responsible by us right I think the only things we'll be using is the uh facilities for the meetings and um some of the staff but uh other than that it's all on us okay please Chief Nichols how are you good good good evening everybody congratulations welcome board thank you um so I prepared a a rough Narrative of an incident that um took place on March 9th um which brought us all here tonight for uh Patrol men meter and patrolman Schwarz Mr Tu you want to come up set all right okay um on March 9th uh 20124 at 2:11 in the afternoon uh patrolman almeer and patrolman Schwarz had received a call with the D and fire department to respond to 890 Oak Street dayon for the reports of an injured party while cutting down a tree when trolman El meter arrived on the scene he heard a man yelling from the backyard observing several trees cut down he made his way to to the gentleman yelling for help um as he uh as Patrol meter approached the gentleman he observed a man with a chainsaw on the ground and uh near his head observing a 25ft tree approximately 12 in Stick um through the gentleman's leg um with heavily bleeding petrolman Alita notified uh D and fire that the man needed to be extricated immediately uh when pman Schwarz arrived on scene they determined they needed to place a tourniquet to uh stop the arterial bleeding that was uh so pronounced once the tourniquet was in place the pressure was applied from the tourniquet was uh controlled to bleeding but when the man was extricated from the tree uh they had to play a second Tate um to stop the bleeding entirely uh Mr teer was um taken to Rodan hospital where he was treated and went under uh treatment there and uh thankfully he's still with us today definitely um all the training um that these guys go through every year is it shows these guys especially um the two that that were there that day um we just went through the tourni kit stuff and uh training and they they they took all that training and applied it to this to this call and they acted accordingly um I want to thank all Communications Police and Fire um these departments always work well together and I can't thank them enough you guys want to come up [Applause] I presented them both with our vpin for the life-saving uh measures um Saving Mr Tech's life gentlemen I don't know how you guys do what you do but uh you certainly saved somebody's life that day and we as the town residents appreciate that and I'm sure he appreciates that as well without saying um but it's amazing that the the job that the police department for performs and I personally have used uh the police department a few times and I'm always amazed at your professionalism and thank you we have a couple accommodations official accommodations for you Mr Aaron Schwartz [Applause] [Applause] sure okay I was like if I'm moving What's happen get in sure I'll get in it's an important moment in the back there you all right come on all right this is who's really in charge get close to George they're not GNA fight you excellent thank you [Applause] to stay here for a minute oh yes I don't know where there was a lot of us but all right the next thing on the list is review discuss and act appointment of Christopher Karen as a part-time Public Safety dispatcher uh no relations no relations going right all right so it's my recommendation to appoint Mr Christopher Karen here as a parttime public safety dispatcher uh Mr uh uh Christopher Works presently right now for the city of Fall River is a certified 911 dispatcher um his trainings up to uh and certifications up to uh up to date uh Mr Karen has been with the city since 2022 202 2020 my apologies um he's ALS he received a uh 911 emergency dispatch of telecommunications accommodation back in February of 23 um he's been a proud member of the call department for the fire department for um since 2016 um he's always done a great job out in the field um been very professional and uh I'd be glad to uh have him as a parttime dispatcher with us great thank you how are you sir great you ready for this oh yeah I'm sure um Christopher you you've become highly recommended and we appreciate you joining our our group and um not sure if you have any comments Nicole no I don't um I'm I'm guessing we're not as busy as Fall River um but thank you thank you for coming aboard my pleasure Mark what the track of you to D um I actually moved here in 2016 to be on the fire department oh awesome um I had some friends that were on the fire department and that's what moved me into Dion I was originally from Fall River and uh loved it and I've stayed so cool thank you thanks for answering the call we appreciate it okay um you don't have uh anything else with Mr that's it sir Karen okay um we're going to move something out of order be we have to make a motion oh we have to make a I'm sorry not even thinking I would like to make a motion to appoint Christopher as a parttime public safety I'll second that okay uh motion me seconded any discussion all those in favor I I and Peter Karen is an i sir you are now a part-time Public Safety uh dispatcher thank you than we appreciate it can absolutely yeah told me about I was Dev Time by my house have a good night yeah thank you we're going to take it uh an article out of order if somebody would like to make that motion Mr chairman i' like I don't know what we taking out letter okay um I'd like to make a motion that we take an item from new business B review discuss Act police chief Lieutenant bylaw for insertion into annual town meeting warrant second there a motion made second all those any discussion all those in favor I and Peter C is in I um then we're going to recommend that we take um Mr vado's request for his junk dealer's license renewal out of orders because the chief of police is still here uh so can we have a motion to do that please should I wait to make that motion after we finish this or should I do it now uh let's do it now okay I'd like to make a motion that we take um we want to do the correspondence as well as I correct right um I'd like to take a motion that we do the correspond spondence the letter from Wayne leage um 176 cobane um junk dealers license as well as I review discuss act junk dealers license um as well 180 cob Lane thank you any um discussion no we have a motion made in second there's no discussion all those in favor I and Peter Cameron is an I um Chief we want to do this while you're still here if just give me a few seconds and then we'll probably call you up for a couple of questions Mr Vado how are you fine I understand you're not feeling well today you sure come on up on this is a pretty standard procedure it's just for Renewal but we have some concerns which I'm sure you aware of by now well I haven't worked in almost a month i' okay I've had pneumonia MH and all that stuff so he's been in the hospital for 12 days I've been in the hospital for quite a while yep and on oxygen and you know so he has been working you know out of 14 accounts I only got three left I dropped all the rest mhm Loy Construction Company n coming taking the dumpster Friday morning okay no more trash coming in great all right and this neighbor you know who he is he's been harassing me he's been in front of my driveway uh insulting me using foul language and he takes his wife for a walk for a witness and you can't even hold her up you know she's a sick lady and and then I'm in the backyard walking around cleaning out my garage and stuff he's on top of the smoke of the roof watching me doing everything all right and he's harassing me in the backyard using foul language and my wife is in a driveway he uh another thing too the branches that fall in his yard from the the wind and all he picks them up and throws them back in my yard all I'm doing is picking up Limbs and another thing you know it's it's at our age we don't have to put up with that 8 years old and I'm still working because we got to make a living I'm not a TV man I'm a porty I'm a farm boy all right and this guy he's trying to shut me down I've been in business there for 40 years all right and I let my recycling license go right because I I I got the contract from FedEx just for metal and I'm on the road a lot I'm not at home I'm in Boston need them frin free and and I'm not at home I'm on the road a lot and while I'm on on the road my wife is seeing all this in in the house she last Sunday morning Sunday morning he's out in front of my driveway with his tractor digging holes wide open making all kinds of noises and another thing the a lot of the noises come from the Boatyard okay the landscape across the street from me no offense on the highway department they make noise too but I'm a farm boy that doesn't bother me and we don't bother nobody and I don't bother him and the other day I'm drive I'm I'm drive drive walking in my driveway right his son throwing cigars on my driveway and he's throwing trash over my fence this guy's a nightmare okay it's terrible and I'm going on 80 years old my wife is going on 75 we're being harassed all the time okay um I can't speak for the harassment uh yeah because obviously we're not there uh people do have a right to to do certain things when it's on on their property uh you can you have the right to file a complaint against them as well as I'll file a complaint as he has the right to file a complaint against you as you're well aware because you've been here before um I'm going to read a a letter that we have received we have received two letters uh and let me read them and you can determine uh you don't have to answer to them it's just um for the record uh to the board of Selectmen or who ever in reference to the 180 cob Lane property being used as a junkyard I am totally opposed to any relist re resending re licensing I'm sorry it's written by hand at the vado's property as a junkyard he has not compiled complied at the hours of operation or weekends of operation the work what it works when he wants at no consideration to the neighborhood I have called the police several times complaining the noise some days is beyond belief which upsets my wife as she has and drops off there please not do not give the Fado any more consideration Wayne Ela page that's one letter and then the other letter that we receiv received from Alicia Wilson is good afternoon members of the board of Selectmen I am writing to you in advance of tomorrow's meeting regarding the renewal of Joseph vado's license while I have every intentions of coming to the meeting meeting tomorrow night and speaking in front of the board I want to reach out in advance with some concerns and background first I would like to state that Mr and Mrs Vado have been very helpful neighbors since we moved into our house on the corner of carb and Somerset in 2015 so that's a positive thing they said you've been helpful neighbors yeah I W be helps the neighbors please that being said issues related to the junking business have resulted in turmoil within the neighborhood since the board approved Mr Fado's license last year the there have been many several lingering issues with the noise in out operation outside of the licenses permitting business hours and days I have reported these issues to Mr Hull and also to Mr Mullen I also have concerns regarding scrap metal inciting that has been in the front yard and not within the confines of the back of the property as well as light pollution from security light that is on all night and lights up the neighborhood on numer numerous occasions M Fado has operated early in the morning on we weekends and on holidays individuals have also come to the residents to drop off scrap and pick it up on weekends and holidays this result may this may be a result of misunderstanding regarding what the operation of the business is if the junking business is to continue the town needs to clarify the operation definition making it crystal clear that definition should include individuals individuals or companies dropping off scrap the license should also be indicated that the moving scrap loading and unloading is only permitted during the listed business hours as well as the utilization of the work truck for scrap pickup the uncertainty just adds to unrest within the neighborhood creating newless needless conflict if businesses are to operate in a residential area they need to be clear guidelines that adhere to that the neighbors can reference that the town can enforce please fail to reach out with any questions um so it sounds like maybe you're not necessarily in violation of uh because you haven't received any ation but maybe you're skirting it a little bit I know there is stuff in your front yard which is not supposed to be there we got a 56 full Victoria the other day I'm on my I'm in the garage changing the oil and stuff I went on my other garage I started sweeping the floor who's out front who's pay who's paying these police officers going over there and just looking all the time we're paying the for these police officers all right there's there were two cops there last month and he asked me what I was doing I says come on in the back I'm sweeping my floor in my garage okay I can't do that it says in the junk de license that town offs have a right to make unannounced visits that would be an unannounced visit yeah and I let my other license go all right and there was no rules on the other license I could have worked seven days a week but I didn't renew it I renewed this one because I I've been dealing with scrap metal I've done scrap metal met for years and I've cleaned houses with scrap metal and everything I never needed a license okay my concern is that you putting things in your front yard that you're not supposed to be doing tractor you can pack Park the tractor but there's there's pictures of aluminum uh sighting in in other that's corrugator panels I'm planning to put another building on okay I bought all them them corrugator panel just don't store them in your front yard oh okay it's still Zone commercial in the front yard yes but we had a license agreement with you that you're going to keep it all in the backyard well I'll move it then okay that's what we're ask you to do and what about the tractor I have to move that too no that's the collector item to farm that's cool but no you don't have to move that all right okay um Mrs M you have any concerns no um I other than there was mention of makes me laugh I never had no rules with my cleaning out service license I've had that for 40 years all of a sudden I got a metal and recycling license and I can't I I I can't even work a half a day on a Saturday The Whole Town's working on Saturdays yeah but you know the restrictions of having a junk yard in neighborhood we we went over we went over those restrictions when with you when we gave you your license which you agreed upon so you have to have to adhere to what the restrictions were that's all we're asking yeah okay I didn't have no choice I have to rest we have them here right I just want this guy to stop yeah yeah the current current license in effect um until May 1st 2024 um the license is to Joseph Fado is hereby licensed in the practice of collecting dealing dealing in or keeping a shop for the purpose seal resale a of junk old and precious metals and for secondhand articles at 180 the inditing mass on the premises pursuant to the following conditions number one limit on premises hours of operations between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 700 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding weekends state and federal holidays when no work is permitted number two junk dealer license as well as hours and conditions of operations will be clearly in conspicuously posted on the premises uh number three no collection acceptance uh in cutting of any fuel tanks um and number four junk dealer's license is non-transferable so based on what I'm and I've heard tonight the only piece that may need Clarity um is just where the junk goes in relation to the property um just because that right now is an undefined item okay in terms of the license so that like if the board oh if it's a flavor of the board I that issue does have the ability to be be considered oh another thing too Friday they're going to come and pick up the dumpster 6:00 in the morning okay you know he's going to complain he's going to if the dumps is leaving I'm sure they'll be happy yeah and the the panels are going to go in the backyard where the dumpster was thank you yeah Mrs M do you have any other concerns no what can we do about this this guy harassing me all the time let's finish with the board first okay yeah thank you Mr Chico do you know what the hours are that you can operate this do you know what the hours are five days a week seven to I work I only work four or five hours a day it's 5 days a week Saturdays I usually go in the back walking around right and see what I brought in during the week I don't work SES no more but I would appreciate if I can only we three hours on a sday which I know you probably won't give it to me so the hours right now it looks like I was agreed on last year before my time was 7 700 a.m. to 700 p.m. Monday through Friday yeah so you're good so for now we have two neighbors who had complaints and um I think their letters seemed pretty nice they seem like they they didn't say anything bad about you they just had just some concerns all my neighbors are wonderful people just one we have no complaints you know they they walk up and down the street you know I've got neighbors that come in my yard and I come home I don't even I said where the hell's my back on everybody's borrowing my back hole my truck that's why I get along good with all the neighbors that you just know the hour so that's yeah 7 to S um all right so do we have anything through the chair I'm sorry is there anything that have we been operating do we have any paperwork from any anyone the police or um that any official the bike oh I I know well that's why I've asked the chief to come today excuse me sir I have that one yeah I have that kid that rid town with the bike Edie his name Tod B he comes and helps me once in a while I flip him five or 10 bucks okay to give him you know help him thank you he's such a nice kid I'll tell ni guy he's great kid thank you and I I try to get along I've lived in this town for 40 for 45 years I think and I've been married 55 years I'm not going nowhere thank you guys you can have a seat thank you thank you very much Chief we have a couple questions if you don't mind Chief do you know of any instances that the well I know they've been called several times that they are in violation that the your department has witnessed or is it always after the fact or uh I know you haven't written any citations not that it would be up to you but it would certainly be up to the building insed to be informed so the last um time we were there was a Saturday um the RP stated that the reporting party stated that um Mr Fado was working in his backyard the cruiser was literally around the corner I recall it clearly and when he got there there was nobody working Mr Fado wasn't even home okay um I've been going there for 20 20 years of my career I know and uh there hasn't been any really any big violations that I've come across personally thank you do you guys have any questions for the chief you see no that was my only one great thank you Chief does anybody else want to be heard on this hi hi yes I'm Alicia Wilson I live at 2043 Somerset Avenue on the