like to welcome everyone and call this meeting of the eastern district of Department of Veteran services to order I want to thank everyone for your attendance tonight and um I think uh we have quite a few items on the agenda so why don't we just uh move through them and go through um the first is Citizens query um I don't see any guests here so uh we'll move on to the second one which is minutes I know there were some minutes uh emailed around but um are there any comments on those minutes yeah I I had some typographical edits so I have red lines here so C's not here Cindy's not here so maybe you could pass your edits on to Sydney and we could U push through them on a second preview on the next meeting do that make sense um on the October 4th minutes those are the ones that I think Karen Bell took or did you yeah those are the ones we took off okay because I under attendees I I put the committee members at the top and then other people that joined us know that but I don't know who Bill parentheses Tommy that Vietnam veteran I have no idea who that was so I don't know and then was did we give him an award that evening was it I don't know it says Bill and then it says in parentheses Tommy comma Vietnam veteran I don't think you put I don't think you put anyone except the board and you know the yeah I mean that's why move the board members up to the so yeah well that wasad that was so we had the AI software read the transcrip from the video that we had and it just had transcribed so that could have been yeah not perfect um but it does take all the audio from the video I know yeah I I can probably watch yeah we okay okay uh anything else on minutes okay so um the U there were some EMA emailed around if you have any comments to uh the next uh meeting and we will get them into the the record and get everyone full full uh financials Karen thank you for your diligence is always so how are we doing oh we're doing very well since no one was here for half a year um so through the end of May we we' got $96,000 left I haven't posted there I haven't posted anything from June yet but you know we will end the year with a healthy Surplus okay and that Surplus historically has gone into ourain earings correct um our book value and as a board we have agreed in the past to keep that book value at approximately 50,000 is that correct am I remember the number yeah so that Surplus um I would propose that we would discuss it as a board what to do um we returned I believe over the last two years we were someplace close to 100 and we returned uh a per share to some of the towns correct which was appreciated in this financial time so I guess we get the final number discuss it as a board is the after everything's shaken out for the year 30 right right please uh Mr chairman yes I I recommend that we hang on to the extra this next fiscal year because things our expenses are going to go up yeah you know the fiscal year 2026 is going to be I think significantly higher than what fiscal year 2025 is primarily because they salaries sure right so I I I think that we should I'm just going to say it now I think maybe we should hang on versus returning this the town you'd like to have a bigger bumper on the I would like to have a bigger bumper just right and and also you have the opportunity I don't know see do you need computers do you other things like that a laptop would be crucial I mean this um yeah iPad we using is not when you go to your office hour Steve how do you get get Linked In so it's very hard I don't have a scly that I can scan in so I need a certain computer to have my systems operation it doesn't really work off of that laptop would so perhaps for the next meeting especially in sync with Cameron's point of uh budget surplus perhaps you can come back with a proposal or thoughts on how you'd like to uh upgrade a laptop or you know have the it in the system be more functional or is I think that's I think that comes back in efficiency 10 oh sorry is this something that you could do before the end of the year because it's much easier to spend within the fiscal year um and get that you know get that done get work um because for next year exactly right's done so yeah right and don't we we have a surplus and Technology of right right and you know given the amount of the Surplus and the fact that that is new I don't think anyone would have a problem you know over spending a line you know it isn't like your town it is like you have to transfer Things based on meeting yeah but you know I I would say you know figure out what what you and T need right it I I personally believe that there is a point where basic technology comes back if you spend X you'll get it back two or three fold in Tech in efficiency so right to be able to respond to that email while you're sitting in West Newberry you know waiting for a veteran is you know it's power well it looks like under office equipment which is what that could under we have $1,300 sitting there so that would be helpful Karen are there any line items that we should highlight that are over budgeted uh been overfunded anything we should start thinking about um you know this year aside from a position is not being filled is there anything here that we should should highlight on or key on I mean I think probably what we should do is because you know Steve is going to have a different style of running the office I think we should kind of let the year play out for a little while and look at next year and then when we do our budget next year kind of say okay well you know you're spending more money on what whatever because you're doing programming different than it used to be before I mean I think that makes sense I think that's a great idea Karen Karen thank you for that suggestion I think that's so in other words let the course be set for a year let's see what the numbers shake out to and then that'll give us more insight into where where to project and where to uh where to Fe things up and perhaps some secrets so along that b um how is the website doing are you all up to date with that or my thought was if not maybe if there's a few dollars in the budget maybe look for a someone in turn that could help bring that up to seed and so we have spoken to it here Jackie was reassures us that she's on the calendar aspect that I know Dan's been really and yeah I mean know it will help both but right now it's just not set up in our it's very Civics plus is not user friendly at all um but even when you're it Department can't figure it out you know that's a big big problem um but yeah we I think we should look at might even get rid of civics plus and create a whole new website from scratch um with with new features but that's something we have to look G quotes for obviously um but yeah six plus is just not really feel like on any of the toal have have you have you asked them to train yes oh yes but I mean when they don't yeah there there is training online and I figured out ways to do some of the stuff they were're wanting um however just for the entire like for the calendar for example like Civics plus is very um like it's user friendliness is limited that's the thing is it doesn't let you do what other websites would or like the flexibility is not there but what it does it does great with ADA compliance fantastic on that front but it just doesn't allow you a lot of wiggle room with you know specific goals it's rigid the staes are rigid what you can do okay yeah well I I listen one of the things that and I don't want to steal your Steve and I talked about is that the U the wedge of veterans that are old school communication that wedge unfortunately shrinking and our initiatives to reach out Thea new means you know everything you guys are working at is crucial and the website is a big component of that so I'm all for exploring uh more versatile uh web hosting uh platforms I don't know what the rest of the board has done or any Town experiences people have had well I want to be clear we still are sending out you know paper we are like West newb