##VIDEO ID:nmdq6TXU1Ck## welcome to the select board Board of Health sewer Commissioners meeting of December 18 2024 6 PM 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 and or 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 required by law members of the public with particular interest in any specific item on this agenda should make plans for in person 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 30A anyone intending to record the meeting must identify themselves to the clerk Blake Gilmore and provide their name and address for this record call the meeting to order at 601 um at this time uh we provide an opport opportunity for people in attendance either virtually or in person to uh have a two-minute period to comment about anything that's on their mind or it's on the agenda this evening anybody wish to make any comments seeing none we'll move along to the hearing and appearances and I'd like to welcome Joshua Sparks who's the chief of the South County Emergency Medical Service welcome Josh you're muted there we go there we go hi everybody hello nice to see you again good to see you too thank you for having me back tonight um I just wanted to continue the exploration of uh two specific topics uh raised uh a couple of meetings ago uh the first one being um your approval uh your vote to approve the EMS Lieutenant job description um as presented just kind of a reminder on that uh this has been through the Personnel Board already uh it's been past the South County Ms Board of oversight um the vast majority of this uh job description is directly lifted from the the existing paramedic job description with very few changes there was a section added to this uh about primary responsibilities superi supervision exercised and supervision received had small edits otherwise it's essentially as it was now this is the um as everybody is well aware with the changes to the bylaws um for uh Personnel rules uh at the last town meeting the townwide class compensation uh no longer exists in the new bylaws instead each department has the ability um to create their own Personnel rules uh my proposal um that hopefully you all have in front of you and I'm pretty sure you've all had a chance to look over basically regrades the existing class comp and it adds an additional line um for a position that is not really in existence uh it's something of a placeholder uh this all comes to light because as we look to promote people we need a way to compensate them so with the class comp and this just to reiterate this is for fiscal year 25 this does not address fiscal year 26 um my plan for the next fiscal year is that whatever the next step and whatever the Personnel Board and select board approved Town Cola is that's what they'll go up to so we're not looking to change anybody's rate of pay we're just looking for a way to pay the lieutenant positions and since there's no class comp really at this point unless the town decides to adopt one um this establishes a way for us to uh get paid in fiscal year 26 um to back up just a little this doesn't cost anything I'm not looking for any money and this was um at the last meeting we explored this uh it was decided that we would push this off a meeting or two so that we could uh have the opportunity to discuss it uh with Brenda the town accountant and uh give each of you a little more time to investigate it um so that's it that's what I have tonight uh thank again for having me that yeah thank you so have um has everyone had an opportunity to look at the job description I thought it was fairly robust did you have any thoughts on it Blake no basically again this is uh to set up a Frontline supervisor for the shifts that are being worked and uh I think that this is definitely something that they should have in place um so that they have somebody that when he's not there the chief's not there that they've got some somebody that's responsible for the groups y I'm good with it I I read read through it it's been passed by Board of oversight which supports it and the Personnel Board so yep y so do we have two motions I mean the first one is you want to make a first motion y I'll make a motion to approve the job description for EMS Lieutenant um as as uh presented second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hill GI thank you I have a motion to approve the class comp sketch proposed Compensation Plan um which uh just solidifies the EMS uh lieutenant and kind of grades the um grades the chart for them moving forward we do we do have a well we had a class comp and people are kind of still on that but we you know now that we've pulled that out of the bylaw we we do need to build um the new one or take a look during this budget season how we'll do it but it it does make sense with we've always thought about pulling this um the EMS out of that because they're they really do a different job than right than everybody else and and they have just different hours and there really is I know Josh is talking about working on I spoke to him the other day about working on um you know work schedule and you know writing a a manual for for them for that department because you they're on a lot longer it's not just a 9 to5 kind of thing so um so yeah I would make a sorry longwinded I'll make a motion to approve the proposed Compensation Plan fors any further discussion nope hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim hilchie I thank you thank you Josh really appreciate thank you everybody I I appreciate your time this evening sure have a good night take care you also all right so the next thing is um I'd like to welcome Ned sisy and good to see you I may have missed a meeting but this is your first first inperson right uh meeting for the last time oh you were good I probably was not I must have been hookie I was playing hookie so first meeting great great to see you welcome welcome Ned do you mind just speaking into the microphone great sure so so you have a report on some so yes I'm I'm here because actually you got to get really up into the mic you got to almost okay the microphone swallow it so I'm here because I was asked uh nov around November 21st to take a ride up to um the said property at HK road map lot 91-1 MH uh by our building inspector to accompany him and a police officer because there was somebody there was reports that someone was living on the property in a tent okay and um so we proceeded to go to the property we uh spoke with uh Mr Daniel rice which I okay I'm not sure if he's here um but there were there was evidence of him living on the property there was a tent set up a small camper and there was um ashes from burning in a in a big metal uh cylinder can type thing um which he he had said that was food he was cooking there were no sanitary facilities that I that were seen um there was a wood stove at the time in the tent my main concern at that time was uh we were in a red flag time with fires and uh there was no um there's no build burning outside from what I was told here so I wrote up a report um basic inspection report stating that it's not habitable um for one the building it's not a buildable lot it's a small it's a small lot I'm not sure it's about 3/4 of an acre um and to and yeah I guess I guess that's what I wrote up my report I I sent you copies but I also have copies here if you need it we have them in our packet okay so um at the time Mr rice stated he was is homeless at one point um that in case of emergencies he's had a place to stay with I believe his son um I'm not sure of his son's name but I believe he lives [Music] in Hatfield is it yeah Hatfield but he also has relatives in Greenfield from what I'm told all right let just go do this real quick and so there was a letter uh in an order right sent sent to the owners yes the owners of the property so I see um you also sent pardon me you also sent a letter um to various rice family members and yes particular they're all listed on the proper in particular I'd like to just highlight this lot is classified under the land use code AS unusable residential land code number 132 therefore the land is not able to be used as a buildable lot or a temporary camping shelter um is that um as simple as it sounds well I'm at the time I'm I'm not sure of the camping bylaws if there are any in Deerfield and still unaware of any but um the camping was the camping a temporary camping shelter was due to the fire the red flag for the fires which he had he was burning up there and it looks like there was um a letter to appeal right this decision that's correct sent to us are the members of the rice family here today okay um would somebody like to come up and uh speak please identify yourself for the record and uh welcome people in attendance welcome hi my name is Amanda rice I'm a descendant of the three Rand as my father Danny is my Uncle Timmy is my uncle okay um I'd just like to say that this is like generational property it's been untouched for absolutely forever I decided on my own that I really wanted to make it into a campsite for myself and my five children and like the day I set up my tent everybody got super curious about it yeah it's not a living situation I just want it to be a home away from home I live in an apartment out in nfield we don't have much so my kids really like being out there while there was a red flag no burn warning we did not burn my kids were like please please please marshmallows marshmallows marshmallows and even though we had contained fireplaces we did not use them I set up this tent with an expensive wood stove expensive tent and and wood stove so that I could camp in the winter with my children I could never imagine that there was a law against using a wood stove in a tent to camp in the winter it's not a living situation there is portable toilets I bought a portapotty and actually an ouse I just didn't know how to get the ouse out there yet but I have an ouse and a portable toilet that can be transferred offsite and dumped you know like for example at the RV store they can charge you to dump it in their sewer whatever but seriously you can just dump it in a toilet somewhere it's not on site like I had it all planned out I knew all of the things that were needing to be taken care of ahead of time and I was looking forward to