22nd 2024 is Wednesday and is at 4:15 p.m. and we're at Oldtown Hall 1111 Somerset Avenue dayon Mass this is the town of Dion's Board of selectman's regular U meeting this meeting is being recorded the listing of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the chair which may be discussed at the meeting not all items listed May in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law this is a revised the original posting was on May 20th 2024 at 4:04 p.m. we have a call to order please mark Pico present and Peter Karen present uh Nikki will be here at 6:00 uh can we all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and then we uh please continue standing we have a moment of silence right after please I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all we had three residents pass away this week and uh we just like to take a moment to recognize them uh Robin Dart Jack Rigo and Lorraine thean thank you P selectman have a list of 12 questions uh that we're going to ask uh and uh do you have any questions about those Mark you want me to start our meeting yes please the [Applause] agenda okay hello everyone today is Wednesday March 22nd 2024 it is 4:25 p.m. and this meeting is going to be recorded to be published on YouTube call to order Patrick McGovern present all presid silence okay okay okay we have the second have questions that we have a list of 12 that we'd like to ask I understand the Board of Health has their own questions which most them are duplicated so we'll try just to avoid those at all uh so that we don't waste everybody's time so uh barara kabi is at 4:30 hi Barbara how are you how you feeling good um and at this point I'll let the uh chairman from Board of Health take over for his questions just says like a moment of procedure like like your F Mr chairman can just approve review and approve any of the questions that the is ask just so we have those really solidified at the beginning okay um would you be amenable to striking a couple cuz uh 12 is kind of a lot is there a couple that we can strike off of this maybe get a to 10 uh sure 13 uh the last question is just if if they have any questions for us so you want to strike 12 or two in general if we could strike two other you know yeah the numbers do you want strike I I'm open to suggestions so the um number four is we kind of have that also um for number 11 so I think we could you know that they're kind of similar okay so I think we could strike number four sure okay and I I I don't care which other one I'm happy just striking that okay um and then my only other question is at our last meeting during our update we talked about interviewing and then um taking it under advisement but um I just want to know I see it on the agenda to a point is is the goal to app point tonight I believe so we were going to originally call on references but uh Paul made a good point that the only references we're going to get are ones that would be positive anyway we actually did call oh you already called on them yeah okay great so yes I I believe we should make make a decision this evening okay and is there are you guys okay with striking four and with the list as presented I'm okay you okay with that sure yeah we're just looking for any duplicates in between both of them I think um the five that you have or six is is in the um list that we have yeah and just before we approve my last question is how do you guys want to tackle this you each want to do one question and kind of just rotate yeah okay all right so with all that said I'd make a motion to approve the interview questions as presented and to strike uh question four okay I'll step down as chair and second that any um discussion all those in favor I and pet car is an i one question Peter y Jim's on the interview committee also should he be up here sure Jim can you come up here Jim do you have a list of the questions I do hey baba you're up sure come on up I'm going to start off babra since uh we're all here and really doesn't matter who goes first um one of the first questions that we have is why do you want to be a member of the Board of Health well I never wanted to leave you never wanted to leave I never wanted to leave and you know I just physically couldn't do it because of my health but it's been a year and a half and I'm feeling a lot better to started taking care of my horses 100% this week so um I really would like to get back on and see what I can do sure because the solid waste committee you know when I was in we really started that yeah and I think that's a big help to this town okay thank you okay hi hi Mark what do you see as the issues facing the Board of Health I think it has to get more in line with the town as a whole it seems like it it's kind of separate and branching off more communication I think with the rest of the town and the boards in town thank you now three Was An approved question yes hi B hi hun as indicated in the job description this position is responsible as a member of a threers board to provide leadership policy direction to the staff of the of the health department describe your leadership philosophy and how this philosophy would inform your approach in addressing these issues facing Board of Health My Philosophy is I think the Board of Health overseas and makes some decisions but I also think it really has to coordinate time with the clerks and the inspector and has to work everybody has to work together it it just can't be um people button heads we've got to all work together all coordinate to get this done thank you okay hi barara hi how do you work to support employees describe your approach to doing this with the Board of Health state could you repeat the beginning my ears are clogged because of sinuses sorry I'm a little horse how do you work to support employees describe your approach to doing this with the board of health staff well as you know I've had hundreds of kids on the farm I've had a lot of people work for me in construction in the snow and ice and I've always felt I choose not to tell them what to do I ask them them what to do or advise them what to do and I feel you get more of a feedback from the people you're working with that way sometimes if you demand too much they're just going to stop and they're not going to do anything and you have to listen to who you're working with you can't just decide it's going to be this way we have to go by laws and regulations but we have to work together there's no to waste about this okay P hi Barbara hi thank you for coming tonight thank you um do you have any management or budgeting experience yeah um like I said hundreds of kids have worked on the farm quite a few people have worked in snow and ice and construction the construction I've worked with maybe seven or eight towns around I'm also tile 5 inspector so I have to know all those rules and regulations I was an installer um I processed butternut squash for Stop and Shop for 35 years I have race horses and I work with their train is very closely um and of course snow and ice you have to work with the state the contracts and everything that goes along with it thank you barara uh we know that you've been on the board of health before and um Mark wasn't here when you were on the board of health right but um so we're asking you to just describe your past experiences with the board in or the Massachusetts Department of Health uh for everybody else who wasn't here when you were here um you want the story sure I talked to Tommy Pyers about actually it was the kennel license I didn't agree that they wanted to charge $11,000 and then he and a couple of the selectman said well why don't you run for the empty seat and I said I don't want to get into politics that's never been my thing I believe I have a company I had three companies in town it would be too much of a battle getting in I just don't want people saying oh she's at this position so she gets this done um so I came on board and I believe my second meeting or the first meeting I got up and there were three seats and I asked our inspector back then Todd I'm like do I sit at that end or this end and he says well why don't you just sit in the middle you to be chaming I go oh no I'm not I I don't know anything about these meetings or anything and you guys you gave me a life jacket now you're going to throw me off the boat and within two months I was chairman good I really got thrown into it and was quite a learning experience um and I feel I did a good job I feel I was open to a lot of things and um like I said Solid Waste is one of the best things we did good okay thank you okay please describe your experience with Title 5 and septic systems and if you hold or previously held any licenses such as Inspector or installer I am a Title 5 inspector I've been an inspector for 25 years on Title 5 installer um I always helped Lenny so that was 48 years and then I started pulling my install license because back then you didn't really need an installers license and um I pulled my installers license work with the engineers work with the inspectors work with our providers and um oh I say we've done maybe 300 septic installations over the years if not more actually I don't keep track makes me feel too old thank you are you next year I think so um this position may require fair and unbiased application of Public Health statutes regulations policies and bylaws enforcement may become a problem with some establishments homeowners businesses Etc what skills do you have that would enable you to effectively deal with residents or business owners who do not agree with you um business owners I work with plenty of them in the three businesses we had and a large part of it was with homeowners installing septics getting special grants for them um and being a go between between the town and the homeowner so everybody it's everything installation is smooth we don't have big problems where someone doesn't understand how much this was or why we had to put the septic in a certain area and also working with all the engineers that's how I learned to reprints was kind of thrown at me like there's a print and this is this and you know learning on the job thank you you're welcome okay although extremely rare individuals appointed to the Board of Health members must make a commitment to be available for emergencies or other circumstances that require their prompt attention do you feel there's enough flexibility in your schedule to be able to meet this commitment definitely definitely 24/7 I'm available I'm used to being uh you know when the state calls and says we want you down here in half an hour with 17 trucks you move and same with Farm it's 247 so I am so used to that phone call in the middle of the night it doesn't affect me at all um so some of this youve you've mentioned before but there are a couple other things in here um so there are many facets of Public Health that are outlined in the job description that require a basic understanding of food protection public health emergency preparedness community sanitation minimum housing standards Animal Control storm water landfill management swiming pools and septics um please describe any experiences you may have now or have held in the past I me we talked about septics septics yes we did quite a few septics um I also had a food trailer a very large food trailer um I I think it was 7 towns I had licenses in for the food trailer so I'm very familiar with that it was a large food trailer it wasn't a little teeny one um I had five people working for me on that basically um I've done a little bit of everything so that covers a lot of ground and and and what I don't know I try to look into like I keep taking classes yeah uh to you know upgrade the title five great thank you okay this last question is a little wor so I'm not even going to bother uh just can you describe your leadership philosophy the what your leadership philosophy is is basically what I said I like to work with my employees yep I don't get me wrong um I can be very firm at times I think you all know that um but I I want to give them a chance I always and I feel it really benefits your company when you have an employee that feels comfortable with coming forward and saying why don't we try this and it's 99% of the time yeah that's a great idea let's do it let's try it sure because you know it's plowing snow and there's a blizzard comeing you're like let's try this or let's try this or we can't go fast enough it's coming down on us Y and the same with Legion Fields so many times you have to change the plans once you get on site and you have to be able to coordinate with the inspector with the engineer with your operator you have to coordinate everything it's not just go in and boom bang and do it no and everyone is different every single one is different okay great how long were you on the Board of Health for I think it was about a year and a half year and a half okay I think I don't know time goes way too fast for me sure uh the last question is do you have any questions for us no no how much you get paid when do you stop none of those questions well if I were lucky enough to uh when would I stop uh almost immediately oh good that's good all right that's great well thank you for coming this evening afternoon pardon pay has not changed oh that's fine that's fine I I don't worry about that okay that's good thank you guys thank you than um just one point of order just for question 12 now we got to ask everyone the same describe your leadership philosophy sure yep is um Jonathan here you have uh if you don't mind uh Mr chairman Karen can I make a point of order just a question is um chairman Pico mentioned that that Jim is on the um committee yes but the Board of Health has never voted on a hiring committee so um I was never informed that Mr Agar was going to be part of this interview process as he hasn't been part of interview processes with the Board of Health in the past so I don't know if we can say that he's part of an interview committee that was never discussed amongst the Board of Health that we were going to form a committee to hire well it was discussed between me and chairman Karen they are the ones that appoint not us so okay no they yeah you guys can be part of the appointing process I just Mr agar there's no no offense to him as his position but it wasn't it wasn't discussed that he was going to be part of this interview right I just I I was unaware so I just didn't know if you were aware cuz I was unaware I was not aware that you were unaware but we had decided uh that it was going to be a committee and the committee was made up of uh five members and Jim magia was chosen as one of those members to be uh now whether that was relayed to you apparently not yeah it definitely wasn't relayed nor was it discussed at a board of health meeting that we're going to even have a committee to fill a vant position that um I understand that we requested the selectman here just you know out of respect that you're the appointing authority and and to have a second opinion other than that the Board of Health never discussed having an interview committee okay it wasn't published or publicized either and I questioned that the other day down hall I said if you're going to have four people on the interview committee who would be the type I can vote so it was not published or publicized this is how we lose control of our meeting so we we've already interviewed a candidate um I will comment I don't think I was aware you know this is what I knew was going to happen we were all going to meet today but everyone wants to say something but we have Mr Gail here we have an appointment I'd like to uh those things we could have brought up before the first applicant I wish you said that before Barbara walked in Mr Pico mentioned that as Barbara was walking up to the podium so I I didn't have the time okay Mr Gail was walking up to the podium too though okay yeah so I didn't hear a thing all right M move on uh Mr Gail how are you pretty well thank you uh thank you for coming today we have about 12 questions to ask well 11 questions to ask you and um just going to say that we're under time constraint so just keep your answers to the questions go for it um the first question is why do you want to be a member of the Board of Health First of all I'll make it relatively simple I think um as you all know I sit on other committies in in town and once I'm on something I stay up for the Long Haul um I'm willing to ask hard questions I think if you consider that there are at least 20% of the people in the town who have some sort of a disability it's important for those folks to have a seat at the table in the Board of Health because a lot of the health issues that people with disabilities deal with do come under the purview of the Board of Health I've helped uh in other many many projects I've worked on uh projects with the state as it pertains to emergency preparedness uh for different towns I've worked to bring in pet care clinics to several different towns I have um spent quite a bit of time working on Transportation issues Mass health issues as some of you know during covid I specifically in my role as the Ada coordinator also arranged for several dozen of our Town's members to get home care visits so that they could be vaccinated properly uh I don't think the Board of Health did that at the time I took that on because no one else was doing it and I can proudly say we serve as several dozen residents who were considered homebound at the time um I did that myself my wife and I drove around and took care of what we had to do I think that the uh