for instance we sent out with the Memorial Day newsletter you know our office is here to support you I've gotten probably 10 calls just from that letter alone so you know we're still doing the regular you know mail you know information out to Veterans snail mail but yeah there is a huge technological barrier that could so for my my limited technological web experience what would you find an enhancement what is lacking you know what's is what component is is lacking that you'd like to see more of from Civics plus is it is it sort of input into different platforms or Tony what what's lacking um so just the um like I think the calendar is the perfect example like I had a very basic plan that I've seen done on other websites through other like I used a couple different website Builders and each one is able to do um what I'm like what I wanted to do so I thought oh it would be easy to do in Civic plus as well it is not it's it's as simple as having different calendars for different like what town you're from like I only want to see stuff from Rally For example like it doesn't you to do that it's everything or nothing right and then just yeah the way that it highlights things uh like another option would be to like say all of rowy is in Orange and then all of it switch is in red or like color coordinate no option like that either not not that I've seen and yeah like there's there's trainings on the website for how to do specific things but those are the only things that they offer okay okay all right we can get more into the during you know the other yeah so so again um I don't think there's any downside to exploring new platforms away from Civic Civic yeah I mean you might want to look at um unless you want to build from scratch oh but then you know you've got like all the ises with 88 comp St yes um I mean do other districts use different products no I feel like every even like even towns in Oregon using Civics plus like it is it seems like everybody uses Civics plus because it's you know it's you know geared towards that municipal or state or government yes kind of yeah that's very n every sing yeah yeah what about like Regional School Districts too maybe take a look at what some of them is that's good okay because you know I live in my own cabinet Hill cic [Music] okay well Karen anything else on the financials you'd like to talk about or Steve uh you know you're you're living in the budget uh anything else you'd like to talk about I think the laptop the the it was an excellent idea anything else in the budget um like I said we're just going to go from here see out see what right I would say I mean do you how much do you spend in postage so that would just 130 bucks you probably I mean do you spend a lot in postage because now would be the time at the end of year when youve got money yeah we're well get it before exactly I'm suggesting yeah and when you say postage you buy your postage or you bring it to the post office and have them a fixed postage I went to Staples didn't even St so you buy a roll of postage yeah that might be a good thing to uh to reduce the Sur will use it I mean you know you buy forever stamps you know buy 10 rolls if you're going use them yeah Lind you want to comment on something yeah well um so on the on the budget versus actual proposed to was $1,000 budget show any anything done well we just it was the first one I just never bought was $130 we submitted for one town that was for one town um oh no that was just for the r office 115 checks okay so we didn't have anything whole year prior not that me but you know maybe they bought a postage at the end of last year yeah good so we have some flexibility in the coming years so that's good if I may I know one one of my comrades Bill Deo has in Karen's time frame was requesting snail mail for some of the events you know for the veterans in the town of Newber and the and the money just wasn't there and I don't know if that's something we want to you know get into or or um go ahead so I've actually teamed up with the COA with Cindy at the Newbery and we've actually been she's great on our past Memorial Day breakfast at Island right I had by the way that's why I could but she was she was great and help get that and like I said we stuck our own the swe in the invitation yeah and I realized we're talking about six towns here and that and if each Town gets their own individual postage that might be something that we just can't afford but I I just think that we we should have a uh a process or a procedure if an individual to wants to request something like that I I don't know if that's something that we want to entertain get a newsletter out or get a target for example like the veterans uh breakfast is a good example do we want to snail ma every every veteran and and invite them to that breakfast okay so so we do have for that COA yeah and our when we did ours Our Town Pap for everything we did the parade our town did everything and we put the information from this office in there and yeah and they mailed it all out for for well that's kind that's kind of the information that I I passed on to bill was that was that you know abely the the approval really is at the board level on how we're going to you so I think that if that's something that we want to entertain where no the town is going to be responsible for that mail or this office is going to be responsible for that mail I think that would be something that would be you know equal across the board to address that that's all right if if we want to I think it depends on what it is because the town gives x amount of money to the this organization we do that and I said wait wait a second now line yeah but I think it was easy how we did it they like didn't even bat an eyelash at it because it was you know things for the town that it was doing and it was just added in there so it was like no big deal you know switch too there there might be opportunities like with the electric and one canals right you probably the parade exactly and there's no real extra cost so there is actually there's a law that our office can request donations through the state local utility bill there's a veteran box that we can check off and send it in so it's state law that veterans offices can have in that people want to pay their electric bill or their water bill utility bill but then it also gives them an option to donate whatever they want to the veterans but so it I know and I just learned this since a lot in Massachusetts so veterans offices are allowed to do that in their well it goes into a separate F sure I do love the efficiency of the I'm getting my water bill but something you know something goes out about the um a veterans event that's just Community announc or Community Information that's definitely [Music] something and if you do a districtwide uh uh uh what do you newsletter that gets mailed out I mean that's a districtwide so that clearly falls under the budget of correct the veterans you know if it's something that's specific to one town you know that's that that's what I'm that's what I'm talking yeah I you know but but I guess it hasn't been an an issue and if certain things they kind of take it on at least our town does that yeah that that's on us like you know that when we ma when Sheil up for stuff at the breakf first the parade and everything our town did all that we you know he type up this here get put it inside yeah we inserted in we got it and was it seemed like it was they expected to do that yeah you know was nice and like I said I 10 to 15 calls yeah exactly exactly so I don't know it's but I think your point was spot on with there something coming directly from the district out to everybody then of course it comes through here but this town specific sometimes it's anticipating that it's on them we've had no push back at all from many done or wanted to do they were yeah very very like yeah they're very accommodating it's that a two-way street so it's nice and easy okay great so we'll close the year out um in a few uh few weeks