so the way this contract works is there's base processing fee which is uh what the operator Waste Management um needs to make to pay their bills and pay their people and pay their overhead and um That Base fee increases by 2 and a half% from this year to next year and so be about $16 however um one of the the bonuses of this contract is that the towns get credit for the material uh the value of all of the material that's being recy reced um and contrary to you know national news and and sometimes even local news stories about uh recycling being landfilled it's not the case uh in Western Massachusetts it's certainly not the case at the uh Springfield murf um there's an Advisory Board which which I'm on my co-worker Amy Donovan is on and um we monitor all of the markets and the materials and uh where things are being sent for recycling so um plastic is being recycled and and all of the other products that in some areas may not be uh getting into the recycling stream but they are here um so so 2 and a half% um is the base fee however for the last several years the value of the materials has been high enough that towns have been paying net uh processing fee between 20 and $30 I think um in uh November it was $35 maybe $33 or $35 um so the value the value is high enough to offset most of the um $18 one of the changes uh in the next 5 years is um that depending on the the number of tons that go through the facility there is a tonnage fee adjustment um and so right now I'm working I'm working hard to get some tonnage from the BRK shears in as well as uh some other folks who who may be on the fence about signing on um and so the more tonnage we have uh the less towns pay overall so right whereas uh this year or or in O November the town town was paying about $35 in a year from now that might be $45 a ton um if we if we applied the new contract pricing so there'd be about a $10 to to ask question um if people in Deerfield would recycle more instead of putting in the trash put it in recycle bins it would lower our cost as well correct we'd have more tonnage going in more recycling going in the more people that can recycle the less the expensive it is sure yes absolutely overall and and Y we're also looking at that how to increase um each Town's individual right um amount of recycling and so absolutely it's really all about the bottom the bottom line number uh the more that goes over the scale the the lower the price yes so thank you okay yeah great so um there is a there is another uh piece of this contract where starting in fiscal 27 um there's another 1% uh so basically next fiscal year is a 2 and a half% increase year toe and then the following four years is really a three and a half% increase correct um but 1% gets deducted from the value of the material so so the way that works is Waste Management knows they need to make $16 and if the value is $80 um they pocket that they sell the material and they keep 80 bucks and then uh the towns pay the remaining 25 yeah okay good so um we have two different things to sign right Christopher so yeah we've actually we've just got the two right Greg yep um yeah so the contract extension and then also uh somewhat unrelated is a basically a third party inspection by D of our U solid waste facility yeah I saw I saw that later later on the agenda so I'm happy to talk about it now if you want to move it up or I can stick around no let's let's let's just do it now because I'm I'm gonna when I make a motion I'm going to authorize Christopher Dunn to sign on behalf of the town so go ahead and explain that yeah I actually I didn't know the uh the third party inspection was on the agenda so I didn't bring a copy home with me but um I um and am licensed by D to do this third party inspection which basically um I look around I look around for regulatory requirements like fire extinguishers uh the the attendant shed needs a methane detector because you're close to the landfill yep um there are certain other requirements uh nothing you know really uh Technical and so the report before you I don't believe there were any corrective actions um so should just be one document that's uh I do I do 19 of them so I can't I don't exactly remember what what Deerfield was but but if there was a corrective action document it would be attached I don't think you folks had any corrective actions I don't think so um so this just you know needs to get signed by the town and then returned to me me and I upload it to uh D and we're good for another year great that sounds good so you want me to make a motion yeah for the contract so I'll make a motion to approve the uh 5year extension contract for um for recycling and um that's it yeah and I'll second that any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim Hy I and then do you have this y I make a motion to approve the uh third party um inspection report and authorize and authorize uh um Christopher Dunn to sign and I'll second that any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim hch I I think all three of oh we all have to sign yeah okay so we'll all sign fine oh what we have to sign the first one yeah yeah there's only one signature place for it may have to be well s chair but that's fine that out yeah f um I have a question for you Jan uh before we move on and that has to do with sludge our favorite our favorite topic uh yeah you guys are getting me on all topics tonight it's excellent yeah ridiculously expensive um so it's been a struggle for everybody right to to and we've got LOL is is generally the only one um there is I don't know if it's on the agenda tonight to talk about but there's also uh we've been approached by another entity that possibly could take it not that much cheaper but um a little bit here and there so just wanted to get your weigh in on that what your thoughts how how how's the Sledge Market looking um any news on the horizon of different facilities um you know it's it's been it's been a hard several years very it has it's been Decades of challenges with finding facilities to um to take sludge so uh LEL is um has been our long-term uh longdistance uh disposal facility um but the but the town of monu the Clean Water facility has been taking sludge from um outside facilities including old Deerfield and South Deerfield uh for at least two years now and that's uh quite a bit um cheaper it's it's considerably maybe $1,000 a load cheaper to go to monteu yep don't have the volume excuse me they just can't take the volume correct right I mean right they're take they're taking one to two loads a day um on average and so you know depending on how many loads I mean old Deerfield doesn't usually ship very much South Deerfield um varies on what they're sending out um so you know those are those are the outlets we have if um I'm so glad I'm here for this meeting because I didn't know there was a there was a somebody who who has capacity I mean RSU has been uh finding a facility that has capacity um you know that's permitted and that has affordable pricing so if you folks somebody's approached you and they have a great deal I'm I'm staying for the whole meeting so I can