corner of Cobb um Joe is an abutter to my property so one thing I'll say like I said in my correspondence they are great neighbors they've been a big help ever since we moved in however there are some things that I think need clarification and I think it's just a misunderstanding of what the requirements are um Joe does have his work truck that he uses um and I think that's one of the things that may be a misund understanding as to whether he's using it for personal use or whether he's using it for the business um I know Joe goes out on junk runs a lot on Saturday mornings um and that's one of the things I think is causing confusion and turmoil with in the neighborhood um like I said one of the things is the light also is an issue I think Joe and I can work that out but um that's one of the items and it it's really just I feel like there needs to be clearer guidelines as to what's permissible and what's not permissible so that it's very clear to Mr leage to myself to other abutters what is permissible and not and as well as to Joe and Janice what we can and can't do in the neighborhood especially since the majority of the neighborhood is residential right um and I will say there are times when it is outside of those hours and I know Joe's an early riser and he likes to sometimes get started early doesn't necessarily bother me because my husband's up and he's out at work but I do hear it um and it does sometimes bother my daughter who's she's you know just turned seven um and it wakes her up sometimes but it's one of those things that we've gotten used to but I think other individuals in the neighborhood if we just had clarification on that it would definitely um reduce some of the issues that have been present in the neighborhood and like I just want everybody to get along right and you know it's one of those I don't mind Joe running his business um at all in the neighborhood it's just one of those things where if we all abide by the guidelines and if everybody understands them I think think it works to everybody's favor right okay thank you Mrs do you have any questions for so what exactly do you think that he's not understanding in regards to like the guidelines that we just went over with the hours and the days that he can work so I think one of the things is the loading of the truck um I know a lot of times Joe has early runs to maybe Boston or something and he loads a truck very early in the morning or might be out there cleaning out one of the barns early in the morning it might not be obvious that it's creating a lot of noise to other to him but it is to other people um so that might be one thing and then also like the running of the truck on weekends where he's picking stuff up and then dropping it off in the back or having people come to the residents and pick up or drop off stuff um at the property is one of one of the items that I think might need some verification cuz I know he does use this truck for personal use for the the orange truck but he does also use it for the business use as a majority of the time so I think that might be one of the items that needs so what I'm hearing is he's not working within those hours and it might be a confusion and that it is his home so he doesn't always think that this is what work and what's yeah I mean a lot of times it's kind of him probably cleaning up the back and trying to make it neat and nice and to a lot you know to other neighbors it may be it sounds a lot like he's scrapping or cleaning up the property it's sometimes it's very hard to determine what's going on because you know he does work a lot in the back of the property and clean it up and um you know is moving stuff around but some of that has to do with the scrapping business and then some of that just has to do with personal use so it does become difficult for the neighborhood to determine what's going on because of the multi-use of of the property okay thank you I don't have any questions for you app no problem Mr Vado I don't see any reason not to renew your license but um the only thing I can say is you got to pay a little bit more attention to when you work uh I understand your vehicle is used for your personal use which we can't stop that that's that's your your business not business that's I've only got one truck yes that's fine um but you really have to make sure your hours are posted so that other people who come to drop off uh medals are not visiting you on the weekends uh it's only should weekend to great but telling them and having them do that are two separate things so you have to make sure that if somebody's dropping it off on a Saturday morning you have to send them away well I won't send them away I'll go to their house and pick it up okay uh but then you still can't unload your truck on that Saturday that's okay make no noise sure thank you um other than that uh thank you I don't think there's any more concerns does anybody else have a concern with this issue okay thank you um anybody want to make a motion to renew the license um okay I will I will do that I'd like to make a motion to renew Mr Joseph rado's dealer license as part of the motion if there are any substantiated instances of working outside the guidelines of the license yeah iene yeah we're operating within this framework hold like if I can make any like recommend mendations based just what on we've heard um especially to the hours of operation like at the end of at the end of the first sentence um like actually actually proposing to clarify and add to the end of that that there will be no pickups drop offs or loading of vehicles outside the hours outside the hours and days of operation to just to just really further clarify that expectation to um because that is really what we're um what's being heard tonight um like and then also then also the board could consider like adding adding another provision uh that could say the collection of all junk shall be kept in the rear of the property um just so we clarify I just offer that as a thought and recommendation um ask a question through you Mr chair sure do you think the uh scrap in the front yard do you think 30 days is enough time to move it to the back I'll move it Monday morning okay dumpster after the dumpster I gotta wait till the dumpster's gone and I'll these are all brand new space building panels I'm going to use them I'll put them all in the back and I'll close the gates all done so I'll add the town administrator's recommendation into my motion okay does the motion mean second uh second somebody I'll second that okay motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I I and Peter Karen is and I all right sir good luck thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you have a nice day see you lat chief chief are you still here for the uh next section that um propos uh Lieutenant deputy chief job description and hiring procedure we're going to talk about the hiring procedure first mark this is all you okay um so this was just something kind of as an outside looking in as a as a resident I and then getting to come on on the board I thought it would be nice just to to clarify the chief of police vacancies and um the Deputy Chief of Police or Lieutenant vacancies uh I thought if we put this to the town's people coming from us as a boards together and if I get you buy in tonight basically what this says is that we're going to uh select from within the department um being a bylaw I thought it was kind of had more clout than a policy because originally as a as a resident I was thinking we need to update our policies but um I thought that a bylaw would have more clo I thought it would help our Force at the D and police department know that um the board of selectman want to promote from within and uh I will'll put it in the form of a bylaw and I also like to keep things simple so I um it is pretty short and sweet I will say it was a collaborative approach um you know when I was elected I I I was lucky to meet with some members of the D Police Department I got a nice tour I got to see what a beautiful Police Department we have and uh the chief's new new uh night office and uh here all the wonderful things they're doing so I did um work with police chief on this and run by the Town Administrator fully knowing that the Town Administrator can't get his opinion until he gets one from the board um but I did ask to make sure we weren't breaking any laws or anything like that so anyhow um can I read it sure absolutely okay so uh for the police chief it says in accordance with the provisions of chapter 41 section 997a of the Massachusetts general laws the town of d chief of police the chief of police Shall Serve for a term not to exceed 3 years as per Massachusetts general laws chter 41 section 997a the incumbent may be appointed as many times as the board of selectman determines the chief of police of the town of dyon shall be selected from within the active ranks of the dayon police department the minimum qualifications include having attained or currently enrolled in attaining an Associates degree in criminal justice law enforcement public administration or related fields and 10 years experience no less than five of which have been in a progressively responsible management position or supervisory position in the absence of three qualified in the absence of three qualified applicants from the supervisor ranks well for reasons approved by the majority of the board of Selectmen the board of Selectmen may include in the selection process any qualif D police candidate the police chief position shall only be posted externally in the instance of the Town receiving fewer than three internal qualified applications from the ranks of the dayon police department an external posting for police chief shall be subject to the approval of the board of Selectmen approval by the board of Selectmen shall require a majority vote a screening committee will be used to conduct interviews screening committees are subject to open meeting law and interview must be conducted at a duly posted meeting in accordance with Mass General Law chapter 38 the screening committee shall submit no fewer than two candidates to be interviewed by the board of Selectmen in a public meeting no member of the board of Selectmen or the Town Administrator shall be a member of the screening committee excluding finalists all applicants for the chief of police shall be submitted in confidence the appointment of the chief of police shall be made by the bo of selectman from the qualified candidates can you just read the part again about um when they can go outside of yeah of the department I can so it's in the absence of three qualified applicants from the supervisor ranks sorry nope the police chief position shall only be posted externally in the instance of the Town receiving fewer than three internal qualified applications from the ranks of the Deon police department and the only reason that's that it's to comp with Massachusetts General law if we do a screening committee which to me is more transparent to the public the public knows that we're interviewing um and if you do a screening committee you have to bring two candidates forward in a public meeting so if you have fewer than three applicants in the police department that would be two so if you have you know fewer than three is two so if you have fewer than two people that you can bring forward in a public meeting then you have to go outside we wouldn't conform with the law sure and screening committe is different than how I believe we did it this uh last time around and again I just thought it would kind of be um easy for the public follow M do you have any questions no I thought it was great I think that um you hit all the nails on the head in regards to what were folks concerns um and I'm happy to see it come out so soon so that it didn't end up like some things that we like oh we're going to address this and then goes down the line and now it's time to hire and we still have addressed it um so I think I think it's excellent okay thank you good job um is there a motion on the floor to accept I would like to make a motion to where are we um so this is the bylaw correct correct okay I'd like to make a motion to accept the police chief Lieutenant bylaw for insertion into annual town meeting warrant okay is there a second second the motion being seconded any discussion all those in favor oh is it I'm sorry I wasn't looking yes sir I'd like to say that I'd like to thank Mr Pico for working on this it was something that I wanted to help work on it's an outstanding um write up that he's doing to get this for the future it makes our hiring processes a little bit easier it gives these guys the opportunities and it takes away from any type of other involvement and I think having a committee to do the interviews number one saves us a lot of money and then we don't get into the ethics violations that were committed before so I think Mark you did a great job and I would hope that to see everyone support thank you anybody else want to be heard on this subject is that it okay uh motion made in seconded no more discussion all those in favor I I and Peter C and I thank you you want can I talk about the um theut yeah that's um okay so this was basically the same framework um I don't want to steal on Chief Sunder I believe he likes Deputy Chief of Police instead of Lieutenant that wording So after talking with them I put that in um but it's really the same framework um the instead of 10 years it says eight years and um you know it's really the same thought process it's we're promoting from within our Police Department unless there's really no other option basically is how it's wored the only difference is the screening committee um is I want to read that one that's the only really change the screening committee shall be assembled by the chief of police and appointed by the board of Selectmen so for a screening committee the board has to appoint them uh but the chief can make his recommendation to the board basically to assemble his own people okay um I don't think we need a BW for that because I think that's in place now but uh I'm glad you mentioned it that's that's good yeah I'd like it in the bof just personally only because again send strong message okay Nico do you have any I just have questions about um what's the difference if there is any between lieutenant and Deputy police chief is this just a vocab like some people prefer other terminology than others and the position that you held prior like I'm trying to understand the hierarchy of these yeah so when I when I when I looked around um at the other agencies around us um there're unless you have a whole Command Staff in place captains and lieutenants that's when you have your lieutenants but um looking around at the other agencies I was starting to say is it's always a chief a deputy chief and then uh your sergeants and then your patrolman uh I think it gives better perception to the public if the chief's not around or the deputy Chief's there um sometimes I think there's a lot of confusion because there lieutenants and fire departments um which are equivalent to a sergeant in the police department so they may think it's the same the same thing um lieutenants have been a part of unions so where I always look at Captain and Deputy Chiefs as more as as a Command Staff role I just think it just gives more clarification and better perception to the public thank you so Chief Deputy Chief your sergeant and patrolman and just cut out the captain and Lieutenant we're not a big enough Department yet question um as I spoke with the chief today one of my concerns was if there was an assumption that because we had a deputy chief that that Chief would become the next chief automatically um and then we talked and he had said that especially in his absence um the public wouldn't necessarily know that the lieutenant is in charge so I had then agreed that we should go with the deputy chief so is there a motion on the floor so this is the proposed um job description hiring process yeah so I the Poli Lieutenant Deputy Chief Deputy Chief oh and this is so this is a bylaw as well uh it's going to be it would be yes I'm confused Mark can you make the motion sure so we did the motion for police chief vacency so this is to make oh I'm sorry you wanted to go first yeah thanks you're welcome uh again Mark great job as far as internally hiring and I I agree putting the bylaw in in effect so again don't get outside interference to the chief it's the chief's job to hire his men as he sees fit and I don't want to see that taken away from him he runs the department he posts the jobs his only thing should be after he goes through all the steps with the Committees and everything is to bring up recommendations to the board of Selectmen just like the fire chief does and I believe this bylaw again takes outside people out of it it's his job he's the one that has to run that department so he needs to pick the guys he needs in place so I I think it's always been that way yes it has right um it's always been the chief has come up was back when I was there we didn't have lieutenants or Deputy Chiefs or whatever we just had sergeants so after we did uh whatever we did to get there the chief would make a recommendation for the selectman and based on the recommendation of the select based on the recommendation of the chief the selectman would just would act on that okay so and that's the way it needs to stay and I think that's what Mark's trying sure absolutely thank you okay um there was a motion seconded uh any discussion Al in favor I I and P counts I thank you Chief you thank you Chief okay moving on to uh Tom Ferry Highway superintendent is Tom still here hi Tom you didn't fall SLE did you want used description I thought you had said it was in the Bible but okay so this okay so we're you one of the things to go along with the bylaw that was just recommended the bylaw that was just approved and recommended by the board also also includes a proposed hiring process that would be followed um for the um for the deputy chief position now to go along with that um we have to like in the board is being asked has to update the job description um from the current one that exists uh for the p position of Lieutenant that hasn't been filled in almost two years now um updating that job description to be one of a deputy chief uh that also makes um the chief is proposing uh propos uh changes to um to actually a few areas of the job description that are identified in the proposed job description so we um so he and the department have the ability to move forward filling that yes on the job description itself sorry guys uh okay Z second a motion on the floor this is regards to police Lieutenant correct the job description correct the Deputy Chief of Police oh well I'm sorry no I'm sorry this one didn't get change up here didn't get changed oh it's yeah the top top top header just have sure hey chief Tom can you take a break for a sec you did good work Tom sorry we we um we were a little all over the place sorry everyone on no I was already confused on my own um just on the description for deputy chief if uh anything want to add on that um on the on yes so the only thing that we added on to that would be on page three um recommendation from um Mr Mullen was to add the um I information technology on the second bullet down overseas supervision of profession uh personnel which in uh includes all