and uh it'll be um we'll have a final report and we'll get you get that snap we'll have that at the next meeting okay I add one more thing this so we're talking about post like in terms of like line items would that be under postage or marketing because I also wanted to know what sort of marketing budget we would have I don't think we have a line for marke postage is what but but to Steve's Point Let's this year if there needs to be a marketing line let's talk about it right C it's it's coming so um listen the next item uh moving on from financials is the Chairman's report um I'll just give a quick snapshat I'd love to go around Robin um I won't steal Linda's I think the what it it for um the anniversary D is phenomenal um we also had um in my town we had a tremendous uh uh ceremony for Memorial Day and again it was um just the enthusiasm of the crowd was just D so U it's been a really uh good couple of weeks of at least my town veterans oriented I just want to just I can just add my two cents and I think all everyone in the last four since we met last has done a phenomenal job in trying to support our uh you know others more than the it switch event was incredible I think that I just want to thank everybody all absolutely for what what they everyone has done and uh I mean it's been a very busy I can imagine your head is probably spinning all over the place and I just want to commend you and and thank you and everyone else for everything that they've done because it's it's we've come a long ways since I've been on the board we had a couple that show up at our Memorial Day thing that I've been told hadn't showed up in 30 years so it was just it was awesome so um dog any anything from Georgetown oh we had Memorial Day I have to thank Steve for an assistant and issue that we had but it all worked out okay and we had a good m day the rain held off nobody got wet it was just Misty could have been more perfect cloudy sweating get burnt but yeah that worked out well and we're moving on to uh the beginning planning stages of quar V breakfast and coffee St it's great plus a meat and green we had a great Memorial Day um he was our guest speaker he did incredible Tony was the photographer took all kinds of great pictures and everything and everybody was thrilled how it all came out and they were very appreciative of of Tony and uh and Steve for everything that they did so they everybody complimented on any time so we appreciate everything I finally brought back the and I was sitting in my truck and I went to R goes oh oh not no no no it was inside truck inside the inside the truck and but I left the keys my neighbor said I did have a backup now everything else has been great and you know Tony and Steve been phenomenal so been great I I watched your house yeah I did on YouTube but something and it was it was very impressive very the parade was on there the you were like in the lead car in the right SE trying to get an American made vehicle like take and then even there was the you know when you went inors and you guys were on stage all that was there it was great production and it was you guys had did a great job yeah they did they did they did job good thank you so it's been an exciting time in it switch we got our Memorial Day assembly you did not have but um you sure made up for that on June 8 we had an incredible number of fundraising events leading up to the parade and the whole process had been in in the planning stages for close to a year and Steve was part of the planning committee which was I and a few other Town officials and it went off so well um so we um we had the fundraising events one of them was the NorthShore philonic concert at the high school the Friday at Thursday before the parade and then we had the parade and it was just an event you know a parade in the following block party that afternoon was so incredible to have the community out and everybody from surrounding communities and the amount of participants in the parade is something I hadn't seen in a very long time yeah um so we um the select board Monday night recognized Larry Jordan who was the Visionary of this whole thing and he led the committee for the year and um it was it was great to recognize him the committee for all your hard work but thank you to you for for being there and you know helping to kick that off yeah so was exciting a Sherman tank pulling down amaz Bri and I mentioned this to Linda the the um the uh I want to say correctly this the U singing state trooper is that what a showman what a showman there were women a younger woman and an older woman sitting to the side he had them crying he was so emotional so uh there were absolutely and on the reviewing stand we had General yeah more is so I I got to meet her and of course Bruce Char was there reviewing s and it was just well and you also had a veteran of of D-Day there was a 102y old veteran and he been but his list of where he' been to North Africa un Merchant Marine was not a fun job it's a very dangerous job mer Marin they had a telephone po gray chasing them of Mexico all the way over oh so there is one thing I want to bring up um the town did a float and um on the float there was a huge sign that we had framed and it um had the names of the 36 if Swit residents who um were killed in World War II wow and it's huge and it's beautiful and we want to find a place to keep it um so if you have any ideas about that you know for other events that might come up you know Memorial Day veterans day that thing but it's movable a wall the sign it's the length of the flow which yeah yeah and it has names on both sides so whichever side of the street you were on during the parade so it's going to be a long wall like a hallway wall to or even to put it in storage until you know we need it again I don't think it's a place to display it but it's something to think about we can talk sure well that's great um it's just a terrific time of year for celebrating remembering uh but again I thought that that celebration is which was topnotch and hats off to all the people who put the work into it thank you all for your participation efforts for your local Memorial Day efforts it's so it's a fabric that our our communi together okay um anything else on on uh activities or Memorial Day or other people want to touch on I have a question were you going to um do a brief report on the director's review I I will I will um just uh with this will touch on other things and um Steve can uh um comment if you want as your um uh your section but um her last meeting um we did go through through a review process people submitted their input um Karen um um uh we went through and talked about finances and and the appropriate method to do things um we um tallied up the report uh the financial the um excuse me the numbers and the review ratings um Steve and I sat down on May 31st um I felt it was a very positive report I gave Steve the opportunity to make any comments um didn't have any I thought he was very pleased I won't you know put words in your mouth and um we uh sent it off to the HR folder where it lives and now we have Steve on a review cycle for uh the U Municipal year and uh but I think it was very well received and I thank everyone for their input into the um into the process so I'll let Steve talk about it in his section but um overall I thought it was it was an excellent review um I'm happy to share the final numbers with uh members of the the board that being said historically have kept individuals uh writeups confidential um so um I'm happy to share what we' share the aggregated values of U what you know Steve's final ratings were but we traditionally do not share the uh you know your OB yours is yours yours is your your right up is your right up those think Steve able to read them all Steve got everything but I'm saying an individual want if anyone on the board wants to see the final tally numbers um we're happy to share the average numbers I think you should share that the individual members I'm happy to do that however we