just enjoying this area and like this problem that arose I think I don't know is really stressful and concerning and I don't know I just hope that we can settle it because I don't feel like we're doing anything wrong I I know it doesn't feel like that and you feel like you should just be able to Camp when you want to camp but there are there are rules around you know around living on the property having fires nobody's living there we did not have fires during the Red Flag Warning yeah okay guaranteed yeah so and our job is not to come up and check on your fire every time and like so there there are there are bylaws in place in town that will allow certain things and not so um so I think we're here to gather information today kind decide what where we go going forward um VA Valerie's got her hand up she's also a health agent of ours B can you weigh in on the situation and what you know of okay so I just I have a couple of things um can you hear me okay yes I can thank you I can I can hardly hear the inhouse yes speak sorry we're struggling I can hear the I can hear right up to your remotely but not um inhouse so the new housing code does allow camping or alternative housing on a piece of property up to 30 days with a permit from the Board of Health and that would be in a tent I don't know is she in a tent or in an RV tent the tent is set up so you also have to abide by the heating regulations um which are September 15th to June 15th and there's a number of things that we look at and really it's a safety issue um are there smoke detectors are you using what are you using for heat I had put a wood stove in the tent it had not been used yet okay so that would not be allowed because um a wood stove you would need a permit from the building inspector and the fire department and you would have to have smoke detectors so winter camping is not allowed so I would cross that off and really it's a safety issue nobody wants to tell you you can't do that but it's a safety issue the other thing is you could camp June 15th to September 15 um but only 30 days in a tent and we would want to know what you're doing with your waste how you're bringing in water do you have electricity all those types of things and there is an actual application out somewhere I don't know if the board has formalized it or not but there is an application to camp in a tent we call alternative housing so um up to 30 days Valerie I've got a question for you can that be renewed no so in other words if they do 30 days what's the time period before they can do it again next year it's only 30 days a year yep in a tent it's 30 days that's like in an RV it's 90 days okay so was there a camper on there or some sort of thing there is also a camper my uncle has popped up a popup camper yes so so a camper is a self-contained unit right it has uh a porta potty or something in there yeah um to use on site two of them actually okay you you mentioned ouse is it an ouse or porta potty I both I have a porta potty that has a self-contained like poop thing that you move off site an ouse is like the shed that you hide the portapotty in I guess I don't know what I an ouse is basically a structure over a hole in a ground is that what that is no okay so that it's the structure but not the hole in the ground it's the structure with the contained potty inside that's a porta potty or a chemical toilet y okay okay so how would you bring in water oh by five gallon buckets and and and what do you doing with the water after that it gets dumped in a toilet we haven't even gone camping yet like we got we set it up and then like got in trouble right away right just cuz there's rules around it so we want you probably aren't aware of them out again Valerie I don't know if she heard you but the thing is when you've got that popup tent there yeah you have a 90day permit no oh it's a 90day permit with the with the am I saying this right Val 30 right it's it's 90 days in an R RV or selfcontained unit okay okay okay it's 30 days so and then there is actually sign offs so she would have to get a sign off from the building department um they would probably um to check any structures on the property sign off from conservation to make sure she's not in a wetland or in a buffer zone there's different sign offs there I think maybe Ned had sent you the um application that we would be using this goes for anybody that is like popping up a tent in their backyard y yeah y yeah the world and it's a safety thing we want to know what you're doing with your waist we want to know how you're bringing and water and if you're chap children we want to make sure everybody is safe were you intending to use this as a winter camping facility or something um a year round but I was really looking forward to camping in the snow like just once as an experience like I got the tent with the wood stove like just to do it and you know my uncle's just like got somewhere to be because he's mhm likees to be out there too might you know okay so there are some campgrounds available that do do that the DCR in in Goan allows winter camping so maybe you want to research that but I own my own property we own our own property why would we pay to do what we could do on our own land that doesn't make any sense so you just you just need to follow the rules for for Board of Health and keeping people safe that's the main thing so app we We are following the rules right I removed the wood stove we've got the toilet we haven't even used it I'm sorry all right thank you so I just um we understand what you want to do but there's just we have to follow the laws just like you do and so we want to make sure that people are safe and you're doing the right thing so I think in in this case it looks like there is an Avenue to do some of what you want to do and it's just a matter of getting that stuff listed out we'll we'll list out what's required and then you follow that procedure we do the inspections we know where the waste is going we know that you're going to be safe there's no carbon monoxide dying in the you know we've had couple years ago people died in Green Field by McDonald's from camping in the winter in a tent CU you know so it's just you know it happens you don't think it's going to happen but it happens so we we had people in this town that have died from exposure being outside in the winter and we just want to make sure people are safe and you know there's there's challeng people are dealing with all kinds of challenges and we just want to make sure we can make sure it's safe and offer the help we can can I know it can be an obstacle sometimes but I think the main thing is is that we can write up um the requirements that are needed then you know what you have to do you could apply for the permit get the permit you're good to go and then we have you know and yeah it's probably not going to be as long as you want you're not going to be able to Camp you know all year long there but so does the tent have to come up and down or can I just stay in it for those 30 days uh we'll find that out for you I I wouldn't answer that right now I don't know B may know but I I want to get that listed for the building inspector knows that too so I mean that's another Avenue that you can go and this guy's in here he's in the office every day five days a week so he's he's around here so you could talk to him about the the different because this is new to me too so I again I can't give you the answers anyways I've got some of them and one of the things that I would do is I would call DCR because I think sometimes their winter campsites are free I don't know necessar 10 minutes away from my homes so me like okay I get it but the thing is if you wanted that experience you could still get it even though you couldn't do it on your own land you just can't like set up and live in live on a okay mhm I've done the research it's grandfathered in yeah it's not so it is yeah so we can go down that route too if you want but all I'm saying is like you we're trying to find an Avenue for you to have the experience you want to have but you can't just set up and live there on the land I'm not trying to live there I got a place to live I got you I just want it to feel like a home away from home I I get I get what you want to do but and we want to try and help you achieve that without a 30-day time period yeah exactly so that's crazy it is you know there's a lot of things crazy in this world but you know we have to we have to abide by them so just a clarification so several things 30 days in a tent 90 days in a self-contained unit right but what I was getting at is there's no winter camping there's no winter camping because you have you have to also go by the heating season right so um to achieve a winter experience is not an option right so um the other question is there's a camping season so those 30 days uh is that June to September you said June 15th to September 15th and and So within that 3month period um would she be able to have 10 days each month no it's it's consecutive days okay I just wanted to clarify for people because you know don't want anybody to leave confused yeah um I definitely would have been because it is confusing yeah and I do believe that the DC has uh camping in the winter and I don't believe there's a charge okay or if there is it's a very minimal charge like $5 okay okay and I one one other question and this is not necessarily for you but um in Daniel Rice's letter he says he has a camper set up and sometimes stays um is that something Valerie that should be um permitted each year yes so um just wanted to flag that up that uh if you're using the property to stay in a in a in a camper that you know we we don't want to have the police come out and continually bother you um but if you have the if you go through the procedure then um it sounds like that shouldn't be a problem going forward as long as the procedures are met is that correct Valerie that's correct so not in the winter okay are they going to be uh expected to be taken down and packed away I guess is yes okay yeah and then we can we can um write a letter with the requirements for you so you know what that is we can send those to you I need all of the letters to be sent to all three of the brothers because it was only sent to one