work allocation training and information technology as well that was the change that that should be in red um that was the thing only thing I believe we added in there and everything else was pretty much um just um the terminology from from Lieutenant to deputy chief um oh it must maintain on second page must maintain post certification status bottom okay any other questions for in eight years eight years instead of the 10 eight years at least eight years of supervisory experience directly related to the duties and responsibility uh specified and then it has all the the same bullets at the bottom so um um my only I have two one is should we put like a range like a radius that you should lift for the police department is that something that you guys have ever talked about or does that exist already it's already been ex it's already existed um I believe it's within a 15 uh mile radius as to where the corra is but need to be in the in the um job descri that's that's all something we've always stuck by 15 miles from from uh Town Line um and I mentioned we just got update heading sayen change that to did you have any on yours I mean everything else was just changed from it's all the way at the top it's all the way at the top Chief everything was changed except for the like the second line and it's just aead oh and and and and the salary um is uh is the 98,000 base it's the base salary which is the same as lieutenant can we just um my only other concern is can we just drop the line that says bachelor's degree prer just to stay in line with the state and what our governor more hey said I did some research on it last night um the state's opinion is takes away from our talent pool um by putting that I think mine was crossed out which one's that in regards to right it says that under certificate lies is also there page two yeah yeah cross out it's just cross out bachelor's degree is cross preferred it doesn't mean that they have to have that like I think that at times what the governor is saying that um people are taking it to she means within the states emplo who they're employing that that that has to be outside of that um but I guess it wouldn't um stop people from applying because it didn't say it I don't know um I just it was crossed out down here so it is weird that it would be up here like on where it says certificates and licenses it said at least a bachelor's degree and then that was crossed out am I looking at the same thing no you're looking at the same thing okay yeah so it would be weird that it would be in one place and not another so that's my so I guess to add some clarification um so I guess the three was the base pay was added in my apologies for missing that um the post and the information on eight years of uh supervisory experience directly related to the duties and responsibility specified and all the bullets are still the same to follow and the information technology was added on the second bullet down on the third page you have the same yeah okay I've had two different copies I guess maybe I didn't Shred the bad one the good one think we're all set Chief thanks again thank you I just add one thing really just I don't have think we should post I think we should post the vacancy right away but in terms of just before we fill it um we do have in like like in the police Union CBA uh we do have language relating to the structure of administrative Sergeant I just want to make sure before I like we I actually I actually recommend a candidate to f a position that we just have filed an agreement with the Union that by going to to the lieutenant position I I just want be proud with the Union that we don't have an obligation fill to the position as well I'm optimistic we'll be able to do that but um I do think just based on funding resources we will have to have that type of agreement in end just before we the resour when are we meeting next Wednesday we talking about me on Monday and hopefully oh yeah for the police Union Yes by then then I did send out an email on Thursday advising um them that I would I would not be um Staffing that position um and I and I if you want me to quickly read the email that I sent to the union body I can do that sure he said uh good afternoon I just want to inform all members of the D and police department that it will not be reposing the position of administrative Sergeant under Article 15 15-11-5 administrative Sergeant it's a non-union administrative position um a non-union administrative position will be posted in its place going forward this is a non-union position um will be the non-union Position will be beneficial to the dtan police department and its daily functions and needs and um I spoke with the Union president um this morning he's going to follow up with this email if there's any concerns from any union members at all which um to date there haven't been um just guys wondering who the right who what's the base pay of a administrative Sergeant um if you don't know that's fine yeah I can't remember what what I want to say because it's been a year and a half almost two years since the yeah it's been a while yeah yeah it was like I think 91 92 to be exact right okay but it wasn't but that's about it thank you if um like I said I'll have Union president followup uh with this email and I'll have them CC Mr mull sure thank you thank you thank you okay so we need a motion on the floor F change I'd like to make a motion to approve the deputy chief job description with the one sitation that we strike bachelor's degree prefer theu I'll second that okay motion made and seconded any more discussion all those in favor I Peter camon I thank you Tom you're up for real this time this is for a proposed update transfer fees and sticker fees effective July 1st 2024 good evening hi so as you may may not know um Solid Waste committee has been working uh with these along with the restructure with the Board of Health and uh we captured some things that uh we'd like you guys entertain to act on tonight uh the operation of the transfer station we'd like to be user the people that are using it pay for it not all the town I believe we have just over 2,300 homes in town uh a little over 8,000 people in town uh a stick stick of sales the US the transfer station is only 670 right around there so it's I believe the percentage is right around 12% um so we want those costs not to be the burden of the whole town in general uh that's that's the rationale of some of the adjustments that are being made tonight um the trickiest one is the increase of the transfer station attendant I mean um I'm sorry the sticker um it does not align up with the fiscal year it's calendar year and one ways to make that cost effective is to get that to line up and the only way to do that is to interrupt in in the midst of it so my recommendation tonight would be to increase that $30 and that that $30 sticker price is going to pay for the attendant for the Personnel to run the transfer station so um that's that's the biggest tricky part we already have the year 2025 stickers that can be sold effective July 1st and uh we could just reassess the people that are have the stickers the difference moving forward and so it'll take a full calendar year a full fiscal year to reflect that being paid uh for the Personnel for the transfer stations uh the other Min uh the the day pass that we currently have will remain at the $15 uh the other minor changes uh anything with free on we we needed to bump that up because there's a a charge a disposal fee for that and we need to reflect that um and the other thing that's going to come with education that's why we need to we're hoping this gets approved tonight because we need to educate people July 1st sounds like a long Way's way but it's really not um we need to capture the miscellaneous items the trailer loads or the truck loads we want to stop that because there's no way of quantifying that rate and we noticed when we went to the half loads charging a half load the tonage per year was going up so uh with the help with u our representative from Mass uh Missy a lot of towns have dropped that because of that same reason so it's it's a creature habit thing and if you really take a close look a lot of the stuff that comes in could probably fit in a town bag going to CB site um if you're doing a demolition in your house and whatnot you probably should consider a dumpster anyways or take it to like any or something like that uh so your hands are not totally Di and a large percent of our community already has it figured out because they're not even coming to the transfer station um so with that said at this time I think I hit everything I'll entertain any questions um although obviously on part of those meetings um can you explain how the $30 was derived so to to reflect the Personnel the the transfer station attendant I took his uh salary and divided by what we've been having sales for the stickers for the year and it it comes up to just just a little over $28 you when you divide this this amount of sticker sales to that dollar amount so just bump it up to the 30 they round it off to the 30 and that should take care of that for a few years I could add one thing just quickly jump one of the propos changes in here that's not updated price sheet that's being proposed out based on what superintendent said the the volume and tonage um from the from the very broad nature of the half truckloads the half trailers the full truckloads and the full trailers that come in that have that has driven the town's that has driven the town's cost up to the tune of actually almost $16,000 in U planning for the F525 budget so this updated she um updated sheet would we wouldn't all we would no longer accept half half trucks half trailers and F trucks and F trailers to um to the point that was just raised um those those those residents um would have to have to use a bag program they' have to if they have an ability to use CB side um they could do that they could r um that is one of the very um that we've seen and it's been validated by D the cost of those just have been increasing at um at a very unsustainable rate and now that we've had now that we've had a POS system a point of sales system and the works for a while now we can actually see um through through the data that there's a lot of very repat offenders who who really on their own a very very small group of that 600 people to the tune of maybe a dozen they're um they're very habitual offends as well and that that cost as I mentioned it's um just the cost dri of that alone is impacting 20 I'm sorry $16,000 increase as we plan for 25 so along with that you can use a trailer in your truck is just your paying by item yes sorry thank you yes you have any questions no Mr sorry my um so I bought a dilapitated house in 2018 I fixed it up um you know first very quickly and now as you know money gets tighter we do one room at a time and I will say that the transer station has been wonderful because you can do you can renovate a room of your house and you can have studs and ation and uh all sorts of various construction debris and you can fill up the back of your truck and bring it to the transfer station it' be $50 or $100 a truckload uh so this proposal would effectively force a resident to buy a dumpster if they're doing something like a one room demolition you know and uh I I know from doing you know work on my house at a dumpster 2018 was like $500 same now is could be 6 or 700 you know we're getting hurt everywhere that we go we go grocery store gas stations um tax go up everything goes up so the transportation fees is going to go up from 15 to 30 it's going to double and we're getting less Services um so effectively we're going to have less people going to the transfer station because we're not going to educate people overnight in my opinion um and one more thing I've called New England recycling to drop off stuff you know I had you can't drop off drywall at the transport station and um you need a hard hat you need a safety vest you need um it's cost prohibitive for for someone it's very expensive and I get this is a we're paying it too like it's a burden for the taxpayer but I feel like this will the most effectively shut down the transfer station I really do I think you probably know better than me but I know from going there I see a lot of people with truckloads full of stuff you know so I've never disposed of an air conditioner a box spring a desk but I've done a lot of a lot of construction tobr and it's all day and originated and um I feel like it would it it wouldn't be it would be a a big loss to the town that's just my opinion thank you right and and that experience that you just expressed the whole town is bearing a burden because it is very costly to get rid of this stuff and keep in mind these rolloffs do not get repurposed they're ended up in a landfill so it's very important to cut this tonnage down um a small demolition you can get creative get it in the bag that stuff can go in a bag if it's beyond the bag you get the the big bags and get the the local construction stores and they can haul it away but uh the the yach debris can still remain coming in we can handle that so I did end up doing the drywall in the BS and I I actually heard that the trashman he was so mad because it was so heavy but I called Neer and I couldn't take it to the transfer station and again we're we're a family we're paycheck to paycheck so they went in the bats I just have one more quick story I did work retail in high school and um I remember you know retails would water water's what got people in the door right so uh we do sales on um you know 24 packs of water and it turned out that the retailers were were spending so much money on claims that people were hurting The Backs because they were picking up these water bottles so our Trashman out there if we're going to stop putting all our construction debris in trash bags let's just think of the trash guys you know that's just my my only concern that our bags are going to get a lot heavier so um but I appreciate the hard work of the Sol wayte committee and I think it's I think it's good um that we're moving forward with you know the resident's using it should have to pay for um I just wish my my feedback at the end of the day is can we make these instead of a huge jump from 15 to 30 can we do the seconder price a little more incremental so maybe 20 this year and maybe 25 the next and I would really would hate to lose the um the construction debris and trucks I think it's a great service to our residents not just for me like I said I see many of my neighbors and using using that service so if I may to be self- sustaining no we cannot do an increments as far as raising go dropping down below that $30 it's very important if we if our goal is to be self- sustaining then we we need to stay at the 30 as far as a construction debris if we're going to remain you can let the solid waste committee know we have more work to do but the only way to do that is the price is going to have to drastically be increased to reflect what you're experiencing outside the transfer station and um again it doesn't get repurposed either any uh that most of that stuff gets repurposed may not be here it might be in Ohio but when it leaves ey transfer station mostly goes to a landfill at this time so that's not the goal that we should be achieving okay just one question you had mentioned so the truckloads that come in you're saying it was like what a dozen only like do in a year or something um Mike said that so it doesn't sound like it's going to put that many people out we have we have we very um oh we D about have a dozen s residents that based on the information from our Point of Sales system who who are in for in a few times a week and driving those costs up the CL in the aggregate up for the whole community and the whole Community is really subsidized and uh we have people from that list um who who yeah like I mean like you can see based on the date um they doing how holdal project project at the home they come with a load out weekend but then we have other people who who come two three um two three times a week and it's noticeable and those and the whole town is playing and frankly subsidizing the cost of that happening and um it's right now they can do it because they do show proof of D residence um but it's and we have to ask where is all this coming from yeah and we paying for it if if I may uh the other thing to consider if we wanted to accommodate and because it becomes an unknown number when you're receiving it you'd have to increase the budget which could reflect on your tax levy for an unknown disposal for convenience M it's it's not I don't think that goes in line what we've been trying to do for the last two years on a zero base no I agree and I'm someone that I don't use the transfer station so I don't really want to be funding it I go I get very created of how we get rid of things and when you start having to get rid of things through the regular trash when I pick up something to buy it I think how am I going to get rid of this oh it's going to be a nightmare maybe I don't need this and it has changed um a lot of what I do when I think about how I'm going spokesperson you just said it right yeah okay any more questions no but I saw some hands up in the yes Lenny I was just curious in regards to how our fees compareed to surrounding towns well we did a study on it you want to yes so in the fees per item or the transfer station sticker transfer station sticker and we're we're compatible with the towns that are like our and two neighboring towns don't even have curbside pickup so there's a different Dynamic that happens in a transfer station so you need to take that in consideration and is the mechanics of it is a lot different so we're not under our no we're pretty much spot on and I looked in I'm more importantly looked into what is a transfer station sticker for and most of them are for to pay for the staff for the station thank you Dave did you have your hands up yeah I know we start the increas like last year on this and the only thing I'm worried about is are we still got a deficit because some people say I hope we're not going to get too much uh was free cash this because that means we're taking more money in and we actually taking care of the services I think we're still on the deficit the way you're talking right now right we're not there yet we're hundreds of thousands in the deficit really okay you didn't know that that's that's good to bring that out tonight so we're really in the hole for this right now yes all right thank you okay no other Lenny did you okay uh no other discussion so is there a motion on the floor to accept this I'd like to make a motion to accept the proposed updated transfer um fees and sticker fees effective July 1st 2024 is there a second chairman we step down and second is any more discussion all those in favor i c and I so the guys have it passes it's our first nay [Laughter] sorry um Tom the Main Street Dage roadway and sidewalk reconstruction so I believe Mike might be more instrumental I'll I'll start off so as as you know last year we put some money aside and along with that chapter 90 money and this year also with that chapter 90 money uh because it's a very large expense project and our plan was to go for some Opera money which that clock is ticking but some of the boxes that need to be checked off that's for the discussion