##VIDEO ID:ljoxoJuqUJc## e e uh good evening and welcome to the town lightan Board of selectman regular meeting today is Wednesday December 11th 2024 at 6:00 p.m. this is in person in Via Zoom at Oldtown Hall 1111 Somerset Avenue D and Mass public input may be provided using the following methods contact our office at bard of selectman at D- ma.gov to provide input prior to the meeting join us via Zoom or in person uh this is going to be continually played on D Channel 9 and at YouTube at youtube.com/ of this meeting is being recorded the lisening 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 exemp perm the extent permitted by law this is revised from the original posted on Monday December 9th at 2024 at 402 p.m. first of all thank you for coming out this evening um I almost didn't want to do it um but really to put yourself at risk to be here we appreciate it can we please have a call to order Nicole Melo present Mark Pico present and Peter Karen here uh we're going to uh do the Pledge of Allegiance and then can I ask you to please stand uh stay standing for a moment of silence we lost a few of our friends and neighbors this week and we just want to uh make mention of that I pleas to the flag of the United States of America and to theic for which it stands one nation god indis with liberty and justice for all as I mentioned we lost some friends this week and um there's one person that um that I'm going to uh present the name and I hope I'm not butchering it but it's waim madus uh Roland balanga Lorraine forever and Steven shot and along with um Christopher McGee in the fire department asked us to uh announce the passing of a former D and fire department call firefighter EMT Roland Banger we already said his name but Roland served the town from 1938 uh 1983 I'm sorry to 2001 please keep the firefighter Banger and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time thank you uh first up is uh you Chief oh where'd he go hi thank you evening everybody how are you I'm doing great yourself good good thank you uh I'm here tonight before you to uh request um for an additional Sergeant for the uh Patrol function of the uh Department there was a promotional list done earlier this year um that was accordance to the CBA um there were two candidates that took it one obviously topped it that would be the person I'd like to promote if um everybody's in agreement this uh Sergeant would work the uh Patrol shift of working two midnights and two evening shifts which would fill the void of not having a supervisor on two nights during the evening when the the sergeant that's on there now is off and the same with the evening it would fill those two shifts okay um so this is going to be one of those two offices that that took the test yes and you're going to promote one of them to Sergeant yes are you filling that role with another patrolman new hire um I'm going to leave I'm going to leave well he's he's pretty much just going to go off evenings to that for now we just going to leave and what was the shift going to be what he was on midnight he was on the uh evening shift he'll be doing two midnights and two evenings so two midnight so who's going to replace him when he does the two evenings on the night shift well that would that so that would put uh that would leave two Patrol men that are there now currently there now because the uh Union gave up the community job so uh patrolman Al will be going strictly to the evening shift so that would fill that void sure and what about the cost involved to do this so right now um that that officer gets OIC pay $35 per shift um on just explain to everybody what that is off so all pay is off and charge pay so um he gets those he gets that because he's senior officer on he's one of the most senior guys in the department that would eliminate that line so all in all um looking at the looking at the total figures it was under I think it was under $3,000 um to promote to promote that person to the so to promote a sergeant from officer in charge is going to be net so so of $3,000 yeah for the year so which is I think pretty pretty cost effective because it's eliminating my OIC line right okay it eliminates it but it doesn't it doesn't dissolve the entire thing because I do have some shifts during the day where I have a daytime one daytime Sergeant so when he's off on his two days but there are uh other senior officers on that you know okay F that void sure okay uh Nicole do you have any concerns or questions No my only concern was that if um we moved somebody up that we'd be lacking but as we discussed earlier that that's not the case that that that individual would still Patrol they're just the senior officer staying in the patrol function entirely um I understand that this would probably work better for the dep Department as of right now it's just I don't know how you pick who gets to be forer in charge it's whoever's the most senior right corre so this would be more this would be the same and more so that eliminates so Sergeant don't get OIC pay officer and charge pay that's that's part of their their daily function as a supervisor so um and like I said they're staying their main function is going to be Patrol and that will definitely help the you know it'll help the younger membership too you know having a supervisor on every shift I only have one concern just to be honest um is that we do have a budget season and generally these things are brought to this then um would would it be a concern if we waited till budget season is this something that has to happen right now um in your opinion as running the in my opinion I think we'd be good because we we're operating within within the budget cuz I still I'm still short a patrolman so because I'm I'm short that that entire position position it's it's definitely within the means of the budget that's all I got okay Mark um no I just a couple comments I was surprised I didn't realize we didn't always have a supervisor on and I wasn't aware of the OIC so I'm glad you're bring that up because there have been a lot of questions in the past over the years why isn't there ay on every shift right because you know you know having a sergeant there it I mean gives Direction you know absolutely so this I think is a great it's a great yes um and I think like you said it'll be good for the other officers and maybe some of the younger membership and we're not we're not creating any we're not creating or adding a body right now we're just pretty much moving somebody to a a supervisor supervisor line okay do you have a idea of what percentage of ships wouldn't have a a sergeant on if we filled this tonight um it would just be well um well your your your two shifts on the evening and two shifts on midnights and a four- day rotation would be unfilled with a supervisor and it would just be the most senior guy which would be a fairly new officer on the midnights and then obviously the so the the one that's being promoted or would be promoted would be the OIC see on those two shifts so figure every what every a shift every every four days so midnights evenings and on the day shift so he'd be eliminating the OIC pay of those two shifts and it would just be on the day shifts awesome so I guess what I'm if there's an officer you're saying it's going to eliminate that budget line not entirely not entirely right that's where I going to go with it because you'll still have nighttime and um overnight daytime pretty much the majority of the day shifts would be like absorbing that would be the O because right now when the the daytime Sergeant is off the detectives the guy that that's technically the supervisor in charge on pay off because it is a it is a union position and how many patrolman do you have now um entirely uh 10 11 total on the roster 16 okay three ass Sergeant myself and the deputy chief so what's up 11 patrolman okay um folks what is your uh request um I make a motion to um approve the recommend recation to approve a shift supervisor position um from the updated promotional sergeants list with a start date of January 12th as presented I'll second that okay motion made and seconded all any discussion all those in favor I I I thank you apprciate thank you Chief thanks for coming out home yeah thank you good luck my friend you're welcome thanks for bringing us forward Tom F you're up sir thank you uh so we have a a Main Street uh Phase 2 update good evening good evening yeah forgive me if I'm a little displacement sure uh yeah so we saw out of the road we're ready to go we have materials in place uh some of the materials get definitely get started I suggest that weather pending we move along with the project if you guys are comfortable with that yes right now we're in very weather active I mean very active weather padding right um so we're probably not going to dig the road this week but we're ready to go uh we got plenty of tree work to do also plus the you know remodeling over COA and a new library too so we get plenty of work sure um none of which will hold up the Main Street project okay um but it it really does come down to the bard of suman's decision if roads get open during the winter or not sure ask whether by us or by vendors you know right um what happens if the road does get open and we end up with snow uh you fill it back in and wait for the snow to clear I would know I would know the snow is coming would already have the trucks converted to Sanders cuz the Sanders got to come in and out of the trucks right okay make for this project to work right now I do have three Sanders out cuz I was anticipating to do open the road this week but I'm going to change my mind cuz we do have a quite a bit of clean up to do tomorrow already looks like most of the day Friday continue with the cleanup so sure um as long as you feel comfortable I don't have an issue yes Nicole we probably would I'm sorry we probably would Hot Patch once a week not every day y you know we collectively you know do the hot patching once a week just to finish the week so we have control over over open trenches and correct okay Mark do you have any questions no I would defer to your recommendation okay okay um this is not a review discussion act so are we voting on this for him to to go forward or he just uh I I would say that's for the for the street just to uh recommendation that you you're okay with the okay uh yeah apparently we're okay with it so thank you okay um thank you thank you this then Granite City Partners that's tiing with this project yep um Karen and and Mr vaco had some good questions about it but this is to solidify that we do have them on call for the engineer in and fulfill any obligations that we don't know about with Opera right for that part of it also um so I I didn't hear the answers that you were going to ask them directly about that being