gotcha can can you before you leave can you provide Ned with just your the names the addresses just so we make sure everybody's grouped in and we got everybody covered including yourself make sure you're down on that too yeah we just want to make sure we got all the info we didn't is this on the lot that's 74 of an acre I believe so yes okay so we did a little deed re research and that lot is not a buildable lot and it was deeded as such back many years ago we followed the the the deed back and at no time was it a buildable lot right I I I had spoken camp on it right but not build on it I had spoken with the building inspector himself one day this past spring and I asked him what the requirements were to see if it was buildable and he actually drove out there and he said if you can tell me that this lot was cut before 1964 then it's buildable I did not come back to him with this information but that's what I found depends on what's on the deed okay so I I looked at it I looked at the deed and the deed it was transferred as a non-buildable lot so that negates anything it was subdivided before 64 not yeah okay we could do some history on it see what's what I'd like it to be looked into yeah and that's part of contact the building inspector as well yeah and that's part of you know you go to the courthouse to register your deeds and say what I did get get the thing and say what what is it I have it all on my phone and you see that it says it's not a buildable lot right on the it was part of a many Lots my grandparents had like the all of that part of the street and they were all sold off individually yeah so so long ago the people that owned it and sold it to them was as a you know a whole lot so if that piece was cut out I don't I don't know I guess so we just have to do a little research and see what's what maybe it can get fixed you know adjusted I don't know okay I'll I'll do this thank you all right so is there any anything else that we need to do tonight Christopher I think we've got the list of stuff and yeah I think uh between Val Ned and and what Bob has we should be able to provide whatever Miss rice needs okay sounds good well I appreciate you coming in and thank you I know it's not a fun experience but we're happy you came in to at least find out what the rules are and how we can how we can help okay thank you all right all right yes thank you for coming in yeah thank you and we'll you got you got the address okay yeah you work on that thank you I can I you can email it to if you like oh or if you want to take this over there okay sure all right so while we're in this rather than going to the select board announcements does the Board of Health have anything else for us B well there's the person camping what's that or in a in a school bus yes do you want to hit across from 341 Lower Road in a flood plane in a school bus right with a wood stove yeah that is a pro it's a problem yeah again go ahead Ned and there's children there yeah again I know Ned was going to send a letter of inspection yeah okay Ned what do you got I did send a letter of inspection to request an inspection I haven't got anything back yet um I did go up there one day and the woman assured me she's not living on the property they're just fixing it up as a camper um for her kids to come and play and for um her father to have a and I quote place to get away from his wife okay across the street from where he lives um but I don't think that they also had a stove going inside the bus with a pipe coming out smoke so which is not not a good thing to do and not and it's in a flood zone right I don't think you can park a camper in a flood zone it's a school aood zone right that's been there for in a flood zone there's a wood stove in there I think that the building inspector needs to get involved because the wood stove is is a is a problem right the wood stove with a building insector in the fire department okay and again the fire department's aware of this and the building inspector is the one who brought the complaint to my attention Okay so it seems like he would need to enforce a zoning correct yes okay so we'll talk to him I guess maybe we can get a message to Bob that he needs to enforce the zoning in a flood flood zone and have that removed thank you okay anything else Ned uh no just usual things that I'm working on permitting um thank you couple inspections a couple Title Five witnessing and perks and um the Red Roof in had a mold complaint that followed up on gave them 30 days to take care of it okay so I'll be going back there thank you by the end of the month all right but was it in a room or just several rooms several rooms has bathrooms yes oh I see yep okay all right well thank you okay do you need anything from us good no I think I'm good thank you Ned thank you valer the the only the only other thing I have is we have housing court on Friday that's correct yeah I um I've got see here yeah this Friday right at uh Frid the 20th and that's for the receivership case that's correct okay sounds good I'll see you there so that's moving forward all right hopefully hopefully they'll keep I hope we got an answer on the on the um heirs so we'll see okay well thank you both very much have a great night that's all I have yeah all right talk to you soon thank you thank you Valerie Ned thank you uh do we have any select board announcements um uh no I guess I won't I was just so we met with the police department today and we're moving forward on the negotiations there all right I am yes also on behalf of the school we're doing the same for teachers and um I'm still waiting to start the DPW processer yep and we had a conversation with the the union um a couple weeks ago and so we're looking at some dates in January great great okay all right um so now we're moving into the realm of sewers yay uh so Trevor do you want to about this or absolutely yep uh so the uh This Is our commitment one for utility billing of 2025 um this is where we uh you know we set the rate in the fall um for the sewer and now we in the um these are summer readings so we uh get the readings from the water department on how much water has gone through your your different residences and and buildings and then um we apply the um the correct um amount to your billing but but you also residents also get an auto automatic this is the the cycle in the year that you get an automatic rebate um because you'll be Watering your flowers and Lawn and other things so you only paid um 125% of your previous year's um previous um winter usage so there's automatic rebates to do in this in this um run as well so um we've got a message from The Collector treasure um you're hereby authorized to collect from the 972 Bills named on the commitment with the amount set against their respective names amounting in the aggregate of 1, 31,725 um uh to pay overall monies as soon as collected the town Treasurer and to make a report of such payment to the town accountant so that would be a service of um so we have a service which are like service fees uh of uh $145,800 and then the sewer fee of $885,000 58 for a total of 1, [Music] 31727 58 and that would make them U sewer consumption this cycle was 38 uh 38,2 39,380 all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim hilchie I and then I would also make a motion um this would be for the blanket um abatements um going out to the residents so there is a select board here hereby authorizes the abatement of the above sewer accounts which is a list here public we can publish um for single family owner occupied properties uh above the 125% of their own winter consumption for the fy2 commitment one totaling an abatement of $7,795 for um getting this done I know they work really hard every year it always comes down to the last minute um to get this done and out to everybody not that it's a Christmas gift but we try to get it out before the end of the year um and it's always a struggle each year and we're sorry it comes out right on this week but all right and uh while Trevor's signing I'm going to move on to um list of annual renewals so we do annual renewals for various types of businesses so um this year I'll do each group um for specific licenses and um common bitel $100 license uh for birkshire Brewing Company Deerfield in food for strength Leo's table Johnny figs Restaurante LLC Treehouse Brewing Company Wolfie's restaurant and uh Zach's barbecue second that motion any further discussion hearing none all those in favor chor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim HGI next is funeral director $50 so I have one question on this um I thought somebody was taking over over managing rley do we know about that and do we have I don't know if we have the paperwork on that I just I remember something about that last year I just didn't know I assume somebody must have filled out the paperwork and sent it in and this is just a renewal for it um I didn't know if there's anything actually in yeah I believe that uh salute news whatever say it Salu is actually managing it yeah so wouldn't we want their uh information I just maybe it's already in here let me just look through this Qui actually though the license has to stay within one of the rizley names and that's why Harold's name is on it and Harold is still he's still he's still part of the business part of it okay the business is still in the rizzly name gu just managing great rley I'm good with that then okay great all right no more questions good but it's good to keep on top of these things yep so make a motion to approve uh the annual renewal uh for rizley funeral home second second um any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim hilchie I next is class two dealers $90 license uh for Richards Automotive GMG Enterprises K Dog Auto Sales and Deerfield Motors and Equipment second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor driver McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim hchi and class two dealers um or class three I'm sorry y uh what's the difference between a class two and a class three any idea yeah I I think that um it looks like burn is handling parts and uh wrecks whereas the other ones are actually selling cars yes yep that's just wanted to share and simple explanation so y this is for a class three