##VIDEO ID:J48sCGEkxJE## it's 5:00 uh we'll call the DP select board meeting order on this day of August 13th is 5:00 pretty link the agenda tonight but we're going to be starting with a dangerous dog hearing followed by public comments and then approval of the minutes for May 28th and July 16th appointment for the memorials and monuments committee app with the elderly and disabled taxation fund committee Band Stand railing replacement contract a review of the Personnel policy draft that has been put together discussion on private signs on public property policy fee increases ARA fund relocation for the Zu letter and the town hall boiler repair in the Sha Valley Medical Center emergency declaration and the warrant the state primary of 2024 um so I guess we need to jump into this the dog hearing and there is a pretty formal procedure that we need to follow regarding this so with that I will open the dangerous dog hearing I'll just read the notice notice was hereby given that under Mass General Law chapter 140 section 157 time cons dangerous. hearen on Tuesday August 13th 5m dille Town Hall 51 Main Street deter the doges at 139 off Palm Street is a nuisance or dangerous all interested persons are invited to attend and we did notice letters and the dog owner okay um next the Animal control officer Sue f is to squar in his testimony all right raise hands you swear the information you're about to provide is the truth the entire truth and nothing about the truth under penalty yes next we have two of the complaintants here that need to be sworn in as well Sharon de and Sean they're not here neither are here no um the owner or the representative of the dog Mr William Mal and or shall we yeah you can just raise your right hand do you swear the information you're about to provide is the truth the entire truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of perjury so how me your ideas what was that so help me your ideas okay now is there anyone else in the audience that would like to comment if so you both need to be sworn in yes have your name please Debbie Mal the bill Mal I just moved and resided in Florida into the home right before the alleged incident okay witness to it all Debbie um do you swear the information you're about to provide is the truth the entire truth and nothing but the truth under penalty pury than and secondly I'm butter and I've been taking next to training okay now your name for the record oh sorry Erica do you s the information you're about to Provine us the truth the entire truth and nothing but the truth under penalty of purgy yes right anybody else [Music] no okay review ML and provide recommendations so if we want to have the Animal control officer provide his summary do you want to provide a summary of the incidents as you know it and just three incidents where I had to put a quarantine on Max and still unclear exactly what provoked couple of them I know Max doesn't like other dogs walking in front house which dos are going to do that protect their own turf which I get I've never seen Max aggressive towards people I've been close to him P he's good he does have an issue with a couple of dogs in the neighborhood that attacked him at a younger age so he remembers that so he'll go back to that you know Fen in area because they barking at him to get out of I I get dog remember German she are smart dogs very smart he is a good dog he just needs to be controlled he goes up to AR's house and plays with her door that's what he's there to begin with he goes to her just have your chance to speak let John a problem I've seen he's a good dog and he plays with that dog he just does not like these other two dogs other pites behind start fense and I members tell these dogs I think it was an incident in back there in that one he doesn't like those two little dogs we received great complaint from Rella and from Sharon andan so there were several incidents that she refers to where her dog was attacked and was injured and I believe she said that she was bitten so John you request she got by her John you requested the dangerous dog here and why don't you inform the board of BL because became a public safety issue while one of the was pregnant knocked over by a scuffle on the road with Max I think she got knocked over and the dog got B it just became a public safety issue I just want us get H hoping to a conclusion of how to confine Max was without having a dangerous do here label God we can just come up with our own conclusion whether it be k a leash I mean they they are responsible pet owners just dogs get loose and that slips out the door once in a while my dad he's 8 years old to say so he can do it but I understand what you're saying and i' like to add a few things to it oh absolutely but state of Massachusetts does require you to have control of your dog at all times since May so the dog has been being worked with you bring it to a trainer I I bring it to car was the one that actually um took it to K9 training right before I moved she wanted to help me dad with the dog and so when I moved here um I started going with her and taking that responsibility so during that time period the dog had been in K9 training for obedience to learn and I have a letter here that I can show you guys from the K9 company describing Max saying that he is not aggressive that he's just needs some training and that's what we got in okay and I can provide you that I find that to be often the case I mean I've had dogs my entire life I had to it in a moment you know I I I struggle with saying there is a dangerous dog I really I'm I don't like that term I understand the inations of it it often comes down to who is handling it seems to me he may I haven't met the dogs I can't make any judgment on that I'm WR by you know some written testimony experiences explained by Animal control officer uh you know if you were on the other side of this and it was your dog being attacked by another dog that is loose in the neighborhood you would be very upset about it too so so obviously there's going to need to be something that is going to make sure that this dog is controlled at all times and if he goes and plays with AR's dog up the street he should probably be brought there on a leash not just let out to go around and play with the dog doesen it's when he sneaks out can I so let me ask you is your fence is your yard fenced in we have an area that is fenced in that Max does go in yes but there is a front access in and out of this house that he can if my dad is I think I need to say something because I'm the own everything's moving around away from me I'm gonna move up closer because I have a hearing apparment okay I've been a resident of offb Street for 27 years you want to you want you can see sure thank you at this point of 83 years old things start to break down but anyways I've been in residence for 27 years and Max is the third dog that I've had living and residing in off PA street never has there been an issue and I can honestly tell you in hotat that Max is the most intelligent you most obedient and the most friendly dog that there is I ever had the situation out of this is the fact that here is Max right here my ey writing my my side by side this is a picture of asks does he look like an angry dog yeah no he this is when he came in from a got stuck outside in the fence area so this is him riding with my family on my pontoon boat he's just you can do anything put sunglasses on them or put a hat on him and he just doesn't goes along with the flow but most importantly I've had people come on to my property and I have a handyman that comes on and he's been working with me he had a arrang and we fix up the house for Debbie to move in with me from Florida now this is my handyman he is he's supposed to be here tonight and he's afraid of dogs but yet he goes over and there's my fenc in year area he puts his head in front of Max and Max kisses him Max loves to kiss he is no one particularly a kid a guy that is afraid of dogs would put his face in front of a dog now let me tell you about the incidents that happened you know my dog was I raised my dog to be extremely friendly I had him since he's been eight weeks old I brought him from my grandson Trevor Kelly who's been residing with me since he's been under the fifth grade and basically I bought it for Trevor because he graduated from gr duno high school and the class of 22 and he wanted a Germans ship because I had a very wellknown daughter named Jesse that died 14 years being with me of cancer so max came with me eight weeks old and um I used to take him to the I wanted to socialize him so I brought him to the mall walked around every night at the mall lot of feel all the time still takes on the lot of fi certainly off P Street you know and there's never been an issue and people would come up and say oh what a nice friendly dog and and people with patter on no issue so he became socialized and then we put him into the dog training program now the incident happened is the reason why I'm explaining this to you is that Max is loves to play with dogs okay and if the neighbors all got together they'd all confirm to say Max loves to play with their dogs there's one one beside shamon's dog there's another dog that I guess I'll name her Shaya that lives two houses away from Sharon and when I walk Max Max would play with her