on call and what not already that's fine they have a as as you aware Granite City has an on call uh contract with the with the town of dayon uh because the the services that they are that they are proposing which is uh which is in line with um uh with the main street with Main Street project which is uh uh on-site engineering and and observation um you know I I know that Tom had had to discussion with Grand City so uh according to the contract because the services would be uh in excess of $10,000 they're $25,000 so they want to put forward a formal proposal to the town uh to make sure that we're okay with it Tom's okay with it it's in the budget it's within the article money uh this is part of the enal services um which are helping us get uh get the Main Street uh project completed right so what you know you know what I do ask you know um uh our ask is that you you know you authorize me to sign uh to sign that to sign that contract um I'm here Tom and I are here for if you have any questions regarding it right and and myself reading it um it seems fluid enough and loose enough like if I don't do any work for two weeks they're not going to be doing any work for two weeks so they know all about that and it's actually the wording is in there about being weather dependent okay yep and it's that number is also fluid too it could be more than enough uh but to all the phases of the the project we may need to revisit it after we get to the 25,000 right so okay Cole do you have any questions no no okay uh extension of encroachment license oh do we want to make a vote for you to sign yeah if you can is there a motion on the floor to have Mr vaco sign on behalf of the selectman I'll make that motion I'll second it motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I I I thank you uh the encroachment license between uh agreement between the the the whites yes so we did hire Granite City ironically uh to review uh that intersection with the the white family lives and several others in town uh the recommendations are not solidified yet but the direction the uh upgrades that need to happen at intersection looks like it makes sense to add it to the Main Street reconstruction along with adding Granite Curbing and stuff like that right this is the corner of Maine and Williams Maine and Williams street correct with the Rocks the boulders and now they have Boulders on Town property which we would be possibly liable unless we had a a license in place in green and understanding um so as this is maturing it makes sense to extend this leas a year yes that's where we like to go and then not hold us to that year but you know we revisit it as that year ends up okay but we should have that nail by then yep and what kind of liability are we talking about right now for the town you said it was shared liability uh so it's within our RightWay y they put the Rocks there right uh someone gets hurt or killed on them yep but yet they rocks are there to protect their house there's really not much protection there so we we need to understand the house needs protection um that's what the share liability f is right okay and um what will it look like when we're done the rocks will be gone and ideally the rocks will be gone but that's still to be determined that's why we need that year extension all right this is a review discuss and act so um we need a motion on the floor to extend the license agreement for one year I'll make that motion I'll second it motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I a request to use the funds from the Highway Nursery needs account to plant two trees on Town property you want to talk about it now or should we just um sooner than later yes because uh I I understand that we'd like to Target January 8th for a a certain recognition it's not confirmed the eth yet but close to unless uh we heard back from not not yet one yes one not yet not yet okay how every one have everyone they don't want you that bad you should change the mine okay uh so I I understand that we have an interest to show our appreciation to uh both Reps for our town yeah it makes sense to utilize active funds I mean we can't give them something tangible to take right um but this does make sense um you I'm sure someone can get very creative and recognition with it you know showing the roots of our community and stuff like that um the fur trees do make sense uh they add Habitat to the wildlife birds in particular uh they work very well with a brick building um and they also could be utilized you know for adoring during different seasons also uh Hardwoods and flowering trees are a little bit more maintenance you know with the leaves and whatnot but um I I think we should Target the the high one sir BR Street milk report of a tree down blocking the roadway and also tront street from middle to Williams got reports of debris all over the roadway receive okay how much are the Tre is going to cost the Caliber Caliber of the tree matters we're we're hovering right around $400 to $500 each okay uh we definitely have the funds with that uh Nursery gift account that we have there y uh I believe it was targeted for the complex anyways okay so this makes sense sure so there be no additional cost at this point correct okay Nicole do you have a question oh no um at that price personally I'd like to see one tree to honor both both of both of them that was just that's a lot for a tree it'd be beautiful you know with that caliber I can picture it um but I'd like to see a joint one tree that a jointly onor so to give you a good example the tree we planted last year for the Christmas committee MH that was an excess of 600 and these trees I'm proposing are a little bit smaller um I I I understand what you're proposing um okay yes and there was also a flowering tree recommended too um I I lean towards the twers if you're interested right it makes the most sense to go the first and actuality the to be very similar to this in length and color through uh through the chair if I understand the the fund correctly it's it's for the purchase of trees so it's to be so a tree purchase is going to come out of it y so I mean it could it it's meant for for tree purchases so we so uh um director uh fa may come to you again say for another tree and another tree and another tree so I mean you could choose to do one tree or you could do both but just just to the board to understand that more than one Tre is going to happen right that's the purpose of that fund right okay right is it rais in appropriate or a grant fund is it something we we already have it but it's raised in appropriate through taxation no I I I believe it's restitution restitution yes what does that mean uh when someone causes property damage with an accident and they have to pay a dollar value replacing in kind okay that's well that's better I mean then for me that changes it not being you know through taxation so thank you oh yeah I'm sorry yeah it was not through we have the funds in the account already it wasn't through taxation okay awesome cool okay is there a motion on the floor then hear no motion it doesn't pass I'm sorry I I'll make the motion I'm sorry okay I'm sorry about that I'll make the motion to plant two trees on Town Hall property as presented by superintendent per okay the chairman will step down and second that motion all those in favor I I opposed okay you were all set sir um one more thing on Main Street Mr chairman if you don't mind no all the um the public no this on phase two would you be willing to add just a couple bullet points on there uh just about what phase two consists of just just so folks know um that way they don't have to look in other areas that you know well I know we have a posted and done press releases and such forth but right uh it's basically just one is in install drainage yes yeah would you mind uh are you comfortable with that just to put drainage upates okay thank you y appreciate it thanks thank you good luck tonight yes where your helmet Barbara ker you're next please uh she's the chairman of the board of health this is going to be a review discuss and act town of dyon trash bag increase price increase we've been trying not to do this you know that yes but um everything's against us the prices to dispose of the trash is going up we haven't had a raise in bag prices since 2020 and the prices since then the deficit we're running in um curb pickup and camass that's all this is this isn't recyclables um in 2020 it was 1078 $7,810 what was the deficit the deficit Y in uh getting rid of the disposal to see as and the curb pickup okay and that's what the cost of the bags help out with on those two um so we had a deficit of 17,860 disposal cost back in 2020 was 29647 just for that right now um the disposal cost I'm sorry the Total Disposal cost for 2024 355,000 392 we had a deficit of $126,000 and that still isn't counting what we have to pay to um dispose of recyclables so um we're proposing to increase the price of a roll of Lodge 33 galon 10 bags to a roll $28 up from $20 up from 20 up from 20 and how many per bag 10 10 per roll and those are 33 gallons um I've got some pricing here of towns similar in size what they charge for their bags um air they're 33 gallons of $5 per bag $5 per bag per bag freet toown are you ready for their small 15 gallon $625 wow for the 33 gallon $12.50 well they really want to discourage people from yeah that's across the board we are the cheapest one even going at this increase of $22.80 per bag we have the cheapest in in there quite a few towns here I've got I would say maybe 20 yeah so it's going to cost somebody $22.80 to put a large bag outside yeah and approximately they use three per week um you know a decent size family now if they were thinking that's something else if they were thinking of going and um they could certainly do a private dumpster that's $80 to $100 a month the first year but then the second year they increased the price and right now um Over The Last 5 Years the price of dumps have raised up to 90% increase and it's only going up every month we're paying more and more money so uh we're trying to keep it as low as we can we're really trying if the residents will start recycling maybe that could help us out um it wouldn't be as much money and also we're going to be trying to save weight to dispose of through the swap shed we're working on through d d funds so hopefully that'll help us out with can you explain what the swap shed is for those who don't know uh the swap shed instead of putting your small appliances and items small wooden appliances I mean small wooden articles you put them in the trash instead of doing that what we and they're usable you can bring them to the swap shed and then someone else who may need them can come down and pick them up free of charge it's basically just so we don't have