dealer a $60 license for East Deerfield Auto wrecking second all those in any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I timel I and home business renewal $25 license fee uh for Deerfield Healing Arts Deerfield Therapeutic Massage Salon 68 second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim hilchie I all right and this is for entertainment yearly uh $100 license I make a motion to approve license renewals for hotel War Hotel Warren The Tavern sports bar LLC I'm not sure if this plus one Juke boxes has to be done as well and two pool tables yes um for Treehouse Brewing Company and Yankee Candle Company second any further discussion yes uh with Treehouse when we were talking to them or we isn't that on hold right now for the entertainment license were we still in discussion with them over that or we all so so there had been uh you know there was an opinion off offered by Council that said um you know if we wanted to address the some of the noise issues um this entertainment license is one Avenue to do so um we should hold on it then because we wanted to have a meeting about it right and we've scheduled the uh the opportunity for the public to come and speak to their experience with the concerts Etc um so yeah let's just hold that until so we to hold tree houses until we have a hearing on it or just put a hold on it we just approve the others and not this one yet okay meanwhile so you want to adjust that yeah I can make them you know um friendly motion to uh amend and drop Treehouse Brewing Company um I'll second that any further discussion just that we want to have a conversation about when these concerts take place and how they affect um kids going to school and Noise right and they they were again we've been discuss with them at this point anyway so I mean we just want to just make sure we solidify everything that's right and I don't see a hesitation to approving this it's not like oh I think it's just to to have that conversation to to approve it before we have the conversation doesn't really make any sense exactly so um let's yeah I mean Alison mle has expressed willingness to have the entertainment license be a way to create Clarity around when can begin and end and so forth so um I think it's important to do that so let's I I got one other question on this is that by us not approving this now how we're going to have to act on this like at the next meeting because they are they do have entertainment going on there throughout the whole thing so I mean our meeting is in January so we need to have a meeting with her just prior to that meeting and make sure we get that solidified by the next meeting when is the um hearing set up for um January 14th and these need to be yeah I mean that was more of a Civic public engagement meeting um as opposed to hearing I was going to say I think we should get you know if we're going to do this we should get Town council's opinion about how we handle this um you know because if we need to obviously there does that mean on January 2nd they they're not able to sell beer no this not a it's not a beer license it's just the entertainment part of it entertainment part of it so does that mean that they can't have the concerts in their little 200 seat internal facility so how would you word that well let's let's take up the ones that we're voting on and then okay let's come back to this in a minute yeah yeah all right so with the exception of Treehouse uh any further discussion about the entertainment licenses no um all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hil now let's come back to Treehouse um have I because one of the things I was thinking of can we extend I'm LIC from this year to to just the 14th or whatever we get yeah I'm taking a look at what our options are with respect to the time period I would I would say uh let's make a note and maybe return to this agenda item a little bit later on pull some things up here sounds good all right so um next up is annual resident auctioner $100 license I make a motion to approve yearly renewal for Douglas auctioneers LLC second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor CH McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hil I annual nonresident auction year $100 license renewal I make a motion to approve renewal for Catamount Auction Company LLC and New England auctioner second second uh any further discussion yeah I just I mean these guys come in and what did where do they do their auctions and how do they I just because I don't I don't know what they do I think they they can could come to a house I think do a house auction or they I don't know if they do anything with Douglas auction as a secondary kind of thing but um but I think that they could come in and do house auctions okay I just was like I said I just didn't know what they're what they were doing positive that's the case good question yep great question so if there's no further discussion all those in favor chair McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim hch I we still looking about Treehouse we'll come back to it yeah please okay all right so um this next one is uh for um two feathers class two dealers um and it sounds like this is got some history so I don't know if Christopher or Greg you want to discuss it I speak to this one uh yeah I think think uh he got his application in late which is why he's not on the list and uh there was a little bit of confusion in the past year and some miscommunication that I think uh you know we asked him to put forward a um a renewal uh and he has complied with the insurance and he's complied with the $90 application fee and and the U workman's comp uh affidavit so he yeah he's complied and he's all up to dat tax Y and his special permit and this is um Michael arthon Aon should be Brian arthon Brian Aon yeah I think there's Michael and Brian on here a co-partnership Brian is typic the Brian's he's the yeah right the one I'm familiar with yes um all right so I'll take a motion to approve their license renewal for so moved for class two yeah is there a second second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor CH McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hil I okay um so this uh next item is the abcc 2024 Town report liquor licenses and D schedule so I would um I would make a motion to approve the 20 20 did you say 2024 202 that's what it says oh it's the report for 2024 yes that we had we had so many um seven all alcohol on and variety of different ones for a total revenue of $ 29,200 um and the fees are set out as published so I'll make a motion to approve the fees and the report to the um to the state Alcohol Beverage Control Commission I second uh any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor mcel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hil I all right um Town clock backlighting the clock and maintenance um do you want to talk about this Greg or Christopher Blake well that came from uh Pauli and uh he was up there with a guy that has been working on the clock and basically they did have a contract with him originally and I I I walked into Brenda's office yesterday and I said I got something to talk to you about and I forgot to get what the budget item was for it so I'm not sure what's in the budget but the clock does have a budget it does so the thing is is that I think that that having him come in twice a year to work on the clock will keep it in good running order and and that sort of thing do we need lighting for the clock or is well the thing is is that what they're trying to do is it's it's a I think it's a 2,000 for it and the reason for it they want to change it over to the LED lights right and they do have to repair some of it so that it would it would and the that clock was always lit when I was here before and apparently it fell into disrepair and they're just trying to get it the the the f um back up so that they can see it at night I mean the clock is running it's tolling it's doing its thing and a little bit are we approving the you're just you're justy to approve the um we just need the money or the uh yeah the I I again I'm not sure what's in the budget for the money for that thing that's my only concern and does do we have a thing in here probably not I know we sent something there's a receipt for sorry a an estimate for 2873 it looks like right what is it yeah I'm also going to check on our financial software oh okay okay they want to find out how much money is left right so there are there there are two items one is the annual by annual maintenance and or three visits each year um and then there's the lighting right think I think just Blake put it on here to find some clarification on how much is in the budget so that if it's if it's going to come out of the budget and it's covered then you're fine but if it if it's over that then you'll need to figure out where it's going to come from and vote it exactly so to there's a yeah there's a budget of a thou there's a budget of a th000 bucks and we've we've spent well this was last year spent like 56 bucks so I think we got we got some money to do some back lighting I think I would imagine right are you you're checking too check really quick yeah you want an account number name Town building uh yep under Town clock it's a 001 general fund 192 5400 730 toer right it's after that 192 5400 730 I don't think we've really spent much yep is 192 5400 730 is the last three might be able to tell us what we have right now in there but this was last year's figures well no this was uh yeah this was just printed 11 122 24 so it's under general fund uh and oh yeah it's under yeah public buildings yeah if anything else got spent should be 943 yeah it's half expended oh it is okay budget expended looks like uh $ 45669 okay um so you got half that to work Qui so we'd have to transfer some money into that account I what I would I would approve the work and just uh but but P pending a quote like what you know what is it going to cost and then we can ask for a transfer at the end of the year or something like that if it's did you get the stuff that he had sent it's in the package okay oh yeah Jesus this is for lighting um but there was also a contract with the uh right the contract is for um three visits at $550 each so oh