dog and they have fun fun the dogs would roll over and everything else like that so in Max's head he really thinks that dogs are friendly to him but one day Sheila was walking by my house I they she has to walk by on my on the off one street because I give the right away in my property and so Max runs I was raping or doing something in the ad and Max runs right over to play with her dog and the dog has some type of a territorial situation with Sheila and the bat dog bit Max right on the lake and he hung on to the lake and Max shed blood I did I did get a h at dunable Animal Clinic because I know that Max you know being a shepher you know and he's at that time I think he was only 14 months old um doible animal they were closing up and they couldn't take Max but I have a neighbor I don't know if Will Will U kayen sent you a note he said he was going to send a note on that he broke up the fight and even in breaking up the fight okay he just pulled Max away and I was helping him and Max never even attempted to bite him an angry dog would turn around and bite a chis and pull him away from a vicious fight so you can say that those two times it happened twice you walk on Unfortunately they have to walk on my property to move around I give the right away but basically that's a Territorial and so you know basically that was it now the other situation that happened which is Sharon's dog there's no proof that Max did this I turned around and paid the they one day I'm in the house cooking and Debbie told me that hey there's a guy named Sean and I never met Sean before because he's sort of like a new come into the neighborhood living with Sharon and he turns around and I go out and he turns around and he says hey here's here's a bill $1,200 pay it you're telling me to pay a bill and this is my property he's really almost like screaming at me I'm 83 years old and he's yelling at me my daughter witness it and she called it extortion you know trying to force money on me anyways after a week of this and that going back and forth I said I'm just going to give him the $1,200 just to shut it up and be a friendly neighbor and basically then what happened was they give us another bill saying oh their dog had an in infection I said time out that's it I'm not paying another $1,200 for the dog to me that indicates that they didn't take care of the dog properly when he gets an infection but beyond that I'm saying it's not an omission of guilt because there's no proof that Max turned around and did it what he does do is he has a girlfriend which is Eric's dog and he loves that dog and anytime he can get loose he goes up and sits on Erica's porch just so happens that Sharon his next door and they're they're pits they have two pits are always fighting each other how do I know the pit bows didn't fight each other and and and cause that damage and of course this guy Sean who I don't know is blaming me so anyways Debbie just wants to say her part of it and what she witnessed and um as I said in as far as fences this is the fence that Max goes out I have a doggy door on my porch and he can go out into the ad and he's trained to stay there and he will not the only way that Max will leave is if the storm door in my front of my house is unlocked I leave that door locked all the time the storm door on the porch so no one anybody can open the door but I can say this I have I have people come on my property like National Grid I have the Hefner gas company come onine they come right through the fence and they go and they they do what they're doing on their servicing and Max lets them into the gate into the fence and doesn't even touch them you know he he's people friendly so the thing is this is the fact that um the only way that he exits is either on my when we unlock this porch and or I can go out through the side door which is the side where my carport is so in that in mind as I said I have National Grid come on I have hefna come on I have uh a few people like Prime Comm my property it's never been an issue I don't think that there's been any calls to the police department saying that there's an angry drive anyways can I pass it on the D yeah quick question so Mugsy that's not one of the pit bulls up there that's a beagle that Shayla and AJ's dog we and that's who the incident well John says there's three incidents yeah okay sh's dog what's what's the name FY mugs mugs you know when Sheila was walking the dog and coming onto my property which is the right away and do Max first and Max yeah exactly and then what happened Max went over to play with Sheila's dog and Co her the dog being close to Sheila tagged Max and got him by the lake and Max qu defended himself in those two incidents and um so so these incidents all happen on your property excuse me no did they happen on your property who the fight yeah yes Dad not the P not the sharing on this you know so can I actually speak for a second this is we're talking about Sheila so the first incident I believe it was the first incident that you weren't there for I was actually the one who grabbed and got him away from the fence that was with Mugsy or no this is the one with Sean and Sharon's talk Mugsy I was not around for I heard about it did not see Sean Sharon sh I'm getting confused Sean and Sharon Sean and Sharon have the two pits okay so Shayla has a letter from and those were the first two dog incidents that Jo John mentioned and I wanted to bring that in at Max did and then he defended himself okay got all right so I had I had I kind of got to go back a second before the incidence with Sean and Sharon and the two pites I wasn't there for the Shayla incident however I had seen Max playing with Mony a couple months prior it could have been an incident because Shaya was pregnant and mie was feeling protective I don't know but I've seen them playing before there was no issue um but I when Max came up to visit na I happened to be inside in a meeting so I didn't see him on the porch he must have seen or heard the pit bus barking and I heard the commotion and came outside to pull them away from the fence I couldn't understand how he could get his nose or face through that fence to fight a job so they were just having a they wereing fence and I did sign him up for training and took him for training and they do an eil and the owner brings in another his dog to see how they react to other dogs Max clearly was excited but not aggressive and he said this isn't an aggressive dog it's an anxious dog not an aggressive dog um unfortunately he likes to come visit ni my issue is I just don't want anything to happen to M I don't think like I said he not an aggressive dog yes he gets loose yes he may be a nuisance in some cases but he's not an aggressive dog he's not he's not going to bite a person he's not you know he's not going to be the aggressor that from what I've heard so far that does not seem to be my I'm not my takeaway is that he does not seem to be an aggressive dog from what you're saying I have dogs sometimes they tussle with each other you know my yard is entirely fenced in there's no way they can get out if I open my front door so that prevents a lot of situations so I would highly recommend that you do that too because it seems like the times that this has happened you know even dogs are going to react what one dog bites one the other one's going they're going to defend themselves I think that's a kids do the same thing my brother punched me I was going to punch him back life whatever measures to be taken to prevent that if that means extending the fence to completely secure your yard he hasn't he doesn't leave the well he has obviously know because basically he when I brought in the Y and I'm working in the ad as my other dogs were he would stick by me the only issue is is that he really likes Erica dog and goes up there Erica and sits on well see that's that's the issue there is when he is leaving your custody going up the street you are not under control of the dog at that time that's the problem when he's with you and he's with people and you know he's playing that's fine since I built this fence because this is not the original fence I had I mean there's been no issues at all he's been fine and he very happy to stay in his pen he's happy that when we put on him on the lease CU I walk him at 5:30 6:00 in the morning and uh I head down Pawn up Pawn Street and I get on Pawn Street do about two miles with them at that time and then my daughter takes him for a walk at nighttime and so he's very happy with that and because I had two doggy doors one to get out into the pen and then another doggy door that went to my front door are he he's in and out of the house all the time but if he should so that's what I'm that's what I'm asking is to have that you don't want this to happen again and if there is any opportunity for it to happen again you need to nip that in the book and I'm not I'm not saying he is I mean we're not we're not making this decision I'm not making the decision myself I'm offering a possible solution is that prevent it entirely do not allow him the opportunity to go anywhere by himself we don't but you said you have a door that allows him to get out the front door no which is not part no I have two front doors I have a storm door okay and that goes down the front stairs out into the my of my property and then