hear about it I don't even you know I don't even think it's different facility it might be just different trucking you know cost for for the you know taking and delivering that's what I'm I'm curious to find out um and it just hadn't heard if are there other other people well we well we go out to bid um uh it's not a prevailing wage issue but it's not sludge is not exempt from 30b so you do need to go out to bid for hauling right um and so we go out to bid I go out to bid every five years I usually do a three-year contract with a 2-year extension Y and um wall Trucking is you know I send it to um wwsi and Nunan and wall Trucking is the only uh company that responds um and so they've been our hauler for many many years now probably at least a decade um so again and we have a great fuel arrangement with them so if if you folks have another company that's that's interested in hauling I mean I'm I'm in a contract now but um I'm curious to curious to hear more sounds good that sounds good I just curious about what your thoughts were on that thank you absolutely okay and I'll stick around for the Sunderland transfer station discussion too okay if you want to um is it snowing out yet okay um all right I'm using the weather as an excuse to try and move this meeting along okay I'm going to sign off thank you so much for your time thank you Jen appreciate it all right and uh next up we have uh C Candace Brad Carlin and the Tilton fund um so please come on up welcome and I'm going to make Greg sneer take a picture afterwards so oh we were as we wanted to have a picture yeah yeah so we get all of us in in a row and you know so yeah just tell us what's up you're in Candace of we're giving two we're giving our second to the town from our fund and the first was more a good oh thanks yeah got the number one thank you do you want to speak I I can whatever um thank you for speaking into the mic so um construction on the library building project is going along as scheduled and if anyone Drives By you can see that that's definitely true they hope to have it all sealed up by um first week in January so they can do all the rest of the work would be interior work and so right now they're actively putting up um brick there's brick on the back they'll be putting brick on the sides and the front of the um of the expansion that that will match the brick on the um the current building or the the existing building nice and um as far as fundraising goes the Tilton fund reached a um a milestone today 1.2 million fantastic and our goal is 2 million so so we've had we've had a very um successful couple of weeks we did our our annual mailing that was focused on the capital campaign and people are coming through and it's early days so we expect to be a lot more um another fundraising activity we're doing is called the library Brew hop and basically people come to the library and you purchase for $35 a um a punch card ticket that gets you a beer at four different breweries um Berkshire Brewing Company in Deerfield element brewing in Miller Falls um Phantom four Phantoms in Greenfield and then the brewery at Four Star Farms in Northfield great and that runs through April and so kind of um promoting that as a as a gift idea um till the end of December and then it will keep running so um and we have other um activities planned and we're meeting with businesses we had a really great meeting today with a local business that promises to be um to work out in our favor wonderful and um that's what I can think of oh we're also picking out furniture and carpet and wall colors right now it's very exciting great you guys want to say anything so I just wanted to say that of the 1.2 million in pledges and in monies received represents 225 businesses or patrons or town people so that's just wonderful that is great news see that happening yeah but it's been n years that we've been working on this campaign yeah but we haven't forgotten it and we're we're chugging along and we're going to make it that's great that's great great work I I want to I want to attest to the fact that there was there were no arguments about yesterday so everybody and a lot of agreement about which chairs people couldn't get out of yes so and one other piece of good news is we may be able to access um lowcost shelving that is essentially brand new that a university installed and has now found that they don't need and they need to get rid of so that be great hopefully we will we will be able to have some cost savings there that's wonderful thank you so much thanks for the photo opportunity yeah nice to see everyone nice to see good to see you [Applause] too keep up the good work I just want to make one announcement real quick while we're on announcements um just we're in the season of giving the Deerfield donates toy and food Drive sponsored by the uh Deerfield uh Recreation Department this has been another difficult year for many households in Franklin County let's join in the uh holiday spirit and help those in need new unwrapped toys for children of all ages will be donated to the Salvation Army food donations will go to the area uh Franklin area survival center uh donations of toys and food may be left off in the Deerfield Hall Town um the entryway in the Deerfield town hall for those who don't want to shop get certificate donations to area stores may be put in an envelope addressed to the recreation department and put in the Dropbox donations will be accepted from November 25th through December 14th um for more information you can email the rec department at re cdeep at town. deerfield.ma us um so please bring in some toys and some food please thank you uh don't think I have any other other announcements Christopher um I got a a an email from Valerie bird that says no subject and then it has list of things is that because Ned was going to present something she's got you she's got you on the on the email I don't see her here she's here I know she can yeah she's she's in the brpc yeah the brpc hey Val the sound is weird yeah this is oh her sound or our sound I there's something going on with it I think there okay can you hear me yes yes welcome okay okay great um yeah I just wanted to give you um Ned could not be here tonight because he has a Board of Health meeting the first Wednesday of the month in the town he lives in okay he's on that board of health so I told him that um I I would come on I would zoom in to see if you had any questions that is his report um for for the time that he's been here so far I think things are working out well they are yep I know he's been working um hard with Pat on a lot of the license renewals right right the the in per permit eyes and he's going to be getting if you look at the um report I sent you mhm um he's going to be getting the re um relevant I think it's called inspections offw a software from Greenfield and he's used that before in Westfield he does have a preference but he said he would give it a shot and see how it is okay compared to permit eyes yeah we had this possible discussion because um the Valley Health Regional collaborative uses that relevant software for for certain