geez yeah we're not going to have enough not going to cover it no why am I not seeing it and I think that they he's already been here once because the clock stopped running and he had to come up and fix the motor I don't have the uh I don't think I have that part of my so the the plan maintenance agreement is for threeyear period looks like from July 1st 2025 to um June 30th 2028 so looks like it's a an annual visit oh I see what you're saying it's right here got it and then oh yeah then the estimates 28 2873 so um two separate things it is yeah um that's a good chunk of money I'm in I'm in favor of doing we just need to find out where we can pull the money from we can do it from you know probably from town building account but um can we just check with Brenda and yeah I mean I I don't can we just put this on the January 6th so we can do some research and figure out yeah sounds good yeah hold on that till I think January 8th is our next meeting yeah okay okay sounds good all right all right so we'll put a hold on that for the next meeting yep all right next up is the uh 58 HK Road chapter 61a um I saw that so this is again a little complicated so Christopher if you can sure and actually Greg do you want to speak to it or sorry yeah so this is um this is a property that uh has a shadow on the deed and basically just needs to be cleaned up and Karen and the Assessor's Office didn't want to uh make that kind of decision she thought that was a select board decision it really um the the property was taken out or it was put in 61a back in 1989 taken out of chapter 61a in 1992 and has been taxed at full value ever since so there's no roll back and there's you know basically the um the substance of of a first rer refusal at this point is has there's really nothing there to support it um because they have been paying full full taxes for over about 30 years um when was it taken out of in 1992 and the back taxes were paid at that time that yes and all the so all the um all the taxes have been paid the only well I should say the uh the tax been paid up until it's it's in tax title at this point for 2024 yes corre so you know actually it's in the town's interest to uh just say I would say vote to lift the lean because there's there's really no substance Bild lean at this point yeah uh and it would just clear clean up the uh the deed and allow them to uh to make the sale and then we can actually get any taxes that are owed do we just curious do we know are they looking to sell it for building or it does have a building on it so it's a portion of it was put in the 61a at this point we're not even sure 17 it's like 17 acres and I it's a nice chunk of land yeah and there is there is a house on it already so it's I think I think the intent was to fix up the the existing house yeah yeah so this is this is really just a deed cleanup so that they can sell it okay so uh the request you're looking for a um motion to say we are lifting the lean yes to release the lean so make a motion to um release the lean a first right of ref first right of refusal under chapter 61a section 14 um for the property at have an address here I don't 58 HK Road 58 HK Road thank you second um any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Kilmore I Tim Hil I all right um can you one of you talk to the Chris Curtis uh MVP coordinator contract extension sure so um Chris Curtis has been our MVP coordinator obviously for a few years um I believe this contract is specifically in regards to the green infrastructure grant that we received that is funding um you know the ly lot um a tree box filter up in Old Deerfield as well as the de green uh entryway um that work um done right well so those three projects are essentially concluded at this point um and I'm trying to remember had something else in the contract yeah it was basically something it was It was kind of an extension that he was trying to work out with Casey because uh the the original MVP Grant was extended and so he needed to uh basically um correct the the contract as it existed so that he also had it extended because it's supposed to run through June of next year yeah the the 2.0 was a two-year contract mute that Paul we've already gone through uh the item with the clock and basically uh we're going to do it on January 8th because we have to look at funding can you hear me yeah you're muted now um I'm here I'm here now okay I'm still in Springfield so okay that's that's no problem we're going to we're going to do it on January 8 because uh again that the what's in the budget doesn't coincide with what you're requesting so we have to look at money sources we so we're gonna address it on the eth okay I'll tell Sean January 8 he'll go back to the BOS okay okay all right I appreciate it thank you sorry for being late no worries than you so have a good night thank you you too byebye have a good party I thought we just thank you did a contract for him yes that was for the MVP 2.0 this is for the uh the past one this is not new this is nothing new this is just basically an extension for but we'd be extending another 6,500 bucks plus another 6,000 plus another 8,712 bucks yeah I'd actually want to take a another look at this because the copy I saw was a little bit different than what we have here in the backet yeah this is 31,000 $527 can is there a chance we can table that to the next meeting so we can get a little more information on that I see I see it's it's just allowing to inv what's okay because it's going to run out we just love to know what that number is how much is left to invoice how much we left yeah if we can get that we could yeah so we'll we'll take it up on January 8th that's fine good okay so the next um item is uh important in the sense that we want to make sure that our arpa funds are secured under contract so uh we meet the requirements of the law so that by December 31st all of our arpa spending will be um accounted for so um do you want to take us through this Christopher yeah sure um and hat tip to Chris Nolan our former assistant Town Administrator uh you know they're working through some of the same issues in monteu as many communities are right now where you may have some arpa funds that were allocated by your select board um that have not are not necessarily under contract with a specific vendor just yet um and of course you have to have them under contract in some form by the 31st of December and then you have an additional two years after that to actually spend that money um KP law so not our Council but other communities Council issued an opinion on this um and essentially the US Treasury has found that agreements between a select board and a town department will qualify as um obligating contracts um so the idea here is simply to take uh essentially a template contract from the US treasury's website um and you know obligate These funds that we still have remaining on a couple projects which include um permitting software um dump truck body and a couple other projects as well um where the funds again have not are not necessarily under contract with a vendor at this point but uh will be soon enough and of course we're just trying to to meet that uh requirement to obligate the funds yes which is by December 31st yep so um scribers there there's a robber wall and um missing a te at the end but we won't worry about that it's correct in other places where he has to sign so um so I'd make a motion then to um approve 13,861 44 in Sr sfrf funds for um permitting software into the building department second second oh sorry any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hil I um like I said this is as Christopher explained it's pretty much just um covering yep uh is the next one is the ler lot so that's the building department that we're going to be DPW DPW yeah okay so I'll make a motion to um pass through to the building department no more than $131,900 46 in sfrf funds for um it's the highway department right yeah Highway Department y to the DPW yeah yep um I'll second that motion any further discussion hearing none all those in favor chair McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hil I again this is to the DPW um this is uh storm damage repair storm damage repair from uh 2023 I believe um I make a motion to pass through to the DPW no more than 42323 33 31 in slf frf funds uh related to storm damage second second all right quick Blake Blake got it Blake Blake got it um any further discussion all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hil I 18 we have two more the 1888 y okay and this again is to the town Highway DPW Deerfield Public uh Department of Public Works um I make a motion that pass through to the DPW no more than $637,500 in slrf funds for uh expenses related to the 1888 project second second oh you got that one uh any further discussion hearing none all those in favor CH McDaniel I Blake Blake Gilmore I Tim hilchie I there just more of these yep one more okay think two more two more and this again is to the DP W make a motion to pass through to the DPW no more than one $1 17,94wh is also to the Deerfield Department of Public Works I make a motion that the local government will pass through to the DPW no more than $ 6,587 189 in sfrf funds for um expenses related to a purchase of a sander dump body second uh any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hill all right so that's done nice are we um protected that money are we going to talk about Rice's fairy tonight or sure I'm I'm happy to speak to it um so so I've drafted a letter that's before you um you know uh a resident has petitioned to discontinue a portion of Rice's fery Road uh this portion is east of uh River Road and sits between River Road and the Connecticut River um there's no visible Road there at this time um however a surveyor that the resident employed um you found evidence that the the road there was never formally discontinued uh and so this resident has petitioned to have that done uh because it was a county road laid out by Franklin County in roughly 1810 um they have to go through the furog executive committee uh to have the decision made they've gone through two meetings at this point uh or hearings rather in regards to this discontinuance and have continued each hearing uh because they want to