Board of Health needs to do more to promote the clinics that you offer such as the blood drives the vaccinations things like that I think that there needs to be more of an overview um of asking questions when things come up I think that sometimes there are a lot of things in town that this Board of Health can do and I know that through the director currently things are getting started things are starting to move along but I also think it takes people to work on the board of health who have some knowledge base of background of budgets who understand how the budgets of boards of Health work who understand how health policy and procedure should be interpreted as well I've done that for many years in my capacity so that's those are some of the reasons but I think the the other part as I said is I think I bring a Steady Hand of somebody who's willing to ask questions and look for responses and look for answers from people as well okay thank you John what do you see as the issues facing the Board of Health I think um that's a loaded question and I don't mean that sarcastically I think that there are a lot of things that the Bo of Health needs to do to make the town more aware of what it's what it can do and I'm going to go back to what I said a minute ago for example for the blood drives that the town wants to do and that our nurs is doing um the the Board of Health has issues communicating a lot of what it's requirements are to seniors to people with disability people with seniors and disability don't really know what the Board of Health does or what their responsibilities are I think more oversight needs to be looked at when it comes to what the health agent is doing as well frankly with when she goes out or he goes out and does investigations and testing and so forth so that there's you know there are so many different aspects that this covers whether it's food safety or Farm safety and I think you really need somebody who's going to ask questions of the Board of Health and hold the the health agent responsible along with the director and get answers from the director why is this this why is this the way it is and when I listen to be honest again to some of the different meetings at times what I find is that it doesn't seem at times like the accountability is there and I'm just being very Frank and honest I think the accountability for what people are doing this may not get me votes but I'm being honest the accountability needs to be there for what people are expected to do and what they should be able to provide so if you're asking me what I think the Board of Health needs I think what the Board of Health needs is a steady ship which is part part of the the the board if you will along with the director as I said that seems to be part of the process that's already be beginning through the director that's currently there thank you hi Jonathan Miss Jim y question as indicated in the job description his position is responsible as a member of a threers board to provide leadership and policy direction to the health department staff describe your leadership philosophy and how this philosophy would inform your approach in addressing the issues that we may face or help so my leadership quality or process whatever you want to look at it I come into this process like I would come into any thing knowing that there is more that I don't know than I do know which means I would be sitting down as much as possible with you to learn about what you do what your responsibilities are what your expectations are from the board members to ask you questions about things that you do how they relate to the board how they relate to Health Care policy not just procedure and going out and doing inspections but how they relate to policy and procedure so I would want to learn a lot from you I'd want to learn a lot from the other members of the board who are currently sitting as to how things not just how things are run but what are the things that they look at for expectations what are the uh some of the issues that they that they have to work on regularly for example for several meetings you guys have talked about the issue with the trash bags for several meetings you've talked about issues with billing for several meetings you've talked about other issues these are the kinds of things that I think I'd want to know more about instead of just listening to the meetings about because they're clearly issues that matter um you know with there's safety issues that matter that affect our residents when we have communal disease issues things like that um those are things that I'd want to learn more about I'd want to work more with the nurse as well for things like the the study that she does um for drug for drug enforcement and for drug abuse for people with disabilities I was on that task force for a while the only reason I'm no longer on that is because for the amount that I'm paid to do my job every month there wasn't enough hours in the day to be able to do it so working on that project is something I'd want to do as well and I'd want to take more direction as much as I could honestly from the director I think the director has the best idea at this point of what are the things that are in the fire what are the things that are coming up and my job is to listen learn and ask questions as I go so my strength is listening obviously I'd like to talk you know that you can see that but my strength is also listening and learning and not assuming what I don't know that I think I know thank you thank you okay how do you work to support employees describe your approach to doing this with the board of health staff I think the approach to supporting employees is to ask questions and listen you have to be willing to listen to what employees are telling you their responsibilities and their jobs are I don't know everything the director does I don't know everything the office manager does I don't every everything that the health agent does or all the qualifications or certifications that each of them has so I see my role as listening to what should them say they do what they're expected to do and asking questions the more I ask again you know it's a learning process it's a lifelong learning process frankly for all of us so my goal is to listen my goal is to ask questions my goal would be to offer suggestions and offer my thoughts I don't want to use the word advice advice comes six months down the road after I've hopefully been on the board for a while and I have a much better idea of what I'm talking about but in the meantime my goal is to learn and observe listen ask ask questions and honestly to be supportive there are a lot of things that come across the director's desk or the the board of Health's Das that I think you know sometimes can create a lot of controversial issues and and can lead to community you know concerns and so forth part of my job is not to lay the community conerns but to understand the issues and help the community understand what the Board of Health is doing to address those issues okay um do you have any management or budgeting experience um well first of all I taught tax law for the state for almost 20 years um so I'm very very familiar with how to interpret budgets Cherry sheets um put them together not only interpret them but how to put them together how to manage them um I've run a couple of large organizations in my past life for State I ran a program for fuel assistance which was multili do budget back in the early ' 80s which now would be a TENS of millions of dollars budget um I'm have my own corporation which I have to certainly manage my budget and put it together on a regular basis as well um I think I have quite a bit of budgetary and management experience over over the years I've worked with different programs for supporting individuals with disabilities that have budgetary constraints as well that I've had to work with in manage thank you very much you're welcome Jonathan can you please describe any past experience you have working with the local Board of Health in or the Massachusetts Department of Public Health I haven't worked directly with the local Board of Health except to attend some of the events that they've done okay um I've worked as I just alluded to a minute ago I've worked uh with the town nurse with Nicole on um the project that she's involved in to support uh Naran and testing and drugs and Drug you know use for people with disabilities so I've worked on that project I've worked um with the Board of Health on uh a lot of the covid concerns around the period of vaccination as I said earlier by setting up vaccinations for people to have inhome uh not only inhome testing but inhome vaccinations so I've done that on a local basis I have worked with um FEMA with different towns on setting up emergency preparedness I was involved in writing the legislation for FEMA for interpreting for people with the de for TTY direct emergency communication and for providing resources such as will shairs and other emergency services and I was involved in that when I was a legislative lobbyist as well great thank you please describe your experience with Title 5 and septic systems and if you hold or previously held any licenses such as Inspector or installer the answer is to the last two parts is no and no and I will say that I don't believe other members who have served either have held licenses in the past maybe they've held licenses in the past I don't know a lot about Title 5 I know what I've listened to when I've listened to some of the meetings and so forth um and it was fascinated to learn about the different kinds of sand for example that have to be uh placed under the septic systems which was really interesting because I have a septic system and I didn't realize that I always wondered why there was so much sand in the hole before they put it in now I understand why there is and what the differences are but beyond that I don't have a background in it I do know that there are a lot of issues with septic at times I I know that there are issues in where it has to be not only where it has to be placed but in my own case a situation where the septic system when they put it in wasn't quite at the level it was supposed I see roughly about 9 in below surface and it wasn't quite there so it had to be redone so I've kind of learned a little bit trial by error I know that there would be a lot to learn and a lot to listen to and I would require the the director and um any any of the inspectors to give me information on that again Board of the Board of Health members some of you I know know much more about it than I and I'd be calling on you to give me background information thank you it's Jim again yeah this position appli as fair and unbiased application of Public Health statutes regulations policies and town bylaws enforcement may become a problem with some establishments homeowners businesses Etc what skills do you have that would enable you to effectively deal with residents or businesses who do not agree with you so I jokingly say and some of you have heard me say this before and um this is not meant to be sarcastic when I have to discuss things with people and say things they don't like to hear or necessarily want to hear I jokingly say because of my official impairment I don't have to look at their faces and see the scowls and the comments and things like that and the reason I say that is because what I've learned over the years especially as somebody who's had no vision is it's really important to take an even approach towards how you have conversation with people the goal isn't to hurt anyone the goal isn't to make somebody feel bad the goal is to make people understand a decision that you have to make why you have to make the decision and the basis for the decision and I think if you can help people understand that even when they don't agree with it I there are plenty of times in my life you know I'm 69 years old I've had hundreds of times where people don't agree with the decisions that I have to make on a daily basis and part of my responsibility is to explain the process to them provide them with the backup information provide them with the resource information and if they still don't understand it explain it some more um I think some of you know from some of the things that I've been involved in even in this own Community I've put countless hours into sitting with residents to explain things that otherwise could have exploded and in essence mediated it between myself in the resident in order to avoid things escalating to complaints or lawsuits things of that nature I I mean I can't go into those but if any of you know some of the things that I've done you'd be aware that I've done that I have good success to that in my in my private practice life and I've had very good success of that in the things that I've been involved in with Town especially as an ADA coordinator there are a lot of residents that will contact me or call me and have different complaints and issues about things as an example I'm able to mediate those issues without those residents taking those complaints out of the town to the state or to the federal government my turn although extremely rare individuals appointed to the Board of Health members must make a commitment to be available for emergencies or other circumstances that require their prompt attention do you feel there's enough flexibility in your schedule to be able to meet this commitment yes I I think I live in the town um I don't I work from home for the most part I do have to travel occasionally like others do for work as well occasionally I'm out of state for work but um for the most part I'm I'm in town if I need to get somewhere I would potentially ask one of you to give me a or my wife if she's home to give me a ride if I have to get there if it's an emergency I can probably count on a police officer to give me a ride if it's a real emergency something like that I have access up and I you may I'll raise this because it can become a question my technology as some of you know speaks to me my phone talks to me my computer my laptop talks to me um everything translates to speech most of the things that you do that I see I'm able to listen to in speech um so when you post things online you post other things um technolog is not an issue as you all know I've helped create the new town website which is fully accessible as well so in terms of getting somewhere doing something yeah there might be things I visually can't see and have to have explained to me sometimes if there's something that's a visual issue but I would rely on the rest of you or others on the board whoever they might be again the health agent and the director to share that information with me um there are many fact facets of public Public Health that are outlined in the job description that require a basic understanding of food protection public health emergency preparedness Community sanitation minimum housing standards Animal Control storm water landfill management swimming pools uh please describe any experiences or trainings you had um or have held in the past I know we we've SP spoken about septic systems but anything else along those lines so most of the things that you've mentioned already and that you just mentioned some of those areas I think I've discussed m that I have background and expertise in um I am familiar with the mid minimal housing standards as well um a lot of the work that I do involves working with programs and projects for Section 8 and affordable housing and I say that specifically in terms of looking at the sanitary component around that um food safety is not one I can say I'm totally familiar with at this point I'm obviously aware of of different types of testing that need to be done for food sa safety for you know dates of expiration for how things might smell or look things like that um you know if it's a restaurant the cleanliness etc etc what you look for in the those kitchen areas those are things I certainly need to to learn more about but I think for a lot of the things that you mentioned already I the things that I've done in life I have a fairly good background at looking in a lot of those areas thank you John uh just two more questions um one of them is can you describe your leadership Philosophy for us one more time sure so my leadership philosophy I think as I said earlier is to listen first um I don't think anybody who's thinks of themselves as a leader is somebody who's a take charge kind of person you can't walk in you can't try to command an audience you can't try to tell other people what to do you have to be willing to listen you have to ask questions and that's how you learn over time by listening asking questions and learning I think you begin to have a voice and hopefully by using that voice and asking questions I don't ever want people to see me as a leader to be honest with you I want them to see me as an equal partner and if they see me as an equal partner who's asking the right questions and expecting results by the questions I asked or by things that need to happen then that makes me an equal partner um my goal is not to offend anybody my goal is to never hurt anybody I will never um again those of you who know me know that I put an enormous value on privacy and ethics um I have to in the work that I do pr privately so I put an enormous value on privacy and ethics that means that I don't take what I hear uh as hearsay I don't go out and have conversations with others that's highly inappropriate um and I have you know not just because this is the Board of Health but for