functions and um we want to it's not compatible with what we have but we'll see how it works yes I think if it's a choice between being compatible with the valley health or being compatible with the building department it would be more important to be compatible with the building department because the the two the two systems talk to each other right the two departments and the other thing did see I did see he had a um a housing issue he was investigating at the bottom of the report I don't know anything about that so I'll follow up with him on that tomorrow okay yeah I was going to ask you about that we'll we'll just wait till the next meeting yeah right wait till the next meeting and and he'll give you a report or um probably if it we figure it out before then okay um we'll just send you an email sounds good to let you know was there anything else that you guys had is it snowing there apparently not yet we're all anxious though yeah anyway all right well listen thank you so much for filling in always good to talk to you have a good night take care bye yeah I think um let's see where is it um board of health related um to Valley Health Regional collaborative um the epidemiologist who provides us information on a monthly basis uh has pointed out that um whereas Deerfield used to be you know 70% um or higher in the vaccination rates for covid shots and so forth uh countywide uh uptake has fallen off quite a bit um even though people are are still getting covid thankfully it's a seems to be milder in most cases but it's down in the 30% range wow so I'm just encouraging people who believe in vaccines to go out and get them they're free and Walgreens and CVS and um they also do flu shots and RSV and pneumonia I know that pneumonia has been cropped up I spoke with sendy myi earlier this week and um we know from firsthand experience that it's out there yes and so um be mindful and if you're having symptoms of you know trouble breathing Etc you know definitely see somebody it's important to get treated early and then I just I'll mention I don't know if we have a meeting between now and the 20th but I'll I'll be attending the district court again on romanoski that's the the follow-up date for that and um I'll update Val and and I think Ned might attend as well so right that's it excellent okay um is it meeting this is a procedural question for Chris is it okay to um just list like uh minutes of May of June 8th um you know and do them all at once rather than doing them individually yeah I think that's that's fine if you just actually go through them and read them we'll approve the following minutes and right I'll make a motion to approve the minutes of June 8th 2023 um January 24th of 2024 um that was a Board of Health and BBA uh hearing of uh October 7th 2024 and I'll second that any further discussion all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim Hil thank you all right so we're up to discussion and decision items so um JW Avenue Barn RFP yeah I wanted to give everyone a quick update on this so obviously uh it's been a long time in process trying to put together an RFP just to dispose of the property on JT Avenue which is just uh you know less than an acre and includes a barn that was previously used by the highway department to store some equipment um there's no longer anything you know of value being stored there by the highway department um so there's no uh impetus really to to replace that structure um so at this point uh we have an RFP that is essentially structured so that we'll select the proposal that's most advantageous that takes into account price um the appraised price of the property was $40,000 doesn't mean we need to get a bid of $40,000 but we would have to justify to the Secretary of the Commonwealth if we were to award um you know a proposal that is under that $440,000 and then other uh criteria included to evaluate proposals um removal of the barn uh abatement of any you know environmental risks associated with that um a question for the board um couple questions uh do we want to include um you know and this was a question from Lisa if we want to uh ensure that any proposals do not include a new building on that site obviously it's a small site and the the barn was non conforming with our zoning regulations um and then that would make sense yeah that so we could include that as as a evaluative criteria in there the other piece is just that they need to have access to this site obviously it's a very small site it's accessible only by this right of way which is um not you know usable by all members of the public right um and uh you know I think the other question is just who do we want to undertake the evaluations and currently i' had language in there about a Town Administrator Town accountant right other individuals if the select board wants to undertake it you're welcome to as well no I'm I'm good with a Town Administrator I think Town Administrator yeah that's fine yep and so that can be put out yeah so the next step is uh I'm going to take it to fog and just figure out when on their schedule we can fit it in um and uh you know they'll they'll probably have a couple minor changes to make it match up with their you know uh procurement documents and at leis we'll give it one last look um but otherwise I think we're good to go great excellent thank you thank you for that I knew there was something that I meant to um did you manage to bring those two photographs I wanted to post put up I I have them I I I don't have them okay you know ready so I apologize for that yeah all right we're going to dock you the P yeah the pavement yeah we we'll get of the depart the L lot and how how it actually absorbs water whereas oh did you get some pictures water in the most recent rain we had after months of no rain yeah um still ISU we um took pictures of a a traditional parking lot that was full of Puddles and um the brand new ler lot which had no puddles very nice and uh just to just to show that it does work as long as you know we will be diligently maintaining it yeah that's right yep and great all right well we'll get those at the next meeting okay um all right so review of contracts and contract amendments for MVP can you talk us through that Christopher sure so we've got U three different contracts here uh one is for Chris Curtis um and this has to do with his uh Community engagement work and Reporting um mostly on the um Sugarloaf Brook action Grant or excuse me seed project Grant um similar similar contract for Wayne fiden and plan sustain which is his firm uh and those are both uh you know relatively low dollar figures um and then the bigger one is uh GZA and field geology services and this is um has to do with the $170,000 hydraulic and hydrologic study of the bloody Brook um so this is essentially their work to undertake that study um T you got a question it looks like well I I see two contracts for plan sustain but not one for Chris unless maybe I just have could yeah I maybe have a duplicate or something one got one one got the other that's fine it's uh basically the the same dollar okay got it so we'll correct that the