to pay to get rid of that MH we're trying to get the weight out of the dumpsters this is one of the methods we're working on a lot of methods that's what the solid waste does okay I don't want to get too sidetracked from the cost of the bags but I'm just you know explaining that we are trying it's not like we just said yeah let's raise the price about the small we didn't talk about them how Okay small uh they were $10 for a roll of 10 we've gone up to 15 for a roll of 10 Well we'd like to go up too okay anything else at this time and not for this I've got some other things going on we'll take it one at a time uh well it is an issue one at a time Nicole do you have any uh no just to go off of what barara said um in regards I know the solid waste committee is working very hard but as us as residents I mean we have to work hard too I only spent a very short amount of time on the solid waste committee but it really made me think about what I purchase and what I'm going to do with it when I'm done with it and I hope that everyone takes that in consideration when they buy things cuz I agree with you Nicole until I went on Solid Waste I had no idea it's just throw it in the trash okay there it goes down the road but it's costing everybody in the town money and we're trying to stop that okay and you know we're doing per roll and and figuring well if you have a larger family you can use three bags but if you're a senior citizen you use one small bag so that's why we're trying to go it's pay as you go whatever you use you pay for to dispose of that's basically how it works okay so um I I read in the correspondence um um they took in consideration elderly are more are most likely the residents who purchase small bags and only raised the price by $5 versus eight but I just wanted to point out the it's a 50% increase for the small bags and a 40% increase for the large so in my mind it's a larger increase right right I know that's what they decided on we talked it all over and we did have to still handle everything um and it's a I'm on board you know we got to think about what we throw in the waist stream and it I I totally agree with pay as you throw but it's they're pretty sizable increas is 40% and 50% that's pretty pretty sizable um I'm sorry it wasn't 15 the small uh 15 gallon they we would like to raise it up to $14 I'm sorry so that's $140 I thought it's 151 to $15 no 10 to 14 uh that 10 to 15 that's just the size it's 15 gallon the smaller 15 gallon but the price per roll is 14 so it's $140 a piece a 10 10 bag roll oh in the correspondence it says um small bags from $10 to $15 that must be a typo I'm sorry Mark I'm sorry so the price for small is $14 yes 14 I'm sorry I misspoke before I was looking at the 15 number and that's that the gallon size and then it's going from 20 to $28 yes I got some feedback from just one constituent about rounding up to 30 for the large bags just I know we we had discussed that too but we thought that's quite a punch but it has been five years I mean really the price has been going up we've been losing more money every single year right um and trying to slop stop this bleeding because it's just getting more and more expensive we don't know where it's going to stop has I new contract with Cass been executed yet and uh the the new contract with bges is due 2026 26 what about Cass I'm not sure I'm really not sure if to be honest I'm not sure if we're doing that contract or we go through bges for some reason I thought that was coming up I can look into it and let you know tomorrow I was just curious if that was I'm sorry I wasn't prepared for that one sorry this is new to me you know yeah but I was just curious if that was kind of thought as far as like the increase goes if Cass goes up in six months you know but they go up every single month every single month they've been going up um there are only a couple of places like them around right and a lot of towns are shipping out to Ohio by train um don't ask me why I guess they figure it's cheaper MH and it's it's getting bad out there it really is so I know this has been looked at so closely by Board of Health and so always so I'm fine with this I'm more concerned about um and I read it somewhere I don't see it here but I it was in one of your Communications about you're going to basically send a letter out to Residents right um we like to yes cuz I'm more concerned about explaining to residents why you know it's yeah we we can write something up definitely we can write something else up and and run it by you guys um that's I I like to have more people look at it that way they can decipher it and say hey what about this or what about that um and I totally agree with you MH we don't want the residents in uproar over it no um I don't want to log into social media and see just we're raising your bags 50% no reason we're just doing it or even like get you know like if we just say this these are why cuz you guys sawed out so well if we can just do like a it's taken months this isn't something that's happened quickly it really hasn't this has taken months to make this decision prior to I'm sorry uh prior to the 2020 increase uh when was the last increase before that do you know of I don't know and how often were we doing it was it yearly that we were not not not that you'd have all that information but I I can be honest with you really don't know that sure all right um is there a motion on the floor then please um I'll make a motion do you want an is there an effective date on this that you were asking for we'd like to stop as soon as possible but we don't want to rush it we want to notify the residents as you said and you know send out a letter let them know why we're doing why we have to do it it's not a case of why we're doing it especially this coming year where we have to uh watch everything I would think that um it can't go into effect tomorrow type of thing oh no not tomorrow definitely not tomorrow I think a notification has to go out it has to be on the website and um I I think to give us a couple weeks or at least until sometime in in February the reason why I say that is it gives us two times in January that we can make an announcement here at Town Hall that the prices is going up Y and uh give chance for people stock up bags if they wanted to they get used to you saying it on the TV huh right um through uh through the chair if I if I may make a suggestion one it usually bag prices um either go up at right the at the beginning of the year or the fiscal year it might be prudent at this point to sort of look at the quarter and um maybe we could uh I could explore the possibility with the town Treasurer when they send out the tax bills put a notice in the tax bills that you know um um you know tax when does the next tax go out Paul um they will be going out in sometime in the next two weeks okay oh wow that's fast that's Merry Christmas yeah maybe we'll have to go on Facebook yeah okay we'll figure something out sure yeah all right I I would say then uh it would be to be determined would be the date that it would go up okay so I'll make a motion to approve the bags as presented with a date to be um determined depending on an approved communication to go up I'll second that motion made in second to any discussion all those in favor I okay thank you dear let's go on to the next one okay uh proposed job description for the public health nurse this has been a long time coming has since uh may I think um of course we need the services of a nurse uh we'd like to include health clinics of course flu covid pneumonia blood pressure also where the Board of Health has been talking about adding grief counseling sessions caregiver s caregiver counseling sessions also and adding more shut in Health visits uh which is for our seniors especially or handicap they they can use that and also working on blood drives um we had interviews and Lisa Jas works with the tarton health department she's had many years of experience in the health field and I think would be we would be lucky to have her Lisa have Lisa join our health department it would be a 2 to 4 Hour um a week right now we do have a budget for it and what what's the rate uh the budget for it um the budget it used to be last year it was 8,000 and I don't know why I wasn't here they knocked it down to 6,000 I know why because we were going into tough Financial Times and we found that there was other ways to fund the nurse I was practically funded a whole year through a grant M so um we took some money off of that because there was other ways to fund that right and now I'm not sure about that Grant so no that Grant ended that Grant was within a year but we have to take priority and that wasn't priority right then oh definitely I don't know definitely right now what we're facing if it's top priority now either okay but um she's very good and um she would be a real benefit to the Board of Health and to the residents of dayon so two to four hours is a big difference when you're talking minimum of of of that kind of time you're not talking 30 hours compared to 28 hours right um right so what's it going to be three hours two it depends it depends I mean if we have a blood drive it may be four hours and then if she's just running a flu Clinic who knows it could be an hour two hours the would be H yes okay and not to exceed the 6,000 that's budgeted yeah right now yeah okay Nicole I you had some comments do you want to add anymore just that rate was ex it was high compared to other towns that are hiring right now I couldn't find anything comparable Mar how would defer to Nicole Barb's judgment well we we had a hard time finding someone we really really did uh that would just work these hours you know they usually want 25 or 30 hours and um this is a really experienced health nurse that's worked in well she works for the city of Taunton also so I think that would bring a lot with with her they you know chart has a lot more I wouldn't say influence but they're up to things more than small Dion is and I think she could bring a lot of those things to us right okay uh hearing no more questions is there a motion on the floor um so what are we we're voting on the job description which has come before us again but what has there been changes in the job description because I think it's just the uh pricing because okay the one I received still had the same um price on it the same hourly rate 35 did you add all the other job descriptions to it the um I believe so okay I didn't see the previous one I only saw the one that we were you were submitting um so there's no highlight changes uh highlighted changes on no maybe they it was meant to be sent back to us with a different um rate it just wasn't I think maybe that was that um through the that that might be the case because I have the uh the original posting