tonight and that's the discussion of uh Engineering Services to help us make sure um everything is satisfied for the Opera Pursuit along with procuring the the products right it's not just conventional conventional project as I'm used to We There are some unknowns that I'm not aware of and Mike Mike is a little bit more Savvy on if Mike you want to elaborate a little bit more yeah as we know with the Main Street project it's been a lab a lot of things now includ including really leveraging a whole variety of funding sources on the superintendent mentioned uh with regards to special rical funding we have a total of $1.15 million um uh between between special rical funding committed alha funding and also chapter 90 funding for what is envisioned to be a $2.5 million project um that two one of the things we want to do at the beginning of um and as we continue planning this project is make sure that um that $2.5 million propos cost like is really a real Bas cost so we as we as we continue to plan on um actually beginning the project and having to need to commit even additional funding we know um right from the beginning that based on the class materials um and everything else that what we're working with a solid numbers so we do uh we do um actually want to begin with that uh we do have we have committed the board has committed at least 250 actually $260,000 from Opa um that we do have to obligate that funding um by the end of the year so we just want to move forward have some help because of the technical specs of um the components the materials and everything that we need to do like we do need some outside assistance with that um we also I like can a light of how how the cost and cost cost estimates do come back uh we also have to plan um with that information how we're going to go forward and actually do the construction administration of the project so in the proposals before you tonight um as you know uh last summer in Fall we spent a lot of time updating all of our procurement so now we have now we have on call Engineers who we um basically have already procur and we have an option we don't so every time we have a project we've already done the uh but at the same time we want to uh we want to provide um we want to provide our departments and the board the option with which those Engineers go with and um so you'll see proposals before you to represented here from both City wood curent who the town has worked with um the town has worked with extensively and has been working with extensively on a variety of projects um but uh really we do have to get to a discussion about the construction Administration uh but really as I mentioned you'll see I would just encourage the board to approach this process and really a menu Approach at this point um where we might be able to whatever firm you select uh we might be able to first uh jump out with the first two phases um in terms of the um in terms of the outting that and then the cost estim and then from there and especially information confirmed by the clment that is only naturally going to lead us into a broader discussion about how we move forward the planning for construction um so so with that we do have as I mentioned V City Partners um and M here with us to present to explain their proposals anything else you wanted to add on that let's get started okay okay guys you're up thanks for waiting uh happily thank you very much to the board to the staff through you Mr chairman I'm Joseph Shay with Granite City Partners uh here with me tonight is Holly roach Robinson from Granite City partners and Olivia ven bankin the three of us are the owners of Granite City Partners we are the partners okay you've got the lead team great um and uh we're actually thrilled to be here tonight to be able to talk about this project um by way of just a little more background cuz uh um superintendent Ferry and Michael framed it out um quite nicely in terms of the process but we are one of two firms on the city's on the town's excuse me short list for Engineering Services um and you can't make a bad decision tonight Woodland Curran is an excellent firm Grand City Partners is an excellent firm and it's a project that needs to really surge forward because of arpa deadlines um just for a minute of background maybe for the at home viewers the project itself is redoing the pavement on Main Street from Elm up the hill to William Street it's about 2 miles the technical specifications say things like 9400 linear feet but it's it's 2 miles of roadway sidewalk pinous sidewalk so black pavement sidewalk on the even house numbered side and about 3,000 ft of drain pipe to collect that drainage protect the new roadway now that you're adding now that you're adding Curbing and sidewalk water won't run down the edge of the roadway and the sale so it's got to be relayed um down to the various Brooks whether it's muddy muddy Cove brook or Sally Richmond brook or the existing structure so that's the project right superintendent Ferry's done in our opinion done a very good job at getting the engineering designs done and getting the environmental permits procured now as um administrator Mullen had indicated there's arper overlays potentially chapter 90 overlays there's there's some procurement packaging to be put together so that the package goes out because of the funding strategy and uh the three of our partners are all mcpo certified procurement officers it's what the school superintendent had talked about uh trained in public procurement putting packages out to bid The Proposal you have from us in front of you is modular or I guess venued in nature um the key to this is getting a cost estimate done quickly in alignment with Massachusetts DOT standards so that that cost estimate can be used both as your arpa backup for your Bristol County application right but also if construction costs have increased in that 2.5 million doll number estimate starts to move north you've got a menu of what might be taken out or quite honestly what might be done in house superintendent Ferry has demonstrated years of ability to perform in housee and it's really a cost estimate and a funding strategy to go out to bid confidently that you know what a contractor is going to bid for what you might be able to do inh house to make sure that you land This Plane across arpa chapter 90 the monies you've set aside in your uh multiple year town meeting approvals right so in our proposals a a scope a schedule and an approach to doing those cost estimates to bidding it with what's called additive alternates meaning when you go out to bid you can also include certain items that aren't guaranteed but would allow you to make a menu selection okay of what you might do in house or out house or out of house which is uh our approach and then in our proposal so you can see the full picture we also included what those followon steps might be for the engineering design and procurement support and then for construction oversight if the town needed those services but again I think administrator Mullen described it well think of it as a menu right um pluck the pieces off of it sure um so that is that is the project if there are any questions that we have um Holly is an biologist environmental scientist from UMass Dartmouth on the on the permitting side and Olivia and I are civil engineers on the engineering side okay andan our proposal has you know significantly more detail right um this is Bell do you have any questions yet no I'm not yet okay uh Mr J wow okay um I've read through it I'm not an engineer but uh I certainly have faith in in the companies that that are here uh thank you for speaking highly of Mike and and Tom they do a wonderful job and have gotten us to this point without them I don't know where we would be but um I'm all set unless um Mike do you have any concerns at this stage no does anybody else in the audience have a concern no all right well thank you sir you are welcome thank you have a good night up uh thank you uh uh my name is Michael headed I'm uh principal with wood and Curran I'm not an owner of the company so I feel a little short change tonight uh but that's uh that's all I got for you okay um but I want to I I'm I'm GNA sound uh very similar to what uh what Joe just said I think first of all between Mike and Tom it's the leadership you've got you've got great vision and um it's been a joy to work with both of them as as as these projects unfold so um I think as far as the you know the Scopes of work are are um concerned ours is very similar um in terms of you know one really just getting those cost estimates put together so that uh you can determine which way you'd like to move forward whether that be uh General bidding for a general contractor to go out through mgl and uh and procure it that way uh or to um kind of pull back the Reigns a bit and have Town forces construct construct uh the uh the proposed work so um like Grant and City Partners we've got uh pering staff we've got uh engineering staff to support uh no matter which decision uh is made tonight so um with that I would uh just open it to questions okay actually I'm going to ask this of you too please uh what kind of projects have you done like like this in the past numerous I would assume numerous yeah yeah many many many okay sure good water is is is one of uh our main components of our farm is it thank you hi again and yes the same for us we do a lot of we call it horizontal construction but water mains overseeing electrical duck banks at National Grid might be putting in gas Mains right um drain lines the your traditional civil engineering projects okay and why should we go with you you know question it's actually a perfect question because wood and Karin is an excellent firm yeah grandon City Partners is an excellent firm um I've heard nothing good things about both of you so we have different flavors and different styles yeah um we are no doubt we are a significantly smaller firm we are a boutique firm yeah these are the three owners and the staff who works underneath us so work for four municipalities and those are the four municipalities we focus on y very heavily they are our clients um and we pride ourselves on being extraordinarily responsive especially to D experiences that I I know you've had with the public library with the town hall stairs with other outre right um those are our strengths y as a firm okay thank you and why should we go with you I would uh Echo him offer the same kudos to Joe I think you've got a good you're not going to lose uh no matter where you go I think uh where we definely been part ERS with the town D for a long time uh we understand how um the town moves and and kind of works um and we're a little a little bit bigger than uh than inity Partners we got a little bit deeper bench so uh you know something odd pops up we've probably seen it before and can address it okay thank you I would um I am going this this may sound odd but I'm going to add this we are your trusted partner sure W have in Karen we feel has a technical Advantage they did the water main project they know they know this Corridor better than us yeah that's the truth right um they have they have more momentum on this project than us okay again we know we can do a great job but you should be aware of that in your decision it's an appropriate Factor right thank you thanks again thanks gentlemen um any concerns no no questions at this point no okay um are you looking for a decision tonight s h I'm sorry Mr Hall I got to look out there more I appreciate you allowing us the opportunity to speak on this especially in regards to Mr Pico so he has a little bit of background in regards to especially woodwood and current because Granite City Partners you can go down at Main Street and see the incredible job that they're doing at the library woodwooden current has a long history working with the town of dayon whether it be with the water district storm water or with Mr Ferry they have a considerable track record but the one piece that you may not be familiar with is the fact that last year 12 engineering firms came before a selection committee that the town of Dion picked five Wesson and Samson has included Woodward and current Grant City partners of the 12 woodwood and current Granite City were among the the five best and as you go forward with the Main Street Project based on their track record I think you should have confidence in them doing the job as they have in the past thank you thank you nobody else I would assume okay what your pleasure gentl and ladies lady um I didn't know if I I have a question sure um if this is an appropriate question this is directed towards Tom um and I don't know if he'll answer this but do you have any preference I mean you're the person alongside um Mr Mullen that has to work with these folks um I didn't know if you had any input that you would like to involve everyone said these guys top we intered earlier and I understand it yeah all right all right I thought I'd try put it on your shoulders okay thank you Tom I guess I ask the same question to Our Town Administrator it's it's honestly extremely difficult to be honest with like it's why we wanted to make sure that everyone was involved in the decision making because both firms have a great relationship we have a great relationship with them and yeah we can't go I'm happy to make a motion sure um at this time I'd like to make a motion to accept the quote from gred City partners for um cost estimates and project Engineering Services can I ask you why um they're the little bit they were he first they sent three Representatives um they talk about some specific Titan projects when they talk to us okay is there a second on the floor I'll second that okay any uh does motion May second any discussion all those in favor I I Peter Kon I thank you folks thank you for coming out thanks for waiting okay on to announcements on Saturday April 27th 2024 from 10:00 a.m. to 2: p.m. The Drug Enforcement Administration um will um coordinate with the police department for a 1day collaboration prescription drug takeback event this event provides an opportunity for the public to surrender pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications AR rabies clinic will be held on Saturday April 27th from 2024 um from 900 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Bristol um AGI High School Vet Center 130 Center Street all animals must be leased or in a carrier for information call a Stacy Ferry at 774 64484 the dayon historical society is holding a spring floral and edible container fundraiser on May 5th 20 24 at 400 p.m. ruio Farms 15:22 Williams Street stop by and get your plants for your Gardens this event is rain or sign the dayon historical society is holding a plant sale on Saturday May 18th 2024 from 900 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Winslow Davis Museum um 12:17 Williams Street stop by and get your plants for your garden um this event as well is rain or shine the town of dayon food bank will be held next on May 18th 2024 located at the Town Hall 979 Somerset AV this is in the lower level bulky item curv side pickup is scheduled for Monday 52024 through Friday 52424 tags may be purchased at the Board of Health office 1111 Somerset Avenue rear entrance contact the board of health to order your tags at 774 872 943 a separate tag is required for each items to be disposed bulky item schedule is the same schedule as trash pickup and items must be out no later than 7:00 a.m. lastly there will be a blood drive sponsored by dayon Health um Department as well as the police department on July 13th 2024 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Town Hall 1111 Somerset Avenue I tried to go slow so that Peter would be back but thanks Mike if I can oh I tried to go slow I was hoping you jump it's been busy few weeks as we know a very busy few weeks we've been uh we've been working on budget efforts we've been working working with the solid race committee um and it's it's been a lot one of the things that has also been like at the top of our priorities as we've been talking about already tonight like is our work is our work obligating all of our Opera funds um we um we have now with regards to the Main Street project um we have a plan to um to obligate about um $260,000 in the in the stor and drainage materials that we need for that project um so that's underway um I've been working extensively with Brussel County um on um on the other applications we already have in the queue um just in the one um in the a roughly $1.3 million Opera allotment from bristell County um we started that process off um with a $273,000 police and fire telecommunications upgrading with P project uh that has been completed that has been all expended at this point um that brings us down to just around um $1.1 million from there uh we applied and we're about I think just at the Finish Line um the working with the sewer department um we have plans there the um the Dion Power Pump Station um is in need of about a half a million dollars in repairs we uh of what which uh the board of Selectmen through the recommendation of the capital outlay committee approved an um the application of uh $49,000 towards that $59,000 project we're just almost at the Finish Line I think at today I sent the hopefully what is I don't want to jinx it but the final clarification email to the Bristol County's outside Auditors who are going through these um applications extensively for compliance for procurement checks and everything else um I I think we're about to reach the uh Finish Line in terms of getting the approval on that which is exciting um at the same time we've already procured and um and got approval actually in Monday of this week of um $340,000 for the fire department um self-contained breathing apparatus equipment um we have very um we have 15year old equipment there um that is at the end of its life so that $34,000 will be um a huge benefit and it won't we be able to fund that and I can meet that need not with no Reliance on the local tax base which is great um and um I mentioned Highway then we have um we have a we have a storm water compliance project that um I have to begin applying for um that's a smaller project it's um valued at around $46,000 um and then the last um project um that we have approved by the board at this point is a um a $26,000 project that will fund um the upgrade of of the surveillance um witness interview uh again in the lockup room or the lockup area um at the police station we having to um where I like we're working back and forth and I've been working um EXT ens L with the police chief in the town accountant to to really make sure we have a Nexus there from that project because it all it all connects to how the police department is also able to um handle and address um like can work with and respond to mental health and domestic violence needs um but we're um there's a possibility at this point where we're still P persevering there's a small possibility that the county won't find that um to be a project that will meet the OPA the OPA requirement in terms of the OPA bucket needs um so we're I we're trying to persevere but um there may be a point on that where we may have the need to Pivot um I'm going to identify another project um we do um there are some and this is um with the warrant articles that have been proposed for town meeting um we're already eyeing a few that if we need to swap one out for