have historically kept individuals write ups like your write up yeah your write up is um private allows you to say what youone my write up is private um that said overall was a wonderful uh a very positive set of reviews so I would comment that I'll let Steve comment no I sincerely appreciate everyone's feedback um I am open in the future I don't get you know upset if anyone has any conr criticism I'm open all alls but no I mean I thought overall they they're all very um positive I'm excited we are started feel a lot more comfortable where I am now obviously um you know that said I'm I'm very happy with everyone but but Doug your point is well takeen I will share um the uh composite average of Steve's numbers uh with the committee with the board and um I'll make sure to get that to everyone um so they can learn if I may I really liked your self assessment that no that that was a great that was a great tool that I used to do your assessment you know was your self assessment because you you are so new and you know we we haven't been able to actually you know know what you've been doing or see you in action and that that was very helpful and thank you for doing that I agree because we're not here in the office right right so um that point and I'll turn it over to you Steve uh for your report um this uh was a nice snapshot of the process as it has developed over the last sort of four years if uh any committee members want to tweak things self assessment leading into board member uh board member review aggregating and then delivering to the um the vso um my ears are open but I thought it was a it's it's come a long way from where it was and it is also um for example if uh there was an item on the um review sheet that you thought was lacking or we wanted to see something um this process is an open process um but I ask people to to think about it and I'll make the joke that before we know it we'll be doing another round of so time twice so uh that's all I have on the um uh the VSR review um the stub vso review i' call it um anything any comments or any feedback that people want to talk about on that topic okay with that I'll move on to the next item which is the BSO report so kind of we're going to kind of merge okay that's okay we have to get a um so no we rolling with claims file about 76 I think was the total so far VA CL which was either burial claims DIC claims um enrollment claims um what have you everything VA related we're also we're getting um now chapter 115s are are slowly coming in we're having some transfer out of town um just because some get put on the champ housing application which means the champ housing application is better in preference but it's also connected to all the other housing authorities in the area so it depends on which availability is Will birth so then obvious some living in the housing there so we have some people transferring up towns but it's a heing hand off to those V offices um we're having some moving costs for one of the veterans right now cover that chapter 115 benefit um so in into the electronic Outreach ini a little bit um I think T when he was talking about the marketing we want to try to see if if there's a budget for especially with Facebook you know our Facebook page is fairly new but we already have 60 followers right now um I believe the old web Facebook page only had 93 that's been already PR years and this is that we didn't know the pathw so we created a brand new one brand fresh okay so there is some wigle room into paying for advertising so it will pop up on other people's feeds and like hey these events are happening so it's going to get more traction to um you know get the information out there to the veterans and their families I mean say I've already seen happen like their granddaughter saw post who invited their grandfather to one the events because she sorry you pop up but how much is to to to get something out you know better out there is it $1,000 $110,000 what's what's the what's the cost of um so the Brilliance behind this is that like um I don't have the exact numbers for either estim but it's like if um from the estimate that was given to me through Facebook trying to sell me things um it was even $20 will receive like a th000 views so the returnal investment for this is extremely good especially if you compare it to the newspaper or TV ads or anything like that it's it's a very high returnal investment and then yeah that's it really just depends on what budget we want to give it and then see how it goes right right targeted yes uh yes uh by um I think there's like a list of demographics that you can choose um and yeah I'm not sure if I know what I'm talking about but I but I want to talk a little bit about I know like artificial intelligence and Facebook no but Facebook that would be me but but uh face I know Facebook does you can Target your audience based on other things that veterans might be looking at yes and it will and it will send them you know like a link to to our Facebook page right they're looking at something else that's veteran related and I think is that what you're talking about so suggested for you they they change it around a lot we can have we can keep it to demographics like where they live so we're only going to people in our town or people nearby our towns that sort of thing or it can be if they're interested in military topics like they they have more vague terms like that um again I don't really know I haven't used like I haven't paid for anything yet so I don't know exactly what they're off offering nowadays they change it year to year based on Law and everything um but yes so like we at least can limit it to um physical location and then also include other we don't want to be targeting OB someone that so it is more directed towards our general area the NorthShore Mar Valley um and the surrounding areas so we've run into this because we we've run into this topic in my town where we use some of this fa Facebook and other marketing for tourism and you know we like to drive tourists and get your priv clams and drive the taxen however some of the the challenge is you know measuring well I came to S6 because of uh you know I saw that pop up on Facebook that being said I think it's like a mosaic you know maybe it's this and that but it is the new methodology of how we're getting this demographic great thing is we track who comes many AG we've got a as it is but I feel and we know we can get we reach so many people and so many more this and I think it be great especially have this the budget we see exactly maybe can also track it via followers right you know to some other number right my point is we've had trouble in town saying okay you know this year we've generated you know 30% more tourist traffic was it because of you know WBZ came and did a Woodman's review or was it because we you know tripled our budget uh our our Market budget we we don't know but my point is that this the metric is is is interesting to get your R you know Roe Ro what's your what's your return what what metric are we trying to enhance and if it's followers I think that's very that's a that's a very tangible electric to so I think we'd like to know more details about costs right I mean it kind of sounds like it's not very expensive yeah so yes um so it's the sort of thing that the the longer you do it for the more information that you get and that you can do AB testing to see what works better and then so it's it's probably going to be the most expensive directly up front and then get better over time as we tweak everything to more have followers and that too that's kind of that way so that's you get reshares that kind of stuff which which pulls in more people I I have consulted other vso offices that have done this and they have about I think couple thousand and get their message there out there there's so much well and and Steve we touched on this you know this is the Dem this is the piece of the W that is growing the younger the younger Generations that are electron not newsletter