I have a I have the front door that basically he can go into the house that way but there's no doggy door on the storm door going out into the main yard okay but if he were to be to somehow get out that he can I lo it okay with a key but if he were if you were he would not be within the fenced area excuse me he would not be within the fenced area if he were able to get through that door somehow is that true yes so I mean just to sort of givey back that little bit I had an Australian sheer very smart very crafty and would get in and out in mischevious andark with everyone so what I found was that an electric fence was that set the perimeter and you went through that it was going to get shocked to back I mean like really shocked we thought about that and as someone who loves Shepherds loves their intelligence and their loyalty it was the only way to get her to stop and because he would wander who wonder and it was the best method because I like said he could go out on his own if I was running lazy go out and PE do whatever he needs to do outside and it really helped manage that's a great idea and I love that he's people friendly because you know based on the reports I think that's a really important characteristic of the animal but for the times that you know my parents are older than you and they would watch my dog chil he would sneak out on his own you know that fence enabled him to it's a barrier it was the best way because it kept the dog from getting themselves into trouble or parking at someone accidentally or whatever happens because it it's a fail St do you work hard to maintain react I think that's a great idea and we have start we looked into them you know we they have them at uh petm and we looked at them there and of course on Amazon but we just haven't got to that point yet um what we did do is we put a new fence up and he just loves his yard and he's very obedient he stays in there again I come back to it that you say if he does but the only way that he could do that is because I lock that door all the time matter of fact you come to my house right now and that front that storm door going out down the front stairs into the walk and Outdoors that's locked in that and basically speaking no one can open that door it's a lock storm door so the other thing is that what he does do is that from there he can hang out let's say we had a big brainstorm and this is a picture of them being on a rainstone you know is that you know I try to prevent that of course we don't know when the Downs are coming so I turned around and U I lock him into the main porch in other words he can get into my house but he can't go out into the yard because I don't want him hanging around on the downpour one of these things that just got missed out but nless to say he just hangs around in the yard he has plenty of room to run around in that fenced in yard and he it and he's he psychologically this is his nest egg you know so I do agree with you on that and we will look into that you know that that we have looked into it we just haven't done it you know and that takes the pressure off because sometimes you Gates don't always get closed that's part of life sometimes Wind Blows and you think the latch went down I mean it's it's just the nature of the Beast it's life and I think there's an invisible um well it is an invisible fence but there is also uh one that you put around their neck and it says an alarm anding Peeps and then a shock if and I've tried it it had a good shot I want to know he does have one he does have one but because he he's a thi ha shepher he's got thick thick hair I mean that protects him from getting struck but Erica was introducing us to one and she says this she put it on Max and really worked so we will look into that and we will we we'll take that into not consideration we'll put it into action and try to uh make this happen well it's unfortunate that these folks didn't appear tonight to he their side of the story all we have is there written testimony here and we have you know John's response to the situations um so there there has not been anything since May no no since the fence has been put in well I I got to show you the fence I come I the dog is getting accused of something that we don't have record they didn't record it um I went and got the dog okay about probably five minutes after he got loose I was there grabbing the dog I did not see Sharon I did not see Sean there we did not have any conversations about in the dog getting bit it was a few days later that they came over and presented a bill to my father without photographs of the dog lights and that entailed us looking at the fence which you know they were told anyway that there was a big slat missing in this fence which um you know could cause a problem for any doog that's going to be going around that property and here's a fence here and this is after Sea decided to fix it now this is on Erica's side meaning facing kle their dogs are on the inside and then I want to notice something here there's a wire and it's bent okay so my dog could not put his to a 6 in how was going to put his head in there be aini and now finally about about a month later they decide to send another bill because the wound is infected and get my father to pay for that one too in fact they sent us a letter which I have here that doesn't even ask us just say oh thank you for paying paying the first one you know she's recovering it was so nice of you but unfortunately she's had an infection and here's another $1,200 but however they didn't say you have to pay it they just said if you can contribute this that would be great the minute that we proposed like okay well I'm not really sure I said again to him this is the second time I said to Sean where's the photos for this you know it's three weeks are into this and we don't even know like the photos even the bites you know and so finally I did get them because I got you know Sean is kind of aggressive and my father cannot hear very well and he's 83 and he's getting a little bit on theany so I decided to take over the situation since I was around during the alleged incident okay so I go over and start looking at this fence where it was missing now this is on their side of the fence Max is on this side of the fence okay now when they did show me the bites okay the bites were on the back of the front of the leg now how did my dog I have a horse sorry and I know what kind of damage wires can do because my horse has been caught in wire and he almost tend damage it can do a lot and to be honest with you infections get really bad when it comes to metal and wire versus somebody just cleaning out a bite okay I can wantest to say that but Max could not stick his head through the six and four kak like an exorcism and grab this dog by the back of the leg the only thing I can think of is when he went to see Erica's do NAA the pimples came and saw Max there went to this slatted because it's facing her house and were you know doing this to Max went over to check it out and their dog had to be hanging out of this for my dog to even get married so either hurt himself on this fence or if he did get hurt from my dog it's because the dog was hanging out of it okay because there's no way Max could as Sean would say SK stick his skinny little snout through there but it would have to be more than a snout wouldn't it it would have to be his head turning around to get to the bottom of the back of the front of the leg okay and I look at this and since I've seen wire damage before I'm really hesitant to say that okay these are dog butts you know what I'm saying there's just no way they don't have a a camera they don't have you know the the the ring to show us that this is this is what happened but this is how sean repaired it now think about this think about this if you're having an incident with this why did you why did you replace the fence on the inside and not the outside why because you're worried that your dog is going to get in the wire again that's what I that red flagged me right there and when I blow this picture up I can see the loopy do in The Wire I really can if I really blow it up on my phone that's where I said wait a minute here okay to me he should have been placing both the boards but didn't he placed the side that's dangerous with the wire exposing for his dog okay so that was my red flag so that's when I started thinking like you know my father with the second bill and the infections like wait a minute this is where he only paid that first bill because they never showed us any any photos or anything about it and it was a few days later then all of a sudden my dog got bit is what they said no photos though my father I he try to make piece of the neighhood so what does he do he probably should have but he paid it so that the when and then 3 weeks later Sean comes around very aggressive again I'm giving you another bill now that you know that's my father off he doesn't you know he doesn't need his own has a fixed income we don't have any proof this happened you know we probably should have made more of a investigation before he paid the first one but he didn't okay so now Sean sent us a that letter and I have it here that states you know from him and Sheila that thank you for paying the first one you know got an infection however if you can contribute anything that