anything I do I have a lot of respect for that value of you know Integrity that it's gotten me for 69 years of my life I'm not going to stop it now sure and do you have any questions for us I don't honestly have too many questions I I would I I would I would probably ask the chair of the Board of Health at this point specifically what are you looking for in somebody what's your expectation of the person who you choose uh we're just looking for somebody that bring knowledge to the table and can be reasonable somebody that you know is willing to listen to different things and we can come up with an a good solution we don't need anybody that is going to just have their own idea and say well that's our way my way or no way we want to do this as a team and I think I would ask the same question of the director of the Board of Health what's the kind of person that you're looking for I think the chairman and I feel similar the only thing that um concerns me and it sort of comes through in some of these questions is dayon has evolved where they have now put a director in charge of the daily operations of the Department MH um I think the Board of Health has to evolve if that's the direction they want to go so there needs to be more communication between um departmental staff the board but quite frankly I was luing to engage in any of those discussions until we had a full board so that we could all work together as the chairman said as a team so I think we still have some work that needs to be done but I do think as you said earlier we're moving in the right direction I I think that um if if I could ask the other thing I would be I would ask is to what extent does the board and should the board have an understanding the budgetary process because my personal opinion is the Board of Health should have a lot of understanding of what the budget requirements are what are the needs of the budget is it a balanced budget do we need to ask for more money and why and I'm saying that because again as you all know I would you know listening to different meetings and so forth and I've heard conversation about the budget but I haven't heard any specifics ever mentioned and I'm wondering who's responsible for submitting the budget to fincom and so forth is the board reviewing the budget I don't hear does the board do the board members understand the budget because I think you should and I think one of my responsibilities as a board member is to work with the director if I have that position what's your question Jonathan my question is who's responsible for overseeing the budget and managing the budget is it the director or is it the Board of Health it needs to be both okay that's what I would hope that's my question that's all okay thank you Jonathan anything else thank you okay thank you we're all set thank you I appreciate it for mon Joan yes Joanne said she was coming straight from work so is a here go through check yeah and we can take them out of order um if if she's not here I don't want to get too far behind you going to the uh Memorial Day so appre I'll be there I don't I'm not going to go to Bristol ly celebration no how about up I'll be there a second you never know what you think it's going to look like better you okay that's nice the lower perfect that's awesome probably a lot spring the best without a sick raccoon I want end up in your house awesome yeah hi hello hi how are you I'm well how are you sir we're going to get started right away so we don't get too far behind so we have a list of about 12 questions to ask you we just going to go down the board uh take your time answering them but um the first one is why do you want to be a member of the Board of Health uh well I've been living in this town for nine years and I like this town and I would like to be more involved with the community sure um I think it would be something somewhere to start okay um yep all right great thank you you're welcome what do you see as the issues facing the Board of Health um well we having new housing developments going in so I guess water will be an issue um maybe long term um I also think that uh people need to kind of keep a little bit more tidier around town um I think that um you know and then there's um things like um animals as well that will also factor into border health issues um you know faing um and that kind of stuff thank you yeah I know you came from work thank you in now is as indicated the job description for this position excuse me it is responsible as a member of three person board to provide leadership and policy direction to the health department staff please describe your leadership philosophy and how this philosophy would inform your approach in addressing the issues that may face the Border um well I've um I'm an Administration uh person um but I do have a health care background I've been in medicine for maybe 35 years um I also um I am also a farmer um I have a horse farm here in town um and also I've been an office manager in a couple of positions that I've held um I think that um leadership is a big part um of a community um group um and I think that you know um it's good to be able to have that you know that community group to be able to come to decisions that will necessarily need to be made um with certain issues and topics um and I'm you know I'm ready for that I'm ready for that all right how do you how do you work to support employees describe your approach to doing this with the board of health staff um well I work for the government I work um for an agency in the government um I'm a very good team player um I think that's important it to have camaraderie and to be able to get along with your co-workers and work together uh for the greater good um and um I think that you know I would be okay um working in a small committee a small group um um for the town um I have I have a lot of qualities to bring to the table um with regards to that so I I think that it obviously has challenges because of different personalities but you kind of have to you know put those aside sometimes and kind of look at the topic look at the issue and try and come to some arrangement where you know you can make decisions um hi Joan um hi do you I know you mentioned briefly but do you have any management or budgeting experience I know you briefly talk about management um well I've worked in a bank a big Bank um but um so I have a financial background of eight years working for Sant andere Bank um but as a manager I was an office manager um years ago in a doctor's office um but I went to school for book keeping and accounting so I do have some financials but as regards managing the budget no not really um but I manag my budget at home so if that makes any difference can you please describe any past experience you have working with a local Board of Health and or the Massachusetts Department of Public Health um well when I worked when I lived in Westport I lived in Westport for 15 years and I built a brand new home on the water and um I dealt with the bard of Health when it came to my Title 5 septic system MH um so um that's really all I I've I've dealt with um with the Board of Health um the they they're very good you know and very um easily accessible uh but but really I I I haven't really dealt with like Town committees before so okay thank you a you're welcome you kind of already answered this but um please describe your experience with Title 5 in septic systems and if you hold or previously held any licenses such as Inspector or installer I've held no licenses at all um but I do understand how septic systems work um like I said we we put one in when we built our home um I dealt with the Board of Health with that and also a septic system company so I can understand how they work and and what needs to be done and how tidal 5 in Massachusetts Works um but really I I don't know much else about anything thank you thanks you know they're expensive I do know they're expensive yes they're very expensive Y and they were like 25,000 back then which was like 9 years ago I don't know what they are now probably 50 right are they pretty expensive yeah yeah this position requires fair and unbiased application of Public Health statutes regulations policies and town bylaws enforcement may become a problem with some establishments homeowners businesses Etc what skills do you have that would enable you to effectively deal with residents or businesses who may not agree with you uh well tacked and subtlety is something that you have to you know adhere to um I I worked in HR for quite some time so I kind of know how to deal with people sometimes you have to use reverse psychology as well because you have to kind of make it sound like it's you know their idea on some things but um yeah I you know I I try to handle things in a calm fashion thank you not to get you know I rate and stuff so yeah soft soft tone is is good although extremely rare individuals appointed to the Board of Health members must make a commitment to be available for emergencies or other circumstances that require their prompt attention do you feel there's enough flexibility in your schedule to be able to meet this commitment yes I do I I have good hours um and like I say I I also own my own horse farm so you know I my schedule is is flexible to that I train and I do lessons too so yeah I can juggle things around to accommodate okay um sorry there are many facets of Public Health that are outlined in the job description that require basic understanding of food protection Public Health emergency preparedness Community sanitation minimum housing standards Animal Control storm water landfill management and swimming pools and septics please describe any experience training or certifications you may hold or have held in these in the past I don't hold any certifications in regards to um any of that um but I do know how to run and manage a farm I also know how to dispose of manure in a correct fashion and I also know how to uh deal with animals and what needs to be done to be able to keep them secure so they're not a nuisance um I also have a pool so my husband and I we manage the pool and we test the water and and stuff like that so um you know that kind of stuff but I mean anything to do with um like with covid and stuff like that and sanitary conditions you know um I I work throughout the whole covid three three and a half four years um so I understand like you know how to um deal with with covid and with any any um what's the word I'm looking for um pandemic um in the way that you um you know you sanitize your hands and you keep everything clean and tidy and I I also work in a in a Health Care Unit um with um hospice and pallative patients so um you know we we are constant with food and um fridge temperatures and stuff like that so um to keep the unit clean and I work alongside um the um infection control atwork to be able to manage manage that so thank I think I have a good handle on Health Care situations thank you you know jna you answered this question previously but can you just describe your leadership philosophy again my leadership philosophy is that um you take the situation you have camaraderie with your co-workers your team players um to kind of come to a resolution um on a decision that needs to be made um my leadership is TE is is teamwork I um I'm a big team player so even though like a leadership role would have me like having you know um peers um incumbents sure you kind of learn to um listen to everyone you know everyone's voice gets heard and you can kind of um address address the situations based on you know um conversation great thank you and do you have any questions for us no I don't I'm super nervous can you tell that's okay I didn't expect this I have to tell you I did not expect this I'm like oh all right well you all set with us thank you for stopping by thank so very much thank you have a good night guys thank you it's warm in here yeah it is H yes did it reach 88° today oh I'm not sure oh yeah supposed to that's crazy my girls got to enjoy the outdoors oh that's not cute oh adorable yeah yep maybe we'll have a real one next year I think so hopefully yeah yeah that's good enough for now yeah yeah they enjoy it you don't know remember the Le do you who lived across the street from us oh no no no um di you know dick and elain right um their mother and father lives in the middle house and then the house directly across the street from me uh um there other son and his wife lived there okay and one year was they didn't have a pool it was so hot that they took a tarp and put it in the back of the flatbed truck not flatbed the pickup truck and filled it with water and just sattin it hey that's the way to do it yeah just make do it what you have yeah I gave you name Richard how are youing the dream how about yourself thing same thing all right somebody is Richard we have about 12 questions to ask you we're just going to get started in the interest of time right away if that's okay that's goodbye me and my first question or our first question is why do you want to be a member of the Board of Health well I want to help the town I always liked uh serving on the boards that I have in the town uh the Committees different commissions that I've been doing um I had to give it up in about 2017 family life was just taking over a lot of time sure U but now I have a little bit of time to give back and I believe that uh I do have an area of expertise and some knowledge um in the uh the duties of the Board of Health and what they do and uh just like to be able to give a little something back and do something for the citizens of dayon okay just to continue that uh that volunteer type stuff great thank you thank you what do you see as the issues facing the Board of Health Board of Health well um a lot of the development that's that's occurring um there are a lot of different storm water issues that are going to be coming up um and a lot of different health issues based on the development of the town and the growth of the town I mean there's a lot of things that are going to be happening a lot of developments that are in the works things we haven't even heard about yet uh things that are already there and there's always going to be a constant um attention that's going to be need to be paid to this growth in the town in all aspects of of of the health department itself um including any new restaurants that may come in that sort of thing any kind of uh material spills with increased traffic um going out and looking at and inspecting areas for health concerns and just trying to uh stay on top of things um with all of the uh all the activities that are that are happening going forward just trying to stay on top of stuff I think is the biggest challenge absolutely thank you as indicated in the job description this position is responsible as a member of a threepers board to provide leadership and policy direction to the health department staff please describe your leadership philosophy and how this philosophy would inform your in addressing the issues that may face the Board of Health I've always believed in uh you know leading from the front but a collaborative effort you have to be a leader but you also have to take into account everybody's opinions you have to understand where people are coming from and understand that if they care enough to speak up they have a valid point on their side and so you need to always bring that into account and give it a fair hearing either way um I lead by collaboration you come up with a consensus based on all the parties that are involved and then you try to drive it forward now that you have the information you have a good rounded view of what's going on you can start to lead you can start to plan things based on the information you have because now everybody has buying uh you've created that consensus relationship and now people like all right he's listened he's taken us into account let's move forward with what they what he wants to do um I've done that throughout my career as well and I've been in a lot of different leadership position phans having been in charge of the Amtrak control center in Boston where you have to have a collaborative effort to get the job done keep the trains moving and also um in any situations that come up like we've had fuel spills environmental hazards um trespasser instances all of these things where you need to be able to coordinate the stuff and make split level decisions to start with but also make sure you have a a knowledge of everything that goes into it being able to bring all of the different people together but at the end of the day you need to lead you need to drive the effort and get the job done and that's the way I look at leadership that's good okay how do you work to support your employees describe your approach to doing this with the board of health staff again it is a collaborative effort you need to be a leader and not a dictator and never think that your opinion is is the only one and your knowledge is the only set skill set the day you believe that you know everything is the day you should hang it up because you don't right you're always learning you're always taking that into consideration you need to be able to change your mind um so leading the team that way and working that way that you bring that to the Board of Health as well okay you listen to the public and that's the biggest thing we're here for the public it's what we're doing right right you've got to bring all of that back into it work with that and then lead with the knowledge of the board because everyone's going to bring a different skill