the other um just to be able to leverage those funding sources um there's a few we're already eyeing to be able to do that to make sure we obligate all the funding um that we have eligible to apply for but um I I really I really want to thank the town accountant um and all the Departments we've been working with on this it's it has been has been the priority along with the budget um and it's and it's knock on wood um it's been going smoothly I had a great discussion uh like with the county Treasure's office today um they um um their office kind of shared other um actually not other but horror stories from other communities um that they're hearing from and we are definitely we are definitely not those communities and we're definitely not there so that did give me a a glimmer of something to be proud about as we U as we work together to wrap up these processes I like I'm sorry that was an extensive update but it's been dominating so much of our efforts I just wanted to give everyone a full kind of recap of those any questions I sound like I talked for five minutes and I didn't stop no thank you good job thanks um sence reports I don't have any oh this is funny it just has a digression confirm confirm your speaking language what happens if you don't know U Mrs mow do you have any no I don't have anything and Mrs Pico do you have any no thank okay great uh so we're going to move on to um old Business Review discuss and act fiscal year 2025 budget update review of operations for balanced budget work with solid waste committee to increase revenues offset cost for Town Sol Town's Solid Waste program uh yes and there's like a few other options as well um on the next page of the agenda oh I'm sorry oh it's okay we can plan the FY 25 budget with current Staffing levels approach FY 25 vacancies with position by position analysis um we can we've already cut about um approximately about $100,000 um from what was originally proposed um by our departments just because of the of of the financial issues we're facing right now um and we've and we've also adjusted um all the revenues to the highest point that were um that we feel comfortable at this point and then the last option is um to fund um we do in the FY 25 budget um that we're planning just like it was in the FY 24 budget we do have um um about $217,000 in BP Capital debt um that we have an obligation to fund in um in fi25 and then as we know that obligation that debt obligation based on enrollment is going to jump even higher um in FY 26 so one of the one of the last options um even though it does come with a lot of risk is um we currently uh with the um with different changes in terms of um the cherry sheet in terms of our local a number over the last few weeks um I I did up the I did update the board about two weeks ago now um that we worked internally to identify um the recommendation um of about another 50 or so thousand in cuts at that point that could get us down to a deficit of about $21,000 um since that time um the house the house budget came out um where unlike the governor's and even though the house budget so far is really good and better on chapter 78 um a local Aid increase went from a 3% proposed increase in the governor's budget to a 1% proposed increase so that had about a $20,000 difference so that increased our deficit back up to 220 as of last week um and then um as we've been talking about and as we discussed at the last meeting the board of assessors voted today to also um to um to decrease the age uh for the exemptions the senior exemptions uh which is great from 70 to 65 which is I like which is very good news and a and a good recommendation uh but because of that we have to um we have to find that overlay to the tune of a um to meet that um to meet that cost estimate um of what it it ca to do that that brought out deficit um up to $240,000 so um we do and um I have reach out just for scheduling purposes to see um if the board was available on Monday night um so we can actually spend some time going more of a line by line approach but um generally speaking um I do believe in I would um and I feel confident in saying right now that we have a structural operating deficit right now of about $240,000 that um in my opinion if we were to cut any more it would um it would really begin to impact the service delivery that um that residents here in our community expect um and it would impact the operations of our departments as well so um we do um like like as the agenda outlined we do have options in terms of really dealing with um um having an ability to um close uh to close to close that deficit and to actually going forward because everything we try to do we also try to look forward and plan for the future and um we do have an ability to uh strengthen in my opinion um like our our sustainability our budget sustainability going forward um it it it I like I like it will require some discussion and consensus however especially between the selectman and the Frum um and even time meeting as we go forward uh the the first the first option as we um in the solid waste committee um has been working on um in providing a recommendation um is actually the implementation of a solid waste fee um that um is very similar and actually less than a lot of other communities have um we as was actually talked about earlier um we have approximately about an $850,000 Sol the waste budget all told that only about we only get to fund that $850,000 um we only bring back in about $250,000 a year in revenues and um the rest the um the general operating budget through the tax levy basically funds the rest um it isn't it isn't at all it isn't at all like a use and it doesn't come close to being a user funded program um we were back in fy19 we were a lot closer um than we are now breaking evening um in fy19 just as an example with all the cost um we were 28 $287,000 off um in terms of what that Delta was um in FY 23 and it's only grown um since FY 24 and growing even more as I was mentioning as we're planning for fy2 but in FY 23 that Delta increased to almost half a million doll um to $460,000 so one of the um one of the recommendations that's been made um by the solid waste committee is to plan for the FY 25 budget um with a um with a solid waste fee um ATT Trac recycling fee that would fund the costs um that would fund specifically the cost of the of the curbside um pickup um of trash and recycling provided by Bo just on the other end the disposal costs um would be uh would be funded and would be able to be completely funded U basically at that point by the um um by the pay as you throw Bay program and so the two would complement each other and uh bring us back to having a sustainable program um that option in terms of sustainability like in my opinion is of all the options we have is probably the best because my fear is that um especially because we haven't been keeping up with those costs um as we go forward um if we if we really don't do anything now as as difficult and challenging as the implementation may be like if we don't do anything we only we only we already know the challenges we're going to be facing and uh in FY 26 and um we already know those challenges frankly short of even the question about what happens with Chapter 70 in schoolway next year um and as we know it wasn't until the end of February of this year where we had been trudging and forecasting along uh projecting another half a million dollar increase in a d School assessment and it wasn't until the end of February we heard from the school district that um our assessments just to be able not even hold even because they've had to have layoffs as well um they um our assessment is increasing from the approximately half a million dollars a year to um um to uh $1.16 million and that's already it's fire eclipsed our new available revenues and planning for fy2 at $885,000 so we do have a real structural imbalance that um I my opinion we as a town know how know how to hold the line extremely well and we've been doing that um also the cost drivers that are really are determining how we go in terms of um in terms of Education Aid and the education Aid in the educational assessments um really driving everything and all the challenges we have they're in no way a reflection of anything to do with the school school department um or BP or the eggy it's just a lot of has to do with as we've been talking about Chapter 70 um but this is where we are right now we do have that structural cost and balance um we do have a solid waste program that um over the last few years um Our obligation has um has increased by um by more than $200,000 just a few years ago and it's really continuing to grow and um so those I like kind of really those are the options re all really to balance at this point but um we're going to need to have some consensus between the board um and the fincom to be able to propose um in the next few weeks for the warranty balance budget that uh we feel confident in bringing forward to town meeting so I'll take any questions entertain any discussion on that we do have the town account here as well but it's um it's a lot to digest it's a lot uh either of you have any questions or comments at this time um I'll have the same unpopular opinion that I have about the transfer station it's going to be along the same lines I'm not in favor of a pay a fee for solid waste I a knowledge of the cost of trash and recycling have increased finally is the service the town offers yes it's not completely Equitable where some folks don't use our trap program and are still taxed through their property taxes but I don't think the solution um for me is to send them a bill for the other PA or um whatever the the difference is it's just um you know that's something that Day offers is we have curbside trash pickup and like everything else it's going up um back to the transer St I think that's the first nail in the coffin for it um if you know we raise the the fee to a point and we take away Services people are going to stop using it um we rais our trash bag fees and then we raise our um then we start setting residents bills they're going to stop using our curbside uh trash pickup and then the fees will go up cuz less folks are using the um the curbside trash pickup and it's something that sets us apart from our peers uh it's not like curbside trash hasn't been around here in D it's been around here for decades um our neighbors don't have it we do I think that um we're in yes we're in di Financial Straits right now and um we do have a Dev exclusion for the future if it fails which I certainly hope it doesn't we'll have to look at that service because it's a service we offer um and we'll have to I think that's the time to discuss it if the if the residents fail um a Deb exclusion but for right now it's a service that we've offered we we've offered it for many years um so I think until we know where we stand with a dead exclusion I I um I would like to see us move forward with funding it through free cash as a one time only um knowing that that's not the best uh you know that's not ideal but we know we're not in ideal times but we have we do have a plan for that going forward we have de exclusion that we're working on so that's that's my comments ni you have any no I don't think um taking money from free cash is the is the answer uh I think it's just kicking the can down the road and makes it twice as difficult for next year one of the things about trash is it's a necessary evil I agree we we've offered it for years and we should continue offering it but it has to be something that can be self-funded the cost of trash is is outrageous as Mike was just saying it's gone up substantially and more than the cost of living uh has but if if we're going to continue to offer that service there there are ways to uh help pay for that help pay for that service one of the things that we were talking about was a around a $200 figure uh buildt quarterly and $200 annually fee built quarterly the 200 was annual but the billing was quarterly yes um with actually no twice a year I'm sorry a year t a year with a discount for seniors uh the seniors would pay a 50% discount so they would pay $100 there's also an option to opt out so if you have a uh trash private hauler now you can um still have that private Haller and not pay that $200 fee um but it's to me it's a responsible way uh to to pay for it and it's not it's not a a new idea most of the communities around us have uh uh the same same program with considerably higher than than what Dayan is proposing uh we don't look at uh other things like the library and say if you use a library you have to pay a fee uh or if you have what we do for water but if you if you use other services in town you don't necessarily pay for them but if you look at the numbers and what we take in from trash and what we spend on trash there's such a huge difference that it's a way to get a a a source that's going to fund it for for several years the um problem with taking it out of free cash is like I said it kicks the can down the road uh what do you do next year uh even if the debt exclusion passes we will still be left with a def deficit because that that exclusion is only going to cover uh Bristol agie in Bristol Plymouth it won't necessarily cover uh anything be or won't cover anything beyond that uh so I would be concerned of concerned that even if it's a one time that uh to to uh to free cash uh it doesn't answer our problems for the future and I I working hand inand with Mike as as we all have uh and doing these budget meetings and and numbers I I don't see how we could cut any more from the budget so I would almost say that that's off the table at at this stage we have several times looked at it line by line and and realize without compromising service that it's not an option so uh it leaves us basically the two options either funding it through trash or funding it with free cash um and funding it through trash at this stage gives us a little more freedom we wouldn't have to um cut As Much from the budget if that's what we chose or um can certainly fund some of the uh the warrant articles I don't know how you feel Nicole so I understand the trash and needing to fund it I just think that it is going to be it's not going to be favorable residents are not going to be happy um in depending on how we do it if we rolled it out slowly um but to just come out and be like now we're paying for trash and I get what you're saying other towns are they've already they don't even do curbside pickup and this is why because it's so expensive um and it's this is a tough one we can't get rid of curb site pickup there's too many uh senior citizens in town that don't have the means to go to the transfer station yeah uh don't have the means um to pay for $1,000 a year dumpster in the yard or uh they'd have to go to a private huler with the trash bins that you you see that go out in the uh in the neighborhoods it's just um something needs to be done about trash and is it something gets rolled out slower uh basically it's another tax bill that you're paying for a service that you use uh the pay as you go is still is what we do now but um it still would be an option for people who don't generate that much trash they still would only buy one or two trash crash bags a week or month whatever whatever they do um uh I just coming from the budget side as well as the solid waste side the numbers are staggering uh it gives us the option of possibly uh going $100 a year with a $50 bill for senior citizens uh it's something that's more um something they can swallow and it still help us decrease that $240,000 uh deficit that we have I like to thank you for all your hard work on this Allway committee I'd like to thank Our Town Administrator and everyone who's on it um I think that being creative and I hope my comments don't squash that cuz I think it's so awesome that we come up with all these ideas for the best of our res so I think this is I'm really happy it was brought forward um did the committee discuss so it be another tax bill would it be in with the the quarterly tax bill or would it be a separate billing did we ever determined how that was going to happen yes it would need to be like a separate biannual Bill and who would send the bill and how much labor would that cost yep so um we uh we worked with um so oh oh yeah the bill the invoices would be and they would need to be committed by the Board of Health um that and the Board of Health would be respons responsible for maintaining the database really who's in who's out who will seniors who on who has opted out completely um based on that information the Board of Health would uh they would what it's called commit that list um to the treasurer's office and and the treasur office would do the billing the cost the cost for all that like already included in the like in the total aggregate cost to um to fund to be able to fund the curbside trash and recycling um and what our contract is with bores plus so that is built in there so we don't absorb so the um so the billing the postage cost that we would absorb um we would um would be built into the the rate and I I think we estimated to be about 25,000 correct the um the the billing postage is 12,500 um the fuel the fuel escalator because we've because fuel has been everywhere um like that whole total aggregate is um 375 at this point and was The Proposal was the estimated cost for trash bags was it 20 it would go from 20 to $27 a roll is that what it it was going to go to with um the those figures that I saw based on the solid waste committee proposal the cost of trash bags would remain the same it would remain the same so my concern with that is a separate billing we work in a clerical environment at Town Hall I feel that that could raise um you know we just went through a a wage and classification study and we looked at all the job prescriptions I feel like that would change the the job functions of the Board of Health I feel like it would change the job functions of the treasure collector and that will cost money and salaries um and we also have here looking at um positions on a case-by Case basis I just think um taxing folks with the trashbag program there is some I have a family so we have you know we put a lot of trash we I do pay a little more than you know someone who's just a single person and um so there is that you know you pay as you throw so but I think with it the cost of trash bags at a certain point that but it won't go up so that's fine so I guess I'll go back to the labor um I'm concerned about that uh you know there's only so many resources at Town Hall and um I agree with you that free cash is the best option U but I just think it's a sign of an unhealthy economy and an unhealthy balance sheet that we have right now um but we all acknowledge that uh and I really think the de exclusion will guide us because if if it fails I think trash that totally guide our discussions in trash I I feel that's just mine and I don't want to keep going around circles that's all I have and just just one thing like I hold I whole I whole hardly understand the discussion but just to be clear where we are where we are now had we hypothetically if we didn't have the BP debt right now say that that never existed so we were trying to balance with what we are at right now we would still be in how we would be forecasting into FY 26 um not having any any need to do anything hypothetically