GCA one I was looking at um and it looked like if I got back to the the money page um so it look like the total budget of 200,000 MVP action grant funding is 150 this MVP seed Project funding is that right so there this is basically there's two parallel Brook studies one is bloody Brook um and that's the $170,000 FY 25 action Grant and then the other one is the Sugarloaf brook or blacksmith Brook which whatever you want to call it y um and that's a smaller dollar figure so I think the total for that project was something like $60,000 and then of that um GZA and fgs were providing some uh the H&H study for that that Brook as well and then so and are are we is there any outlay of cash other than these two contracts I I know some of these are paid for by the grant as well I just wondered what are do we have any other outlay of money there's no match no match there's no match yep that's correct so the the 50,000 is the the MVP 2.0 seed project that that's what we said since we were doing one we wanted to get instead of getting half of the hydrological study we're going to get the other half okay and uh yeah and since the GZA and uh is working in Partnership on on one they're they're doing the other one at a reduced price right yep yeah okay yeah and to Tim's Point there's no match because we were uh one of several communities designated to have suffered essentially too severe Inland flooding um and so they they waved any match for flood mitigation projects okay apparently the the few people who were online uh were having trouble hearing us so speak into the mic all right one of them gave up and logged off there may be some issues with yeah there could be may not be correctable at this moment all right so do we need to make a motion on on the GZA contract and and the C sure yeah and in whichever order you want to take it we've got Chris Curtis Wayne fiden and then also GCA and fgs well I I haven't been able to find the the signatures for these contracts you can V vote to have Christ and Wayne and then the GZA is requiring right so let's do GZA first so I make a motion to approve um the proposal for Prof professional consulting services on Bloody B bloody Brook and blacksmith Sugarloaf Brook resilience project I'll second that motion any further discussion all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim Hil I I'll make a motion to approve the contract for uh Municipal vulnerability preparedness action Grant uh MV MVP 2.0 and Grant coordination services for 20 2024 2025 for um between the town of Deerfield and plan sustain Inc for the amount of uh $6,200 second any further discussion nope hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim hilry I and then I'll make a motion for the same uh contract for municipal vulnerability preparedness action Grant MVP 2.0 Grant and Grant coordination services for 2024 2025 for Christopher Curtis for the amount of $6,200 for the same right Y and I'll second that any further discussion all those in favor chor McDaniel I Tim hch I and I make a complimentary motion that we authorize for done to sign those two contracts approved second yep any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim hilchie I great liquor license renewals they just need the list all right so we have a this is the annual renewal process yes right so um I will just read the people that we're going to be authorizing renewals for um so we're and all alcohol on premise license for Deerfield n uh Giani figs restaurant hotel hotel Warren sorry food for strength uh doing business as Leo's table Magic Wings Ink phb Yankee LLC doing business as powder Hollow Brewery um The Tavern sports bar Wolfie's restaurant that's it um y I'll second that motion let's see that was all no I think there's all on premise yeah there's some more uh one more um the Polish American citizens Club oh okay yep I'll second that motion uh any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim hilchie I and make a motion for to approve um all alcohol off premise uh liquor licenses for Deerfield Spirit Shop and purple Meadow Ventures doing business as Deerfield River Liquors I'll second that motion any further discussion no hearing none all those in favor chor McDaniel I Tim hilchie I and then I make a motion to approve the following for wine and malt off- premise uh liquor licenses for ches Market LLC Circle K Massachusetts doing business as Circle K Deerfield convenience store kapor Mobile Mart Inc doing business as Conway Road neighbors second any further discussion NOP all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim Hil I and wall uh wine and malt on premise uh liquor license I make a motion to approve the following for Zach's barbecue second um yep uh any further discussion uh all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim Hil and finally I make a motion to approve farmer Brewery pouring permit on premise licenses for birkshire Brewing Company Treehouse Brewing Company farmer distiller pouring permit Treehouse Brewing Company farmer series pouring permit and Treehouse Brewing Company farmer Winery pouring permit I'll second that motion any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim hilchie I all right good work so to Trevor and I sign here yeah you're voting the list you can sign that if you'd like you can sign the the individual ones after yeah we'll do that yep yeah I all right next thing is um the employee reimbursement policy um we've been working on and um just discuss that a little bit Christopher I mean basically we in the past when when employees have traveled for um for the town's business they've had to bring back receipts and there's a whole process of turning in receipts to losing the receipts yeah losing receipts turning in receipts um throwing them out in the hamburger trash can and and so Pat croll was Pat Martin was involved in tracking it then it went to Sarah it's a lot of time Wast so we decided that it made more sense to develop a policy that in breakfast lunch dinner if you're away for business for Town business so um maybe we we ended up with essentially determining that um there would be I think 15 for breakfast 25 for lunch and 55 for dinner um and total of $90 a day so it's essentially a pum process where um it's much easier for the town to track it and doesn't end up with individuals having to bring back often times the stuff costs more than that anyway but MH um I was at a had a cup of coffee for four bucks yeah so um too much staff time to yeah about dealing with it were there any other issues in that Trevor I forget no I think that was it was it was 15 for breakfast 20 for lunch 55 for dinner I think it was a total of 90 yep bucks yep so it's not like we do this a lot anyway but no it's mainly for the anytime they go away to a conference really right so I I will make a motion to approve the Personnel policy as adjusted I'll second that motion uh any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim hilchie I we believe this was done a while ago but it was just yeah redo it we're rev voting it because we couldn't find the actual proof that we voted it before right um could have gotten