set in you know everybody has going to have a base level skill set but there's going to be subject matter experts in different things you need to bring all that into play are you good answer um so do you have any management or budgeting experience I do management experience goes back to 1994 uh beginning management as a rail traffic controller or train dispatcher I'm in charge of um managing a number of different people that work and control and operate the trains themselves so that begins a management experience where you begin to coordinate all that you give them directives um again it's a team effort but that you have to lead the team again it all goes back to the teamwork everybody knows their job and you know who the strong players are and the weak ones are and you work together with all of them I have brought that through um in Boston I was in charge of the train movement office up there and that you're in charge of you know literally in charge of hundreds of of of of employees commuter rail employees Amtrak employees the train dispatchers the rail traffic controllers the engineering department everybody that works out there at the end of the day everything ends up going through through you if there's a question or a conflict or um just coordination efforts CU everybody needs this done or that done it's like General Contracting a house this that everything else you need to manage the team again by consensus by teamwork by knowledge all right but also at the end of the day you have to be able to make decisions and live with it as long My Philosophy has always been if somebody makes a decision based on good information they made an intelligent choice but it didn't work out that I don't hold that against them that's what you do you want to make sure that people have the initiative and are able to act on that and that's what I always manage by people would say what do you want me to do I say what do you think you should do well I think I should do and in my mind if I have consensus with if I don't have any kind of a problem with it at all be like then go with that and see what happens I have your back if it doesn't work but you're making it based on good information great thank you can you please describe any past experience you have working with the local Board of Health or the Mass Department of Health I don't have any direct um uh experience working with the Board of Health or the mass Board of Health itself um I have tangent um I um the certified pool oper pool operator for a papa squash so I do have a work working knowledge the regulations and laws and everything else and I've worked through that and worked with the board and the representatives of the board um to to reach conclusions as far as getting our permit on a yearly basis and that sort of thing um but as far as any other experience with the Board of Health that's pretty much it okay thank you um please describe your experience with Title 5 and septic systems and if you hold or previously held any licenses such as as Inspector or installer I do not and the only experience I have with a Title 5 at this point is I had one done when I built my house beautiful so and I went through that process and that was a very interesting one learning about the perks and everything else now it's very limited experience to be sure but I did take to it and I did understand it and I I brought myself up quick on a uh to learn as much as I could because I don't want to just be blindsided by by things I'm a quick study went through it understood it and uh was able to speak intelligently about it but again that's one thing what I can say is that give me something like that and I will I'm a quick study I take the ball I run with it and I will bring myself up to speed and shood Order awesome is that kind of thing this position requires fair and unbiased application of Public Health statutes regulations policies and town bylaws andfor may become a problem with some establishments homeowners businesses Etc what skills do you have that would enable you to effectively deal with residents or businesses I may not agree with you okay kind of in my wheelhouse for a number of different things um I work what I do now is I'm in charge of training regulatory training auditing operating practices for Amtrak so my job is to make sure people learn the rules follow the rules follow the Federal Regulations under the CFR um and make sure that the rules and uh and regulations are applied fairly I have written rules for railroad operation among committees that do that for all the railroads in the Northeast so my my point is is that the rules and that's the way I look at it and it might be a little bit you know hyperbole for when we're talking about local laws but when we're talking about like railroad regulations rules and that sort of thing the rule book is written in in blood it is because a lot of what happens out there is very dangerous so what I take to heart is that if there's a rule there's a regulation there's a law there's a reason for it it's there for a reason it's there not to be like given a wink and a nod and that kind of a thing if somebody is not following the law you give them a chance you tell them listen you are not following this this is the law this is what you need to do you're fair you hear them out you talk to them at the end of the day if they're not going to take the advice or the direction that is needed you have to hold their feet to the far you just have to do it it's what we're here for if we're not going to enforce what the rules and regulations are what are we doing thank you welcome all right although extremely rare individuals appointed as Board of Health members must make a commitment to be available for emergency and other circumstances that require prompt attention do you feel there's enough flexibility in your schedule to be able to meet this commitment absolutely uh I set my own schedule now for basically I I'm given free reign to set my schedule as I need to get the the my my job done the folks that call the shots basically say keep doing what you're doing and we'll let you know if we need you to change in other words I can schedule around things that do come up uh much of my work is in Providence and if I needed to drop what I'm doing most of what I can do I can postpone if something needs me right away so I'm what 40 minutes away if necessary I do work in Boston and there are times I travel up and down the the Northeast so there are going to be times I'm out of town but for the most part I am available and I'm able to respond you know maybe not within 10 minutes but usually within an hour or two if necessary there are many facets of Public Health that are outlined in the job description that require a basic understanding of food protection public health emergency preparedness Community sanitation minimum housing standards Animal Control storm water landfill management swimming pools and septic systems please describe any experience trainings or certifications that you may now hold or have held in the past I am a certified trainer for uh FDA standards for uh onboard personnel uh they serve we s serve food on the trains um we have uh lead service attendants that prepare food and we have the train conductors that are their direct supervisors we have to provide training to them and update them every two years it's required by um the F and also the FDA uh to bring them through additional uh one-day training uh they do get about 3 days initially and then this happens every two years so I have developed along with um Partners uh at Amtrak developed um presentations uh for uh FDA um um standards which are pretty standard when you're talking about the the health of and you're talking about establishment like that it is all the cross contamination temperatures all this type of thing for the FDA itself um so it's not an external certification but it is an internal one from Amtrak and it is recog ganized by the FDA um beyond that um certifications outside certifications nothing however um as far as hazardous material releases and that sort of thing um I have developed a training plan and again we're required because we run fre TRS out there we run hazardous materials of the kind that if something goes wrong you have another East Palace Ohio kind of thing so we have to instruct our crews along with the freight train crews in um ERG um Emergency Response Guide information response um and uh Communications both for the um the train dispatching Center the rail Traffic Control Center so they know how to coordinate efforts to get people out to a spill or an incident um it dovetails with the imcs and also the communications part of passive train emergency prepar where Communications is key who do we call how do we get people out there how do we coordinate this how do we hand off the response to the local agencies when they get there all right it's not an external certification but again it's recognized by the federal RAR Administration as being a hazardous material response qualification thank you great uh just two more questions uh the first one is You' already answered this but can you do it one more time describe your leadership philosophy a leadership philosophy is collaboration but leading from the front in other words you get everybody's all the stakeholders you talk to them all and you make sure that you have all good information all right once you have this information you work as a team and you lead the team you provide Direction okay the direction you start the ball rolling and then everybody helps keep that ball rolling and you continue to provide the direction to make sure that you see a goal you have these Tactical these tactical goals in a way to the ultimate strategic goal and you want to keep the team going and you want to make sure they're motivated you want to make sure they have skin in the game as it were to make sure that their opinions are valid and being considered and at the end of the day when you lead the team the team helps push you along as well you know the you all work together this way um and if decisions need to be made they need to be made and you make them but when you make a decision based on that teamwork and you led the team you can be confident that even if that answer turns out to be something that was not what the desired outcome might have been you did everything you could to lead the team and come up to an informed educated bought into decision that you made you can make it with confidence not every decision is going to be 100% if you think that's going to happen that does work that way great thank you and the last question is do you have any questions for us I guess the one question I wasn't clear on what is the term is it a one two or threee term a onee term it's a one-ear term um and usually it's one meeting a a month but again you have the occasional special like you have tonight right all right um I really don't have any other uh questions I did kind of research this pretty well uh over time so I think I'm comfortable with uh the position itself okay well thank you for your ATT thank you everybody for your thank [Applause] you for you don't have a list of questions for this school positions do you no we just whatever yeah on employment tell to get back so wa I don't know if he's Saturday or about Friday hello hi Kyle good Kyle we're just going to jump right into it is that okay with you yeah all right great first question is why do you want to be a member here of the Board of Health uh well I just moved to Titan I figured I could help out you know seems like you guys need a little help and uh I'm in the right field yeah okay great thank you what do you see as the issues facing the Board of Health um I don't know yet I'm going to find out okay how are you good how are you doing good good um my question is has IND as indicated in the job description this position is responsible as a member of the threers board to provide leadership and policy direction to the health department staff please describe your leadership philosophy and how this philosophy would help inform your approach in addressing the issues that may face the Board of Health that you may learn uh um I guess I'm just going to do my best to uh to help you guys and you know figure out what knowledge I know and that may help you or may not and you know what I need to learn to progress to you know eventually be a functioning member of the uh Board of Health okay all right hi Kyle how are you great uh how do you work to support employees describe your approach to doing this with board of health staff I work to support employees um I guess just help out the best you can I mean you know be teachable right you know uh do you have any management or budgeting experience uh uh management no not really I mean budgeting as much as just like my own budgeting that's about you know but nothing nothing crazy though thank you f can you please describe any past experience you have working with the local Board of Health or the mass Public Health Department uh I did septic systems for a while so we you know what I mean had to get them inspected by the of Health um so I've definitely met a bunch of Board of Health agents would meet them at jobs to make sure everything was all set um and then now I do Wastewater so I'm working with you know towns um I was in air I was in Littleton I did one in ipswitch and we're always working with the town with you know B of health and right you know I mean I don't get tied into on a laborer I don't get tied into like the meetings and stuff like that of course but but um you know I'm starting to I've been there 2 and a half years so starting to learn like you know more about water and right okay great thank you all right please describe your experience with Title 5 in septic systems and if you hold or previously held any licenses such as Inspector or installer uh no licenses but I did install for a while um obviously under somebody else you mean again I was a laborer but right you know how they're put together how everything works I know pump systems leeching Fields um blueprints I can read blueprints um I've done probably 20 or 30 septic systems um all the PVC the the different variations of leeching fields um I've done probably five or six um title fives so I understand how a Title Five is you know you have to make sure the system is working and right um yeah I think that's about it thank you so you said Title Five that so those ass systems from Massachusetts yeah yep y so this position requires fair and unbiased application of Public Health statutes regulations policies and town bylaws enforcement may become a problem with establishments homeowners businesses Etc what skills do you have that would enable you to effectively deal with residents or businesses who may not agree with you uh I've been dealing with angry customers for quite a while actually you know uh I landscaped for a while so you know every now and then you got to talk them off the ledge you know but you know you kill them with kindness but you know do the best you can you know try not to lose your cool well you know they lose theirs that's important than you okay although extremely rare individuals appointed as Board of Health members must make a commitment to be available for emergencies or other circumstances that require thep attention do you feel there's enough flexibility in your schedule to be able to meet this commitment yeah um there are many facets of Public Health that are outlined in the job description that require basic understanding of food protection public health emergency preparedness Community sanitation minimum housing standards Animal Control storm water landfill management swimming pools and septic systems please please describe any experience or training or certifications that you may hold or have held in the past for any of these um I don't have any certifications but uh I do no septics and job sites I would have to do research when it comes to like the restaurants and you know grease traps and stuff like that um swimming pools I've done one in construction um like dug a pool and we did all the forms and all that but I honestly I don't know a lot about pools um be more construction septics you know what I mean thank you great two more questions uh real easy for one of them but can you describe your leadership philosophy one more time um I forget what I said now um it's okay leadership just trying to be teachable and you know um you going to be able to learn even from helpers and stuff sometimes you can learn you know what I mean tricks and tips from anybody know you know so um I guess I've never really been much of a leader you know what I mean I've always been working for somebody I've never owned a company or anything so absolutely tough one to answer okay all right and do you have any questions for us uh no all right well thank you for your time sir thank you take care you thank you how would you like to proceed gentl you can stop e um well we have some good qualified candidates I I think um starting with barara she certainly comes with a lot of knowledge and experience and um I guess I'm concerned about the way she left the first time I I don't remember the exact circumstances the um I know she said she was on on here for a year and a half uh Jonathan Gail gave some great answers I I think uh they were a little um off topic sometimes but for the most part he he had the right answers um Joanne I think um is very nice but I don't think she has the leadership qualities that we might be looking for uh Richard has a vibrant personality um he has a vibrant