focused or mailing focused or flying fer focused I think that's such an important dyamic to to get our hands around and your efforts are so appreciated so so sorry um so with uh our like so far we've been doing everything organically and with that in mind um something that keeps people coming back and something that keeps people sharing is to give information away so we've been devising plans to create information uh to create a lot of information online in easily diges ways for example like we have uh so I want to start an Instagram page we're only doing Facebook right now but we want to expand into other social media platforms Instagram and with Instagram they uh the the algorithm rewards you for constantly posting and posting reels lately they've been pushing reals cuz they want to BU Tik Tok so now they will give you a better uh return if you give them what they want and and post regularly so with that in mind we we have other initiatives that we want to do to create information online that breaks down complex topics like we have the same five questions being asked 70 times a month so we can create frequently Asked question videos that people will see for themselves and they're easily digestible so they'll you know it's a minute video it's not a then they share that with those with their friends or like my uncle talk about this one time that sort of yeah like the shorter the video like the most information out of that short video but the more you create of these like you're saying you know our website and chair and suggest Pages um but with yeah I mean I think we should test it out especially with this like I said with the budget money we do have left over I mean we're not going to go crazy with but it is worth shot even test we can track numbers come back the numbers thanks meeting well if if we're a little bit behind in this in this effort perhaps that we can turn that to our advantage what what Avenue or Outreach electronically have other vsos than successful with right maybe the Facebook Avenue is most successful whereas the the Tik Tok is not I I don't know you know what did other vsos say assistant vsos say so I've spoken L I said they they have paid um for advertising Facebook they don't have Instagrams they don't I mean it's something on Facebook posting those small videos that's more something Instagram does with the realic to the small but you're getting the most information out of because you don't want to lose people in three even a three minute video watch so if you give something that breaks down something in 50 seconds or you know less you know that's those are something that can that can be easily thrown out there and people can digest that information um yeah then I was to say then as we spend money to get people to look at our website then that'll like that'll get them to click like follow or subscribe or something then then our our dollars are like not just getting people to look at our page but stay there and repeat and look at it and you mean our Facebook page not our well we're linking all the site down too so it's going to it's going to create gener generate likes and clips for each individual town as well so our discussion about our web page comes back is important to this Facebook and Instagram sort of equation that it needs to be it needs it needs to work so what I was gonna ask was and I think you just touched on it I think pretty much all of our towns have a Facebook page I know if switch does right so that would link to that and then people that go because a lot of people go to the town Facebook pages right so they would see that you could link it to that to V has been very awesome with us we Shar they sharing variable team up but they' have been really amazing Bedford VA I know the public affairs officer who runs the Bedford VA he's been instrumental and helping share our page out there through their um followers so um it's there's so much more to go and there's so much more we can do we just don't know what our restrictions are I believe and we don't want to overstep our boundaries something without getting an approval person so that's that's where we're at without getting a budget for see yeah just being able to you know experiment with it at first and you know obviously not going to spend a whole bunch of money but yeah we want to tle with it a little bit see what what comes out of it if it's not just what we expected the numbers aren't Fair it's not listen I personally feel I'd love to hear with the rest of the board I personally feel that you know it's it's a little bit like the that old Ville with the guy spinning the plates on the on the sticks right we have to keep our you know current claims in the office you know running and satisfied but you know reaching out to the younger group and still satisfying the demands of that older Generation Um I I think is this this electronic communication isue I personally feel it's one of the most important things because you're building into the demographic of the next 30 Years and I think that's so important the followers you you build now um will there for the next 15 I don't know how the rest of board feels but I think it's such an important initiative I I agree Tony I want to thank you for like I I send you stuff I know like a good example is the event at the Alex in newort you know i i i s they posted it and then I sent it to you to try and you know to to get it on our uh Facebook page and I just I I think that things like that I really appreciate you doing that and and I know that uh Tony Matthews kind of headed up that event and he's from new and he personally but he's a also a member of the new boort Elks and they do a tremendous amount for veterans and he invited all of the new veterans to that event in new report which is why I sent it to you to to you know to post it so that all the veterans in new knew that they were invited to this you know event that we weren't even sponsoring somebody else was sponsoring it and I I stuff like that is I think is a huge tool that we can continue to use and if I sent you something it be like Dan know like you're crazy and out of line I'm not going to do that I'm okay okay okay because I'm just going to keep saying stuff well you know sometimes it's the crazy out of line stuff that gets the most clicks that gets the most and and you know another example was that I wanted shout out to is you know the rusty can in Byfield they provide so much stuff to our vet free of charge just smoke the mic sop there and smoke person he's an incredible guy you know and and I just want to send a shout out to him you know cuz he he he gives a lot of stuff I think his dad was a v is that right Steve yeah yeah toate a bunch of food for um so my next part um really quick I did complete my certificate for trip training for the VA so my next step is I got to get my P card for the accreditation process and I'm going to be be um fully a of the VA and daeve could you please in a more granular way explain what that allows you to do yeah so trip training stand training responsibility involvement and preparation of claims program um it was long course go into it um but it just prepares the you to file claims and know what these CLS are what um you know supplemental claim is what you need to do um so it's very in depth training on how to prepare and submit clients to the VA um The Next Step I'll be going to the JFK building in Boston to get my P card um that's a personal um ENT identity um card so pretty much I'll log into my computer um I'll have a special keyboard that I have to put my military have C cards so I can securely submit confidential information to the VA instead of having it to executive office services every take a million out of the out of those claims and I'll be fully accredited submitting the CLS so that's um within the next I'll say month will that save a week two what you know just in layman's term what did that do taking the midd out of out I'll be up to see exactly what letters are sent out to the red I'll be able to track