if we had no need to do anything with BP we would still be in a deficit going forward what what what like what are we talking about about about 60 Grand right now okay that's and I mean significantly less than 200 but the challenges we're capping out all we're capping out in all of our revenues um we have always tried to project conservatively um there are some of our revenues that um are still pretty conservative but they're the highest um they've been in a while and so and what I'm particularly concerned about is I I get and I get and I understand completely where we are in fy2 and why using FY why potentially using fy2 free cash and FY 25 is an argument but I am very very very concerned at this point about FY 26 um because we're not going to have especially if the school district comes back with another $1 million increase this year we had ability um to to very strategically tap into our local revenues to make a lot of that up next year we're not going to have that and is going to and it will compound everything else we face and which will be the BP po of it will be helped um by debt exclusion if that's approved but we're still going to have structural budgetary issues um and I just want to that's not I I promise you that's not argumentative in any way is just what we're forecasting right now um do you know if there was any departments for FY 23 who had a large return to the town so we did zero based budgeting we started from the bottom we built our way up but they still returned a large lump sum say 25 50,000 back to as excess money back to the town because I think we could look at those departments closer yeah um and um just driving off top of my head one of the examples of that was a health insurance budget we always have to have a buffer there um based on potential movement um that was that turn back was about um want to say around $170,000 last year but um we we have to have that room because if we have any qualifying events happening mid year with our employees we have to be able able to and ready to absorb that um I do think in FY and I do recall in FY 23 um the police department because of the movement that's been happening there they've had some um they did um oh yeah like I forget the um exactly what the number is but I I recall that they did have a turn back um but we like as we go forward every year we're seeing more Trends in that department and so um that uh that turn back is getting smaller um a lot smaller and frankly where um we were talking about that the other day about how we're projecting just being able to break even um in the PD budget this year um so the um and yeah really the um um as I was mentioning earlier really what we really uh and the town account please correct me if I'm wrong but we we really saw like uh what was generating uh free cash at the end of 23 um was those areas where we projected Revenue conservatively um that's no longer that's no longer going to be there uh because we um just in our projections we're um increasing our Reliance on the ambulance fund by $75,000 um we uh incre We've um very strategically um are are increasing our Pro injection um in the building permits and licenses um that that whole that whole Revenue line has not been what it's been um in the early 2020s um we also um just in terms of those revenues um um we've also had an ability um thankfully to increase uh excise tax projection we've had to do that strategically uh because if you look at a total a total collections that we've been getting that Revenue actually totals around $1.6 million a year um that Revenue this year planning for FY 25 I believe is projected U for $1.2 million but that 1.6 1.6 million is has always been predicated on people's paying their bills late and so we don't want to get into that whole either because we don't want to rely on our revenue and having our residents pay their bills late that just so we've been trying to be very thoughtful but she app pointso about free cash and what's generating it we have really been laser focused on that um my last comment I'll let my other members speak I promise I'll be is there any way we could get a list for maybe our next meeting or of just departments with major turn backs I would say over 25,000 it would be a major turn back would you agree just cuz I think that helps with the decision making because I I I give you so much credit you can't can't talk about a budget and Di without saying the word uh zero base you brought that to us so thank you um and I I think if anything it add transparency to a budget process because you can look at a budget and you can see where these where our department heads are saying how they're going to spend their lines but I think if I know as a selectman who's turning back money to the town it'll tell us how healthy it is cu we can always tighten it up sure but I just want to say um if there's any departments at home that's doesn't mean I want you to spend so that way you don't turn back money that's we are in a we are in a a financial situation we're working hard on it so does ser you mail out to all the three Selectmen the breakdown every month correct of where we're at budget wise so that's the current breakdown for FY 24 um Mark is asking for how you end it in FY 23 23 okay but I don't believe 23 was done on the this budget 23 wasn't 24 was this is the first year we've had a zerob base right okay never mind um and all right just okay thank you just actually you really quick um if because we do we are and it's something we've been putting our on ourselves on um in terms of what are being very transparency transparent um with what we're proposing um in the in the overview that we generated for the um the um the FY I did had a special time meeting in October um we did give a free cash overview um so um our free cash in FY that was certified FY 24 was 1.6 million um increase in run time revenues two month of health insurance um I'm sorry I was wrong with the health insurance number that turned back was actually 300,000 because what we didn't anticipate um in FY 23 was actually two months of Premium holidays um from our group health insurance provider which was great it helped our employees as well because the premium holiday for the town also benefits the employer contribution as well um so that helped um I like I don't have a number here but I said Police Department Staffing changes also contributed to higher than expected freecast certification we can get you that number um and and as I mentioned we also had the um we also had a lot of outlier revenues as well but we can follow up and iide you of that breakdown because it all is used to uh come up with this information awesome thank you no problem okay Nicole do you have anything else no I apologize if I I beat any of that to death it's just this is what we've been living and it's um so um if I if we can plan if everyone's agreeable to plan next for Monday night um we can provide that information uh we can go line by line um one of the things just in terms of free cash as well um we have a list of one articles we're also meeting with the capital Outlet committee on Monday afternoon uh because um we want to make sure that with the capital priorities that have been a proposal or requested by departments um the first thing we need to do as was mentioned is make sure we can close that budget Gap so um that's the first thing um and then we'll go from there is that all right with everyone as a game plan so we'll vote on it Monday yeah yeah yeah like well it continue the discussion if that's okay about all of this and hopefully um just as an FYI um the fin com is meeting tomorrow night um to uh to to consider um their View and um recommendations and review of everything and two so um I think by Monday night we'll have to because our we're running out of time frankly will have to come to a consensus and um plan forward from there okay all right um do you want a motion then to um continue with continue this to Monday night yeah yeah if that's the the board that's fine yeah put that in form of a motion okay is there a second I'll second that motion made second any discussion all those in favor I I pet K and I thank you um want to review discuss the planning for dead exclusion update yeah just really quick uh this is obviously as we talked about earlier something on our radar um we um I did um the Department of Revenue does have an overview that I provide in the packet to everybody as well um we've I've also reached out to the town clerk to ask her to reach out to the Secretary of State's office to um ask about um scheduling a potential debt exclusion vote on the November Town election uh whether we could do it all under one ballot we'd have to whether we'd have to have a separate Town ballot um in terms of everything else we've been honestly so focused on fy2 so far but um it is on our radar and I'm happy that we're um we're planning we're oh oh yeah discussing a plan in a path forward to propose that at this point too so great okay um new business review discuss and act Board of selectman signature Authority design designation for expenditures s um this request does come out of my office with the municipal modernization act it um allowed boards and committees to designate a primary um person to authorize bills and payroll and then a secondary person um typically the primary would be somebody from the select board whoever it's most available to come into town sometimes as an ad needed basis for approval um and traditionally the alternative is the Town Administrator um they're typically in the building every day if something comes up you know we need a certain signature by you know the pay date or whatever date um typically Mr Mullen is available um and then if neither of those people are available then it does revert back to the majority of the board would need to sign which would be two out of the three um which is currently how it's been um since Mark Pacho was elected that avoided the previous one right um cuz you know he didn't agree to it so now I've just requested um a new form for this year okay great um um I have no problem I mean I think I'm the only one that's retired uh that can stop at any time unless one of you feel you are capable of doing that I'm not going to retire anytime soon all right so um Mike will be the second um I mean the signature Authority as well and then we just need a third that you would prefer um so everybody does have to sign a document today which I has make sure in your criteria that is sure so um the top section each person would have to sign to say that they are agreeing to the bottom section okay and you are more than welcome to do a second alternate um that's your decision typically it is just one primary and one alternate okay um you know with a small board we usually have been able to get it done with those two people yeah I mean with Mike being that just every day yeah thank you thank you so I'd like to make a motion to um accept the signature signature Authority designation for expenditures form as presented okay I'll second that motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I I Peter kenson I thank you again thank you um the police Lieutenant Chief Lieutenant we already did the bylaw insertion uh so move mov on to propos addition additional Board of I should read with my glasses on um sponsored articles yes so um and this also relates back to um the proposed if we um if we are going to balance or propose to balance a budget um with a with a solid race fee um there are two in order to offer a senior discount um number one uh we have to propose a bylaw that gives specifically the board uh the ability to um create that discount that we don't currently have um so I do before we um we' we reopen the warrant um I did want to propose that and call that out um and then I also in adopting mgl section chapter 44 section 28 CF um that's a provision that also allows um with the collection of those all those fees very similar that we do with sewer um that we can place leans without having to record them at the registry of deeds that um that could be in I I believe is viewed as Overkill um so we could place the Lans without having to record everything at the registry of deeds um so um one of the things I know the there's a still fluid um s fluid discussion uh by the board um about how to um how to deal with the budget um if I could make a recommendation um the board could just um at this point just move to put um to propose some on the warrant um just um just take that vote now before the warrant reopens to have that lined up um they could go in they could always actually come out um that's just a thought just in terms of the process wise if that makes sense okay so we need a uh motion on the floor I'd like to make a motion uh to accept the proposed um water of selectman sponsored articles to adopt Mage General Law chapter 44 section 28 C uh and the municipal fee discount by law I'll second that motion made and second any discussion all those uh in favor I I car and I okay um so we're going to open the um town meeting uh at Town warrant review discuss an act reopen annual town meeting warrant I just had the list of Articles here and just um we do have um at this point votes backing all the additions up so I just can't believe I lost the page in this lovely binder okay um since we last that the um the now that the warrant is open the uh the following articles have been proposed the I can I'll just like read them I'll just read them minute if that's okay with the board just to have them actually included in the warrant as of now then the board can close the warrant and then I can go through the full list if that's okay but we do have um we do have a proposed article by by the sewer Commissioners it is a proposed one article a capital um a a capital reappropriation um that's um that's actually that relates to the um the compensation project it's just basically transferring that um the funding that's already in uh the sew FY 24 budget into a warant article at this point um so that is that is the first one um we also have a vote um I'm sorry just above that um a proposed article from the town accountant uh to fund the fy2 24 snow nice deficit so we do that now and we don't have to think about having to raise that uh in the recap which also impacts our balancing position as we go forward to so that would fund that now so we don't have to um entertain that in the future um as we work to continue to balance um the um uh we do have a vote um in Article 13 uh from the board of assessors I'm sorry about the typo there um but um that is a vote that they took um earlier today to um decrease the age for the exemptions from age age 70 uh to age 65 Bill Moore was appointed the chair of that committee now yes today um we have uh like we now have the um like we have the um we have the we have the municipal fee um discount bylaw we have the um chapter 44 section 28 CF as well um we also have the um one of the one of the question s from P we wanted to have a placeholder just for the uh the bylaw you discuss relating to the accessor until this accessor was named if that's okay we can get back to that November okay yeah okay we'll cross that out um and then we have the police chief Hing process bylaw and the deputy chief um hiring process bylaw um and then we do have the vote from the board of Assessors for each of each of the three pilot agreements that I proposed at this point I think that's everything yes did I miss anything I just missed which one was getting crossed out oh I'm sorry um number 34 okay thank you yep and so that is is is a full list with everything that has been um officially approved since the last um meeting so that exists a warrant as as as all as all the submissions have come in [Applause] if there could be a motion to close the one yes um we didn't open it oh jeez I'm sorry I'd like to make a motion to open the annual town meeting War for June 10 2024 I'll second that motion meeting second any discussion all those in favor I I car I want to close it yeah could there be any way to just reflect all the one articles that I just spent five minutes mentioning and just move them into that bucket to make a motion to uh close the annual town meeting warrant uh and to include any articles discussed by a Town Administrator that's great thank you I'll second that motion being seconded any discussion all those in favor I I car and I uh motion made to close it um did we just close it yeah oh right I'm sorry not even paying attention I'll close it again you did it so good do it again closes good okay we up to fual town meeting War uh review discuss an act annual town meeting warrant review of proposed articles yes uh yeah like you everyone I believe has has a list of the Articles um in front of them we do have a lot of proposed Capital articles um funding Main Street um in in the phasing that we've been funding um uh Main Street does remain a priority um there's uh um there's a number of capital articles um which I mentioned the capital La committee um will be meeting Monday afternoon um to review and rank um and provide and provide the scoring back on those um we will um even though we'll have the priority in in the scrolling we will have to um one of the things Capital out so Capital out does provide the ranking and scoring um what capital doesn't deal with is the availability funding so um what recommendations on that at that point um separate from Capital outlay um there um uh we do um there's um there there's a there been a Citizens petition article that's been proposed um there um there um there's a typical there's typical um the business of town meeting articles are relating to the the CPC Appropriations um uh the revolving fund spending limits on chapter 90 taking Highway takings um a land takings um um as um as I mentioned the capital we do have a few committees and departments that have also proposed um they have also proposed um updated bylaws relating to efforts um for their departments that have to be reviewed and I'm sorry if I'm jumping around but uh we also um there's an article proposed by the Conservation Commission to fund um the legal expenses that um we anticipate to be Associated um with the Forest Hills matter as well at this point just as over overall um summary um we will um try to have a draft in provide any additional backup um to the warrant on Monday night as well I have a question in regards to the citizen petition um that's regarding a position that is has a contract um are we have we reached out to legal in regards to anything um that if if I could I think um I would be most comfortable I like um I like give that whole issue is actually discussed by the board um just to just to keep this whole process clean yeah do that is that executive session that we can do no it's not okay my apologies um if we want to we can discuss it now which um I thought we would have to reach out to legal to get his or their opinion on um in the event that the petition does pass um what our obligations to uh buy out pay out um the town administrator's contract um I have no words for this I I got to say let me start with I reviewed the petition okay so that's what I do for a living I I we review petitions we review signatures and in reviewing the petition the petition you you are um it's under M General law and you are petitioning the Selectmen to put something on the warrant um and the petition didn't have a date for the town meeting so uh it