hear from the town on this matter um I think I mentioned previously I I you know I felt it was in the town interest not to weigh in too deeply here but given that there's uh no foreseeable conclusion uh without us weighing in um you know just put forward the opinion that there's a fairly high standard to discontin New Road um there's opposition from one of the abutters who actually stands to gain uh property acreage uh if the road is discontinued nonetheless he opposes it and uh our open space committee has also been interested in in maintaining the layout of that road um for access to the river so at this time you know I you know whether or not this board wants to submit this letter to the furog executive committee um you know it's um you know my thought that we don't want to weigh in on the status of the road simply that uh discontinuance is the standards for it are not met in this case yeah I like so do we we feel that's sufficient to forestall furog from will we be in attendance at this meeting so I I'm going to submit this letter if if the the board moves forward with it uh to uh Bob Dean who's with the executive committee um and is actually their director of Municipal Services rather uh and facilitates these uh Road discontinuance petitions okay so do we I make a motion to approve that letter and um or at the Town stance at this at this moment explained it well second agree with that any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim hilry I all right um so you want to take us through the appointments uh Christopher while we're signing sure uh yeah so the first one on here is appointing Austin igleheart as uh wiring inspector alternate I'm not sure if Austin is here tonight yeah he is um Austin you want to come on down and I'll just mention that um you know Austin was contacted by I Believe by our building inspector um after we heard that uh Wayne Shaw our regular uh wiring inspector had fallen ill um so we're you know obviously Wayne's in our thoughts um but we did want to make sure that you know we have the ability to to undertake the electrical inspections that we from time to time need to so Austin welcome and uh if you could just speak to the board a little bit about your qualifications I'm sure they'd love to hear good evening good evening um do you guys do any of you have any specific questions first I'd like to apologize for making you it through this yeah had I known we could have or ask I I wasn't aware I I saw you there and I didn't recognize you and I should have you know we how long you been in the business um I've been running my own company for about four years and then prior to that I was employed with a variety of electrical contractors in the area yeah and then did my schooling of course to get my license I currently hold my Master's license very good um and we're based out of py so we're local nice yeah I feel good about that thank you yeah no that's great um and will this be like an on call basis or I'm not sure how that works right so uh you know for the moment we've been Bob and I have been talking about um you know what we need to do to make sure that the inspections continue to proceed even though the way Wayne's unavailable um you know we should have some more information on that fairly soon um I think in this case with the alternate uh you know Austin if you're amenable to to handling things while Wayne is is laid up that would be appreciated um and we'll try and make sure there's some way to get in touch with you and and make sure you're available um okay yes I'd be willing to perform any capacity as needed that's wonderful than thank you for stepping up we really appreciate it have known way in a little while and unfortunately he's has a few things he's trying to take care of yeah yeah so thank you very much I'd make a motion to approve second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I thank you so much Tim Hil I appreciate it thank you thank you so much for helping us out appreciate it problem yeah look forward thank you Austin uh and then the the next series of appointments are for me uh and you know in my new capacity as Town Administrator um you know previously um you know the Town Administrator served as the at Ada coordinator an alternate on the U you know on furog uh Personnel Board ex officio and then also the capital Improvement planning committee and I would just note you know I will also of course be attending finance committee meetings um but there's no need for a formal appointment to that committee did you take a deep swallow when you read that real list I went well you know I've I've already been uh it I've been already been doing the Personnel Board that's for sure and the furog that's just an alternate so you know fingers crossed and don't have to do that no I'll try not to get sick yeah stay healthy stay healthy Trevor that's right Greg Greg can handle it for both of us exactly right we know how this is done I uh so did you make a motion or I would make a motion to approve um the appointment for um Chris ER dun Town Administrator on uh the various positions that he listed second the pile of stuff that he listed any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim hilchie I and I do thank you for the time it takes to do all that yeah it's good when you're when you're efficient hopefully it won't take much of of your attention well compensate you I think you already have I think that was the last meeting I know yeah we gladly pay you tomorrow for a hamburger today yeah exactly all right um Personnel Board ex official Capital Comm okay correspondence oh actually it looks like we we missed um one item the colas oh rural development I see that letter here right is that yep yeah sure what is this um so this is the uh and sorry I'm going to make sure we have the right right right copy yeah so we we skipped over a couple things actually um well I claim sickness oh yeah no that's okay no no I got it it was I just was trying to find this one but yeah uh so moving back to item 7 I uh so deerfields Rural Development Fund contract so this is the uh the grant funded project um with weightly uh looking at Road and Wastewater connections uh between the two industrial parks um and just need a basically authorization for for me to sign those contracts make a motion to approve the Town Administrator sign the contracts for the grant program second any further discussion okay what's this for sure uh so uh I'll back up a little bit prove this already but we maybe just not the we talked about it when we got the Grant and now the paperwork is finally rolled in so this is for the grant yeah yeah it's a $100,000 Grant uh with DPC and a trff consultant to look at you know Road and Wastewater connections between the two industrial parks yep so I think I made that motion yeah second it's been second yeah it's been seconded um any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim hilry I we haven't heard anything on the srf Grant from or not Grant but Loan program from the state yet uh mid December now have not heard anything uh I do have to reach out to DPC on some other matters they've seen anything or if any other communities have gotten a letter really love to know about that you Trevor were going to reach out to a contractor company and yes have you and Christopher made any progress we discussed that um so uh lllo construction came up and looked at the project um nobody said anything to him he went to the embankment looked at it and he said this is 400,000 all day long just to connect the two but he said you really should upgrade the pipe and get a bigger pipe in there but for now just he said he would have to come down and build a landing halfway down the embankment he doesn't think you'd be able to hook on to that pipe he doesn't know what the condition is out there the other part other problem is is that if he can't hook onto the pipe going up the hill you can attach a pipe to that um man hole so you'd have to replace the manhole which was part of the plan to begin with but so we said you know 3 to 400,000 to start and then he said if you were going to upgrade the pipe to the correct size or a new size not the correct size but just if you were going to upgrade it it's about 2 million bucks so I said well we need somebody else to come up and look at it so we wrote a letter to DPC and requesting to see if balazar could come up CU those are really the two and entities that we've worked with in the past doing pipe work and um they know what they're doing so um we just love to have them come up do the same thing just not tell them anything just look at it what do you see what would you do what would the cost be okay so that's in the works that's in the works yep what else did I forget uh cost of living adjustments that's right um who's on purpose so uh on Mond Day evening um I submitted my recommendation to the Personnel Board for a cost of living adjustment I believe you guys have the memo in your packet um and uh which page of the budget is this on agenda is this on I it is on it's on the second page and it's item 7j J what did I just happily checking off things like were done okay oh you checked it up yeah again well will'll blame the the bug so don't worry about it um wait a minute I don't see a j there's no J there is no J I didn't pass it over okay well here use my all right I saw it on somebody's but but I didn't see the I didn't see the recommendation in the letter so yeah oh there it is yeah yep so and just as as context um so traditionally we've used the the Northeast consumer price index for the last 12 months uh to determine what a reasonable Colo would be um in this case the Northeast uh region was at 3.7% um if you zoom in much of that or excuse me it was at 3.5% if you zoom in much of that is actually the Mid-Atlantic region at 3.77% New England had a smaller um CPI um of um 3.1% MH and then just looking at you know communities around us and what they're doing in terms of cola U which has kind of been between 2.5 and 4% um I recommended 3% and the Personnel Board uh put that forward as well so this is going to come up in our budget discussions no doubt correct and U and we need to re oh I'm sorry go ahead we and we do really need to kind of give guidance guidance so that as people are