and it's pretty much the same uh and it says the $35 an hour and what was submitted is the $35 an hour but as you see in the correspondence from the Board of Health they do uh they do recommend um it for 40 for 4 $5 an hour um through um through the chair um again I would I would if you the second part of this if you offer uh it to the individual um you should have the set hourly price because if you if we're going into negotiations it should be uh it should be executive session so right um well this is just approving the job description at this correct correct so not just not approving the hourly rate right well should determine the hourly rate in the job description right because it's part of the job description yeah I mean you can I mean it's the job description you could am amend it on the floor if as you as you see fit you with discussion with the Board of Health with the member from the Board of Health so I'm not going to motion for 45 you want to be in the middle um 40 yeah um let me look at my so these are the numbers I had they were all 37 36 38 um there's some that are lower than that but I just find that they're slightly insulting um a couple 35s 37 so how many hours we comfortable with really I that it will be up to them because they're kind of now how many of were those hours oh um these hours uh if you don't have it that's no I don't have it um none of them were 40 because it's very hard to find but none of them I'll be honest none of them were per DM okay um the that's not a lot of towns don't have that so what you i' I'd be comfortable at 38 38 do you have re hobit there no I don't but she's full-time and they have two nurses and both of them are funded by a grant we don't have well I think just one is now one's arper AR I don't know am I saying that right okay um and then the other one the part-time might be through the health department but I mean she is two days a week so they're in a different Financial State than we are I don't know um she requested that pay yeah and we thought we felt that she was worth it that we could get somebody cheaper but are they as um proficient with with what they do she's got experience with public Board of Health she's not just coming out of a hospital or an office a doctor's office she has broad experience so you're comfortable at 38 you said and you were comfortable at meeting halfway or you going to defer to okay uh so will I because she's done her homework with it and I I guess again we're voting on the job description what concerns me is not having one that you were just telling us these are the things that the health agent would be nurse would be doing um and you've mentioned things that I didn't see in the job description um I'd rather see like we have in other times last year's job description this job description with the highlighted differences uh unless you guys saw that I didn't see it I I think that she went over everything I mean well we didn't mention the home visits but um and but for the most part I think that she mentioned okay and I mean truthfully not every job description will have everything that you're going to you're going to do within it it's a very Diversified job as is the Board of Health yep so I'd make a motion that I'd approve the town nurse job description at 38 an hour um ad changing that second okay motion made in seconded any any uh more discussion all those approved I I I okay okay thank you um uh you want to recommend appointing uh I would recommend a she is here this evening I'm not sure if she' still want to take it to work for that okay don't put her on the spot I know I know um okay we can table that would that be okay bobber do you want to table I want to do what everyone's comfortable this is not generally how things work so I understand you know how I am would we've had a hard time finding someone you know that and I think a big thing is the pricing y um and I've the board we all felt that she was well worth it and would be nothing but adding to the Board of Health and the residents helping the residents in town that's why we uh we approved that amount that amount are we moving to a health agent um yep uh well we're not we're going to table need a motion to table um recommendation to point I'd like to make the motion to appoint Lisa tarski as public health nurse she may choose not to accept yeah that's a great idea I'll a good idea Mark okay thank you Mark thank you uh no we have to vote on I'm sorry motion made is there a second oh yes I second a motion made in second any more discussion all those in favor I okay on to health agent Health agent there's another one we've been looking for for a while um we've had a hard time finding someone one that checks all our little blocks uh we finally have found someone that checks all our blocks um originally the health agent was paid 74,75 and then when the director came on the pay scale went down to 53,55 because the director took 20,800 of that original pay for the agent um so it's been really hard trying to find someone that would check all the blocks and do dton well we want someone that can basically hit the ground running or with very little uh teaching and the big thing we have is septic the design the repair the installation and everything that goes with it including all the paperwork all the permits all the inspections um so this gentleman Brian darling did apply he can only work um between two and 3 hours per day and not including Wednesday he can work Friday afternoon and is aail available on weekends if needed um his rate actually is $50 an hour where' we come up with 50 from um that's what he requested and what what are we paying now it's somewhere around it depends on the um what they have in their history but I think top is 4107 something like that and but this is a pum right and also um we the town wouldn't be paying his health his benefits or anything like that because it is a PRM it is under 20 hours a week so we thought that okay instead of get giving him all the benefits we could work it out and give him on his Peg who pays to review the plans now does the applicant pay $200 a plan the applicant pays yes so but we we don't see the money it goes into the general fund it doesn't matter it still comes into the town yeah so we are going to pay somebody substantially more because they can review plans when the applicant pays to have that done does that make sense to you well I don't think so because it doesn't take that long to review plans it's more you know have you have to know what you're doing know what to the applicant is paying for that now so it doesn't cost the town anything to have the plans reviewed well they're paying for all the permits too they're paying for everything I understand that we're talking about just this aspect of it so but you want to hire somebody who can look at plans plans and a lot of other things uh no we talk about just plans okay plans sure I do but why should we pay more when the applicant is already paying to have that job done because when the reviewer brings it in then he stands there for half an hour talking to Elizabeth to say tell them to do this and tell them to do that and tell them to do this he isn't doing it he isn't on site he isn't watching and inspecting he just reviews the plans that's it I'm looking for someone that comes in reviews plans and then proceeds with the whole job if there's a problem he this person is very familiar with all the engineers that dayon works with very familiar with the installers and conservation it's not like he has to learn everything to come in I understand that uh it's just I'm trying to justify the $50 price which doesn't even s $50 it would have been $50 if we had kept the original 7435 we could have kept it up there with no problem at all but then we were they took the 2,800 away from us and now we have to kind of go begging looking for someone and we left with people that they don't have none of them have septic experience at all none of the people that have come in and applied have septic experience they come in they said that I've been through college I've done this I've done that my first question is did you get your um your certificate to in to inspect food no why not why not they don't even do that so what can we expect out of them sure and then we'd have to pay for them to learn everything and it gets more and more expensive and our budget on on um teaching has gone down well the grant should be paying for that yeah they do pay for some of it they they will PID for practically all of it what you I'm sorry were you going to say something do you mind no not at all um so I know the board Health has been through so much uh in the past year and we you know we've changed our structure of how offices um and I know I had asked a couple meetings ago few months ago about um looking at the health agent position so I I find this is kind of a healthy compromise because uh as you and I have talked the Board of Health needs a health agent and I don't know what the Board of Health does so you've educated me and um it's such a diverse board and uh department and so I find this a healthy compromise for the town and um it's nice that we were able to attract someone with some experience a lot of experience and um they're local and they no septic and the board's comfortable um and I feel like with all of the different um Direction the board has given which might not have been totally in favor of the Board of Health but the direction that we gave um in my mind you guys worked with us and and did it and got it and uh so we'll still save taxpaying money and all of your uh examples you gave whether it's the 10 hours or the 19 hours we're not paying um we're not paying benefits and there's still someone in the office at some point during the day that Elizabeth can schedule if you need to talk to a health agent he's here at this time and we have no director we have nobody that's if something happens and somebody sues they're going to say who signed off on this H you don't have an agent okay we need Pro police calls something's going on who are we going to send I go I'm not supposed to go I go and to be honest with you I'm the chairman and that's it the chairman is not supposed to do everything I've done since May 22nd right all right get back to this can we finalize this sure I'll make a motion to accept the job description as presented I can't go with 50 uh it sounds awfully high I can go with 45 I'm not sure if he'll accept it he's here also Brian's here also sorry I'm sorry to do this in front of you sorry Brian municipal government it's so fun um you get no privacy um I just know that there was a lot of push back from residents and I understand the last Health agent we had they came in completely green the completely different situation but also I mean well I'm going to stand with