if they know they got an appointment coming up I'll be able so there something possible me right now they're sending appointments or comp to the veteran I don't know what they're sending so I haven't trust the veteran that he making she's making the appointments um you know so it's very it just kind out aot of okay is that the same certification that you get for the 115 no so that's once every 3 years I got a 90% on that thank you and yeah I got a 90 funny enough I got done on this one too so I'll take a minuses all but yeah so I left you guys this is just a Tracker of where I am now within the training um so okay my accreditation is next they're submitting my application I to write an essay as well part of this application so they're sending it to the VA now which they'll sign off I get in so like said that'll be a couple weeks I'll probably get my P card but then okay congratulations and then how was your um offsite with uh the other BS the K Cod K Cod offsite am I remember in correctly didn't you have my that's conference yeah offsite that's that's corporate oh no it was amazing I offs better Services were there going over um the procedures the hero act that's um just been passed in the Massachusetts house is now to the Senate that's going to create a whole new eligibility criteria so that's going to be a lot more chapter 115 recipients I feel my opinion because it's got to open up eligibility to a whole um different groups so um that's that's going to be huge the estate annuity is going to be from $2,000 to 2500 for 100% disabled veterans and spouses of deceased Veterans as well um so there's a lot of change in free license plates they're waving with $50 license plate fee for V license plate they creating veteran license pling um so there's just so much um yeah that's that's going to be but it hasn't passed yet it's in the Senate and the government well the Senate passed it now it's in a conference commit oh the sen just finally passed it the the house the house passed no the Senate just passed the house just passed no the Senate just passed okay Jo pass and now it's in a Jun committee okayo Act it's a Massachusetts right I again I'm not really sure what I'm talking about but the pack thing was it does it pack that that's for VA they just they just published a YouTube video explaining all of that that I just got uh because I follow it on on YouTube and that was something that I I I kind of wanted to try and get on our Facebook page is a link to that video because explains all of that whole stuff that that just got passed and and you follow it on what Dana YouTube No No but what what's the what's the I don't know an interesting thought um each of our towns has Community Access television all right so as these new you know the hero act pack act maybe um you could think about doing a TV segment on it we just I can today I Swit yeah s i but yeah no so that's what we were going to do with those short whe we're going to do pack that short informational vide we're going to do yeah the new Hero app informational videos quick vide that people will watch and won't just see oh it's five minut for getet that I don't want to see that you're not going to grab their attention well I was thinking too in addition to that maybe something where you introduce yourself and the office and all that bring all that in but know I think I know a lot of people that do watch the local TV station like that so that might just another U invitation to the office we talked over there um part of the part of the big plan for the little videos is I wanted to make them um modular but like able to be put together so um when we were over there we were speaking about doing like a 15 minute segment monthly U that they could replay like once in the morning once in the evening a few times a month um but that would pretty much just be those videos in a longer form uh but yeah just something that is played on their Channel I already did something similar with B Soo and I did the B so that's what they did we went over chapter one set we went to their Studio they we went over chapter 115 BS what they are so yeah no those are yeah in addition to those kinds of right so that they display that on their Community Access channel so yeah that's fine but like videos like we you know posting We don't want posting five minute no no I'm talking about oh yeah specifically oh no I can they have a lot of resources I think that you have anything else to cover for your not I got your answer it's uh on YouTube it's the US Department of Veteran services and that that's that's that's where I saw that that's and I follow them on YouTube we posted one of their videos about the 100 100% what you're entitled to so we did post a video yeah I get those videos from the VA all the time aome so they did specifically like because there are so many benefits for 100% theal there's you know so it breaks down you know specifically if you these your top of two things so like they have other views like that with all that very do you guys have a a YouTube channel no only to us because I know the state does a very good job they come up with these training things and then it you know directs you to their YouTube page and then they have a whole library of things yes that's well it seems like there's a lot of uh uh range to uh to explore here and I I personally feel that some budget behind it in the new fiscal year would be uh very appropriate uh how does the rest of the board feel marketing call it marketing call it increased it to increase Outreach we need to do that right and the chares we've given these two and need some some budget to do it so I I personally feel that it's very very warranted so we going to have a vote for them to have a marketing line or something or yeah Karen what can you just give us some guidance that in there We R it out you would R Ste Steve it out what I would suggest is we just add a line and call it marketing it isn't funded right because well we did our budget we did our line out budget right but you know if we usually have Surplus in somewh some other one but if we track you know what you're spending it on um then you know we'll have a better idea which will be easy right we we'll we'll just make sure we charge it we'll just add a line and you know as long as you know the board's looking at the numbers quarterly they say oh my God that so so we'll start it at zero and it'll be a tracking uh and we'll work it within the existing budget for the year does that make sense to the rest of the board keep an eye on it in the metric we're looking for is obviously to Doug's point we want more electronic Outreach but the metric is the key metric we're going to hang our hat on right now soort of followers subscribers is I don't know how to say it correctly what's that metric we're looking for you know to say you know we spent a th bucks we quadrupled our subscrib our viewers viers great so um Karen we don't need to vote to add that no because the budget the budget itself is staying exactly what it is okay and speaking on the budget if you can all remind your towns to pay their Assessor especially treasure we had to scale back because the proposition oh I got you so Monday we have the town meeting to pass the new budget oh gotcha so you don't go back to last year's budget you scale down your budget across the line until after July so it would probably go to Tracy it go to Tracy yeah but so it wouldn't go to the select board also I don't usually see our because it's a line but we're talking for like 202 2025 is already approved yes it's approved but it'll be funded after July 1st I give our assess I give this board's assessment to the finance director and the finance committee yeah so have you got hours yet I think I mean it's a bill it's a bill it's a bill that gets paid in the next fisc you it during your budget preparation well I know I submitted some people we have to chase okay it was lost yeah New Treasure New Treasure New Treasure we got got first okay well that's terrific um I commend you