Sid draged so can you talk to us about the South County Senior Center pbta memorandum of memorandum of understanding so there is um Jennifer rard has been working with um pvta Pioneer Valley Transit Authority um Deerfield and sundon and weightly are kind of stuck in this no man's land of between the F frta and PV ta and one won't deliver to the other and it and it's just been really difficult trying to get SE and and our and our senior center kind of spread all over all over the place at the moment so she had been trying to talk with the different uh transit authorities on how how to better service uh seniors how to get them to Greenfield to doctor's appointments how to get um people to the senior center um different you know shopping different things like that because you know public transportation in rural towns is very difficult um and and when you're saddled right between two different entities that can't really work together um it's been a challenge so she has come up with an um a memor of understanding between pvta and um and the senior center in that uh one day on a Tuesday um the pvta will pay to have our driver drive one of their buses um on on a specific route and that will allow our seniors to get on and get off it go up to you know doctor's uh up in Greenfield and it actually starts in ammer and kind of makes its way up and back so there's there's opportunity for our seniors to get uh rides very inexpensively and um we thought I hesitated a little bit on this because um I didn't want to draw away from our staff but it's really actually it's supplementing the staff's time that they wouldn't be here anyways and um and it's kind and and they would be traveling it's kind of just a it's a win-win because we're using their vehicle their insurance their gas and it's really uh we're using this as a pilot program for one year I think it's an 18-month thing but it started for a bit so we're just we needed to sign anou to make sure that our insurances were good we checked with our attorney um they looked over the contract every we just want to make sure recovered and and liabilities and stuff recovered and we wanted to try this out for a year and see how it worked does it does it um help our seniors get to different um doctor's appointments or to the to the center and then just evaluate it in a year and see if we continue it or not we are also working on um she got a grant for a um a new van from do and that's going to be coming shortly I think the paperwork came through um and I was talking brendo a little bit about it and uh so we're we're looking at different ways to make sure we have transportation available since we're broken up so much and we don't have anybody in one spot so this is just one Avenue see if it'll work for the year come back and evaluate okay um yes and I I understand that we have um verified that the person who would be the driver has got the necessary driving licenses to meet state requirements yes and to handle you know work with the seniors and it's what they do now so right okay well you want to make a motion I'll make a motion to approve the um uh assistance agreement between buying between the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority uh the town of ammer and the town of Deerfield I'll second that any further discussion nope all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim Hill ji and um the paperworkers made out as me signing it so I will do that great all right um I'm just going to bring this up since Jan is staying here for this reason I you know it's really almost not not worth it um we just wanted to acknowledge that uh we may have mentioned this at a previous meeting but in a discussion in Sunderland the idea came up that Sunderland might want to talk to Deerfield about uh an agreement to use our transfer station and um so why can you talk a little bit about that yeah sure happy to and it you know it was I think it was brought up in a meeting sort of off cuff you know they've been searching for a location for transfer station in Sunderland and have so far not been able to identify such a spot um and so Deerfield just came up as a a town that has a a quality transfer station um that might be able to accommodate you know additional communities using it um I did speak with our DPW at our standing meeting a couple weeks ago um they're certainly amendable to at least exploring the option obviously it has to be something that benefits both the town of Sunderland and the town of Deerfield um and you know I think I you know an immediate question comes up you know is there going to be would there be different days for drop off for Sunderland residents um you know to ensure that Deerfield residents still have the access they're accustomed to um but very preliminary Becky Torres who's the new Town Administrator for the town of Sunderland reached out this week um and I just let her know hey you know we're we're talking about on our end as well we'd be happy to set up a meeting uh and discuss further because you know this really could be a win-win for both communities potentially but obviously early days yeah and I think I think one of the um concerns just talking with staff was um was Staffing you know we'd almost need to have somebody at the gate at that point and you know there's a lot of logistics to work out but I'm sure at Jan you I'm sure there's other communities that share and we'd love to learn I mean any way we can add more recycling tonnage in right yeah that's what I that's right yeah boy if we got Sunderland signed up at the Deerfield transfer station that would really be great yeah um well thank you for thank you for bringing this topic up I've been enjoying listening to your meeting at least uh if not participating in the rest of it um so I have been working uh with the Sunderland energy committee for probably two years uh they're they're really a dedicated group of individuals um dedicated to trying to find trying to have a transfer station in Sunderland because right now um every resident has to hire a private contractor a huler and there's pretty much only one that's servicing Sunderland and you know that leads to rates in going up without really any recourse mhm and um and so at our last stop I said you know why why don't you folks think about sharing transfer station with someone and I thought about Deerfield um not initially about sharing your side of the transfer station um but but but the first kind of light belb thought was um that the town of Sunderland could uh rent some of the property and build their own transfer station to the right so when you go in there's a trailer there um that we used to store Farm plastic in and you know there's a large area there so so the model for that is in Charlemont and shelburn uh Charlemont um owns the property um they have a very small transfer station on the left side and on the right side is the shelburn transfer station um each Town owns their own equipment uh but shelburn rents you know pay pays an annual lease uh to Charlemont for the property so that was really my original thought um however in the conversation with Sunderland