my motion but if it dies I'll certainly you know second yours so we can can let that die and Nicole slman mow welcome to to uh motion you know her idea Peter we leave it we leave it with you um I can't go 50 I think the repercussions would be um worse if we go 50 uh if if we want to split the difference of go 45 we can do that if somebody wants to make that motion but um there's a motion on the floor to go 50 hasn't been seconded so the motion dies um if somebody else wants to make another motion to go 45 I'll make that motion is it motion made and seconded all those in favor I I okay we can approve it at 45 um do you want to table or do you want to approve the um see what Mark did last time okay that's fine uh review discuss an act recommendation to appoint Brian darling as health agent I'll make a motion to appoint Brian darling as health agent I'll second that motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I thank you thanks thank you guys thank you thank you for coming Brian abely thanks sir okay announcements um Highway Department Public notice there is a Time townwide ban parking ban in effect from November 1st to 2024 to April 1st 2025 no person shall allow any vehicle to remain in the street as to um obscure snor removal the town of dayon food bank will be held next December 21st 2024 it's located at Town Hall this is in the lower level public review period for rev um electric agant planned December 9th 2024 through January 13 2025 dayon CA is our Town's official electronic electrical sorry Supply program active since 2016 titon secured approval for our original plan from the Department of Public Utilities in 2015 in July 2024 the dpu issued new rules for plans called guidelines for municipal aggregators the guidelines expand local Authority for cities and towns concerned for the operation of their programs and increase public transparency about programs operations read the updated plan at Town Hall at Mass ca.com ddon a message from the town's clerk's office the annual Town election will be held on April 12th 2025 at the Dion Elementary School this is from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. nomination papers are available at the town clerk's office on January 6 for the following um Board of selectman board of assessors oh they're all three threee terms instead for the last two you can just uh as as don't make me go through this okay thank you thank you uh public input at this time is there any anybody out there hi Nancy okay Town administrator's report yeah um a few things to follow up on the a aggregation almost said aggravation a aggregation uh the prices are fixed just to just to note prices are fixed until November 2025 so it's just a for a review of the contract it's it's uh it's the transparency of it um another thing we had a a meeting with beta the beta group and who's working on the Pleasant Street uh Pleasant Street bridge over mikov Lane uh that's going uh that's going well um uh just to know we did get a $100,000 earmark from uh the outgoing State Rep pet tadm sure that was in the economic development Bill we put in for it so we should be seeing that in association with it that helps offset the uh the engineering costs which we um um you know which uh special town meeting voted voted for so that's good news and the other thing um just a a note to the board since we are uh since we are entering into the um since we are entering into budget season um we had a department head uh budget meeting just to sort of start giving uh start giving direction we had that last last week last Wednesday so um that's where we're at thank you any questions Nancy did end up putting our hand up hi Nancy um we'll go back to public input that you're here that's all right with you guys just one question on the budget process if you don't mind yeah I'm not sure in the past I think we have separate budget meetings with the board of Selectmen and departments and finance committee what's the board's thought no motions I'm just kind of curious on trying to have as much as we can like jointly with the fincom and board Selectmen and departments yeah and then if we need to call Department back doing it jointly as well just I don't know I feel like just going a tough budget year it might be uh for the apartment head who we change their budgets on and for us it might make everyone's job a little easier sure yeah you guys like that not a not a problem okay just wanted to gauge the the interest on Bo yeah no thank you we'll review that and take that up for direction um it's a you know it's a good idea everybody's on the same page you want everybody on the same page as as much as possible going into this so thank you so much uh we're going to go back to public input because Nancy I think um you you might might have been muted when we said is there any public input and I think you might be still muted Nancy um she um Karen she I think maybe oh maybe not never mind her hand is up but that doesn't matter can you hear me no okay um yes so um as you know over the past year um I've kept you apprised on what's happening with the PMC and I got the final report I'm going to put this up hopefully you'll be able to see it um this is a picture of the check for $75 million wow um I and the picture is that's Eric Hela uh the captain of hel's on Wheels which is the team that I support and I have just a brief message here Eric said at the recent pan Mass challenge check presentation event charitable fundraising history was once again made the $75 million raised in 2024 by the PMC community of writers volunteers and supporters represents the single largest gift ever raised by a charitable sporting event in the United States and with this year's phenomenal donation the cumulative total raised by the PMC to fund cancer research and treatment at Boston's Dana flber Cancer Institute since the event creation back in 1980 reached 1.47 billion with a B dollars over the past 45 years these unrestricted funds have supported and continued to fuel excuse me the development of major Innovations advancements and breakthroughs in the effort to eradicate the pain and suffering caused by cancer in all its devastating forms he goes on to talk about the the people he meets along the way and under personal highlights he wrote visit with former UMass colleague Nancy gulad later that day by the bridge in Dion so uh it was good to see him again he sent one other email cuz I told him was going to uh ask to make a statement under public input and he he said please reinforce for folks that just for the folks just how much the Riders appreciate being cheered on along the rout on a day as hot and humid as that Saturday was it was hard to describe how much that support helps and keeps writers motivated to to keep plugging along as I told you in the past uh and when I would ask people to stand out there and how much that really means um this is just a comment he is he's uh he's always been very um complimentary about how the town of dayon handles the PMC uh police fly whoever is needed but also all of the people that line the route from uh are down to the bridge and so I just wanted to pass that all on to you and thank everybody that stood out there people who join at a time I know Nicole uh uh has uh helped out again this year uh as a nurse and uh I know we all recognize the importance of this so uh that's where it is over a billion dollars and certainly people in Dion have Shar in the success of that by as I said just stand out there and encouraging them keep going so uh I thank you for the opportunity to give this report I do want to mention one other thing that came up very quickly I was at the bank in North dayon uh BOS last Saturday happened to mention stuff the cruiser and as a result of that conversation they were asking me what's that all about um BOS bank has made a monetary contribution to help fund stuff the cruiser this year and uh the manager told me that uh the check would be issued and that they could use the money to buy whatever is needed uh for the distribution so I don't know how much money we're talking about but the fact that he offered it because he heard me talking to the tellers uh I just wanted to publicly thank Nick and all the people at BOS Bank uh because they stepped up just hearing what we were talking about that's awesome very nice great thank you Nancy you're welcome thanks for the update too yeah thank you uh there were no selectman um updates or are there oh I just have a couple things if that's okay um first I just wanted to start off by thanking um fire this weekend um because we did have a substantial um crash fire and police and anyone else that was involved in that for their work um I can imagine that must have been a very difficult situation and like a ways they handled it excellently so thank you so much for that um next last week um the commission on disability met and we had um the chief come because we do have um in our bylaw a mention of um the funds for anyone that um is parking and handicapp parking that does not have the right um license or anything like that does get a um get a fee um and that does go into a fund that we're not really sure what it is but we it need to funnel it back to the cood so we have to I'm going to send you an email of how we do that um the chief was on board um it's not a ton of money that they get but it we do have it in our bylaw and then we come back and then it would allow the cood to maybe do some changes in our K report that we want to do um and do it using those funds instead of um maybe taxpayer money um and then just real quick I didn't I wish I had said it when the nurse was here because um Barbara did say a couple times that she was worth that and it made me feel really bad because um it's not that I don't think she was she's worth it as a nurse it's very hard for me to say no to another nurse um and or to the health department at all because I am team Health Department but when I sit here I have to really think about our budget and our needs um and I'm not a robot I do feel really bad um and I do feel like she would have been worth it but it's just we're not in that place and we're just not these other towns so I just had to mention that I wish I had said it when she was here but I said it now so I'm good all right thank you thank you do you have anything you want to add no but thank you Nicole's comments I agree very nice very tough financial situation and hard decisions no fun being the bad guys it's not it's um it's it's tough because we're not other towns and and I really don't like it when we get compared to other towns pounds because everyone is unique but we also have a budget and that's what our job is uh is to maintain that yes that budget uh we're talking about other people's money when we make a decision here and you have to consider