personality okay um he certainly comes with a lot of experience and Kyle I think um is just not right for the Board of Health yet I would suggest that the Board of Health makes a recommendation as they've done in the past and then um once they are done we can make our motion and we can take their recommendation or not sure okay like to step down I'm not going to be part of this why not well yeah correct okay but then it's just a real then if there's a tie then we'll have an issue okay they don't have to recommend somebody yep but we don't have to recommend well we just go the five of us and go through it like we we're joint doing it together anyways I just I feel like the law is we appoint and you you recommend that's how we've done it yeah but we're a committee so it would be a little bit different so I just prefer we follow that process I will step down I'm not on the board I concur with the chairman okay um sentiments and as a director of the health department I think Richard Gunter is uh is the right choice okay um viewing all the candidates um I think think um Barbara cabia comes with the most amount of stability and experience in the Board of Health and how to operate the Board of Health I think that the Board of Health has lacked a lot of leadership capabilities and a lot of knowledge of Board of Health um statutes and laws so I think she would be the best fit for us um I I thought Jonathan Gail was a a close second with his knowledge and his expect and his ability to to research um I um agree with um I agree with um Mr Karen about the the remaining three my suggestion would be Barbara caber okay all right uh I think we had a lot of strong candidates uh just to cut through it I think that rich Guna has he has sat on boards before he does no experience and I think he's got a lot to bring to the table I think he's enthusiastic about it uh I realize barara does have a lot of experience also realized you know she did quit and whatnot and I think there's other motives why um so I'm just to make my motion I I think that it should be rich counc you have to look to your aard I think I should Rich okay well I I disagree I think it I think it should be bar she didn't quit she resigned due to medical issues one of the things is we were formed as a committee to make a recommendation to the board of Select so we are part of that committee so we have an obligation to make a so you can back out um as as being part of the committee you you have the an obligation to come up with a name and then it'll be the selectman who decide who is going to be but that's why we were formed as a committee we have a joint meeting with the Board of Health the Board of Health has always done a recommendation to the board of Selectmen and under Mass General law which I could look it up we and then a further town meeting vote that defined the term and the structure of the board we make the motion to we take it or we don't I don't we would still make that motion we would still come to the the board of selectman to appoint but we didn't make a motion to have a committee we had a joint meeting I we don't have the committee was formed by by the selectman and at the time the two members of the Board of Health one of the selectman uh reused herself so uh we could not that's why Jim was appointed to be the fifth that committee was never completely run through the Board of Health so I don't understand how that's a committee was there this is new to me was there ever a motion at a selectman meeting on that we've never made a hiring Committee in the past when we filled other vacancies sure we never voted on a that's that's how the uh Joan was appointed there was a committee right there wasn't a committee we had asked for a special meeting with the the board of Selectmen to participate in that interview process there was never a formal discussion amongst the Board of Health to form a committee I'm just concerned if that's that's if that's a possible way to create a committee without informing the entire board okay it just looks like it's so even on the board of health agenda it says joint meeting with the Board of Health so that's how it's posted as a joint meeting so that's what the public was informed of walking in today that was my my understanding that's a joint meeting right which we've had in the past in the past hiring we've had joint meetings okay it's uh it's not an issue worth uh dying over um okay so you guys have two choices either you can agree or present both names and the selectman are going to have to decide okay I will present Rich G what would you like to do do you have a preference okay so so there was no um recommendation that the Board of Health agreed on so moving on um first I want to thank all of the candidates who came out and interviewed with us we're so lucky to have five candidates who were willing to um interview and I interested in the Board of Health thank you to the Board of Health for coming out tonight and collaborating with us it's nice when we can all get together welcome um and I really want to reiterate I think we it was we had five really good candidates with that said there was only one candidate who has served on the board of health so I think that they could have a running start um it is no better experience than actually being a member of the Board of Health so with that said I'd like to make a motion to appoint Barbara cabia to fill the unexpired term of the Board of Health okay I SEC that step down and second that nomination any discussion all those in favor I and Peter camon I that's it thank you thank you guys thank you we so just for clarification my motion was to fulfill the unexpired term so when we come back for appointments again and our next meeting or in a couple weeks just to follow that town meeting vote we have to reappoint okay y on uh end of June end of June okay want to adjin your meeting yes can I get a motion to join I make a motion to adjin the Board of Health out of this meeting okay I'll second I hi thank you okay is okay is um I Nicole Still Here 555 okay all right let's uh good move on hi Nicole how's it going oh my God it's it's humid in here yeah it is you have a packet no not yet probably has one for meeter who we end up with who do we end up with you're kidding me right they all what thanks um we have to do um appointments for the school we need four out of the five people who are here oh right right unless we want to vote to make it no cuz it's we have to go with what right we originally said mikee said that we could go with five we can if we chose to I'm not saying we should um right now we four people do you have a second pen or I think mine's going to die if not it's not a big deal oh okay thank you it's really hot in here [Music] all right all these I don't need thank you I'm mine thank you thank yeah um Karen told us okay yeah Karen do you have an I don't know if I have like an oh I haven't sorry I think I have two of everything yeah well if I don't have something I'm going to ask you okay hi Mark good that's all right I don't have anything for Amy do you for what Amy for the school um mcgurn I don't think she no she did I read I read stuffen to me don't listen to me I only read over it today but I could have sworn I saw something you remember the I don't know about that oh I have it it's just yeah it's just a one page these windows open [Music] all right it is oh yeah wind you might get a oh there's no screen it's all right that's okay [Music] okay can everyone please be seated we're going to slot again Mr ha you up good to go yes sir whatever you're ready okay Mr chairman honorable board members uh Hey guys can you please be quiet thank you start over uh Miss Mr chairman honorable board members I appear before you this evening to invite you to our Memorial Day ceremony which will be held uh May 27th at uh 10:00 a.m. right here and um i' like to invite all the residents of uh dayon to to join us and I'm going to leave this um Proclamation from the governor yep that you can read at the uh certainly ceremony okay and I I understand it's raino shine correct raino shine we don't give up we march on yeah rain or shine so we expect you guys to be there rain or shine okay thank you Ray all right any questions thanks for putting this together thank you thank you okay we're going to move right on to interviews for the school committee School uh building committee um Ruth Adams is first Ruth Hi how are you it's actually Ruth Adams T Sarah what's that I'm sorry it's actually Ruth Adams T Sarah oh I'm sorry no that's fine that's not usually the part that gets dropped off yeah I think well it's kind of how they rote it it's kind of them a little weird oh yeah how are you good good all right why do you want to be in the building committee you know I retired about two years ago yeah uh I retired as the Director of Park improvements for this the calt of Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation uh it is right in the travel Lane of what I've always done for that agency sure and have the time and have been on other building committees for the town and thought it was a good way to contribute to the town right what other building committees have you been on the middle school and then when they did some improvements at the elementary school so it's been a while and our children went through schools here we've been thrilled with how that has helped them um and just want to make sure that that goes to the Next Generation great thank you m do you have any questions no I love to to see that you were a retired engineer um was definitely helpful yeah I mean it's it's on my resume but yes you know literally hundreds of projects right you know from little tiny ones and ones that require participation from other groups user groups um public agencies other than the one I belong to um so things like that so I think you have a lot to offer the uh the building committee there uh certainly somebody with uh with your um experience would come be be an asset for them Mark do you have any questions just one um what did you do to uh prepare before you came to see us this evening what do to prepare um not being funny but I was working in the yard all day so was like taking a really good show was in line but I didn't really prepare anything special for the board just I had sent him my resume for you guys and um so as a followup um the msba do you know what that do are you familiar with the msba yes yes yeah thank you so okay great thanks thank you thank you thank you Amy mcgar not here Zoom no we know these Zoomers uh I don't know we did email everyone like on Friday morning and invited them okay okay uh Mr Perry good evening hi Bob how are you up and moving good you ready for Monday yes well no I'm uh going to be with my biological family this Monday not my military family it's sort of a real special time for our family so going to miss it great um same question why do you want to be on the building committee I was a teacher for 12 years right and uh when I started it struck me that uh the future of our nation is in the classrooms and as such we should provide an environment that is gives the kids every opportunity to succeed if they succeed we succeed the nation succeeds and uh I feel very strongly about that that's one of the reasons why I want to be on the committee to to help you know create that environment okay great thank you I don't have any questions no questions for Mr Perry uh what did you do to prepare for this interview I thought about a lot of scenarios um uh and I I'm going to be very upfront with this um as I've thought about this one a lot we talk about a school system well the system consists not only of the facility but the administration the instructors transportation and you have to weigh you have to look at that and you have to look at the community and the community has a finite number of dollars and one of my my objectives is as I mentioned is to try to be part of the best type of environment we can give the kids for them to succeed but we live in a community that's probably 30% or so retired on fixed income so we've got to kind of have a balance there we're going to take the assets that we have see how we can use them and then what do we need to add to that those are the things I thought about today okay thank you w are you familiar with the MSP a no I'm not okay thanks that's um you have a wealth of knowledge as as I think everybody up here is aware um and again I think you'd be a great asset uh to the uh the building committee as well okay thank you thank you thank you Kevin Mr Smith how are you good sorry to keep waiting all afternoon you threw threw me off um same question why um having two kids you know pass through like like I did in my in my volunteer form having two kids that pass through the school one with and one without disabilities um I think I have a unique perspective of how we need to move forward um and then also I have you know a pretty good wealth of um constru C knowledge that I think will help um with the process and then to Echo Mr Perry's thoughts I still realize where we live and I want to make sure that um we have a group of people that can be a driving force to make sure that we have an improvement whe and whatever the best option is both to make sure our kids can learn and grow but also something that we can afford I mean that's like a a top priority for me is I want to make sure we get something done I don't want to take you know we all live through through the BP process and I heard the resident concerns throughout that of what you know wants versus needs and things like that so I want to bring that perspective to the committee as well thank you I don't have any questions for I have questions but not paining to this Mr P what did you do to prepare for this interview um I followed I have followed along with the whole um School building committee process um I've listened in or have attended meetings where this has been discussed so I've been trying to keep up to speed to have this opportunity to apply um and then I went through potential questions in my head to be prepared but awesome are you familiar with the msba yes I am I have I followed that since since this process has began for our town thank you thank you thanks Kev uh Alicia Hi how are you good how are you good thank you uh you probably know the question already so the reason that I wanted to get involved was first and foremost I have a daughter who's in the school system she's in the first grade um and I see a lot of stuff that goes on in the school and want to wanted to participate in a way that I thought could be meaningful and kind of voice all the kids and the parents concerns about things that have gone on I've also been on the Brockton school committee and gone through this process before so I kind of know the lay of the land as far as a lot of it goes but like Kevin said I also hear the concerns of the community and and things that they do and don't want to see happen with the school and understand the the budget constraints as well so I understand those concerns and and how it's a balancing act so I wanted to be able to help way both sides of bit and voice those voice those opinions on the committee great thank you so I think you answered one of the question I had I saw the Brockton school committee and I was going to ask if you had went through a process similar to this while serving on there yes I did I actually went through a couple uh one process with the MS um ba and then also the there are several School kind of rehab projects that I went through as well while I was on the committee so was there a complete build of a school and then some just rehab yes that's great and I was kind of on the tail end of the complete build of the school was finished up while I was on the committee but I still experienced some of thato uh what did you do to prepare for this interview well similar to Kevin I kind of ran through questions that you guys may ask me um I kind of thought of ideas of you know what I would say as far as you know what I Envision for the school and the community and and the future you know the kids are our bright future and want to support that um and then you know kind of been following the whole process of it and attending the meetings as well or watching them on Zoom so thank you you answer my question on the msba already thank you okay thank you uh this uh it makes it very easy because we have four applicant and four positions open and um we've had their resumes for quite some time in their applications so uh hence we didn't have to ask a lot of questions um and if there's a motion on the floor to uh appoint all four somebody can make that I would make a motion to appoint all four um interviewees who were present tonight I'll second that motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I I and Peter C is an I thank you folks um I assuming they got to be sworn by the town clerk yes uh uh yes and probably in the next month or uh probably in the next month or so the the committee will actually like form um at once actually I believe next Tuesday night next Tuesday night the school committee's meeting um and they have an at lodge appointment as well in addition to the two members that the school committee has already appointed from the school committee as well so like oh yeah we'll be in touch with everyone on that hopeful make next steps thank you thank you thank you every applied uh moving on to C review discuss and act msba Massachusetts school building authority initial compliance certification certification uh yes I because part of the process in the 270 