selectboard they were more eager um and I understand uh they were more eager to see to discuss with Deerfield about using the um the deerfield's facility basically and that could look like Sunderland operating it a couple of days a week or it could look like Deerfield operating it more um or it could look like Sunderland residents uh buying you know buying a permit having a non-resident permit and then accessing facility on a it could be a specific day it could just be you know Wednesdays um for uh Wednesdays and Sundays for Sunland residents so there are a lot of possible um scenarios and I'm just I'm I'm glad the town is thinking about it and look forward to having more conversations with Christopher and um Becky and whoever might be involved Chris at the DPW yeah it's worth entertaining for sure definitely um since we only open on Tuesdays Thursdays and Saturdays and you know there seems to be both an opportunity for increasing the recyclables uh tonnage advantageously and and provide providing for a neighbor uh and so let's let's definitely start the conversations yeah we definitely have to think of staff and and just capacity because a lot of times we fill up you know so there would obviously be change over of of you know the item you know the the containers a lot more often obviously with with that more tonish but yeah could get worked out figure something out right there there are definitely you know there definitely um I don't want to say issues but there are things to note if two towns are sharing the same equipment or more residents are sharing uh the same equipment and you know those are those are things I'm considering and I and I said to Dearfield I I'm wearing two hats because I represent the town of deerfield's best interest and I also represent the town of sunderland's um hopes yes um and so you know I'm I'm very clear that this has to be um for me I want want it to be clear that it's in deerfield's best interest or financial best interest so um you know that's that's all kind of uh on the table to be looked at yeah for sure sounds good look forward to the conversation for sure thanks Jan yeah thank you and well I have the floor I want to say thank you for appointing I know it's coming up next or soon but looking forward to having John Frank uh represent the town as a second uh Deerfield rep on the board oh great sounds good yeah um all right where is this uh want to go back to the Bartlet um oh yeah item item 7f yep um so there's a large maple tree that has essentially three trunks that's sort of fused at the base it sits on Town land right behind the library it's the most beautiful tree in all of Deerfield and it's uh very big very old and um uh it was a concern of people and a lot very legitimate concern that uh it poses a threat to the new building we're building so we um asked the Chris Miller to reach out and uh talk to Tree Experts about what could be done um the uh construction company uh hired a tree ex da Sullivan hired uh a tree expert to make uh to study the tree they advised um banding the tree so that uh there's more structural support for the three three separate trunks also to do some significant pruning there's some Deadwood in the canopy reduce the size of the canopy to um make it less likely to uh fall in on anything and also to do some uh to look at fertilizer fertilizer and soil care treatments to strengthen the tree so um Chris got an estimate from Bartlett uh Tree Experts uh and uh in the amount of uh $4,690 um to do all of that work um some of which can be done during the winter um and some of which would be done you know when the appropriate times for fertilizing Etc are available um it makes sense to do and they have the money in the tree budget at the current moment I think there's about 30,000 in the tree budget although coming into the season where libs are going to be collapsing and so forth but um so have you looked at that Trevor I I I I did I went through this I I'm in favor of it it is an important tree it's a beautiful tree and obviously we have a you know brand new building so I think it's for all those reasons it's important to make sure the tree is healthy pruned fertilized um I I honestly think it's one of the most beautiful trees in the fall uh anywhere around it's so so gorgeous um and just love to keep it keep it as healthy as we can for as long as we can and I think this is you know do you have an advice about should we should we just authorize Chris Miller to sign this or should or should we do authorize you to sign it Christopher I mean it it's under $10,000 so you don't even need a contract so uh Sound business practices so yeah I'll take care of it with thank you all right so um I'll make a motion to approve the uh um contract to per provide um preventative maintenance on the maple tree behind the library and authorize Chris Christopher dun to handle the uh execution of the contract second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim hch I all right um now we have um just want to acknowledge that uh school has uh provided a $10,000 donation to the town um annual donation so we want to thank them for that absolutely thank you very much for that donation and um I can answer the sewer bait yeah this is something your sweet spot yeah it's it's it's a uh there was a sewer baitman on the agenda for uh glinsky at 96 North Main Street um but it it is um couple things I did a little research um it's a little premature for one because um we do abatements uh on summer readings and we haven't got the summer reading yet so that's happening hopefully any minute we've been waiting on those um unfortunately everyone's going to get their sewer bill for Christmas um and uh so the um the other thing is is that they um you know so we have a we have an abatement policy for residents that you know that use water each summer and washing their cars filling their pools and water in the garden all that kind of thing so they they uh people don't pay more than 125% of their winter usage so um we extended that to Farmers as well because a lot of times there a lot of the water that they use goes on the on the fields and growing that that kind of thing so um but in in this case they actually have so we ask farmers to either put in a separate water meter for that use and then and this property actually has a separate water and we don't build them for uh sewer out of that um this is only tied to the house and the usage at the house and not for the usage at the farm so um I can explain that when he pops into a meeting I can explain that for now but good y so we'll we'll hold off on this until we get further information exactly yep all right um so next up um we have a couple of appointments to deal with um first I'd like to um make a motion to appoint John Frank to the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District as a representative for Dearfield I'll second that motion and thank him for her service and I would just add uh we we don't yet have the application in front of us so I would just make that motion pending receipt of that application sounds friendly Amendment pending pending receipt of the