just said there's there's a line for it but there's to hold date um and when you petition you you get the petition from the Town Clerk and you petition the select who then um you know through our professional staff would walk it to the town clerk to certify the petition um and this not a boy the selectman stamp on it uh talking to our staff I it was turned into the selectman's office but I think it's a legal document it doesn't have a Selman stamp it doesn't have the date of the town meeting so when we when we review legal documents however with that said um I believe in freedom of speech and citizens right to um you know um you know it's a free government so I think when you do business with your government we didn't catch those things but it should have been caught because this is this is important to discuss so I just you know me I love my bylaws we got to work on the citizens petition thing to make sure that that doesn't happen again because it it's a petition form it has to be filled out completely so I'm not proposing to I think it should go on because the citizen did do the work but I want to make it so that if it's not done perfect next time it doesn't go on I have a problem with that especially when that's how I pay my billes through petitions so I have a problem with that I don't think there's an issue with that at all with what you're saying um it should have been done the proper way I guess the discussion is assuming it might pass not assuming let's say it does um what we do with the salary that is owed based on the contract so what I'm basically asking is to seek legal counsel uh to get their opinion on to as to whether we would be buying out his contract or not um how much do we owe when do we owe it uh those types of things can we look at it even broader this whole this whole process like what I don't know what I can say what I can't say and I I need more information on this okay how to how to move forward yeah I just need more information I need to be pointed in the correct direction so so cost money yeah yes unfortunately they do but um I I need guidance which I'm sure the both of you feel the same way uh and unfortunately we can't turn to the gentleman who gives us that guidance uh so we'd have to go to legal to get that opinion yeah I would make a motion that we return to our uh Town Council um to discuss the contractual issues and also the can and can't what we can do to approach this any help that all right I'll second that um that was made in the form of a motion okay U motion being seconded any discussion all those in favor I I count is an I um Mike a quick question can we the three of us be on a conference call with him or is that that would be considered a meeting yeah yeah like yeah I would um yeah like again like I think actually keeping everything separate like I think Karen trying to coordinate that Karen having a meeting that would be a meeting that's a good than um so I think if we can find a time that the three of us can be there as opposed to just one person then coming back to the other two members oh why didn't you ask this or why don't you ask that that we we do that Karen will have to find out what we can and can't do so I think that's your first step okay okay thank you okay back to the um the warrant articles yeah so as I mentioned we'll have a draft a a first working draft um of the warrant on Monday um we will just in terms of timeline we um the the um I think just in posting We need to have everything all finalized by um Thursday May 16th I believe the date is um so time like we have some work to do in the next few weeks and oh we'll do it and we'll get it done but we are working based on that deadline right now so um I'm busy I want to just again I want to thank want to thank again really Karen lean and Serena it's been a team effort labor of love um oh yeah like I think I it can be annoying sometimes um and I really want to thank them for their patience with me so just on that line I want to just PE out the board I think like some other towns they post like in I we've done it in dayon too like um like sometimes educating people on what they do because we don't really know what a Town Administrator does or a human resource coordinator I would love to see our staff like do a I kind of to throw lean out there um because she was so good on our website and um I'd love to see like SP you T administrator report you you did so many things and um but not just you all of our town employees because I think it's a symptom of like educating the public on what we do you know what's the selectman do what's Town accountant do um so I think it' be cool if we did like a if I challenged our staff to do a Facebook post a week uh on um just a member of our staff and what they're working on you know here's a picture of town accountant working on a you know um you know uh yeah signature authorization form you know anything like that just see mean I think so many of us get our news from social media and just seeing what bring town hall to you seeing what people do you know it brings the human aspect people just see your name of what you do and they don't think of you as a person right um so I think that that's a great idea like a spotlight of MH that's great so it doesn't like needs to be a motion but it's just a challenge I have I I I don't disagree thank you thank you great support okay that's it for uh Tom warrant proposed articles yes uh so is a review discussed and act we just reviewed them there's no uh no there's no action at that point I'm sorry that was extraneous but right we just wanted to have there okay then uh G review discuss an act board and committee technology slaptop top protocols um I asked for this to be on the agenda and basically just because I watch other boards and committees and see what you know's um I know there's some uh board members who bought a laptop and I don't want to I think as an appointing authority um for boards not all of them but some of them I guess I want to back up I know we we made that room in between the selman's office and the town accountant's office as I believe that was a work space for our boards mhm um and I remember way back when I first moved to town listening to board meetings and um board members would um you know the CPC and other board were complain that they didn't have a place for a file cabinet or you know they didn't have a a laptop or a desktop in town to work on uh so I believe that's kind of how that room came to be you know it's a place for our boards to go and so um I see that you know we get a sement so I feel like if I need if I need technology I'm going to buy through my site and you know that I would use for the town but I feel like we as a board I just kind of want to feel you guys out on what your thought on it maybe we could work on it if it's something you like I worry about I get I didn't we have a zerob based budget but I just I'd like to TI up like where do we draw the line are we going to buy um cell phones for board members I'm not talking about professional staff we have professional staff that work for our boards that have laptops and maybe cell phones technology but we have so many appointed appointed boards that are under our jurisdiction you know just I feel like the board of s needs to give some guidance to our appointed boards we spent a lot of time today discussing our budget deficit and I'd prefer the town to make investment in a desktop for Town Hall and that's where our board members could go to review plans or permits or do their work um for any board that falls under the ower board of s you know not for our elected boards or so I don't know if that's possible but it's just you know we talk about our policies and I just I heard it come up and I watched it and I just want um so I guess I don't understand what you're looking for are you looking to purchase one no no I'm looking for direction from from my colleagues on if that is a concern of yours and should we draft a policy on boards that are appointed by the Selectmen on you know it's technology you know our purchases of laptops and cell phones and um even maybe the risks that are involved with that um one of the things I guess is they all have budgets that technically they can do what they want with them right right um uh to isolate just um technology I guess um if you're the Council on aging and you need a computer um why that as opposed to some other proc uh purchase do you have to come to the Selman for or say um yeah now I hear you because I have $800 in my budget to buy one and I need one you've appointed me to as the head of this department then let me just go buy one uh not for the Departments not for our profession like the account I'm saying like our almost volunteer boards who have like for instance the and I'm not the like the historical commission right they're appointed by the board of SEL when they fall under our purview um I'm not saying they can't get one I'm just saying I I almost want to see like an extra hoop that we have to jump through I'm just wor about us growing this technology um so not a professional staff that work for to Hall they need laptops and maybe or whatever but we just have so many boards that we point we'll be doing it soon you know all these different boards and I feel like we looking at our budget I prefer I just see this as a symptom of something we set the direction for those boards y I was looking to see if you guys shared the concern about that issue and if you do we could look into a policy but if you don't I understand I just wanted to bring it up and one more thing about technology was scams and fishing and um you know and and just even being on different networks I don't and you know if you're taking a laptop out of we we kind of broaden our risk to a certain point and that's out of my wheelhouse but it's just that's why I wanted to bring it up I thought it was something that needed some thought yeah um do you have any questions I know the situation that brought this to um fruition and I think that it was like a unique situation I think that um it just happened to be that there's um a board and there's a department head and there wasn't really we weren't sure who to make that decision and stuff I don't see it as becoming something that's going to happen with any of the other boards and committees I think a lot of them realize that they're volunteers and I mean we all have phones we can pretty much do anything on our phones I have seen some with flip phones I don't know what they're doing on there um but there's there's ways that they can get to technology as well as I don't know if the libraries equipped right now with computers the way that it stands but I mean when we have that that's another place that they can go and access this stuff um so I I understand your concern um I just don't know where to go with it okay thanks okay that's all I have all right want just take it under advisement then yeah I'm not going to make a motion okay uh review discuss an act a fiber installation contract with tmlp yes so um as I think everyone has probably uh seen a fiber contractor has been out on um the length of 138 um uh things are going well I checked in with them yesterday um in terms of everything there um the other part the other component of that project is a project planned budgeted project for tmlp to run the fiber from the um uh I like I would like I like I would say LinkedIn tont street but technically it's actually Riverside a and um Riverside AV and Lincoln a all the way up to uh Chase Street where Station 2 is and um so tmlp is going to run uh because they own the infrastructure there um they're going to run the fiber uh up there um and that will finally connect um that will finally connect that Public Safety all in one all in one dedicated Network it will also connect to town as well um so the cost of that is around just over $80,000 we knew it from the beginning we knew we'd have to enter into a contract with um with TMP to do it they've been great Partners throughout the whole thing so I'm recommending approval of that at this point and um we are on track um I'm proud to say to close out that Grant um um by the June 30th deadline as well aw so that's June 30th is like um D-Day for a lot of things right now and that's one of the things as well um just there that fiscal year budget oper um and then the um uh the um other the water district analysis as well those are just three of the major things that were trying to wrap up before June 30th but um so but I do recommend approval of the tmlp and um if you could if the board would be um entertained authorizing me as a Town Administrator to execute that um based on the board's approval and authorization that would be un fall okay you guys have any questions sorry no why do you apologize I don't know um the only thing I noticed that said if um that they have to make any easements it would be um that it would be the sound burden was there any anticip oh yeah no no easement are needed like I taking or any of that stuff no no no I think that's just perun language but and if that any of that was needed um we would know when in advance but the polls the pole in structure is already there it's using everything existem thank you okay Nicole do you have anything no okay okay is there a motion on the floor then to approve Mike to um enter into a contract with tmlp um I'll make a motion to uh approve the fiber installation contract with time Municipal Light PL and to uh allow Our Town Administrator to be to execute the contract I'll second that motion seconded any discussion all those in favor I IET car I uh obviously the junk dealers license we've taken care of the page uh approval of the Town warrants somebody have okay all right um I'd like to make a motion uh to pay warrant paid for April 18th 2024 43 a-24 in the amount of $1,480 69 and uh warrant 43 B-24 $431,000 33877 um and I keep calling I guess is no we're going to take one at time second that okay motion being seconded any discussion all those in favor I I ke Ken and I okay I'll make a motion to pay the warrants uh paid through April 25th 2024 uh warrant 44 a-24 April 25th or March I mean say here March just should be April there a typ should be April should be April No it should be April but no on here it says March yeah there the type on the agenda so the wording correct right first time doing Warr here oh no um so warrants paid through April 25th 2024 uh warrant 44 a-24 in the amount of 141 1,966 63 and warrant 44 B-24 in the amount of 8,727 I'll second that motion being seconded any discussion all those in favor I I pet K is Den I public input Mr H thank you I attended the school committee meeting last night and the first item Mr Mullen alluded to the possibility of increases on the school budget over next year well last night they talked about a strategic plan and those increases are not just for one year student Opportunity Act established by the Department of Education is to project spending over a number of years so DDS will know anticipate what they need to fund districts but also to give school districts the incentive to plan for the future it's no question the bill Rooney goal is one of excellence and making that school district something that will be well respected throughout the state and the numbers that were mentioned for districtwide averages out over the next three years each year an increase for dayon of between 1.1 to $1.2 million per year over the next three years so Mr maren that 1.1 you were speculating that is something that's part of their strategic plan for the b d and raob withth the total would be over the next three years districtwide 7,663 392 so as you figure your budget prepare on increases secondly uh they have expanded the role of the athletic director he will now be in charge of um overseeing Athletics uh grades 5 through 12 and they hired uh Matthew McKinnon who is a Unified sports Enthusiast and he will be working closely with Mr Smith and Mrs Melo on those programs because I know it's near and dear to both of them as well um the third issue on Saturday J June 1st at 10:00 a.m. at the dayon middle school there will be the dedication of the gym for John massarelli and now the fourth item nothing to do with the schools I am very glad to hear that on the article regarding the Town Administrator you are going to go to Legal councel because I want to advise you of something two years ago I anticipated this coming that is why I put forth and received support from my colleagues on the board an extension of Mr mullin's contract this could get very expensive for the town I anticipated this and as we were drawing up a contract I kept that in mind thank you thank you Mr H okay we have to now go into executive session on the M we have some minute minute oh we have I'm sorry meeting minutes I don't can't say okay uh approval of the board of Select special meeting minutes of March 6 2024 I make a motion that we approve the board of Select special meeting minutes of March 6 2024 motion made seconded any discussion all those in favor I and Pete kons and I approval of the board of s regular meeting minutes for April 10th 2024 I make a motion that we approve the board of selectman regular meeting minutes of April 10th 2024 second motion May seconded any discussion all those in favor I Peter Ken and I thank you now we're going to go into the executive session under the Massachusetts general laws chapter 30A section 2183 to disc 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 and the chair so declares the chair does declare under the Massachusetts General law 38 sections 21 A6 to consider the purchase of exchange lease or value of real estate if the chair declares that an open meeting may have detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the public body the chair does declare under Massachusetts General Law chapter 30A sections 21 A7 to comply with or act under the authority of the general of any general or special law of Fe Federal grant and aid requirements and approval of the board of selectman executive meeting minutes of April 10th 2024 okay we will not be returning from executive session uh thank you Mr Ho for your time --------- what is the by okay just a second that says Finance next to what I do with the a letter from the attorney yeah I have one the one that we show e D's regular selectman's uh Board of selectman's regular meeting today is Wednesday April 24th 2024 at 6:00 p.m. this meeting is in person in Via Zoom at Oldtown Hall 1111 Somerset Avenue dayon Mass this Zoom that you can join the zoom meeting the meeting ID is 81872 48845 the pass code to join is 91223 the phone number to call is 646 931 3860 public input may be provided provided using the following methods contact our office at Board of a selectman at D- ma.gov to provide input prior to the meeting or B join as join as via Zoom at 646 931 3860 or in person this is going to be continually played on dayon Channel 9 and on YouTube at www.youtube.com toown of dayon 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 can we have a call to order please Nicole Melo present pres and Peter Karen present um I'm going to ask that everybody stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and can you just stay standing after the Pledge of Allegiance we had uh some neighbors uh lost their lives this week and we like to uh pay attention I mean make a U mention of them 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 liy and