day um eligibility period that begin on May 1st of this month of the next step in that process as I outlined earlier this month all all the days seem to blend together lately but um the first requirement is by the 31st of May um both this both the CEO of the town which is aort slman um and then together with the school committee chair Al and the school superintendent have to approve the initial um have to approve the initial compliance certification like and this really outlines basically everything like in much more formal ways that I outlined um actually at the last meeting just in terms of the process um the expectation of the town like in everything else in the process as well that we'll be doing that we'll be doing together with the school district and together with the msba okay so like if uh like if uh like if the board would entertain a motion to approve it and to designate how the chairman of the board of Selectmen to sign that that would be helpful at this point no question um so it was a tough read for me um not being an attorney uh this was this is a lot and it holds the district pretty accountable and the town and the taxpayers so I'm just curious has an not that i' like to pay attorney's fees for things but uh has an attorney reviewed this to look out for the town's behalf uh uh uh uh we has we hasn't we hasn't as a Yeta this is oh yeah this is oh this is really the same exact form that the MSB requires of every town they work work with so it's what like it's honestly what hundreds of other towns have already entered into in the same way um to begin the process I like honestly I do view it I like like I do view it personally as a pretty perfunctory you know like we've already applied for the process we knew the expectations like of the process um we knew the expectations of the process that I at every point of the way so far I can this you know the initial um the initial compliance certification you know basically just the formalizes that we understand those okay um my only other question is it talks about the district but it's in it's in Dion does that does that make a I don't know how to phrase it but it's it puts a district liable but it's it's a does the school district is it the town or is it the district I guess is my question question when my my understanding of this agreement is uh when is when the certification refers to the district it's actually it is truly referring to the district so if we approve this then then really the language in this is really holding the district accountable to these things that they've looked into all of these there's you know nine pages is 38 items that the district is basically saying we're going to adhere to ye yes but because of the interrelationship between us and the district even though the district is separate uh we have to as a town be a party to it as well okay any other questions the um why is it the district and not just the town of dayon the I like it's part of like in my understanding it is part of the um there were many Parts like of this process that the town is intertwined with in he and heavily involved just like actually like as we just did forming the the structure the structure of school building committee but it was also actually the district that was actually responsible for submitting for submitting the statement of interest um the statements of interest for these type of projects have to come from the district itself and not the town and so that's just you know there is an internment here um but the um for just of my experience the msba does always begin like actually with the district uh but everything that the msba does with districts always intertwined with the town okay uh any other questions then is uh there a motion on the floor to approve make a motion to approve the initial compliance certificate for the msda I'll second that motion made in seconded any discussion all those in favor I I I moving on to announcements um annual town meeting is scheduled for Monday June 10th 2024 the meeting will take place at 700 p.m. at the dayon raob high school auditorium the dayon Historical Society presents the 7th annual dayon Strawberry Festival that will take place on June 8th 2024 from 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Lions Pavilion the town of dayon Food Bank distribution will be held next on June 15th 2024 located at the Town Hall it is at the lower level please be advised that increases in the transer station sticker fee in rates take effect on July 1st 2024 new fiscal year 2025 stickets are available for a cost of $30 which will be in effect from July 1st 2024 to June 30th 2025 residents who have purchased a calendar year 2024's ticket will be assessed an additional $15 for an updated fiscal year 2025 sticker for the use of the transfer station after July 1st 2024 a mailing will be going out to current sticker holders an additional Town Outreach is planned due to significant cost increases being incurred by the town the transfer station will no longer accept trailer loads of um miscellaneous um debris as of after July 1st 2024 there will be a blood drive sponsored by the dayon health department as well as the police department on July 13th from 8:00 a.m. to 1: p.m. at um Oldtown Hall you can sign up for that online um board and committees vacancies the following boards and committees are looking for volunteers the cable um committee has two openings Cemetery commission three Commission on disability 2 in open space has one just one thing on the board and committee vacancy I I got received some correspondence from the um the what did I receive it from conservation about an atlarge position for the Conservation Commission um is that going to make its way on an agenda not today the um one of the goals for the superintendent I mean uh for the Town Administrator this past um uh two weeks ago three weeks ago when we did his uh um evaluation evaluation was to uh go through the Committees and bylaws not bylaws um appointments and give us a report back on to what's open what each committee has as members and whe there's going to be at large members uh so I don't want the that on the agenda until we find out from him is completed thank you um okay Nancy U I know we have public input so I'll let you do the uh Mass challenge uh thank you Mr chairman thank you members of the board it's that time of the year again folks and this is the card that came out I hope the camera can pick this up PMC will be happening the first weekend in August everyone knows the pan Mass challenge comes through dayon the dates this year are August 3rd and 4th so August the 3 the lunch break is at dayon reoboth as it has been in the past and I know you volunteered yeah I already signed up I'm ready see that um approximately 10,000 cyclists and volunteers will participate in the 45th pan Mass challenge to benefit the danaa Cancer Institute 100% of every Rider raised dollar goes directly to the Dana Faber Cancer Institute the PMC has raised $972 million since 1980 and represents over 62% of the Jimmy fund's annual revenue and the reason this says 1 billion because in 2024 the pan Mass challenge cumulative fundraising since its Inception in 1980 will surpass the $1 billion Mark so again folks um August 3rd is the day they'll be coming through dayon um there are opportunities for you to volunteer as our town nurse did uh get in touch with the PMC um donate if you have the ability to donate money donate services and if you just want to say hello be on hton Street Williams street centa street and wave and wave and wave and support the people who ride uh this has been uh I don't know how long I've been involved with this but uh obviously it the main lunch break is at dayon reoboth so so if anyone can do anything you like I say even to stand out there and people do it in the rain uh I just wanted you to be aware of this and and I would ask that maybe in June and again in July that in your uh announcements this could be mentioned again just so people know uh it's coming dayon has done a great job over the years both from uh fundraising and supporting and volunteering and everything else but I just wanted everyone no I got the card so now you have the info thank you thank you uh this is the public input portion is there anybody else that yes L good afternoon Leonard Hall 760 Main Street dayon I must commend you for the cross-section of people that you appointed to the school building committee and I'm not sure if you're aware that one of the people that you just appointed is an attorney that would be a huge help uh the second thing in regards to msba their responsibility is more than just brick and mor there is educational requirements that are important and something please we cannot downplay this it is extremely important in developing the relationship that we have with dyon and raob and that is parody creating a school that we all will be proud of but it's something that offers the educational opportunities that are comparable to what happens in raob msba has certain requirements example the science labs gymnasiums they want to ensure that ADA is met but also to keep that parody it prevents when school districts if you have one Community a lot more affluent than the other that you don't show up the other town or towns and that creates problems internally as we go forward and that was an issue that we've had for a number number of years we've thanks to Bill Rooney's leadership have moved beyond that and it's important we continue that good partnership with our friends enrol with thank you thank you thank you anybody else for public input at this time was on Patrick left okay uh moving on to selman's reports are there any you have anything no I don't have anything no okay then we'll move on to to Old business a review discuss and act final approval in the signing of the June 10th 2024 annual town meeting warrant well Mr chairman I'm very happy that we're here at long last um this has been a process um especially brought on by the budget challenges that we um uh we uh we learned about um through the budget process that um uh yeah that will face Us in FY 25 and Beyond but we do have a final warant um based on all the select's recommendations and also the FC recommendations that were finalized last week uh we do actually were planning for the June 10th Annual time meeting uh with a 38 uh with a 38 warrant article um uh we will in accordance with the town General bylaw be posting um be posting um be posting the warrant tomorrow and Al Al and Al like and then we will follow up and mail it out to every to every household in back as well so um uh we do I like all all the feedback all the recommendation um information that has been provided by the select um in the finom as part of this process has been entered in um has been entered in and um and is all reflected in the final uh proposed War so like if the board would so desire I would recommend that the board approve the final the final version of the annual in the of the annual time meeting warrant um again that is scheduled for Monday June 10th in the D H High School auditorium and can like part of that Al oh part of that part of that also V to sign that as well Nicole do you have any questions no Noe I've had a chance to review looks fine great great then is there a motion on the floor to accept I'd like to make a motion uh to approve and sign the warrant for the annual town meeting on June 10th 2024 I'll second that second any discussion all those in favor I I review discuss an act facilities request from the D rovi boysgirl soccer car was at the highway garage I only had one thing on that and I can't find okay here it was is um if we could change on the form we still have under Board of Health we still have Mr ping but then we have somebody else that's signing if we could just get that changed same for the police department as well oh yes thank you thank you and I don't want to make excuses but the but the applicant may have had also old older version of the form as well so we'll make sure that we send out to all the applicants who do this on a basis that they have the updated forms as well thank you that makes sense I was wondering why I hadn't seen it before and all of a sudden I was thank you okay is there a motion on the floor I'd like to make a motion to approve the facilities requests for the Dr boys and girls soccer car wash at the highway garage I'll second that motion May seconded any discussion all those in favor I I I the um review discussion Act of pilot agreement Amendment for 1401 William Street map 12 slot 25 Mr gulat do you want to explain this if that's okay uh Nancy gulat 631 great haris North dayon uh this is the first pilot agreement that the town executed 1401 William Street it's a very small solar farm it's located diagonally across the road from where the arujo Farm Stand used to be where at Mount uh Builders is now located but there's a you'll see a gravel drive that kind of goes off uh towards the east and that's where they're located it has changed hands it has changed ownership so according to the pilot agreement uh in order for that to happen they have to give written notification to the board and the board acts on uh uh approval of that transfer and signs the appropriate forms and we'll get the new owners to sign uh and then that takes care of the change of ownership uh of the other pilot agreements we have in place uh ownership has not changed uh we have one that will be coming up at town meeting the names changed four times but by the time we get to town meeting the name that will be on it will be the one that is owning it that night but these are investments so they get sold but this this is the actual first one 1401 Williams uh and so this is a procedural thing based on the terms and conditions of that original pilot agreement I think it was approved in 2015 okay thank you thank you do you guys um have chance to read it yes okay any questions nope no okay is there a motion on the floor I'll make a motion to approve the pilot agreement for 1401 William Street map 12 Lot 25 I'll second that motion made in seconded any discussion all those in favor I I I this is uh a review discussion act again for the uh proposed re renewed employment for the town and cessor I have pilot AG yeah so uh the uh the town assessor um had um was HED in the fall of 2021 um with the initial employment contract that um that expires um June 30th of this year at the end of the fiscal year um we have been working um with the principal assessor she has has been working with the board of assesses um they have they have worked out um an agreement for a um for a three-year contract renewal for the principal assessor um who has been a pleasure a pleasure to work with um and a pleasure to have as part of our financial team as well and um so at the last Board of assessment meeting last week um they had approved um they had approved um uh they had approved a three-year contract renewal and um uh now it's being now it's being presented by now it's being presented to the board of SL for approval as well can the uh the contract like itself basically follows the same updated um non-union contract template that we have um with all uh basically with all the same uniform Provisions uh for a lot um actually for most of our non-union employees who do have an employment contract with the town concerns have a couple if you don't mind um under compensation it doesn't actually say what the assessor is going to make it it's it starts off to say um it says the annual base salary as follows and then when you go on to it it says the annuals base uh Town Assessor's annual base salary shall be increased by 2 and a half% but my understanding as a contract it has to be within the has to be within the contract so her contract's going to go away after June 30th and when the new contract start is actually not a a base salary that is um listed so that was just one thing I noticed um under sick leave it doesn't say it's going to acrw it just says sick leave shall consist of one day per month not to exceed 12 days per year but it's I just would like that clarify a little bit under group health insurance it mentions lavet who is a former employee so that needs to be updated to reflect Stephanie's last name under performance um it so it references her and the whole um employment contract until performance and then it's his and then under renew of agreement it says it will it can be renewed at least 60 days but it's the number is 90 and then on the last page under Mark poo it me it list me as member I'm the clerk and Nicole is the member so every page needs some updates so I would recommend we put this on our next agenda no sense okay good catch mark thank you okay is there a motion on the flo to table motion to table I'll second that motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I I I review discuss and act councel on agent Surplus and dispose disposable items just um take them as printed Mike uh yes as printed in the as proposed as proposed in the agenda any questions about them uh I'd make a motion to uh approve the council and aging Surplus and Disposal items as presented I'll second that motion remain seconded any discussion all those in favor I I I Town Administrator report I I uh yeah thank you Mr chman I just actually like one quick thing that's not on the agenda um so like actually like early this week um actually um late yesterday afternoon uh we heard uh we received an update from W and Curran um who's been working with us in the water district on the like on the Water District analysis um they have been making uh they have