guys on on on the hard work and the diligence that you're putting into keeping the traditional Avenues open but again you know I say this all the time we don't know what's going to work until we try we triy some balloons and uh we may be Facebook people we may be Instagram people but um we have to try some of these initiatives that piece of the wedge of of folks who are responding to that will grow and grow I think if I yes I think that Steve Tony done a good job trying to restructure the office and move it forward sure oh exellent J and that was reflected just to touch on a past subtopic that was reflected in the review use and and it's very positive so I'm excited I personally am excited for the next uh the next uh next weave and issues next year so before we move on from um's report so I understand that there was at least one federan emergency type thing recently to took very good care of so thank you but I'm just curious um you know have you been seeing more of that You' been spending a lot of time after hours dealing with those kinds of situations I found veterans I hate so like 9 years went and visit a 93y Old as residents yesterday because you couldn't come in and then um yeah I just B the reg forms had them out for G his information um but yeah I mean having to go out and have to go out leave the office thank God have all time now but yeah when those inst do come up because sometimes it is paric where they'll have an appointment following day and I can't go over their or um but yeah it's on the weekends I'm I'm glued to my phone and I shouldn't be I know but that's just I've always been that way if something comes up and Mer comes up I feel bad if I waited two days without my phone um so yeah just always being on call I mean I don't think it's a bad thing my wife is very understanding thing do you have you have a backup plan like so there are times that you need to you know disengage right yeah I mean how does that work like if there's an emergency you're you know on vacation well I prioritize what's works first so I'll go through the email if I can wait one day I'll reply to one day or if I can you know send them the forms they need before then I'll send them the for forms in the weekend and say have these ready for me on Monday when we meet give them so I mean it's not but Tony's like I said he's here you know which my mother passed he was a rockar after the week when I left at the conference he held on the floor like a rockar so I having that sport is is huge right there on it own um so but other bsos do you have like a network that came up you know you help out yeah so to field any surrounding area new for VL very close with so we're we're all one big team we know we're not I I feel like before VL like ped against each other it was like ver town and for me that's not going to get anywhere that's not going to help so going to these collaborative collaborative with all things you know kind of put OS aside and you know saying what what best for the better families here and how can we help support other communities as well just a district thing how can we also help other other disc what I'm trying to focus on is that you have backups so that you can disengage and you can take the time off need to do that's important yeah we're tangential to that Steve is I I see this you know in the broad economy that the pressur is felt and you know a lot of the Vets are you know in a demographic that is you know maybe a little older maybe not as financially stable are you seeing the this economy the inflation you know that we've been through are you seeing vets you know under more pressure you know in the last year or two or I mean Absol absolutely um but with that threshold there's a limited for chap 15 benefits that amount just raised I think about 100 from last year so there's if they're making over that amount unfortunately we you know can't help them on that end but then yeah we can help them with filing a disability claim get monitary am that way there's different um but this economy is putting pressure on on your community it's it's got we I see it in our Council on Aging I see it you know the services that they provide being more sought after I see you know food patries I meaning people go more and more people going you know putting their private sign and going get F but I mean it's not to be embarrassed about but there's definitely more calls you know I had a veteran some years old as Ruth was you know broken so luckily you know we do know this company that does free GRS for veterans so they have a contest every year so I did add him to the next contest so hopefully he wins but like that's something we can't obviously cover under our you know this just under chapter 151 so there there's very there's wiggle room what we can do St we just and that's it's hard to say I feel like that's the worst part of this job is having to say no and explain to someone like hey you don't have enough evidence to submit this claim for your disability you know try to find paperwork try to do more recordings to the National record Center but yeah any anything else on this uh on this topic um we're on topic seven and I know Danny you had two things that you wanted to one was the pack we've already we've already talked about that I wanted and I also uh I mentioned about the sharing thing in the Derek hes was another event uh in new report and I think it's Kevin right is the vs yeah Kevin H Kevin Hunt uh I don't know if you guys are familiar with the Derek hind 5K you you posted it for me on on Facebook it was a great event Kevin was up there speaking uh my wife actually ran the 5K so and uh so I I just I just wanted to get a shout out for that uh the item I wanted to discuss though it's actually kind of old business and thank you for for reminding me and let me let me and and what it uh Caren had an initiative way back when that we never we've never really addressed it and that's the the Cold War back recognition is that something that you remember that remember we were about and and it's basically a and where the connection is here is um uh Bild the Mayo has you know what I I need some this is a brand new pc I'm no no I got it right here Bill the mail has has written a letter uh to our select board and I I'll just read it to you and it's h Hello all sometime ago during the citizens concern portion of the select board agenda I suggested that the town of new recognized the historical significance in gratitude for all new veterans uh presently the town has memorialized uh VA monuments Veterans of the new's rich historical and I don't know if you guys are familiar with that but on our lower green uh you know we're talking like I think like in the 1700s the people that are on that Memorial the only people that got put on that Memorial was the people that had a lot of money so so so that that's why that's why he worded it that way and it's something that isn't going to change but that's okay um presently the town has uh okay the the newes Rich has start IAL military involvement in the past periods of the Revolutionary civil in World War II periods our military activity did not stop at that point in time and new citizens served in Korea Iraq Afghanistan Vietnam and many more venues after World War II um I just want to say that the Vietnam portion I believe uh via the Moving Wall this a lot of recognition there so I'm not sure about Vietnam and I'm not sure how it falls into the the Cold War thing um but what he's proposing is I propose a simple monument that will be a universal symbol of gratitude for Nu's veterans one suggestion for the engraving might be as follows dedicated to all new citizens who have served are serving and will serve in in all the branches of the military to preserve our democracy so that would be the the engraving that he is I guess recommending for this Memorial I would like to we're going to have a select board meeting on Tuesday which is where this this has been addressed for I would like to recommend to our select board that we somehow I