them first because it's their money absolutely uh we're going to go on to new business um this is a review discussion act proposed January 2025 uh June to to to January to June 2025 board selectman meeting schedule and knowing that we made a couple changes this year uh I want to make sure that everybody is comfortable with it uh I did we receive it in our packet yes oh yeah there it is sorry um my my only uh question is we can all meet on Wednesday nights should we go with the um executive session at 5:30 as opposed to after uh mainly because they are here uh they are at Town Hall with waiting to 6:00 and then getting through at at 8:30 9:00 and then having to stay for an additional time when that period of time uh before the meeting could be utilized I don't know how you guys feel about that it works with my schedule I don't know about yours no objection okay uh so Karen can we switch our is that okay switch our executive sessions to 5:30 on on which is just about every Wednesday but I also think we should make better use of the executive sessions um I mean if it's just an update should we just do it all on one instead of if we don't have to just break them up um for the sake of breaking them up so uh there is uh that was our discussion is there um a proposal on the floor to approve the uh schedule I'll make a note to approve the schedule with a footnote added that executive session um meetings will start at 5:30 I'll second that motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I I um Board of selectman Representative this to the sick Bank committee this doesn't sound right does it what exact like what is the sick Bank committee um did you did you see the no oh I'll read it to you this was dated December 3rd 2024 to the D I don't know uh to the Dion B selectman from Diane Curtis sibank committee uh members if not I'm not sure if you are all aware that the clerical Union has a sick Bank committee when the sick Bank was created the board of selectman wanted to be wanted to be represented on the committee previously Ken Pico represented the board of selectman I would like to invite uh a member of the current board select to replace Mr Pico I wouldn't mind being on it you got it my Pico for Pacho right they don't have to change the letter ahead I'll make a motion to um add Mark pachico as the board of selectman Representative to the sick Bank committee uh I'll step down his chair and second that motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I thank you uh proposed job description Conservation Commission part-time clerical minute taker uh did you see uh that okay I'm gonna make you read them all to me Peter no I would exactly uh the Mr chairman I'm here to represent the commission oh okay uh well why don't you come up and tell us why you all of a sudden need somebody to do this yes absolutely uh thank you very much for the opportunity to be here tonight um just to give a little bit of background clarifying information on why we're looking for this request um the duties of the Conservation Commission are fairly broad um in addition to protecting Wetland resource areas and M uh Vernal pool migratory and natural heritage recognized endangered species habitat we're also named under the 2009 Dion storm water regulations is the administering Authority for storm water for all residential development as well as any project in a commercial or industrial Zone in which a notice of intent is filed uh we also deal with violations and uh enforcement actions and while we're unique in many ways I would um draw a lot of parallels between the Conservation Commission and the Board of Health I feel like that's probably the most uh closely analogous in that we both deal with septics in Title 5 we both um are commissions that oversee and enforcement agent um we are also involved in uh permitting so we're we're not um not identical but that's probably the most closely analogous and um what is not analogous though are the resources that are available between the two departments um in the past historically one of the commissioner Commissioners in the past um received an administrative stien in the past our our 50-year commissioner Charlie melow handled the administrative functions for the commission in exchange for a $4,000 stipend that included things like posting the agendas writing orders of conditions and uh taking meeting minutes and with his retirement we um did away with that stipend in favor of experimenting with hiring for an office assistant position um while it was well-intentioned due to the split nature of that position between the concom and the Sewer Commission it was just kind of ill- fated just because it was uh it was too too broad of hats for one person to wear and really function seamlessly um the other the other obstacle with that was The Limited hours we were able to offer eight hours per week and the Sewer Commission offered 10 the 18 hours per week was um unfortunately not enough to retain a quality employee um so what we are looking for is um the way that the commission is currently structured our part-time 25-hour week agent is responsible for field work is you know predominantly what she's supposed to be doing but she's now fulfilling a largely administrative function that would normally be handled by office staff and members of the commission have stepped up in our free time to to help um it's a five person um know entirely volunteer unpaid board and in addition to attending the meetings we're also responsible for reviewing field reports every month from engineers and Wetland scientists and in the average month we might review an excess of 100 plus or more pages in addition to site visits that we have to do and then correspondents um with attorneys related to legal matters that the commission becomes involved in due to enforcement actions and so um because of that we're seeking somebody to attend our meetings and just take our minutes uh we recognize the fiscal position of the town does not um does not warrant the full-time office manager as much as I would no as much as I have that on my Amazon Wish List I recognize that that's that's not going to happen um so what we're seeking is somebody to take our minutes um it's otherwise difficult it would be difficult for um you know I'm I'm on eight or nine committees at this point and um all of them except CPC the CPC does have a uh a minute clerk who does come and take our minutes and uh in exchange for remuneration um however what's a little different about the Conservation Commission is um one the length of our meetings our meetings are routinely between three and four hours long um they also involve presentations by Engineers that have us um reviewing PowerPoint presentations and topographical maps um and so it's it would be very difficult for a member of the commission to pay adequate attention at the speed at which the meeting moves while also taking minutes um we had our office assistant um who would attend our meetings or watch them on YouTube playback the reason that we are seeking a minute clerk um is to just help us keep our minutes organized make sure that everything's an accurate reflection and um to defay some of the workload that's already in my opinion fairly substantial for a volunteer commission um in my opinion I feel like the commission as it is is doing a lot of the work of a committee of course but also really of a of a department of the town and um the reason that our request was based on a pum rate was because of the length of our meetings and um they can be hectic at times there are times you know tempers sometimes run hot with issues you know we sometimes have to make unpopular decisions and um it could be difficult for a person who just has to rely on cable so we we're we want to require them to attend the meeting because there are things you know we we saw a microphone be adjusted in tonight's meeting sometimes things aren't um aren't picked up on the microphone um you know God forbid people get sick cable might not always be available um there can be issues that impact our ability to have the YouTube playback and so we want to have have somebody who's able to attend the meetings however when our office assistant was taking the meetings minutes she would attend the meetings but also just given how fast they move and the volume of information that we cover would have to go back and rewatch portions of it on YouTube and so a meeting to to take minutes might involve sitting through a three-hour meeting and then going back and rewatching two and a half hours of it and you know there might be Corrections that need to be made and so the reason that we requested it is a flat perum amount of uh $150 per meeting was um oh we meet once a month by the way is um is because we saw that as a cost control measure that would assign a finite quantity we wouldn't want to be in a situation where some months the minutes take them five hours some minutes the meetings take them 12 hours and have us be on the hook for a varying hourly rate um last year I believe forgive me if I'm misspeaking I believe we had two special meetings last year so we're not talking about a lot of meetings uh the money is available in our budget for this year year because we um lost the office assistant position uh Midway through the office ad uh assistant position that we did have was an an hourly rate in the union of uh 2112 per hour or eight hours per week so looking at roughly $170 per week is what we were originally slotted for um on a weekly basis and we're asking for a little bit less than uh than a quarter of that per month um we believe that having the you know having making sure that we have somebody who's dedicated to taking the accurate minutes that's important because sometimes we do make decisions that end up in court or they end up in administrative appeal and making sure that we have accurate minutes that are complete and reflect what actually transpired while also preserving The Limited bandwidth of the commission to attend to our other duties like reviewing uh engineering field reports and attending site visits um we feel that this is a happy medium while we did request $150 um that is based on um what other towns are paying we sampled uh Newber report is where that came from I know it's not Apples to Apples and um of course you know I would respect that it's completely within the latitude of the uh P of selectman to change that amount if um you know if you thought that it was suitable but um those are those are the reasons why we're seeking it is is we would I'd love to say that we're seeking parity with comparable Town departments but I understand that parity is is not in the cards given our fiscal position so we're at least asking for this in order to uh to defay what might inhibit the commission's work if we don't have at least a