been making progress and they're working to really come up with a draft uh kind of like a draft overview of uh uh yeah a really find and what they want to present um to that end they are hoping and they have asked to um they have asked for a help in trying to trying to coordinate a joint meeting uh between the selectman and the water district um sometime in mid June um we do have a lot of things um happening um happening in June uh like all um and so one of the things like and we don't have to um have an answer now but just for a planning purposes I was kind of um so Wednesday June 17th um is actually oh like well the oh yeah whatever that Wednesday is that week like it's actually juneth that's when the holiday the juneth holiday like can celebrated on so if we had an opportunity to have like a meeting that evening and that might get just like clunky with involvement of people um and so the DAT uh I was just actually thinking to throw out there as a potential now um actually could be the Monday like I thought originally it was uh June June 15th but I think my dates are wrong because juneth as we know follows on a on a specific date I'm sorry so it would be Monday June 17th um just as an option again we don't have to we don't have to finalize that out there now uh but I do just want to share with the board and the public um that we're on the verge of um having some recommendations uh like from that analysis like in wooden en ciron based on the scope uh that we agreed to with the water district um um at the beginning of the project does want to just bring us in the water district together to review those uh again to discuss those um so we can finalize um and have approval of that analysis um and the recommendations by the um have it completed by the end of the fiscal year that is actually when the grant expired that we have so that's what we're working to do right now um so I have that like I just wanted to provide an update on that um and also um just actually going um just actually going back to the agenda um I just I just want to share with one and the public um that it is with very very Bitter Sweet Emotions that I Shar today that I have accepted I've accepted a position in another community and that I plan to resign from my position serving as Tian second ever Town Administrator on a date that is mutually agreeable to myself and the board of Select I am immensely immensely proud of the success and the accomplishments that I've helped to lead and Achieve to lead and Achieve as titstown administrator together we have strengthened our financial management and our fiscal planning practices we have established a capital planning process we have built up and like I really want to thank Ken Brady for all her work um we have built up a town Human Resources function and we continue working to better align land use pering processes we have also secured more than $4 million $4 million in state federal and related grant funding to address longtime needs like the replacement of the Pleasant Street brid Pleasant Street bridge at moving the more than 25e effort to bring a library building project to fruition with the acquisition of 207 Main Street it goes without saying that I have truly truly enjoyed my work on behalf of the D Community but many of the efforts required in the role in the role of dtown administrator are becoming unsustainable in addition the role has also brought withed additional sacrifices for my young family I love love being a devoted husband and a proud dad as much as I thrive on having a successful and impactful career as a municipal leader I am looking forward to a new role where I will bring the same type of and the same kind of work ethic for which I'm known but also that allows me to have a more sustainable balance especially for my family um I'm committed to working with the board to ensure a smooth transition I truly thank each of you I like all the members all the members of the board for whom I have worked um who I'm very blessed to also have here tonight as well that I didn't have any idea until I walked in that they would be joining us um but our Valu department heads and our dedicated employees I like most of all the dting community um for your support during these last three years I am and I will always remain grateful to um to serve and to have served in such an impactful way so um I just wanted to share that Mr chairman members of the board and to the public and um I thank you again I wish we didn't have to accept it [Applause] [Applause] point that is all I have tonight Mr chairman okay and moving on um not that I want to but uh to acknowledgements uh a Brit grish rust adult circulation librarian is retiring and she has given her uh retirement notice yes and um I know we have budgeted her retirement yes yeah can this is just um one you know uh yeah uh yeah like if the board uh like if the board would like if like if the board would enter entertain accepting Miss Gish rest's resignation for the purposes of retirement uh that would be great like and we do have everything oh yeah we do have everything already budgeted in line with the Collective bugeting Agreement a motion on the floor please can we before we move on too fast can I respond on the Town Administrator report sure okay thanks um I just when I think of public servant I think of Michael Mullen you are truly a I never seen anyone give so much as you have to our town I you're you're a true daytonian so even though you're going to leave us once you're you're one of us uh so thank you for your service uh I I told you I look up to you in many ways you you are a wonderful leader and um I will surely miss you but I'm excited for you and and your family um so I just wanted to thank you for that um and I agree with your sentiment that the role the Town Administrator is becoming unsustainable I don't know how anybody could be expected to do what the uh Dion Town Administrator does so I would just say there we do have a resignation and um we we have to act on moving the town you know we have business to do as well so I think we need a special meeting to discuss how we move forward I didn't I'm sure Nicole has other things she wants to say but I do think next week we should meet on um on planning I don't know how your schedules look um I don't know won't have to uh talk about that um without uh pulling up my schedule from home are you thinking next Wednesday yeah Monday or Wednesday I think uh Monday is um Memorial Wednesday yes yep that's the 29th do you have anything you want to add it's it's really hard to talk about it um because Mike's not just Our Town Administrator he's my friend um I probably talk to him more than I talk to my family sorry about that and I get them pulled over a couple times cuz we always talk at the same place where yeah I don't have Bluetooth set up on one of my phones it's bad I think um what is it Bridgewater cops just wait for I'm not going to say the I'll tell them where you are um but I mean it I I can't even say what a loss this is for us um for the whole town and I appreciate so much what you did thank you thank you it's a it's a difficult situation uh we've been friends now for a couple of years and um so I feel like I'm losing a friend in addition to a great Town Administrator and I don't know how to recover from that it's going to take a while and it as it is for you um obviously you're on to to something that's different and earned as well as your family comes first and uh hopefully you always remember us as your family as well but uh I don't know how to go forward I just want to add one thing about Mike is he is truly a kind person and he cares about everyone and I think that's very rare these days so thank you Mike thank you very well said Mr chairman can we get public front of this right now uh no we're going to wait till we have public input again we're almost there so we read the uh res uh the acknowledgement so I'd like to make a motion to accept BR GIS Russ um retirement notice with thanks and appreciation um I'd like to second that motion May seconded any discussion all those in favor I hi okay we have approval of the warrants oh real quick I just want to say I know Brit's not here I wish she was um and we'll I'll see her probably at the building committees but um thank you for everything that she's done um she's when I think of the library it's who I think of um because that's who I'd always see there so um really appreciate all the time that she's put in she walks by my house all the time so I'll I'll give her a wave 20 some odas I think she's been there yes that's amazing it is for such a small town to have somebody here for that long is is truly amazing uh again the approval of the warrants does somebody you have them I'd like to make a motion for the approval of the warrants paid on May 16th 2024 47 a-24 in the amount of $1,596 47 B-24 in the amount of 395,000 $377 and 47 c-24 in the amount of $2,629 82 I'll second that motion May second any discussion all those in favor I I I and I'd like to make a motion to pay the warrants of May 23rd 2024 uh 48 a-24 in the amount of 116,000 7138 48 B-24 in the amount of$ 85,00 $603 and 48 c-24 in the amount of 1,471 36663 I'll second that motion made and second any discussion all those in favor I I Jonathan I didn't mean to be rude um I just knew public input was coming up so would you like to come first no I'm going first okay wow knows I get the diet he taking thank you for starting to cry you're welcome anytime so first because this is a town we're a community and we're also you know in some Essence as a business so I hope the board doesn't lose sight of how we got to this point this is the second Town Administrator that we've lost in 5 years that's problematic um we've been focused with the petition that's being presented for a annual town meeting on saving that position because it is so very important to this town to move us forward and let us you know progress and get things done I don't think it's possible and I think most of the members of this board would agree that you don't have the time or energy to do what the Town Administrator does so it's an essential essential part of um of this community now that I got that out of the way I'm going to talk about the person because I feel like one that petition was based on the person and not the position and Mike menen is probably like one of the greatest people I've ever met it's no secret that Mike and I have are great friends and um I can say for me with everything that I've been able to accomplish in this town I wouldn't have been able to do a single thing if it wasn't for his friendship um every last thing I've done on Parks and W things that we've been able to do on CPC open space um it's it's been because of his leadership his friendship and his knowledge um I'm so sad to see him go but I'm also so happy to see you take a Next Step because I think you personally deserve better than what we've been able to give you and I hope you find that in your next role and I hope everybody in the public takes note of that and I hope that the board takes note of that that we need to find a way to treat Our Town employees who work their butts off for us we need to treat them better we need to do something that makes them want to stay here it's heartbreaking to to work in this town and see a quality employee leave because of the atmosphere that that this town is um we need to hold ourselves accountable um and I just as a side note if members of the community have a issue with something that a town employee is doing take it to the board that oversees that employee don't take it to the employee like please like let's let's protect you know I think we all love and appreciate everyone that works in town hall so let's all work together to make sure those people are protected and that they stay here thank you you thank you [Applause] Kevin like having you yeah it's like it's like having a service dog sorry sorry so um what I'm going to say first is one of the things and I say this as a person with a disability too when Mike first interviewed and it was clear to all of us that Mike has his own disability he wasn't afraid to say it in the interview and to be very open and Frank about it so for me personally as a person with a disability number one that means a lot a huge amount because I know as Mike knows what it takes to get up in front of a group whether we're talking like we are today or running a meeting or just giving information out I know what it takes when you have a disability to have to to do that and get the information out and we all have our own way of doing it I have my way Mike has his way that is difficult that's a challenge every single day for those of us who have disability so kudos to you for doing that it takes a lot to to be willing to do that publicly knowing how it feels internally unless you have a disability you don't understand it so for those of us who have disability like myself and Mike I appreciate everything you go through every time you literally have to your mouth that means a huge amount thank you the other thing I would say is somewhat echoing what Kevin said to some extent in that since we've had Town administrators plural I feel like the first Town Administrator was pushed out because of the demands that were made of her collectively by the entire process but to some extent even by individuals and I feel that that same thing is happening again I see the commitment no pun intended that our TA makes every day I hear him early in the morning in working here late in the day going home 11 12:00 at night not getting a chance to be with his family who he cares about and loves so much and it's easy for people to throw someone under the bus for the small things it's not so easy for people to recognize all of the big things that they do and I feel that that's enormously understated for all that he's brought to this town it's not just that he's brought in millions of dollars in grants to the town it's that he's worked tirelessly with different departments with different individuals including myself as the Ada coordinator to bring in these grants we wouldn't have a website that's one of the best in the state we wouldn't have accessible lavatories in our town hall and our Old Town Hall we wouldn't have a a North dton Park if we weren't working with our Parks Commission we wouldn't have so many other things that we have for people with disabilities if he wasn't taking the lead on the on these types of things and making them happen you can't rule a town by this size anymore by committee it's not possible there's too many fingers in the pie there's too many people looking out for themselves there's there's infighting that goes on there's a lack of communication and there's not responsiveness so what I caution people is when you're moving forward you have to think about the type of person you want in this role and what the expectation is for them to commit to the job they sign a contract for 37 and 1 half hour a week I suppose that's probably what it is but we're expecting them to put in 70 hours a week it's not a possibility it's it's impossible especially if they have a family and they care about their family and their own peace of mind and their and their health that has to come first we all say we want to put our health first well I commend the TA for putting his health in his family first it takes a big person to do that it's even harder to step down from a job you love and we heard him say so many times I love this town I never want to leave this town I will say again I think unfortunately because of a few situations that people fail to discuss with him directly or bring to him directly perhaps or discuss specifically with his boss who are you this person is being forced out of this community we have no right to expect what we expect from a TA without honestly acknowledging the work involved the ethics involved the care involved and what it does to the individual I've enjoyed working with our Town Administrator Mike and I don't always agree on everything we don't have to but as I've noted in something earlier when I was here the important part about it is we're able to talk about it I I listen to him he listens to me we don't argue about it we don't fight about it I respect what he has to say he respects what I have to say and you know what in the end we come to a meeting of the minds that's the process that's the way it should be done and there you know I think the vitriol that goes along with some of the things that have gone on in this town which I firmly believe has something to do with him leaving not to mention the time he needs with his family has to stop so thank you Mr administrator for everything you've done for the town what you've done for people with disabilities and what you've done to support my role as the Ada coordinator thank you thank you Mr kale Nancy I'm not going to cry Nancy gulat 631 great terce not dton I've had the honor and the pleasure to appoint the two Town administrators that we had and got to know both of them very well I saw the first Town Administrator at the annual MMA meeting back in January and she came up to me and gave me a big hug which would have surprised a lot of people in this town we accomplished a great deal together and over the years we've had conversations and we used to laugh because I'd say we got to be careful if people think we're working together they're going to be disappointed but we did accomplish a great deal um and I'm going to give Mike the same advice I gave to her in her case she had an opportunity a good Town Administrator