don't want to water down the memorials that we already have I don't know if what you all think about that but I would like to maybe have us piggy back on this cold war veteran recognition and I think maybe a if if if new's going to pay for a memorial instead of having it for everybody because we already have one for the the the the the things that he just talked about that those memorials are already scattered around town I was wondering if if uh if we could piggyback on the Cold War veteran recognition with that Memorial and I don't know what the board thinks about that and that's why I want to the thing is tracking all my whole biggest thing who's going to track all these Cold War veterans you you got to go by years because we're going through the same thing with us with some of the ones that were missing and then as I went through and I said I just finished 20 years of war and there's no memorial for o and O here and they kind of look at me like yeah you're right I said I can you can put me you can put me anywhere here you know I fall into everything but you know what about all of the rest of that so well I fall in the b c well we did because we came in ' 87 when the Cold War you know was kind of at a tight there but and and I think we had the same problem and um I literally have to go and sit with her when we got to go Name by name and review their dates to make sure that if they B if they're on a monument that they should be on based on those dates but if they didn't they fall under what you're talking about which is is the what what happened when we weren't at War at that time you're still you're still in the service and you're still making time we're not having war that's what you know the military is designed not for war it's designed to deter War right you know and so I agree with you 100% but it's it's very arduous and we went through this he was kind of helping us with some veterans that were identified missing off of our monuments but we know we're going to we're getting put on there we have had a vote brought to the town they voted for yes and we getting an engrav to do that but your piece there that I don't think he's looking for individual names though I think he's looking for just like for like recognition Cold War veteran recognition and not have individual names on it just just just yeah just I mean you can have you can easily have that you look at you know the Cold War definitely there are dates in there where we weren't doing something well I mean I I I started like an I was an INF tree crew guy under Ronald Reagan flying into Moscow doing Silo inspections you know that that certainly that's cold war stuff you know what I mean and then when the Wall came down you know I was involved with the wall coming down and then I've been involved with every conflict since Grenada yeah just about every single one right you know so so like I said I would fall into both categories but I'm not going to put my name on a plaque someplace but but I'm just wondering I'm just wondering where where new should just an opinion of the board on what where new should go with this and and we can even add it to another agenda maybe I just think that cold war is a tough one because there's there's too many post cold post Cold War this a post that's what we were bringing up with with Karen was a um I you know oh I'm sorry no she said Cold War prence yeah not post Cold War so yeah it's complicated Memorial have a head of steam are you saying or well no I think I it's just getting started yeah it's just getting started you know I think I'm so sorry I think that's a hard to do block unless you want to put people's names on it I mean people don't even understand what Cold War even needs right you know what I mean so I I I think what she was saying had some Merit if you were going to identify those Veterans of the 166 V 56 veterans now in West Newberry if I went to all those plaques I should be able to take the 156 and put them on on one of the memorials if I don't then I look have to look at their dates and say Well they're cold war we weren't in conflict we we had no fighting so therefore they fall into that category so that's why we're not on there but that's what we're actually doing exactly what you said but we're not identifying we're just making sure that people are identified on one of The Monuments and then we'll come up with an oif and O Monument because we don't have one do you guys have one I don't no I mean you DC being organized right now this placement for it there's aot we're we're going to we're going to do it we do we found space and we found that you know we're going to eventually do that but now it's my task no database that this you think this would be easy but there isn't there isn't a database to go to to say where are they and it's like we're literally clicking down and then he's got to he's going to help me go through and we got to look at dd214s to to you know put some of this together it's it and a lot of the list go count exactly I don't know I think it's it's gonna be a tough one so that that's my take on that I think that's Mar block personally that's really all I had and thanks for but no names makes it easier right right and I I think it's just like there people there's people that have served in new that don't fall into any of the memorial category that we currently have I understand understand so what if it were to Simply say what you were saying before about to all the veterans who have served are currently serving and will serve does that cover what you're well I like I we seeing like like the just talk about the World War II or or even the the D Day veterans or whatever you know I I think that the the well in my personal opinion I don't want to take anything away from those particular memorials by throwing everybody on one you know what I mean because I I think that the individual memorials that we already have are recognizing specific people in that group where this new one that that bill is proposing would recognize every and I'm not so sure that I'm on board with that you know because I I don't want you know the dday vets and the World War II vets and the Vietnam Vets to to feel as though that their current memorials are now insignificant that that that's all that's just the thought process in my head you know yeah I got you I hear you we all got a national def that's right everyone gets one everybody gets the rainbow you know it is yeah you know the first in basic training off my uniform I had to go to Memorial Day thing and I wore my uniform for C time and my son had taken it off of my un put it on one his I'm like missing the I earn that 36 years ago did anybody not get expert Marksmanship all right next day anyone got a good day mind that I can't do they can do I specifically do not like Thursdays works I'll say that again yeah Thursday is a big golf day yeah Wednesday has been yeah Wednesdays are usually really good days so when are we September 11th is the came September Labor Day is the second yeah so do you want to start the discussion at the 11th of September yeah 911 I'm good yeah 911 yeah have the I do know I have another meeting what about the following one the 18 18 I'm the 18th right now wedd you have a wedding mean WN photographer oh yeah that's right people shouldn't be having a wedding on a Wednesday oh yeah yeah he's a great photographer which day 18 SE Wednesday September 18th oh yeah that's ser yeah no I was 6:30 some people you have Drive Burlington day for me 630 630 on 18 okay so Linda keep me in bounds here we will adjourn from this meeting we will not we will just go into executive session okay we go in executive session and then adjourn from executive session yes we will not return to open session Jo you need to stop that yes please so our next item is to enter into executive session the purpose of so um for the purpose of to conduct a strategy session preparation negotiation with non-union personnel as well as it relates to the VSM and not to sessions so yes yes yes Dana yes uh Flynn yes