actual so we have a verbal but not a written we need his we've got a verbal commitment from John we need his John Frank yeah he he apologized he didn't have his application in but uh I said no fear we'll you know we'll make it happen appointments are always very much encouraged absolutely particularly on such weighty subject matter yes exactly okay so all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim Hil I and next um we have a request from um the police chief to um which I will read Dear honorable board I'm respectfully requesting Ryan Roberts be appointed as a full-time police officer effective Monday December 9 2024 in accordance with the Union contract at $264 hourly if authorized and voted Ryan would start with the full-time Police Academy in Holio on Monday December 9 he would then start a three-month field training officer program after the graduation scheduled for May 2025 as the board is aware we lost James Fitzgerald full-time to Newbury Police Department in eastern Mass just over a couple of weeks ago I am also respectfully requesting the part-time appointment of Colin Pettis who will also be attending the full-time Academy with Ryan at $26 an hour once Colin completes the Academy I will review our finances internally and make an educated decision on whether we are able to put him on in a full-time capacity to not only cover shifts our also retain him for the future Colin has lived in North Main Street South Deerfield for many years both these gentlemen have humbled genuine and helpful personalities pleas please feel free to reach out with any questions at any time so I'd make a motion to follow the recommendation of the police chief for appointment of Ryan Roberts and Colin Pettis I'll second that motion any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Tim hilchie I it's great thank you for serving and um I know it's been hard trying to find police officers and John is doing an outstanding job recruiting so appreciate that very much okay um next up we have a a letter of support to the CPC um can you talk about this Christopher yeah happy to um yep so this application from the open space committee stemmed from uh the discussion around designating pum uh as uh article 97 land um so if you recall we discussed this briefly before special town meeting back in October decided we wanted a little bit more information um before proceeding with placing it uh under those restrictions um my recommendation at the time the open space committee was let's let's get a survey so we have a full understanding of you all the utilities Etc that are up there uh the boundaries of the property uh and then we have something that we we can essentially take to town meeting and and uh formally you know vote to put under article 97 protection once we feel we have the proper uh limits in place right um so they have they have they're going to be applying for a I believe it's called a land conservation Grant to help fund that survey work okay um they are also pursuing a match from the CPC for that uh application the 2,000% Y yep and at this point I think they've gathered a couple quotes preliminarily on the survey work um and so we're more to come on that front but uh this letter is just in support of that application for the matching funds for that project yes for sure and I I'm glad we held off on that I just want to make sure that we think about our future and with the with the towers that are up there and do we need to peel off a little more land around that I'm happy to protect most of it but I just want to keep our interest um in the Forefront when we do that so I'm good I'm good to with this letter of support I'm going to make a motion I'll make a motion to support the letter of support for um C uh for the CPC for cost sharing um for the land conservation assistance grant second any further discussion nope hearing none all those in favor dor McDaniel I Tim Hy I okay over to you Town Administrator and assistant Town Administrator for reports if any sure uh I'll try I'll I'll try to make it quick but I did want to update you on just a handful of things um so uh one uh I don't believe I'd provide this update yet but we did hear back from Beth greenblat who's been serving as kind of the town's uh energy consultant um next amp has come around to uh the existing pilot agreement we had um there are some adjustments based on um I think based on you know energy markets Etc so there are going to be some changes the payments um but essentially um everything's hunky dory I guess is what I would say um so so we're going to be hearing from Beth and Lisa in the next couple weeks with a A minor amendment to that agreement um but you know fortunately at this point it'll be able to move forward that's great um next amp is also requesting that we consider uh designating uh you know being a public public sector host um and that essentially allows them to pursue some tax credits and things like that um it doesn't sound like there's too much of a downside for the town on that so I think we'll probably be amendable and we can discuss that when we have the the Amendments the agreement before us okay uh so just wanted to give a quick update on that transfer station solar there that's great um Town common uh just really quick um I submitted a letter uh that to Kathy Sylvester chair of the community preservation committee on the status of that obviously there was $350,000 in CPC funds designated for that project Pro and it's continued to be hampered by by various things um so I let her know you know what we're going to try to do is uh assuming we're able to get this complete streets grant for the Elm Street project kind of tie that together um potentially put it out to bid in the same package or simultaneously um and focus really just on um you know the land on the common itself and the crosswalk across North Main Street which of course the town of Deerfield owns so we do not have to um deal with Mast doot on that one so that's that's plan I'm going to be speaking to the CPC next week about that one thing I wanted to ask about was it's been many years that that Cumberland Farms property has just been sitting there on the corner and I know personally of people willing to buy it and they get run through the ringer by I'm ready for like imminent domain I'm looking to wipe that whole title I just think we need to enough as enough I'm like ready to play hard ball if we need to cuz that is an ugly eyesore it's holding up everything in the town and every time they have a wonderful you know opportunity to sell it they find some way to stop it and I just when we say they we're talking about we're talking about the entity who owns farms in Spain Spain or wherever wherever yeah um so the the upside of imminent domain is that you can purchase a property to pra is value right and and then you can remove covenants yes and um one of the reasons why the property is hard to sell is because this company doesn't want anybody to sell coffee or food or anything anything so um well we we we should explore what that would mean MH and uh not that it's like your most important thing to do I'm