if you keep them three years you're lucky because they can practically go anywhere and name their own price I think that's important to show that the town administrators we had were certainly well qualified did their jobs enough so that somebody else is saying hey you know what we might want to take a look at this candidate my advice to to mallerie Mrs aronstein were and to Mike you're a young man you've got your entire career ahead of you you have got a young family that deserves your attention and your priorities are straight as an arrow the fact that you recognize that what is important in your life along with your career is your wife and kids you don't want to miss those kids growing up a lot of people are very successful and quite often whichever parent is the one that is there all the time because if they both work it's difficult but it's a tradeoff and sometimes one member does not get to spend the amount of time they should and they turn around and the kids graduating from high school and it's like what happened where was I so for Mike you're headed in the right direction I'm sorry to see you go we've worked together we've had disagreements but we resolved them we were able to work professionally we could talk straight out honestly I have a great deal of respect in admiration for him and I'm sure wherever you go you're going to make out fine because your head is on straight and you know where you're going I just want to point out a couple of things that you will take with you from dayon linguisa shes no oh does it I'm just going to stop now but you mentioned Sharice the you know you don't spell Sharice the way you say it so he wanted to know what chakuro was or is it chizo oh no no Sharice is something totally different similar to but different from linguista he had his first lingua pizza with us at a St water meeting okay that was his introduction the other thing you learned was the other end of the meal Spectrum malasada so Mike you'll know what those are and if you're in a community that has a Portuguese population you know what you ought to when you go to eat or when you hit the bakery but my very best to you Mike and if I can do anything for you feel free anytime to get in touch with me ncy thank you hey Ken I'm going to go really I fastr I apologize babby 1241 you want to come up here with me um 1241 Smith Street North Titan not Titan North Titan um I just want to say I I am behind the scenes you don't really see me much um but Mike damn you he told me to be here tonight and now I'm going to cry I don't want I've done enough crying um I just want to say thank you I know right I just want to say thank you for everyone in diting you have just done so much for us and I am so sad to see you co and um there's never going to be another mic ever you have done so much for this community and there are people that don't see that and if I can kick them I wood but I can't Steve halfway will come get me laugh at me but come get me I just want to say thank you for all that you do and you do so well and I can appreciate you being the Family Guy cuz I see that and I know you're you're the great best dad best husband and best time of Mentor so thank you thank you Melissa thank you [Applause] so Kenny Pico 1860 Milk Street di of course uh as you know I used to sit up there I was up up there for about 5 years I don't miss it U but I was on the board when uh Mike was appointed I made the motion to appoint Mike and it was seconded and it passed and I never regretted that that decision I'm not going to talk about all the things that he's done other people made those comments I want to talk about the man the P you know have a personal conversation uh he was like me I always would tell people as he did the job my job and my family are the two most important things but not in that order so as much as I regret you leaving I believe that you're making the right decision because you have a lovely family I've known them we've talked about their birthdays the birthdays near my birthday not the same age obviously but uh he is a good man I believe the town is going to have some difficulties now in the future he was always uh he was when I had my stroke he was one of those that con was in contact with me all the time making sure I was okay uh so Mike I'm going to miss you a lot we need to stay in touch and we need to have that drink someday so yeah Mike I'm going to miss you thanks sorry [Applause] just for the reord I'm not going tomorrow I'm going to be here for of Leonard ho 760 Main Street Michael thank you for all that you've done in support of me and support of the town of d you are incredibly loving and caring individual who showed what government really is about caring for and supporting people the young people with disabilities seniors I want to thank you regarding your work ethic when I was chairman when day in particular at 6:30 in the morning we were on the phone at 11:00 at night we were walking out of this building he had been in the office from 6:30 that morning till the day time we walked out of here that shows the dedication that this man had to this community and going forward the board of Selectmen based on what has happened in the last five years really needs to take a look at what the town administrative position is going to be are we going to have a strong ta um executive bard of selectman or like raob a strong Board of Selectmen and a TA who acts as an administrator and as you go forward I would suggest that you take a serious look at that during the interim while you have the opportunity also I'm not sure if all of you are aware but you could reach out to the MMA for assistance in finding an interim um our experience after the first ta left was to appoint the chairman at the time of the board of Selectmen and that has its pluses and minuses but I also know that all three of you work quite a few hours and based on what Mike puts in for a day I don't know if any of you really want to put in 12-hour days after working at least eight in your regular job in closing Mike you've had such a positive influence and created a very family-like atmosphere in the board of selectman office with Leanne Karen and it wasn't just a job it was a passionate experience and I want to thank you and I learned a lot from you and I will leave you with this thought I met an individual that you introduced me to three years ago and that man spoke tremendously about you that man is Paul pheni the chairman of the joint Senate house ways committee for the state of Massachusetts your influence and your passion has gone outside of the town of diet and I'm quite confident it will continue wherever you go because that's the person that you are thank [Applause] you do anybody else want to come up Alicia Wilson 2043 Somerset f dayon I just have to say that I've known Mike for a short time in dayon over the past two years and in that time he has made himself available he's called me on weekends he's texted me about concerns email back and forth he truly shows what a Amazing Town Administrator can do and especially when they have a heart for the town and for the people of the town I've interacted with him on committees and personally with events in my community and he's always availed himself to make himself available for questions concerns not just to me but other members in the community as well and I see that and I hope the town sees that and that if somebody is half of the Town Administrator that he is we would be lucky um he's just an amazing guy and I commend you for going forth and you know considering your family I know what that's like um and obviously you've made yourself available into your personal life and not just in the hours of the town and and that's something tremendous it's taxing as well I know my own experience um and I thank you for that and I hope the town thanks you for all the service that you've given to us cuz it really is amazing and just in the short time I've seen what a truly amazing person you are so thank you thank you Alicia thank you [Applause] um Laura Madera 1645 Maple Street um I'm going to kind of speak from a COA Council on Aging hat um my plan was to write you a personal note when I heard but I think this is actually really great how everyone's coming up and speaking about everything that you've done that helped our town and one of them that we've heard tremendously from a lot of people from the board other boards um seniors residents is how excited they are about the reorganization at the Council on Aging um and I don't think all that credit goes to us a lot of it goes to you um I know when Bella took over as director you really helped shape how that department was going to look um you got us over $200,000 in Grants um we're starting the patio project we have new Ada doors coming through um new programs ways to fund programs all of that was completely new to me Bella and Trista we've never worked with grants before um none of that would have been possible none of what's happening there would have happened if it weren't for you um so thank you and I just wanted the town to really hear that um because they're giving us all the thank yous and personally I think you deserve the majority of them we're just kind of the people processing the paperwork but you're the one who really helped us really do it so thank you for everything you did and we'll be pretty damn lucky if the next person is like she said half is half the person you are because you really got us a lot in this town so thank you for everything thank you for that but like I just want to say for the record the Council on Aging AB absolutely shines Bella laara trist the program the what you've done all what the team there has done is absolutely incredible thank you for all your help so anybody else want to come up yes Mr cop yes David Carpenter 1595 William Street um Mike I've never had the pleasure of working with you directly just uh tangentially in my previous stint with the finance committee but one of the things that I've noticed about you is not just your proficiency um but your overall kindness and I got to tell you that is a commodity that is in very very short supply these days and it's very difficult to find somebody who can actually just be kind as a real person to somebody I don't know how else to describe it but in all my dealings with you you've always been kind you've always been professional friendly polite um I feel like I could have come to you with any problem and worked it out with you no matter what so thank you and the town is sorely going to miss somebody with your qualities and I hope we find somebody with even have so thank you thank you Mr [Applause] uh good evening Paul Reynolds 725 Main Street um as somebody who has a tendency to be kind of long- winded I don't have very much to say tonight um but also as somebody who for many years commuted two hours each way into Boston and could not make it through the song Cats in the Cradle without getting emotional I completely understand you um prioritizing your family and doing what you need to do to um to really take care of what matters most in life um in the time that we've worked together you've been incredibly supportive dedicated professional you've done everything that has been asked of you and you've done many things that have not been asked of you um as a new elected official new to municipal government my first term you did not have to go above and beyond to provide the support and um and at times accountability that I needed in order to thrive and to learn the functions and responsibilities of my job and um I feel you've gone above and beyond in every way you've been a tremendous support I would not have grown and developed the confidence in my position if I had not been able to lean on you at times um I'm going to really miss you I've sincerely appreciated the time that we've spent with working together and um all I would ask is that before you go if you could you know register a trailer or something so I can send you an exercise bill to remember me by how how is that a good momento but I just want to thank you and it's been a pleasure to work with you thank you [Applause] Paul is there nobody else before we go on to Executive session okay I I got the just um his resignation letter asked for a date I think we owe him a date tonight because it doesn't go on yeah know the one do an executive session yeah the one thing too because my contract is uh clear about dates um yeah like I am hoping to talk with the board about that and exact for okay perfect that's okay and um I'm just not totally convinced we're going to meet next week based on my comments we need to move the town forward so I just want to get a commitment I don't I you don't know your schedule but we do need to meet next week so sure that's okay with you I'm not sure it's going to be Wednesday night but no that's fine as long as we meet next week I just want to say if it's not Wednesday night next week it's doesn't look good for me just because I have some work things at night next week but Wednesday is like my only day but I'll try hard to make something else work if it comes down to that but I just wanted out there okay and I just have one more concern I know Mike has gonna have a limited time with us now and I feel every department is going to try to kind of close up their Loose Ends but our Town Administrator I'm sure he has loose ends that he knows what's best for our town like what Loose Ends he has to clean up and um I just thought we should have a some sort of um Communications to town employees that not to isolate you in any way but any any needs of Our Town Administrator to go through our um our staff first because a lot of questions they can probably answer you know Karen lean because I don't want my schedule to fill up you know and I know he probably won't say no cuz he's a hard such a hard worker and I really want to make sure like we got to get used to it's not going to be here soon and um so let's get used to it now you know and only go to Mike if we need to because I don't want your your workload to increase we want to start taking things off your plate yeah no like when I can do to that point I mean I want to be like I like I had to like I like like I like I to communicate this information formally to the board I like to the I like to the public tonight I did um I have been trying to just in terms of our department heads I don't want them and I I didn't want them to be caught off guard but I do um think as a follow-up of tonight I like I do I do need to reach out to our town employees I I can really truly share with them the same information so it's oh yeah like I mean like it's really like uniform information with everyone having the same information at this point but I I think really creating that expectation just in terms of timing with everything we do have happening uh like I mean as I mentioned we're preparing for the time meeting uh we're preparing for the end of FY 24 like we have things we need to do um to get our ducks in a row there um as I mentioned earlier we have a number of Grant projects that have closed out dates of June 30th as well those are all priorities so those are going to be my priorities um but to uh you know in essence create a triaging uh process uh to communicate that with all of our departments employees I do think they extremely critical right now so I and like if it's okay like I can follow up with our town employees with our boarding committees as well to uh to really create and set that expectation so we're all operating along the same plan going forward yeah and there many things that we can put on an agenda instead of you having to deal with it let's do it you know I I think we should it's so important we should put it in a in a motion um because I think that's important you know for your communication a motion I would put make a motion that um of selectman that they first go sure we have work with uh like and go through oh and go through like how like administrative staff just to be mindful of my time priorities I mean I can word it something to that oh oh yeah like exemp but I think that generally describes I think ex mhm I would put that in a motion okay um we have to figure out a way to word it or we're just going to take I'll make a motion that the board of selectman has an um kind of an executive order that um any needs from our department heads and our town employees go through the board of selectman's office um and as as much as possible we put on this board our administrator okay I'll second that motion made seconded any discussion all those in favor I I I great thank you Mark thank you okay uh we're going to go into executive session and we're not going to be returning so under Massachusetts general laws chapter 30A sections 21 A2 that to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negot negotiations with non-union Personnel or to conduct Collective bogging sessions or contract negotiations with non-union Personnel um the Town Administrator administrative assistant to the board of selectman and Town Administrator executive assistant human resource coordinator under the Massachusetts General law 38 sections 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigation position of the public body in the chair so declares and the chair does declare this is for the Dian firefighters local 4332 di police officers local 306 and Dion dispatches communication employees is there a uh motion to go into the executive session motion to go into the executive session as stated now second motion made a second any discussion all those in favor I I e e