would be great the minute he found out and I offered to pay for almost half of it saying okay what don't we split it because I'm not quite sure I'm a real estate broker so the first thing I Leed is try and I helped my dad okay listen why don't we split it okay NOP the minute Sean heard that we weren't going to pay the full second Bill and it didn't say we had to pay anything in that letter to us it just presented us a bill a second Bill and said if you could that would be great he got angry and started this whole thing well I'm going to tell the town I'm going to call the police I'm going to sue you in court turn ugly and that's where we're at now guys we're in an ugly situation because they're unhappy that and to me I really you know my father used the word extortion and he's 83 again okay let's not take advantage of the situation here and get my father to pay your bills because of your negligence and I don't even know to be honest with you I just moved here right and I'm going to say in the beginning of April before the cincin I've got three cats okay this is the dog with my cats this is the dog with my nephew and my grand Nephew just the other day you know he's not an aggressive dog I'm not and I'm not really quite sure if my dog actually bck him because a few times I place phone calls to Erica and show a test I hear dogs fighting and I and I call her and I said is there a dog fight and what the two pit bus fight each other once in a while so how do I know they didn't have an alteration and s it's just boom smacking it to my D well the one I'm concerned about I mean as you said we don't have we don't have a lot of information and pro of those regarding the pites the one we with Bugsy I mean I can kind of I can see how that situation would happen um it's is it your dog or is it it's my dad's okay I'm just trying to make sure I understand dog at this point you know what I'm saying that you know and I've taken a lot of responsibility to help my dad with the dog at this point his knees okay and his walking Ki so that's the only and I spent a lot of time with him in the last four months and that's the only okay so I have I have a couple of things um you know this is unfortunate that is a close knit neighborhood to say the least all right and this is unfortunately this is a cur okay um this board has and as well the animal control officer there's governance and control through Mass general laws about how to deal with these things okay this we we don't have as much as a free hand with these things as people might lead be led to believe all right so you know that aspect of it is what it is I I will tell you and I will caution you you absolutely have legal liability here right and going forward should that dog jump out of that fence and bite somebody that's walking by this is precedent for that and it will be an unfortunate end to that I will tell you to all three of you I appreciate you coming this afternoon and and John and to coming here and expressing you know your feelings your thoughts and what corrective action you're taking to try to mitigate this thing okay and you know with with that being said um the um the plaintiffs are uh excuse me complaintants are not here tonight to speak for themselves and in of itself that is disheartening to me um because I believe if you're going to take the time to write these letters and document this and they were a served notice by certified male and it was acknowledged isn't like that uh we sent them an email and hope they read the thing right there's not any of that all right they they got post me and gave them a ticket they signed for it and whether they read the thing or not I I have no clue but they were served do notice to be here tonight now the tragedy here is that is that the you know you in of itself you're getting put on notice tonight and that's not IR votable that's that's always going to be around in the event something bad happens um but Madam chair I'm going to I'm going to ask based on the fact that the plaintiffs excuse me the complaintants did not come here I'm going to ask our board to dismiss this complaint thank you um yeah I'm certainly willing to consider that too I I don't I'm not from the from what I'm hearing and being familiar with dogs of many breeds throughout my entire life and I am heavily involved with the little Humane Society I deal with dogs a lot it seems to me that the circumstance that happening with MSY was a typical dog encounter um there was an injury to mzi but you're telling me there was an injury to Max as well which you didn't and and will who was the Navy would testify that but you know I didn't push it any further saying hey you're on my property your dog but I just dropped it and I took care of Max and he healed pretty well yeah and I mean I've had that happen with my dogs in the past I me anybody who's had dogs is probably had tussles like this before and they're very scary and they're unpleasant and sometimes you end up with a vet bill and sometimes you don't um the one with the the neighbors further down the street I'm just not seeing there's a lot of information and it is unfortunate that none of them showed up tonight to defend their their dogs um there's no picture you know I appreciate John addressing this and doing his job and going out there and responding to the situ ations it's what we you know we expect him to do and calling out in his opinion that you know this is causing a problem in a in a pretty heavy populated environment and things could go badly quickly I said based on tonight you are absolutely unnoticed with this thing yeah the fact to be sure that the dog has got you you got got to go an extra mile sure may he hasn't done anything since May that's a positive sign going in the right direction but it's no indicator of what's going to happen tomorrow morning it's just you know dog is a dog and and none of us want to act on having a dog put down that is a family pet I think you guys know what I mean when I say a family pet right and and that's not what we're here for but we are here to protect the residents of the town and act on the information coming forward from the ACO um to to not let this just languish and and and be disregarded this is a very significant issue but um as I said that folks that the plaintiffs the complaintants or whatever we call them are not here tonight which U I don't know I just the the thing is this that um I feel like I was generous in trying to keep peace in the neighborhood and repay the $1,200 but was an admission of guilt as my daughter explains we don't think Matt's did it okay but the issue came beyond that is because because we didn't pay the second bill but you know you're you're saying I'm put on not and I can appreciate that but as I say you know it Max may have never did it right well yeah I I'm not I don't want to focus on that situation I don't I want to focus on is and I think that's easily explained I will say I will take his advice and we I think it's a great idea to put you know invisible fence up yeah it's they are because what I'm focused on where I grew up it was it was black and white when your dog bit someone fit something it was put down it was instantaneous it wasn't even a question that was the town's policy and that was the we select board members and the town man there was no questions asked so it really puts the hus on the owner and you are the owner and I know like I appreciate your age and your wisdom and your experience with animals but it is on your shoulders and your family shoulders to keep that dog from getting out and posing a risk to other animals people traffic cars like the cow did posing a risk to the public so and the Animal control officer has noted that he believes this dog poses a risk to Public Safety that letter is right here so I can't like I'm I'm with Rob I don't understand that that's the letter that the select board received from Mr greenal here in regards I don't understand it because it doesn't deal with the people human beings it's dealing with a supposed issue and as one of the supposed issues was on my property but anyways so what what you so I can't emphasize enough getting an electric fence and saving yourself saving your dog from any further issues on other people's property because on your property it's your property and that pretty much where I'm at I just because it's really black and white to me that as the owner of the animal is on me to prevent the animal from harming anything anyone any car whatever I I don't mind I don't mind anybody or anything or and I believe want to get hurt and neither do I want my dog to get hurt and so I will because this it's a two-fold situation I believe in the invisible fence but you know when I go out and work out on the ey okay Max has to stay in the pen and I move around in my yard and whatever I'm doing and work and I say geez you know my other Shepherd that I once had to die of cancer he followed me around and worked in the out with me but I'm not letting max out but with the invisible fence that's a good idea that keeps you right next to that's what dog wants to do so appreciate your reminding me of something that we did look into a few months yeah anything that would prevent this from happening even if it happened it was just a minor tussle but there was a smaller dog that was injured that does happen it