building their budgets that they build to this you know a number and then you know usually vote it later but I I don't see the harm so what Personnel Board what we did was just for the purposes of budget development and then you know exactly say what it is and so that will enable the direction but exactly so that will enable me to send out a letter tomorrow to the department saying here's what you know anticipate y ex and then we look at the at the end we're like uh can we you know we discuss it for the next three months and say uh do we have to go back did we but I think um so you're going to issue a if we approve this you're going to issue a letter for the purposes of budget development exactly use this figure for initial discussions does that make sense to you Blake does I and I will mention just real quick I know because Jennifer had to get her budget out a bit quicker she ended up using 2.5% and so we'll just need to adjust that a bit yeah exactly I know she had other towns that were looking for it um so I I would recommend this to I think it's been you know as everybody knows it's been a hard couple of years um but I feel like we're back down into the normal range but looking at just different um positions around and comparing them to other surrounding communities similar to our size and scope and um you know it looks like the three to there's stuff out there at five you know different different um different negotiations with you know around the state but I think in this area uh three is is um probably reasonable it just the two and a half kills US every year because you're always like digging a hole and I don't know when that will ever change on the state level but um three seems to be more it's good for guidance and then we'll just have to look at it a little bit later but I'm good with that so I I would do you need a motion or just a recommendation really bu consensus consensus seems fine what's your guys consensus do you in that same um you made a motion I'll second it as long as it's advisory it was just a uh yeah well I'll make a motion for an advisory um recommendation to send out a letter of guidance of 3% Cola yeah so second on that um any further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hil I I I just want to know what Elon Musk is going to tell us to do cut 50% yeah do you is there more to sign there is no well this one is the entertainment license for Tre oh gotcha I didn't want to mix it we haven't come back to that yet have we The Treehouse discussion yeah and um what's your thought it is complicated so I'll I'll give you a little synopsis here um and I I will I regret to say that the Massachusetts legislature's website is down so we can't actually look at the Statue course it is um maybe call Lifeline or something right I um you know honestly at the at the State House yeah can we sign this to the um oh we still have more to do sign those inside ones H I don't know if Trevor sign inside no I didn't or did I oh okay um so so and again KP law has some guidance around these kinds of entertainment licenses select boards can place reasonable conditions on those entertainment licenses with respect to noise the issue here is obviously we don't have those conditions yet right we were planning to have that conversation with Treehouse council did outline a couple other options um for you know you know interacting with um engaging in interactive process with Treehouse around the noise issue um I know they want to and they want to help in the middle of doing this not like they're not going to and I think um it's sort of incumbent on us to issue that entertainment license given that it's they need to function need to be able to function and and revocation of one is there's actually a pretty high bar for doing that and I don't think we're at that point of course correct no yeah we're so I would recommend approving it right now and then um with the discussion on record obviously our main concern is the time of the concerts how late they are how loud they are and really the for me it's the inter interfering with the school and the kids trying to get to sleep on a on a you know Wednesday night so and I think their plan is already to adjust around their calendar around that school schedule um but right yeah there's some other way to they're going to they're going to work with us anyways I know that so theyve they've been great Partners all the way through so I know it's been frustrating for some but the question I have and you may have discussed this because I was signing papers but is there a way that we can make this conditional in other words we approve this in condition with under the condition that we have a discussion about uh some of the events that have been problematic I'm mut no yeah so I don't think we can make it conditional on conditions that we're going to come up with at a future date so um and let you know you could say conditional on you know compliance with all local regulations with respect to noise and then you know obviously that that is uh you know what those regulations are if they're more specific than what we already have in our bylaws and what and what they already have in their special permit um you know that's that's to be determined um is there any uh is there any reason why we can't wait until January 8th and get further guidance from the lawyers I mean there's there's no there's no chance that I mean I'm just curious they're they're doing uh yeah well they're doing concerts probably inside so right and they be out of compliance I think I don't know if it would I think it would probably just set like the wrong message you know what I mean I do feel like they're I have no I have no issue with the their willingness to work town it's um right it's it's the people we work with that I have no doubt about the one of the owners yeah you know I don't know the person and I you know and and one of the corporate counsel I don't know that person and I've heard from other people that they can be difficult MH um so what's your advice Christopher so there were you know two other uh potential options if you know we feel like there needs to be some kind of enforcement mechanism for after we have a conversation about noise and timing of noise um the entertainment license was one option but there are other options like you said and that as well yep so so I think I would recommend that you just issue the the license at this time I would too okay so um I move that we approve an annual entertainment permit for Treehouse Brewing second that motion further discussion hearing none all those in favor Trevor McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim Hill and we already have a public hearing on the 14th you said or whatever it is yeah yep a feedback session great yeah not a hearing but just a yeah right it's a better term but I know that they definitely um they want to work with us and and I know they've already adjusted some calendar and so we'll we'll get through this for sure okay so now are we are we at a correspondence I think we're out of Correspondence unless you count the oranges our lawyers sent us yeah I know what about Levy limit stuff or is that later what's the levy limit this tax oh that's yeah I can address that under my uh uh updates yeah so we can move to my update so yeah first of all uh the do turned around the tax rate very quickly uh so we have our tax rate set don't we need to sign off on that every year I have to go in and sign off on the DOA they seem to have made some kind of changes to DLS gway we don't have to go in and remember the password and find and sign the wrong they probably just got sick a deal with small towns like us not remembering our passwords that's that's that's the government moving forward for you sorry Holly what you saying is we don't have to advertise this anymore you're not speaking into the mic sorry apologies I'm hogging the mic here microphone sorry um put that on the budget for next year so that's all set um just a couple quick updates on some ongoing projects uh Still Water Bridge replacement um so Greg has been helping out setting up some interviews with impacted Property Owners um as is required and uh we're also going to be seeking some quotes for a survey of the mitigation land that's been identified for the article 97 um land that's being taken for the bridge footings essentially um so that that project is moving forward uh landfill solar um quick update uh we're still waiting on an amendment from Council um but one of the next steps on that is going to be having the planning board um there's some specific Mass General law they need to comply with but essentially the the goal is to merge two Parcels that the landfill sits on um so that the solar project can proceed so more to come on that I did want to just highlight we have oh sorry Trevor y there was something I read about solar stuff uh that was something was changing and uh I was I don't know if you read that well I can say when this project came up at CCI the other night ma uh Swedeland from our energy committee brought up um you know essentially that some the incentives are drying up and and things like that I'm not sure it has oh no it was the state state was regulating like the permitting of these things and like it was much harder for for us to do it and I didn't know if this was the size of it had something to do with the who could approve it who couldn't approve it that kind of thing I think so uh I I was reading in the paper the other day about it but I know just in general in the you know renewable energy World permitting reform is a big thing because people are realizing that's such a impediment to building these things so I think this is yeah that's unfolding on the Massachusetts level y yeah but our our project seems to be yep cruising great that's great uh just wanted to highlight really quick we have a number of job postings out there uh my former position planning and economic development coordinator uh superintendent of Public Works and I'm working with uh Brenda to finalize the town accountant job posting so I'll get out there as well so we can have her train up the next Brenda that' be great I know I'm yeah I was going to um nightmares suggest that the um there's going to be three different