justice for all we lost four neighbors this week and we just like to mention their names the first one is uh thir Grant um apparently he was a um original teacher uh to the Dr uh High School uh he taught Automotive mechanics and started in September 1960 until his retirement he's the last surviving teacher of the original class uh Cheryl Longton uh Michael alera Laura Pina and David Rogers thank you first up is uh appointments and we have D raob with Regional School District Mr Bill Rooney at the draft proposed composition of the D ele Elementary School building committee Mr Rooney how are you today good evening good evening Mr chair if I may since I have the um the floor I was wondering if I could just um Carry On other two other little pieces of business quickly um I just wanted to take the opportunity to uh congratulate seleman Pico um and um thank him for his interest in this project uh we we took a tour together and um it was wonderful to see uh that the Buy in from the selectman um is was not uh going to be interrupted um when Mr Hull chose not to um run for re-election and speaking of Mr Hull I just want to take the opportunity um to uh extend my personal appreciation to him um as everyone knows for the last two years um he's been the liaison between the Selectmen and um the school committee and uh his presence at our meetings has been very helpful and I've leaned on him for a lot of advice and I'm I'm glad to say that he's not going into retirement so to speak because um he's going to participate um on our high school school council so um since I'm here I just wanted to take the opportunity to to acknowledge those two situations um also I do want to thank the the town um for the collaboration on the fy2 budget process um I know we still have a long way to go but the um the reasonable and rational conversations that we've been able to have um I think show that um there's there's a a definite sense of teamwork um I was very uh pleased to learn this afternoon uh that the House of Representatives did pass uh the recommendation from the house Ways and Means U subcommittee uh to increase the per pupil expenditure but from $30 to $104 so we are keeping the fingers our fingers crossed that the Senate will pass that as well um and that will certainly provide it won't provide all the relief that we're looking for but it will certainly provide some relief so thank you for that um I I want to preface uh this conversation about the the msba process by saying that I pride myself on the power of positivity so when I speak of things in the future um please understand that I am always mindful of the fact that the the residents of the town are going to have to weigh in on a couple of very important votes uh so please don't misinterpret my positivity for um assumptions on my part but uh I I I do like to um I do like to think in the positive uh it's been it's been a pleasure to um collaborate with Town Administrator Mullen um on this proposed composition of the school building committee um as many of you know I learned firsthand um in the in the city of adbor um how the the school building committee the SBC is the heart of the project um it is the foundation on which the process is built and um I know we are very eager to get the selection process approved by the Selectmen um and start to move forward with it because um our 270-day period starts in seven days so there is a lot of work to be done in the next 277 days and um the SBC will accomplish a tremendous amount of that work um last night at our school committee for the Dion rith Regional School District um I did review this proposal with them uh I did make it clear that is obviously your decision um it is your building it's your Town's building um but uh our school committee was in support of um The Proposal that that Mr Mullen and I are making to you tonight uh the the msba obviously has requirements um but they also have recommendations and uh the beauty of the combination of those two things is that you create a very diverse set of voices um you have elected leaders you have Educators you have experts that are in the field you have family members that are passionate about um the education that's in the town and so uh a a school building Committee of you know roughly 15 or so individuals um is robust enough to provide diverse voices whereas it's still not unwieldy to make it um difficult to have a quorum or you know uh be able to get everybody together and so um that's really small print but I'm going to do the best I can to uh to read it from here thank you Mr all right so um one of the one of the uh obvious requirements uh of the msba is that there be a school building Committee Member who is uh mcppo certified so that is the uh the Massachusetts purchasing and procurement certification um and uh it is historically the uh District business administrator um currently we are um in the process of hiring a new District business administrator and um if you approve this proposal then obviously that person would be someone uh who would have that mcpo certification um and would have a seat on the school building committee um the local chief executive officer uh would be uh obviously your design I know that um Town Administrator Mullen and I have been exchanging some emails with uh the msba in terms of whether it is their recommendation that that is actually the chair of the selectman that takes that seat or whether the Selectmen decide which of the Selectmen um becomes that designate um obviously the uh the administrator or manager um would be Mr Mullen um although the msba uh has a minimum of one school Committee Member uh Mr Mullen and I um know that the the the value that our school committee members indict and place on education and so it is our recommendation to you um that uh we have two school committee members um on the SBC superintendent of schools um District facilities director um this next one representative of office authorized by law to construct school buildings um this is another one that um we have consulted with the msba the msba has already said that the superintendent does check that box um but we are um we are pursuing this with Town Council um and if there is an opportunity for there to be another individual that that fills that seat we feel that it adds to the diversity of the voices we we don't want this process to be insular uh we want it to be a situation where we have as many voices as possible Mr Mullen I don't know if you wantan to if you have any update from Town Council yeah know I haven't heard back from him yet like on this but uh like in the guidance in the guidance that superintendent roomy like received um um uh oh yeah like in the guidance that superintendent Rooney like received back from the msba they actually like in their rationale to have a a a leader within the school district the rationale was to have someone representative who' be represented who' be able to actually bind the district um to different types of agreements so here that would be the superintendent um the question that we're just trying to reconcile with Town Council is that um is that when we get into Regional districts there are some regionals that like own that own all the school buildings and then there are regionals like ours where the town where the town actually owns the building in the property so that question and how to and how to really thread the needle based on that question is what we just want to run through Town Council before U like like in order to really help us help inform us of who the best person would be best to appoint there if that makes sense yeah um obviously the the school principal is a is a vital component of the school building committee um Mr Mullen if you wouldn't mind scrolling for me thank you um and then uh these next slots are ones that um are really vital to um to the process not that the others um aren't but if if you look at this one that's at the top of the screen a member that is knowledgeable in the educational Mission and function of the facility um we are blessed to have um many Educators many um past graduates of our school system um and also residents in our towns that are very knowledgeable about um the mission of education and um and and the value of an inclusive and state-of-the-art facility um you know dayon elementary school right now as it stands um is doing an excellent job of preparing our students to move on uh to middle school and and ultimately be prepared uh for their High School experience uh but it is grossly um negligent from the standpoint of ADA compliance uh lead certification Energy Efficiency um even just power upgrades and and things like that so um if if you approve this process um being able to have a volunteer selected by you uh that is knowledgeable about the educational Mission within the town is going to be crucial um a local budget official or member of the local finance committee uh as Mr Mullen has put here that would be a member of your choosing from the Dion Financial team and then uh members of the community with architecture engineering Andor construction experience I know that um when I was on the Ador high school project uh we had a lot of experts in the town uh who had either graduated from the high school or um they had their children in the high school and uh they were experts in those areas and um when they were chosen for the school building committee they were extremely valuable um as we were talking about um you know different types of wiring different types of U materials for the buildings um it was it was crucial to have those experts on the school building committee and then uh the last portion here is a recommendation that we have um that not only the Selectmen but also the school committee choose um an at large design I anticipate there's going to be a lot of interest in this I I'm I'm hoping that there are going to be a lot of folks that are going to submit a volunteer application for this um and you know there are going to be some people that are are going to end up getting left out but if you have a situation where maybe somebody doesn't quite um fit the bill in one of the other boxes I think that there's a nice opportunity not only for the school committee but also for the selectman uh to be able to to have um an at llarge design um in closing I'll just have to say that you know living this life for seven years as the principal of Adar high school and being um a member of that school building committee uh we will make sure that we consult with all of the experts and all of the authorities in town um as we go through through the process so I'll give you an example um the fire chief and the police chief were not on the school building committee but they were consistently consulted by members of the school building committee as we went through the process um there were the building inspector was not on the school building committee but he was someone that was integral to our discussions um and so again I think Mr Mullen and I feel like a number of around 15 is enough for us to be um having diverse perspectives but also not have you know a situation where the the the scheduling becomes unwieldy um I think it's it's also important to know that um the community will have ample opportunity to consult in this process there will be visioning sessions so again thinking in the positive we get to a point where we've chosen an O owner's project manager we get to a point where um you know we're starting to have a vision for what the building would look like um the visioning sessions are going to be crucial and in adoro the visioning sessions were roughly 30 to 35 people and they were three full days over the course of two weeks where um a consultant was was brought in um and the all of the ideas all of the priorities for the community um were brought forth and we were able to pull those all together um in the design design for the new adbor high school and I I think about like I think about what you've accomplished in this town like most recently the beautiful new playground that you know has accessibility for all um that is something that is going to be a crucial opportunity for our our community members to be able to have their voices heard so that um if this project comes to fruition that there will be a building um that you know our community will definitely be proud of so whether it's through visioning sessions or focus groups um there is that is going to be a community effort so great thank you very much I'm assuming that um nobody's names are going to be duplicated correct one pos one person won't fulfill another P another uh opening I I think Mr chair the only one that really right now uh is that could could possibly be that one or be a duplicate is the one that Mr Mullen has referred to Town Council okay in terms of the representative who's um you know able to uh sign off on right new buildings but it's it's our hope that Town Council is going to come back with a recommendation that allows for a separate person to be in that because again the the diversity of the voices is extremely important yeah how do you uh propos to get the word out that you're looking for volunteers well go ahead yeah like if I could like I think um yeah like what I would recommend to that point once the composition structure is approved by the board like I think like I think has a followup hopefully before the end of this week uh the superintendent and I and our office will be able to work together to collaborate on an announcement to to create basically into to actually share and advertise really buckets of positions if you will that we have um that we will be able to share in newsletters um and on our websites on social media um and then just based on the magnitude of what we're trying to do here typically we do try to advertise for two weeks I think trying to advertise for three weeks um three weeks at least uh would be really helpful and worthwhile we do uh we are because we're approaching the 270 day time clock start we do ideally it would be great to um have a structure appointed um um hope hopefully no later than after the first part of June um so then at that point the committee can be sworn in the committee can meet and part of the obligation that we have uh with the msba is also once the committee is formed and first meets the committee needs to name a chair and um and that is part of the requirement um the oh yeah the compliance requirement that we first have to meet with the msba so um having that timeline we it sounds like we're oh yeah like and we actually are ahead of the 270-day window but once but once we start going um in my experience with these projects as well that 270 wind the 270-day window once we account for 3 weeks advertising then another probably week or week and a half two weeks to appoint everybody it does it does actually move really quickly okay thank you Mrs Miller do you have any uh questions no okay Mr bico I do all right so thank you superintendent Rooney for coming out tonight and talking to us and I did want to reiterate uh I really enjoyed the tour that I had it was good to see with my own eyes the state of the school and to see how important it is that we move forward with um this project and um my my question is you did talk about 15 M sounds to me like it might be tough to get business done with 15 different folks I feel like in an hour if everyone's got the same amount of time they could talk for four minutes you know um so I guess my question is in Adar I really appreciate your experience there do you know how many people would have been on that or any other similar projects um was a little bigger it was a little bigger project um you know obviously building a school for 2,000 kids um as opposed to one that's you know more like 700 so we did have um a few more people on it I I want to say it was no more than 17 okay um and but you do raise a good point it it um there were time there were times where um scheduling was difficult uh but um as you know there were times where as long as we had a quorum um you know we were able to move forward and the the structure of of the school building committee um is that the owner's project manager is the one who even though there will be a chair the owners project manager is the one who basically is running the meeting um they come in and they they'll they'll do a a PowerPoint presentation for the SBC members um they'll they'll give timeline check-ins materials check-ins uh any you know possible material delays and um and then they'll open the floor for questions and then typically um after you accomplish that business then it's just a matter of like paying the bills so you know you have to vote to approve warrants for you know various contractors and things like that okay awesome thank you welcome Where do you um Envision these meetings taking place I mean uh you want to have a you want to have a you know a nice comfortable conference room type setup where um you know people can be seen and people can be heard you know we have a space like that at the high school um there's not really a space like that that's conducive um at the elementary school but we we we could use the library at the elementary school I don't know what that you know what your thoughts are Mr Mullen in terms of town facilities yeah like Oldtown here is an option as well like I think one of the things we'd want to do based on really the significance of the project whereever it's held make sure we have a real strong cable like a really strong cable compatibility so we do have uh based on the just my opinion the gravity of what's being proposed um having having a very strong cable link so we are able to off offer wherever the meeting is more than just a zoom oh yellow more than just a zoom meeting uh like with really good audio visuals um things like that all obviously we've been we've been continuing to work on this space I like all and we can work with the school district as we jump off to identify together what we all agree is the best space for that awesome I think that's all I have thank you both for working on this so hard and um this this a good start thank you um so with that said I would like to make a motion to approve the um propos composition of the D Elementary School building committee I'll second that motion made and seconded any discussion all those in favor I I Peter C and I well congratulations as a first step thank you very much very excit thank you Chief you're here yes sir the only question I have on the support of the school is this going to come down to not being the district doing this building and is just going to rely on the town because like has been said each Town owns their own school so is it only going to be the town that's going to contribute to the school or is it going to be the district I believe it's just going to be the town but yeah the town the town based on the Town based on the regional agreement we we own we have to fund the capital on our own any Investments we have to own and we have to and we have to fund that and we have to fund as a community we don't that the district um becomes a pass through for all intents and purposes at that point I just want people to understand it's not going to be the school district that's really going to do the building you know like first lag or first it's just going to be the town of B which you know like I said I'm in support of it anything to do with education I'm in support of it but I want people