happens we will do that ER one quick question and then the board's gonna just a comment and it it's not my dog it's not my property but Max has had the e-caller on he did respond to it the first time very well the second time I took him for the walk he did not respond to it so I hesitate on the electric fence and actually and this is just my opinion an actual fence well yeah I mean people seem to be I would never I would never use an electric fence because I I had Boston Terriers in boxer if they go after something they are not feeling pain they go through that and then once the excitement's over they're feeling it and then they're on the outside and so that I've always had the physical too you know it's 4 and2 ft tall and yeah with wire it's Wood and Wire so it's it's secure you maybe your Che are smarter I don't know I said it to the highest possible number said that whatever or not what you're saying the trainer did tell us that whatever it is that you go with I would strongly encourage you en encapsulate your entire house every door that leads to outside is within the fenced area it's peace of mind for me it's pain in us every time to open the gate to drive my car out get out of the car close the gate but it just becomes part of your definitely look into it put in to action yeah so okay um anything else did you um I move that no we going to move to dismiss this complaint I will second that okay all those in favor I thank you Fork you thank you John thank you for your times okay moving on um let's open up to the public forum anybody here that would like to speak to something that is not on the agenda I think we touch on this later on but okay but the MOBA Valley Medical Center yes so that was on my mind but that's an important facility to show our support for both employees we do have that on the agenda we also just received a copy from Townsen that signed that declaration along with um I believe was a has so Fara we do it's on the agenda 11 and the blue bins moved yeah so maybe we just socialize that within the town in case people are wondering they today they're not next to the post office justo they were there guy and they've been moved to the highway garage veteran office office okay yes so this is the first Public Announcement there you go all right okay no one from the public good all right moving on here um we have two sets of minutes May 28th and July 16th you have all read them did no concerns that we accept the meeting minutes as provided second all right further discussion all in favor I thank you Sue and Jason um next we have an appointment to the memorial and monuments committee Amy Stevens is um put forth her interest in wanting to be on this committee she's been involved in other groups before um and I think we'd love to round out that board person you're on that board I am yeah and it's a three person board it is it's myself uh J his chair and so this will be our third person okay all right is is she um aware that she that she's going to get so we put out the vacancies she responded um so we spoke okay so I move that we appoint Amy Stevens to the memorials and monuments committee board or committee I gu right all right is there a second uh second any further discussion none all in favor all right thank you Amy another appointment to the disabled taxation fund committee another committee we have to set up so this was passed at last time meeting right as part of the statute the chair of the board of assessors and the treasur serve they required to serve on the committee and then there are three residents so figured we could use this opportunity to make those appointments and then call for volunteers so we'll put out a call after as long as you agree to Residents to serve the check the check off box did appear in the last quarter of the bills and I did provide aning of what we' received to date uh a little over $200 from residents so um we have received that the fund is set up now we need to we need a committee to administer the the funds okay and and just so I know section 3D is is the section that charges this board is that how that works Jason correct yes that's the Mass General yeah that's the so they they have governance in control they cor this right we don't to do anything they are responsible for setting rules and regulations criteria and um all of that to to issue the funds so it comes out on either Municipal tax motor vehicle ex or mail sub um I was just a question probably not for discussion here but my taxes get taken paid with my mortgage so I don't pay it every you know how would I I would have to talk to if I wanted to add on to that tax when it's automatically with drawn how does IT hand yeah yeah okay okay all right you may have a a question from the we have question from yeah just please refresh my memory and anybody that might be listening at home um uh just a couple sentences here on what you're talking about sure so so last so at last town meeting town meeting adopted a provision in the Mass General law that allows municipalities to create a elderly and disabled taxation fund and also a committee that administers fund which provides Aid to elderly and disabled residents who are having difficulty with affording their tax bill so it allows town taxpayers to contribute to that corre on your tax B that either through real estate tax or sounds good thank you so okay I move to approve excuse me I move to app point the chair of the board of assessors Brett Rock and town Treasurer Andrew wall to serve on the taxation Aid committee and to request the Town Administrator to solicit volunteers to serve on the committee to fill the remaining three vacancies second further discussion none all in favor I right the Bandstand railing placement contract which probably used more trees than it would be to construct the actual we got I did Che yes good reading light yeah light so we issued an invitation for bids to replace the railing on the band stand just so the residents know I know you already know the town received the state Grant emark to fund these improvements to the band stand so it's not all the tax money it's from Emar that the town received and so we've used it with one round of improvements to replace the roof to do some to replace the stairs and stair railings do some floor work and mellan with other improvements once that work was done we had existing money remaining so we put out the railing to um to see where that would come in and amazingly we had a very generous local contractor who had submitted a bid for $100 to do the work to give back to the community because his family used the fand stand and he also figured that if we were be able to save money on this portion of project maybe free of to do other improvements which was extraordinarily generous that's wonderful thing yeah so Vanguard construction was the low bidder like I said only $100 I checked his references for due diligence and they all came back glowing and so now because of this project coming in so low we'll still have a balance and the aark money that we'll be able to use for other improvements so once this project gets going we have through FY 26 to use the money so we'll begin to think about other ways to take advantage of it but um because of the J um B our construction we're able to do more than we anticipated that's awesome yeah very generous so with this the plan stand should be in pretty good shape yes yeah essentially completely renovated yes awesome appreciate what railing are you talking about well so's stairs and then around so the one on the stairs was done as part of the first round the railing around the guard yes move to approve a contract I move to approve a contract with Vanguard Construction in the amount of $100 for the purpose of replacing the railing on the town common Bandstand and authorized the chair to sign the contract on behalf of the board second any further discussion all those in favor I I great excellent thank you let go okay see Personnel policy discussion on the waiver of the prision provision of family working in the same Department request from the cemetery commission so we have a so there I know there's a member of the Commission in the audience that probably wants to speak to this but there is a provision in our Personnel policy that prohibits reles from working in the same Department in the cemetery um they have a new superintendent coming on that happens to be related to the current the current superintendent and so to ensure a smooth transition I believe um the request is to wave this provision for that transition period so that there can be some um support as the new superintendent starts the rooll welome that's it okay I think you have to um decide what period of time would be reasonable for this transition um basically your retiring superintendent decided he wouldn't do it for there you go so if you'd like him to help with this transition he needs to be um working for the new superintendent so she has not started yet because of this provision well I think this is sort of an extenuating circumstance where it just so happens we have one superintendent who has the institutional knowledge and the skills and the best ability to train the new person who so happens to be related um to that one person coming in I think it would make sense apps five app we interviewed two of them and that was the person that