just if there ever comes no I mean I I mean if I can put my town planner hat on for a moment I've always I mean I've always thought that's sort of a priority project downtown cuz you could do you could pave the sidewalks in Gold but if you still have that vacant coverland Farms no exactly it's it's an ice or and I mean one of the things that is a beautiful example of what can happen when you is the the lovely little BNB that's right next to the cemetery yeah um I mean yeah Somebody went in there and turned I don't know what it was in to a really beautiful property and it's providing a service to people who want to come see their kids at private schools or see the leaves change whatever so yep if we could remove obstacles to private developer taking over that property and making something beautiful there that would be worth considering under the right circumstances there got to be something and I will add as as recently as uh last month you know I had a meeting with someone else who was interested in the property and interested in you know what are the hurdles and why hasn't it been developed at this point so people keep noticing it um and yeah I think it definitely warrants a deeper discussion yep see what our options are that'd be great good sorry to interrupt no that's that's completely fine uh real quick senior housing um so we are on next week uh for a special meeting or excuse me not next week week following um for a a joint meeting with them so we'll do uh if it works for everyone so this is uh December 18th um let take a look at your calendars but if we have availability I think at 5:00 p.m. um we could do a joint meeting with the senior housing committee go over the RFP at that point um that they put together for the St James property um and uh you know prepared to be sent over to furog to actually be sent out to developers okay so the 11th I know you're hoping maybe to set tax rates and that kind of thing I'm going to be I've got negotiations at 5 to 8 right so I think are you on the 18th on the on the 11th this is the 18th right exactly so so next week uh no regular select board meeting but we do have the tax classification hearing right okay and then the the 18th that's when our next regular one would be and so what I'm recommending here is at 5:00 p.m. we we meet a little bit early with the senior housing committee specifically to discuss that RFP that's good yep all right other other quick updates 1888 building uh so site plan review is going to be before the planning board on Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. um and uh USDA is just finalizing their submission to the state historic preservation officer so because we have this Federal earmark um USDA handles the submission to that that office um and so we've been helping them gather you know information about the historic nature of the property and how that'll be addressed in any adaptive reuse right uh some more to come on that end that's the nth that that is uh yeah the ninth is the site plan review yep and we're working with the guys in Hadley people in Hadley uh yes yeah yeah they're great great team yep yeah rural development down there yep perfect and that's at uh 6:00 uh 6:30 6:30 yeah that's the 9th you said yes okay and I did have an opportunity to um a couple members of our planning board wanted to stop by and kind of check out the site and thanks to Tim's recommendation you know we have the footprint of that addition to the building kind of stencl in um so you could kind of visualize where it would be and and uh you know how things would flow around it so they got to take a look at that as well um and then really quick just two updates on Grant extensions Senior Center feasibility um so I know uh EDM Studio had asked for just a little extra time given that they they kind of ran into some issues um so we have an extension on that to the end of February that Sean crun from DLS granted oh good so they have plenty of time now and then great uh the heat geothermal feasibility study that's almost wrapped up at this point Bureau happold or consultant is uh just interviewing a couple stakeholders um and that'll be wrapped up now by January 24th as the extension date on that so um and then I other than that I think um any questions on any ongoing projects or anything like that no I think um as soon as I walk out the door oh you shoot me a text no I don't I don't about you great job uh yeah I got a couple of things uh just the delir lot update we've got the autels which uh EV owners were uh using for free for quite a while which was fine as we commissioned the the software but uh yesterday we went to uh to a pricing rule so it's not going to be at the the prices we established so the the the free charging I believe is behind us at this point so unfortunately for those that know got used to it thought it was a good thing but it might be helpful if you know as since Tim you're an Eevee eeve owner to maybe try it out once and see if it's actually charging and for for uh charging a fee for it so um and then the second is I just want to you know give a thanks to the seven towns that participate in the EV credit uh we had to we we are the host account holder for that and uh had to fill out a schedule Z to get counts readjusted for energy use within their own towns and uh so they they all got back to us the ones that wanted changes and uh another shout out to eversource for changing their their uploading system which is a lot easier now uh and also to Diane Cornwell who you know did some adjustments on our bills to to make sure we're covering the bills with the credits that uh seem appropriate so yeah that's it so just to refresh my memory about this the uh the level two Chargers and the Chargers out here are at 30 cents Kow hour and the high-speed superchargers are 42 cents per kilowatt hour that was your recommendation we went with that so I mean and that can be that can be changed at any time if we if we feel it needs to be typical charge for for high-speed supercharger is 42 to 46 and some of them actually have you know um High use times it's higher so I don't know if we have that flexibility but one of the nice things about the otels is you don't necessarily have to have a specific app you can just swipe your card and you can charge one of the problems with charge point and others is they have a proprietary interface right and it's great if you have a if that's all you have in your neighborhood but if you don't have an app you pull up to it and you got to figure out well how do I download the app you know how do I so I don't have any Wi-Fi yeah they have a NX NX card reader which is great so they can credit cards and whatever you need so yeah we can take a look in the future to see how the if it's you know covering the energy use that we're having to uh to cover so yep yep excellent yeah great thank you anything else nope nope we just got to do the Seinfeld sign okay so can we do that outside of the meeting yes I can all right I I make a motion to uh adjourn I'll second that motion thank all those in favor TR McDaniel I Tim Hil I thanks everyone for coming thank you