screening committees and um someone made a good suggestion about uh DPW that um we might consider asking uh Bill hildr to be a participant in the screening committee and I was thinking that it might be since there's three of them it might be an opportunity and I and I don't feel strongly about this but um having each select board member sit on a different screening committee and just to get that experience but I don't feel strongly about it so um but Bill would be a good addition I think absolutely yeah okay we don't have to decide that tonight no yep okay yeah so for for um all of those positions we were looking at um January at some point doing you know uh narrowing down the candidates and doing interviews okay um really quick on the 1888 building uh a Revis site plan for that project will be going before the planning board looks like January 6th uh that's their first Monday in in January meeting and then also uh I an application for a height variance will be going before the zoning board of appeals uh on January 16th for that building yes because the new building is uh because of the elevator yeah it has to be over 35 ft okay well we've got enough Fire Equipment now to to reach it we can handle it we can well and the other good thing is that it's uh it's still going to be lower than the existing building right correct yep and in fact as the the renderings have shown not even visible from certain angles on the street so yeah um really quick uh on the L lot um you know things are up and running shout out to Greg for doing a fantastic job with the EV charging equipment there and getting our rat set are they working they're working I had a couple people go and say oh I can't get it to work and I don't know what's going on they definitely before the rates were set some people were confused by not having to pay and that's totally understandable so now you go there pull in what slip your credit card in and plug it in and it works well I mean uh one one is charge point and they they have a different operating system the the highspeed Chargers have a swipe swipe and pay you don't have have an account a credit card probably a debit card so and have you done it you just your card and then you plug it in and it just goes you don't have to touch anything else okay that's great and Greg mentioned that seen a huge uptick in 15 days in the amount of usage so great like what was your you were saying like in the first 15 days was like yeah I I I think we're going to see some significant Revenue the town it's uh I mean the at this point the charge points this um this month has only bought in about $48 and the level three aels of is well over 500 so great it could be you know upwards of a th000 on those a month and it could grow that's helpful to pay the structure and the cost and stuff yeah and once they get established is right people know they're reliable and they're there so are you are you going to go over tax rates do already like when did this H when did this happen oh that question CH on that is there signage that's saying that those machines are out there like even five and 10 or even yeah so Mass DOT was actually very helpful in getting signage up pretty much uh right before the ribbon cutting um so actually there's signage on 91 on 116 5 and 10 um and Elm Street and uh North Main I guess I better look because I've been driving those it's just a standard EV charging signage and and of course we already had some so we that sign some signage was already out there but they added additional signage but when I ask my Tesla for you know chargers near me um the the L lot comes up and it gives you the it tells you like it's 250 kwatt um which is the highest that's level three and then it tells you that there are other chargers that are less rapid H that's good got when was the tax hearing was it the night I oh you were out for the tax classification here I missed that okay yeah and and what was the rate uh 1325 and that's down it's down but of course property Valu went I get it yeah we've dealt with this everybody's like oh my tax roof and I get they are but your house is worth more so um but yeah so I that's that's down quite a bit over last year no 60 cents 60 cents yeah but the um the median was it median or average it's always average and I always want the median but I only have the mean so yeah so in any case the the uh the average home is in the 440,000 range is that correct do we know how much and it was know an increase of uh 4% total of about $240 yep okay thank you that that's what I was looking for all right and there's obviously some confusion out there because people think Treehouse doesn't pay taxes in town and um but I just wanted to say that in fy2 24 their uh real estate taxes alone not en counting the food tax was um approximately $112,000 you know what doesn't pay taxes a charter school and you have to pay for all the transportation to that school yeah yeah and uh and also that uh new Pro doesn't pay taxes but of course new Pro does pay taxes it's just and that they'll slowly be working into their full tax uh so I'd like us to actually ask the assessor to give us a 10-year plan to when they get through their whole um doesn't have to be numbers because obviously that's going to change with valuations but um the 10-year period and what they currently paid would be helpful just to have on hand sure so when people ask we can provide them the information that was that was actually uh turning around pretty quick because by the time they got built and that kind of thing right I mean the first to the town the first two years worked out well because those were the highest tax incentives right and you know now they're down into the 60% range or maybe 70 uh and and in five years they'll be paying 80% of their expected tax and they bringing in a lot of good well-paying jobs I mean it's that's the goal of that whole thing it's a beautiful looking building on the the the property the RFP for the property G out y so I uh I sent that over to Laura Phelps the chief procurement officer with furog um she's she's figuring out where it could be on their schedule essentially um and so we agreed to reconvene on that in the new year I also just let new Pro know they were working on it because they've been they've been eager to see something from the town on it so so they're in the loop as well good wonderful thank you thank you um really quick did want to just finish talking about the L lot sorry I know we're probably all trying to get out of here at this point um so and I just got to pull up my notes here um we did get approached we're closing out the Federal grant um and we did get approached by mot um they are they are interested in in taking over um operations and maintenance of at least the level three charging and this is sort of an interesting development um the reason reasoning on their side um partially to meet nevi requirements the national EV incentives program but also because they want to get their feet wet with some of the reporting requirements um around these these uh stations um so very very prelim preliminary at this point they've just reached out about it um essentially the way it looks like it would work is that they have state contracts with um developers who who operate these sites um and so you know would be one of these handful of developers they have on tap um so something that still needs a lot more discussion and thought but uh just wanted to mention that Mast doot had reached out in regards to that and when they say operate what does that do to the revenue well it's that's right we got to talk about exactly how this would all work yep because it doesn't seem like it's a heavy lift to approve bills on a monthly basis but maybe they're willing to pay us for the experience we do have Park Street Conway Street and Sho Street to work on so we're we're we're talking about all sorts of things so yeah thank you so more to come on that front y so the other thing that the question I had on this is that we would have contact with these vendors if we had issues especially in emergency situation yep so so the way they put it is so you know communities often have an onm contract with M do for traffic signals for example um and so you could right into that agreement something about you know what our contact level with the the uh developer is um they may also be interested in the level twos but we just don't know yet so very early days Greg and I will be meeting with them in early January um so more to come and then I did just want to plug uh Chris Nolan and I are get the band back together and and doing a presentation on the L lot at uh MMA this year so Fant Saturday Saturday show up and I'll be there put on the Deerfield shirt bring my hard hat yeah yeah fantastic so uh you know more details to come but uh that should be that should be a good one super proud and then um super proud and then last what's that yes thank you absolutely yeah well it's Mo I mean I always say Chris Nolan really deserves a lot of it so um and then just lastly uh bloody Brook sugar left Brook uh the MVP project we had our kickoff meeting I believe earlier this week or was it last week it's all it's all a blur blur anyway went well um GZA and fgs are going to be doing great work on this and um we do have a public event for this project coming up on January 29th in the evening so that's one of our off Wednesdays okay um so just to kind of put a plugin for that as well has everybody booked their stuff for you all set to go to the MMA no I still you still got to do your thing I still got to get my thing done but you're registered you just got to get accomodation right I mean if everything's full we can just we can commute from the cap yeah we do that all the time anyway so it's not a big deal for us you I'm sure you can find something close yeah all right anything else that's all for now take a motion to adjourn make a motion I'll second that motion uh any further discussion all those in favor Char McDaniel I Blake Gilmore I Tim we're not going to see anybody holiday yeah well happy holidays everyone merry happy enjoy all the different holidays you celebrate New years's New Year's y thank you for everything everybody's done this year it's been a great year thanks for coming folks recording stop