WR experience education and in general I Jason AG she was quite she was quite impressive so really our Char here is just to offer a waor request for this department yes this particular situation yeah not for this department going forward this is just one circumstance okay have we had this in other areas of the before not you had a person all kind of okay we got to compensate or get the new person start and maybe be trained so better than the person I don't know how long you're you're Library librarian Li six weeks foret I don't know off the top of my head I would say I would like to see I would like to have up to six weeks as a possibility it takes you from one season into another season no I think it's good to set a timeline for sure and then doesn't have to go on forever yeah and and it will probably do a limited it will be limited I think there'll be certain things that she'll want funeral arrangements and certain things like that that she may want to call on him for a longer period of time I think she's about the equipment pretty much figured out and the Landscaping part of things and so forth um she'll learn more about the history than she may ever wanted you all into meeting so if she doesn't know it already she already ABB that so a little more but I think especially in dealing with um funeral arrangements and um purchas and bra sites and so you know that's new Austin it is it's a it's a tricky time for people it's a difficult time and we all want to handle yeah so you think six weeks is a reasonable time it would offer six weeks and if each party feels like it's been satisfactory right they could say all right we're good here but six weeks up the right protocol well this this really just clears the way to have that happen I mean we can certainly put um CU right now this motion doesn't have that timing on it so we're going to add that in a period not to exceed six weeks unless um additional all right okay so um at the request of the cemetery commission I move to weigh the provision of the town's Personnel policies Under The Heading appointments which is on page 10 in which states it is the policy of the town to prohibit relatives from working in the same Department provided that this rule shall not apply I to relatives working in the same Department prior to October 1 of 2010 and this um wav here is applicable during the transition period for the position of sumary superintendent not to exceed six weeks from the date she won't start now until we had hoped she' start on July 1st but she will be away next week so I would say that we would have her formally start from Friday sep 3rd and um so the following Monday so six weeks from the date AUST 26 that she'll take the position on August 26th okay six weeks okay and 6 weeks from there okay do you need to know how old I'll be on AUST only if you want to tell us would you like us to have a cake for you okay so the the six weeks starting August 26 is it the 26 believe August 26 8 26 forward right I will second that okay okay all those in favor I right very good okay next up we have um private signs on public property policy so yes okay so we are looking to do um establish a policy that would prohibit private signs being placed on public property [Music] have something here before us it's pretty brief yeah direct I I don't know I'm a little Wishy bashy on this one okay and and here's where I'm at right the language in here that says no private signs shall be placed erected or fixed on any public property within the town limits all right so food truck Fridays so exceptions read the next paragraph exceptions this prohibition does not apply the signs placed by Town officials for purposes such as traffic signs Public Notices and invent signs right temporary signage for Town sponsored events okay got that may be approved upon approval by the select board or their designate and then enforcement any private sign placed on public property without authorization will be subject to removal by the town without C okay so that's ouros we're just going to go take the sign up there all the others we follow up on down is that the deal yes we'll hold them for a week and then they will be discarded um I don't know where is that where is that I have one thing and it's just me and Di tell me to shut up right I have a pet peeve with driving around town seeing these signs that say please slow down I just do right but if they're on some those we're not preventing signs in general we're just preventing signs and by our you know previously approved bylaw they should not yeah so they're in the if they're in the right then that's Town property essentially okay so now then zoning enforcement officer would go and collect well the the road right away is onair station roiss so that would be sent Town property so this this would only apply to property that is under I me there are other like Conservation Commission cemeter property runs ways under theur commission which is covered by the most recent it's the right of way but not not General town okay so so so help me out a little bit okay um I got to do this from memory and sometimes that's not always the best right but we have had discussion at this board at in the passed right the ABC roofing company comes in and puts a roof on Joe's house and they take him put a sign on FR yes ABC company call me for your next Roofing job right it's my understanding you cannot have those signs contract ass signs are restricted Joy that's you know that's what I'm trying to look for the language here in that U moving some signs are prohibited and all L um that's what I've always been told but you know what I've gone to look for that language and have had trouble finding so I don't think that's in our sign by yeah and I personally you know as long as they're not left i' I'd rather see I'd rather see a sign up for somebody that's doing a job you know for a few weeks than seeing a sign up for somebody's kid that graduated three week three months ago and is still you know on the you know out by the road so you know I yeah I haven't worried too much about that but yeah have you looked at the the actual sign zoning bylaw to see how it works with you the you know the now this is just a policy this is not a general bylaw it's not a zoning bylaw it's just a correct you know to see how just to see how it Ducktails because you know temporary signs are allowed in you know in you know a lot of areas um well they don't temporary signs on private property temporary signs within public ways shall be attached shall not be attached see so even this this goes beyond what we just approved you know the sign the right of by law y because uh you know nothing nothing but a mailbox yeah yeah um and stre times are allowed in the right way so I mean this is a policy it's just something that you know if we get tremendous push back it's easily re reversed if we don't have any if we don't have any control Dan bars has gone around and picked up those contractor signs I they've been at one point in time there were several of up outside here work well I mean we should have a conversation with him and see why or does he have to act right try to sip through that zoning bylaw again and see this but but this is something different this is for yeah it is similar but I I all right so let's so I move to approve the policy to regulate sign placement on public property as presented in dated August 13th 2024 for some reason the August 13 2024 is not on that copy but it will he's an election considered that's it that it's a Town Event an election is right yeah so that would mean you could put out you can put a sign signs for ROM signs for Kier no you can put signs up advertising that there is an election not not advocating advocating for a candidate okay so that's that's that would be a private sign be private sign that's a private sign for a town sponsored event for Town sponsor Advent it's not no no no no no that's a private sign that is being distributed by the candidate or their people so that that makes it a private sign they're not advocating they're not advertising the election that it's happening they're advocating for telling you who to vote for it says vote for Cur political signs are exemp not not on public property signs pertaining to public elections shall be allowed provided that None Shall be erected earlier than 60 days the policy not not on public property on on public property on the jurisdiction of the board of the select board you have the authority to Reg sign and essentially all use yeah what that zone the zoning allows for political signs on private property for a period of time um you you don't have to you have the authority to regulate public property under the board's jurisdiction in any way you think um so I mean the way this is written I would not imagine that a political a private political sign for a political candidate would be allowed on public property agreed but we can put a sign up saying there is going to be an election on this day or you could we put out there or you could allow if there was an interest in allow you could allow what was that K's hosting the election on May 17th vote that about the uh it's just you that's my I don't but you are a private person that are doing that it's not a town sponsored sign it's just slightly gr enough to be a pain in the pain in the butt well I'd rather have