mod of administrative support do you think 150 is kind of steep I understand what you just explained and um if they work two hours 75 bucks an hour that that that wouldn't even make it through our meeting unfortunately so our our meetings are about three hours and then usually even when I take minutes for one of the sleepier Committees that's you know you meet you work for 50 minutes and then you're done how much was budgeted for um the clerk before they left uh the clerk before they left was off the top of my head I'm not sure exactly but I will say that it was 211 12 an hour 8 hours per week um so probably looking at somewhere around 3 to 4,000 at the very least okay uh is uh Nicole do you have any questions no I have an idea I don't know if this is something within the and I'm choosing my calculator I'm not ignoring is this in the authority of the Conservation Commission I don't know if you know but you know you got the con the commission has to meet and a lot of it is you know you're approving um you know requests or you're you're chasing someone who violated you know the wetlands protection act or whatever right so you're you're performing a service right can you charge an administrative fee you know for folks when they file with you that could go towards paying for for a um administrative clerk such as uh someone to record minutes so instead of the taxpayer having to pay for this person the typ minutes it's well you're meeting because you're you're serving you know these people who need something from you can we can we charge him for it I absolutely love that idea and I did misspeak it was approximately $99,000 the was 87859 um so well then it's unacceptable sorry and uh so yes I love that that idea um that was actually something that we had originally intended to propose at the special town meeting um we were advised that in general with revolving funds that it was probably better to wait for the annual to propose a revolving fund because that was something that we were looking to do is actually to um create a revolving fund for our um for our application fee Revenue to go in to help to defay costs uh we also wanted to explore that with um things like conservation fines because if we get to the point where we're issuing a fine you can be certain that many many many hours and a lot of uh you know a lot of resources went into trying to mediate or amarate the problem before it gets there and so um I will say that I I do absolutely love that idea um and also too in in in the name of full disclosure under the uh conservation fund that we have we have the Wetland protection uh rollback fund one of the authorized uses for that would be a minutes clerk so we we could expend the money from that um we have been using that for um administrative appeals and funding um funding legal services for some um some large projects that we have uh been in disputes with that have ended up either at DP administrative appeal at daunton Superior Court um so we have been utilizing that I think the commission was um trying to see if we could get it as a operating line item rather than relying on um on our unpredictably renewable you can't call it an unrenewable resource because things do come in and out of roll back and fund does get replenished but it's along unpredictable schedules that usually involve something that was farmland or forestry land being rolled back into being you know residentially or commercially developed um so just in the sake of full disclosure that that is a potential use and um but given the um the historic uses of that fund and what we've been looking for and kind of what the spirit of that fund was for we would we would prefer to not fund what we view as a departmental Personnel expense from there but if that's the direction of the selectman of of course that's the direction that we will take do you think it'd be a healthy compromise if we funded this position just to town meeting and the Conservation Commission has to propose a fee to to fund it for the next fysical year so we'll get you through this this period so you it'll free the commissioner to work on charging administrative fees so it doesn't have to be through taxation you know or can at least supplement the position no I I I love that idea okay um so if the if the board was willing to uh entertain funding a stipended uh position through the end of the fiscal year and then come the annual we could propose the creation of a revolving fund to divert some of those application fees into and then use that to defray Personnel expenses um I think that would be an absolutely fantastic idea I like that idea as well yeah yeah I do too so I'll make a motion to um approve the job description for cont Conservation Commission part-time clerk minute taker um but I'm also going to put the um you know for the posting it's it'll be um temporary through um annual town meeting for 2025 depending on the Conservation Commission doing a revolving fund I'll second that okay motion made in seconded any more discussion all those in favor I thank you all very much I really appreciate your time tonight wish you all a safe drive home thank you too thank you okay this is a recommendation to appoint Joanne I thought her name was Joanna Am I Wrong um I thought she said that's what it was to me one day oliv Vera to the agricultural committee I'll make that motion second motion made and second any discussion all those in favor I I a recommendation to appoint Laura Smith to to the agricultural committee I'll make that motion second uh motion made in second any discussion all those in favor I uh this is going to be a review discussion act uses for the town of D and Opera Neu non-entertainment entitlement unit funds uh for um for the town yeah if I th through the chair U one thing just to go back a little bit she did sign it she sent us a letter Joan but I thought she told me her name was really Joanna but well that's how she signed it the letter so yeah makes it because easier I don't know okay that might have been something I dreamed so um so the town does have $7,695 122 of of uh remaining Opa funds that were unassigned and unexpended uh these are considered NE funds non-entitlement unit uh unit funds we are non entitlement unit because we're a Municipality of less than 50,000 so of that um um I'm going to give a suggestion to the board and if you approve it uh of the $177,000 we have um the Route 44 uh sewer feasibility study um we have a 72 thou we're getting a $72,000 grant we need $8,000 in matching funds so um I recommend of the of that 17,000 8 8,000 go towards the matching funds for the Route 44 Grant and uh the balance which is uh which will be 9,6 9422 um to go to the conservation committee uh for their legal for their legal expenses uh uh both uh both suggested expenses are authorized under uh are under the op oper Provisions um there's a certain amount of funds which was set aside uh for for the Conservation Commission uh to do to deal with legal expenses um it's It's Quickly depleting and as as Mr Reynolds was explaining and they starting to tap into that roll back money um that roll back money is should uh legal expenses is an authorized use for it but it's more for like for conservation for conservation for conservation purposes uh so uh we saw two good uses for that 17 uh for that 177,000 again they limited uses uh the uses suggested um are are authorized uses my concern is the 8,000 for the for Route 44 sewer yeah is it a Deb issue you know we just throwing money at a money pit that's not going to happen anyway well we do have we did receive a grant for the yeah doesn't necessarily mean that we should spend the $8,000 it's out forbid though isn't it is that out forid yeah we did we did put it out um we did put it out for a bid I mean we could uh I I think it's it you know if we if we do look at Economic Development was in the economic development plan uh to see if we could um you know s sewered and and increase our opportunities and that Route 44 Corridor so um I I would say that um it's it's worth the exploration especially since the the arpa funds and and and the grant money and then we could take it from there so it's it's what does of the board what what does the sewer department think have they said uh I it's It's the Grant was put in about a year and a half ago so they were in they you know from when I looked at the paperwork they appeared to been in support of it okay all right uh any questions no Mark do you have any more I'm concerned about Main Street you know we're doing it in phases and it's you know I know all of those materials are so costly uh so I like the I don't like I sh the concern about you on rle 44 but I know we're kind of already at the point where it's out to bid y um but for conservation I I understand those concerns um um but I'm concerned about main I'm more I'm more concerned about Main Street and and just it's been dragging on for so long and I wonder about I don't know if for are we on budget 100% for that I were here's the thing I mean it's not um I had a discussion with the town then we'd figure out what uses we could like legitimately put it towards and I know uh you know she was like um legal is is high up is is is high up there so that's why um and it it lists you know I mean I guess we can't put it towards uh uh the sewer at uh at Main Street because it's specifically says for sewer purposes and I mean but we are um again the arpa funds we have um we have put it out there we we're receiving the aror funds as as as you know uh the contracts uh the contracts for that went out so um we seem you know we seem to be on on budget and on target for that so I don't know um um you know we would have to come up the Federal Government likes a good reason so you have like oh extra 9,000 towards sewer you know so where where I think it's easier um it it's easier for us to you know we have more concrete examples to uh to to give them uh for for legal fees and for the for the matching funds for sewer so okay all right is there a motion on the floor um I'll make a motion um to use the remaining arer funds um as highlighted by Town Administrator Raco is that fine that okay uh yeah I believe that's fine okay I'll second that motion May seconded any more discussion all those in favor I on call Plumbing bid award this is again a review discussion act uh this is we we um had an on call plumber um and then then um unfortunately he um he he couldn't uh handled well he was unable to come to the jobs which we requested so we put out a new uh a bid for on Call uh we did receive um um the bid from from hound hound dog and um and then um he he was the uh best uh uh most responsible and responsive uh bidder so what we're seeking here is you just give me the authority to sign that to sign that onall contract sure there's motion on the floor I