it than not have it yeah I mean there are sides everywhere now like whether you know I think El SKS well signs and you got New England well signs and you got you know roof one two three signs they're everywhere now they are and right and the graduation signs are everywhere too so the school gives those out so I'm like we're almost fighting now that's comes out of a school budget that we oh do they okay I thought it was awesome just chipped in for it okay so that's one motion I will second okay all in favor a fun topic yeah on to the next one just get pick them up um yeah well any off could do it it doesn't say who the import any all right Municipal feed increases this is a big yes chunk of info so you we were I think what two meetings ago maybe three meetings ago we um provided the board with a variety of information on existing fees and some recommendations on how to um adjust them to stay within the range of what the market is charging in other municipalities we also talked about again if it wasn't the last meeting was the meeting before about the increase in the processing fee that um permit link disch charging from 10 to 12 and we and we adjusted that so thankfully um Sue Has Done good line share the work on on this thank which I truly appreciate so I'm going to really hand this over to her because she she's really done know much of the way um with not only the recommendations um and as you you'll look at these recommendations the adjustment in the from 10 to 12 is Incorporated in these recommendations now and um and you'll also see a comparison between what we're charging now what our recommendations are and what neighboring Community communities are charging with that I would love to pass it on the Su for her to I had a quick question trying to find so there are some instances where there are comparisons to the other towns and our line was blank so does that mean we did not have a feed for that at all yes okay yeah so there were few I think world um but if you start if you start by looking at the um so right after the letter that was updated schedule recommendations is August 8th on the top [Applause] just okay so this is basically the fee schedule um it's a duplication of the fee schedule that we have today but it's adding on the two additional $2 in each of the items as well as it shows in pink or great um what the um previous fee was if it's more than the $2 so in the first section under commercial um assembly radio towers single family dwellings you can see that's all per square foot piece so it used to be 10 now it's 12 um if you go down to um transfer permits so it used to be $40 so the recommendation is to bring it up to 52 so it's 50 plus the $2 um and then for a demol demolition permit right now it's $60 the recommendation is to bump it up to 102 so we did not have an occupancy permit fee prior we're not recommending any changes to that oh so it was 50 now it's 52 okay got you all right um the alterations again it's just the $2 um yeah if you go down to swimming pools you can see that the inground swimming pool was raised from 135 to 152 and then under miscellaneous um and again the I'm sorry the above ground again there was no change in that corre was not a fe no change okay um so there's only a change if there's the old fee next to it right um wood STS going from 55 to 62 re Roofing is going from 85 to 102 home occup occupancy certificates are going from 45 to 52 there wouldn't be any changes to ramps for replacement card and then sheet metal is going from 60 to 102 you're significantly low on that one um for wiring you can see the changes um are really under the new and existing service or new changes and service changes we were 60 across the board um so raising it up to 77 and 87 um no changes to the new house permit other than the um increase and then an electric water heater we're going from 60 to 77 above ground pools and underground pools for wiring will go from 60 to 87 uh alarm system goes from 60 to 67 I've looked at and I think we had one alarm system in the last two or three years so it's clearly not thing rain yeah um cool houses will go from 80 to 102 and then PB solar system from 110 to2 um there aren't any recommended changes for gas or Plumbing um they're all pretty much in line except the $2 we didn't do we we did that not that long ago yeah very much among communities um so our comparison towns yep so you can see on the next one um compare if it's blank if the sound's blank it didn't have a few published that I could find so you can see how we compare to Capital times in air if you keep going down it show you like the graphs are little easier so I just my quick look at chart like we have like two after a lot of ours and every other time's already like 100 or 75 and then that's just because I know we have that $2 increment right in our system should we round it up to 55 to [Music] five just for the sake of we pay our building inspectors a lot of money they're not getting any cheaper Labor's not I don't know it's just justifiable on how again these are fees that they can't profit off of they have they can only be used to satisfy what our actual expenses are so just rounding it up for the sake of rounding it up May the original recommendations didn't have the to so they were all yeah had to that it's just it to me it's it's I just think like my logical brains are $102 seem a strange number you know 105 like oh 105 or is it 100 I mean right it's I don't know I'm not trying because I look at every other town across look at the right hand side we were lower in almost every single category we were we were lower but every single one is either a five or a zero I mean I wouldn't want to just my perspective is you wouldn't want to lower because then you'll be losing two bucks so we don't want to use yeah we don't want use the two bucks cuz then you'll you'll be losing that is a fee that we can counterbalance because yeah yeah there's a legitimate reason for that extra $2 um say it looks weird but I don't want to just raise it for the sake of raising it because it looks weird I think we do need to be conscious of that this is not a a source of Revenue this is right Jason not what do me what about the um the fighter problem so they have a black powder permit right that that you have to have for black powder to hold in your house gun powder and then we we have oil permit for the tank and then we have a propane permit for the propane how are those are those I don't know even know where those are fire department did you talk with the chief about no I thought it was in here I know there's a black I I think Jo Dean has a black powder per right the black powder he has in his house they don't come here for those perm it's not part of the permit I'm sorry I I can't remember if I got I I think he is going to look at them I just don't think he the fire chief yeah if if we had a and he may have already I don't want to say he has no but I would look at those in terms of how much they're charging for them I think the black powder perit was like $5 which I I don't know why you know this you know I there were a couple of guys Joe Dean is one of them he has black power in his house he has a permit store and then when Lord oil comes in to do an oil job they want to add a tank or they're going to remove a tank to get that Cur that's outside of the iside and the same thing with propane tanks right because they got they got to be inspected before they get back filled so he did suggest a he did suggest the fee for inspection to food trucks um who's he the that's right we talk that yeah we did talk about that for next inspection of food trucks yes what do we inspecting okay okay before they set up and operate that day not always the day of okay it's usually likely that a week Yeah just they provide like a certificate saying St um in addition to the the I don't know if you guys have any other questions around the inspector feys but there is also the municipal Le cerificates yes so those um we're Community charging 25 everybody else charging 50 so we're going to do that and then the town clerk office had some recommendations very small recommendations um marriage intentions raising that from $25 to $30 dog licenses from $6 to10 um unaltered dogs to 15 from 10 um business get from $20 to 35 to what 20 to 45 35 35 um no certificate changes something we do today um we charge for today we don't charge for them for the change to certificate so um and they're fouryear certificate so there are time where somebody might want to change their DBA um and then utility poll report ears going from $5 to $60 and apple permit from 10 to 15 yeah I think everything looks great I will just get get fight apartment to put their permit fees into the schedule so everybody knows the same thing with um burn so know they're going to have a burn permit that's captur somehow do we charge for gun licenses too yeah so that you should well you pay at the police department oh true yeah all right no I think this has been great work I think I two wellan it easily justifies the $2 service fee did I don't think I most of my opinion and in the last few weeks we switched over to paying init link or direct link yeah we only had a couple checks dropped off so the it's become much more efficient per much faster so that was another remember we brought that we talked about that that was the meeting Su wasn't that so I was doing my best I was doing my best but Su again she did the bulk of the work on that which now has allowed the contractors and and residents to pay dur directly through permit link rather than having to go from permit link to UniBank and pay which caused right because then bank then we would have to print you know we have to p a report manually enter into L send the Dana manual process and the turnover now to Bonnie went from hours of Dana being being downstairs screaming to it's literally like a 3 minute P the report printed out give it to one it's all con big improv and user confusion is eliminated oh I haven't receiv received one call from [Applause] anyway that's great that's really but it you used to hear that the counter Sue would be Sue would get regular calls about it and with the change we just aren't experiencing that anymore it's a huge Improvement for both for all for all involved yeah last questions would you anticipate that each year like I I guess I think each year we should be revisiting these for increases because inflation cost during business doesn't get any cheaper so like should should we schedule this for next year this time I mean best practice is to is to do it regularly okay each year every other year I mean it should be done okay regularly just a similar practice to what we went through this year that um that Su L is to gather the info what are other people charging make sure we can just it's justifiable and legit um and um and we're not like I always say I don't I don't want to be the highest mhm but I don't know that we should be the we should be in we still have to pay people to do the work exactly so we so I think it is it's best practice to do a regular Che okay yes maybe next year we regular revisit goes to 55 right yeah and then it goes to 58 the fair enough yeah you have to pay day whatever your building is again got to each year absolutely go up so you should be able to address those expenses through our fees yeah yeah I move to approve fee adjustments as presented in request the town administrator's office post the new Municipal fee scheduled to the town or on the town's website second further discussion none all in favor I okay next up is the arpa fund reallocation selman's newsletter in the time Town Hall boiler repair so we have a invoice to pay for the printing of the summer edition of the newsl $354 and then we also have a um an estimate for work to repair the boilers do you have that in I don't think no see that okay so we received a an estimate from Wilson Brothers um to prepare the condensate pipe from the boers and other work um but that was the bulk of the work and the estimate that we received was just shy 5100 bucks like that but maybe a little roughly if you want the es I can go I can go print it out um so before you tonight is just approval to pay the invoice from DS graphics for the newsletter and then to allocate $5,500 for the repair of the condensate on the boilers and to reallocate funds for that work from the ms4 storm water allocation the other work actually it's supposed to here so the back flow preventer and boil his own circuit on the on the boilers need to also be replaced they're all they're all Le so especially the pipe the pipe is really problematic so it's completely um deteriorated the pipe um and so it needs to be replaced so that work that Wilson Brothers that's a replacement complete replacement of the entire pipe to plastic is now copper so um so I'm hoping the board will consider allocating $5,500 for that for that project it's a little more but the estimate's old and um I'm not sure it's going to hold at this point so I just want to make sure we have sufficient funds in order to do the work and the boilers off since it's so we don't we don't have our water right don't Dom know and we don't have not that we need it but we don't have heat so but we will we will be so that's the uh that's the request where so we need to the arpa deadline for which you dedicate all the money is coming up yeah and then end of 26 it needs to be spent yes end of end calendar 26 so the end of this calendar my memories right at the end of this calendar year you we need to the town needs to have it committed committed and then by the end FY 26 believe it's going fiscal that's yeah I believe but it could be but I believe the M need to be spent well I don't think we have a [Music] problem um well I okay okay it is what it is way to do it money is there got to use it need to be fixed move to approve the payment of an invoice from DS Graphics in the amount of $354 for the printing of the select board newsletter and allocate $5,500 to repair the town hall boilers condensate drainage piping back Flor prevor and boiler Zone circuit from the oper ms4 storm water allocation second in further discussion those in favor and and just so the board knows we do we still have $65,000 remaining in the ms4 after 5500 no we after the 5500 we'll have slightly number 60 [Music] okay and we what originally 100K for that pick yeah yeah what is the restriction on that money as far as what we're able to use it our very we there initially they were really tight strings on our part and over time they have really given municipalities a lot of flexibility and how it can be used so it can be used for most everything now yes yeah absolutely one time absolutely not yeah we've been able to get a lot of capital we improvements done things that make you know they longevity the boil year loading box that really helps with our budget yeah all right next up the Michel Valley Medical Center emergency declaration I know there are several towns that have signed onto that sent letters something I think it's probably important for us to do considering that it is a hospital that is used by desable residents it's where ambulance can go if necessary a lot of jobs people work there um there was a hearing Thursday night at I think so yeah yeah and then a zoom hearing the one in Brockton the steward one did they I saw that was on the news they talked about the Brockton Steward Hospital like somebody piggy back bailed I'm not sure what the right phrase is they describe keeping it open came to an agreement so hopefully they town the city involv did they okay it's a big it's a lot of people go to those places same problem that Hospital's full there's no vacancies in that hospital I mean well Ione that like you know if you tear your ACL you end up going there for physical therapy they tons of those offices yeah it's really a shame yeah well what do you think I move to approve the official resolution requesting emergency declaration regarding the proposed closure of the mobot Valley Medical Center dated August 13th 2024 second favor do we have a one for us to sign here yeah I for you guys to sign okay what is uh what are you declaring so we go to the NOA Valley Medical Center there's a local organization you know the town of dun Townsen a devons Etc are all trying to band together to encourage our Representatives like Scarsdale Kennedy more healing more healing and just the the cor the corporate folks that run that hospital to remain open to make it an accessible place for medical care but also jobs there's so many people who work and it really will change you just ambulance time from here to MOBA is a lot faster than getting conquered to leave a huge huge hole absolutely yeah I don't I don't think many of our patients go there emergency emergency ambulance patient right mostly mostly low sou yeah I mean we can't am surfes can't take trauma patients to Southern or St Joe they got to go to a PO Hospital which is low or Wester or lady Burlington you can't so the trauma patients go that way medical patient we've taken them there all the time I this is even when I heard this was going on I call them and I go what the hell is going on here so to answer your question a little bit more specifically this is a declaration declaring that they're creating a public health emergency by closure of a hospital kind of boils down a little bit but it it goes on a little bit I think the other towns have done [Music] this has most of their Pati go there I no but I believe they're all I believe broughten in others in the region are planning to do the same basically calling on the governor the um director of public Commissioner of Department of Public Health except to declare a public health emergency and um and then let's see doesn't that open up like Federal funding to reli the budgetary pressure basically they want they what this does is also develop a permanent transition request that they develop a permanent transition plan to keep the hospital open open and um and that they at least adhere to the 120-day closure period per stay law but for whatever reason there the bankruptcy judge overruled all that right nooning the bankruptcy hearing I thought they made one motion I think they did one and then now the went Next Level it got postponed again did okay I had seen that but I I know I'd seen that the judge said keep this rolling forward like the third time they postponed date that's what I thought I scary yeah anyway all right okay very good um last thing is the state primary election War this this all signes right yes okay State primary election warrant vote this yep nothing else to say so I'm going to move to postal warrant