have a question if you don't mind yeah uh in the bid it asked for certificates of insurance are those on file for him yes oh yeah yeah everything was received and other than the website how could someone find like find this bid and know we were even bidding for a plumber is it uh yeah we we put it on comis com yeah yeah so we do put it uh we put on comis this is the uh State website we put it out we put it on our website so the um the procurement process has several things we have to do because we have to do it um our website have to put put it in a u a newspaper of of of local circulation and then on comis I know there's another one this one is a comis but the other one is is like ref we do a different bidding so we have to put in on that one as well so this awesome thank you um I'll make a motion to recommend Hound Dog Plumbing as our new on call Plumbing plumber I'll second that motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I uh um this is a review discussion act but we can just we don't have to read each one we just take the Slate as as it's printed in the agenda the first one is the annual liquid license renewals I'll make a motion to approve the annual liquor license renewals as presented I'll second that motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I uh review discussion act annual car dealers license renewals I'll make a motion to approve the annual car dealer license as presented I'll second that motion made in seconded any discussion all those in favor I review discussion act annual comment V vict vict what is it V vict vict license renewals sorry I butchered that I'll make a motion to approve the annual common Vic license renewals as presented I'll second that motion made in second any discussion all those in favor I uh annual fuel storage permit renewals I'll make a motion to approve the annual fuel storage permit renewals as presented I'll second that motion made in seconded any discussion all those in favor all annual entertainment license renewal this is just for 1712 I'll make a motion to approve the annual entertainment license renewal as presented I'll second that motion made in uh seconded any discussion all those in favor I I uh now on to acknowledgements resignation of Robert gear from the open space committee I'll make a motion to accept Robert Gear's um resignation from open space second motion made in second any discussion all those in favor I I the review discuss an act resignation of John Garrett from the D development industrial committee I'll make a motion that we set um is that um the resignation of John from the dayon development Industrial committee second motion made second any discussion I have some sure um I just remember when John first got um involved and with the ddic and I was able to swear him in swn clerk when that happened he yeah he just seemed I know he worked really hard for the town and he had a lot of enthusiasm and having watched their meetings he seemed to be quite the contributor so he'll be very very Miss and we appreciate his efforts thank you onto approval of the warrants okay um I'll make a motion to approve the warrants paid by November 26 2024 22 a-25 for $1 15,646 192 22 B-25 for $385,000 a-25 for 3 4,322 69 in 23 B-25 for 833637 and warrants paid by December 12 24 24 a-25 for $9,888 2016 and lastly 24 B-25 for $254,600 37 I'll second that motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I I uh it's time for public input again uh Nancy oh yes take your time um Laura mad 1645 Maple Street um going to put on my Council on Aging hat as I was sitting there and I'm really um bummed I didn't think to do this earlier with the first public input I hope people are still watching um on Channel 9 but I wanted to give um a heads up in my mind we had one more meeting before this was going to happen but I forgot about the holiday um Tom Ferry had alluded to the renovations that will be happening at the Council on Aging we're doing a bathroom remodel um for all three bathrooms uh I don't know if you remember earlier this year we were able to obtain over two thou $200,000 in grant funding part of that gr funding was to redo all three bathrooms so that is now taking place um and we closed the day program prime time for the last week of December and the first week of January with the holidays so we thought that was a great time to tackle this we will still be open for our community programs we will have one bathroom open um and they'll be doing one bathroom at a time so um we will always have a bathroom or two open depending on the schedule but I did want to make that known there will be some noise um construction and time that will take to get the done our grant funds need to be expended by March 2025 so it will start in 2 weeks um the week of Christmas um which obviously is a short week so in the next week we'll be short with New Year's Day so it won't be finished in those two weeks that's just when we're going to be starting it it will kind of proceed through I don't know the timeline we are kind of also at the mercy of what the weather's going to be like the highway department will be assisting um Tom our Building Commissioner Jim agar and I am Bella our executive director met today to kind of make sure we're still on track for that which we are um but I did want to make that aware to the public that there will be some commotion um happening at the Council on Aging um behind Town Hall here so uh it needs a facelift yes and um thank you for putting that together but uh it's not said enough but thank you for the job you guys do uh it's tremendous and we really appreciate it thanks thank you um it is going to be in the January newsletter of a heads up construction is happening um but it it will continue to happen very exciting cool uh any more input Mr chairman yes Nancy um I just want to give you an update on the 2025 storm water committee calendars sure uh we we had a delay in transmitting the photographs to BP and after like got the photographs on a thumb drive part of them were lost so the Calendar's still in the works uh we will have them out I was hoping we would have them in time for the food bank but I don't think that's going to happen but in any case um they will be available in all the town offices in the post offices and at the various food banks when they occur if I don't hit December it will be January but um it's just a matter of uh obviously with the Christmas holiday uh the kids are going to be out for almost 2 weeks um and the other thing too is the students that work on this in graphic arts are in the are in the I'll call it the shop where they do the work one week and then the following week they're in academic classes so one we delay is actually a two-e delay but anyhow they're in the works we will get them out um and um I just want everybody to know cuz people have asked me are we going to have calendars yes we are unfortunate for the delay but I think probably uh instead of doing this in October we're going to have to start as soon as as soon as the kids settle in in September um and I will also ask uh anyone that would like to have pictures for the 26 Calendar uh feel free to mail them to me uh email them to me and um we'll be asking for pictures during the but we got some great pictures I've got enough pictures for another year but I'm still asking people to send them in so I think you're going to be happy with it when it comes out but that's what the delay is thank you I'm sure we will be happy where did the bararia the photos come from this year oh they're all diting yes no I mean who submitted them um I mean one year you had to do them all practically yeah well I think I've only got one or two um I know may I had got a of Frederick Anderson's grave when it was decorated when the metal was here um and all right so I've got I know I have went from the Aggie school um uh I Paul Reynolds submitted one there are number from um Helen aora in Tom's office um there's another lady who I don't personally know she took a shot of tront Street and it must have been late fall because the leaves were on the trees but it snowed and what happened was when the sun came up half of the street is the side of the road is covered in snow the trees and there the other side is no snow it's like you've got two seasons in this one picture I know that one was one of the ones I think we selected of the 12 I think we we selected maybe seven and I asked uh Mrs uh uh lens who is uh the teacher involved who happens to be a Dion resident uh I said ask the students to pick the rest of them and also pick something for the front cover so I'm waiting to see what the students are going to select for those other pages so cool they definitely there's a good variety of people who who sent them I think I think people were kind of hesitant initially but once they saw the first calendar it was like oh I got a picture y so uh yeah we've got some we've got some nice pictures really great well thank you for doing that Nancy it's always a pleasure well we have to do something to keep the EPA happy so this is one of our uh public activities great we have a minimum of two a year and so the Arts Festival was one so so this one is uh going to be the second one for the reporting year that ends June 30th great thank you again thank you you were missed at the um tree lighting though we're used to seeing you with your calendars there well I my frankly I was sick I had a cold for over two weeks I I was just I was out of it I mean uh it was not until like Monday of this week that I stopped coughing um and it was it was probably just as well the camp just we ready but if if I had them I would have been there rest assur absolutely thanks Nancy uh any more public input okay moving on to the minutes please i' like to um make a motion to approve the board of selectman regular meeting minutes of November 20th 2024 second motion made second any discussion all those in favor I um we now have to take a roll call to go into executive session Nicole Meo I Maro I and Peter Karen I uh we are going to go into executive session we will not be returning for uh from the executive session so this is it for this evening uh hopefully everybody has a great Christmas in New Year's and however you celebrate it but I uh I think we're all set for the night thank you do we have to make a motion or um yeah a motion to adjourn the is that enough oh yeah motion to go to Executive session I'm sorry I'll make a motion to go into executive session under Massachusetts general laws chapter 38 section 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 power of the public body and the chair so declares police Union and uh approval of the board of selectman executive session meeting minutes of November 20th 24 I'll second that motion made in seconded any discussion all those in favor I thank you