##VIDEO ID:MsaAdFDnFFw## [Music] good evening everybody it is Monday January 6 2025 at 6 6 p.m. and I'll call to order the Freetown board suer meeting um tonight we will be going into executive session and then coming back in Open Session um we're going into executive session for the following reason Master Law chapter 38 section 21 A6 to consider the purchase exchange lease or value of real estate if the chair declares I do that an open meeting may have aen effect on the negotiating position of the public body um one thing to note this meeting will be recorded and will be available on the town's YouTube page um so I will entertain a motion to go into executive session a motion me second all in favor I I selectman Lopes yes selectman Zar yes Selman Matthews yes now an executive session um we are now back in Open session from executive session um I'll move on to agenda item two which is a presentation from town clerk uh regarding the 2025 annual Town election Cheryl Hello nice to be with you all again this evening so just doing my um presentation for you regarding the 2025 annual Town election so it will be held per freet toown bylaws on the first Monday of April which will be April 7th 2025 it will be located at the Freetown Elementary School all precincts voting there and the hours are set from 12:00 p.m. until 800 PM uh the positions on the ballot we have several positions up this year um we have selectman and Personnel Board member for a term for three years assessor for three-year term one Board of Health member for a three-year term uh Miss Mary Bowen who is the current incumbent has notified me in writing that she will not be seeking reelection so that currently is going to be a vacant position um hopefully we'll have someone take out nomination papers uh Cemetery commission we have uh James Joe's who's the current incumbent it's a onee it's a uh one position for a three-year term finance committee we have the three incumbents um again threee term Library trustees that's going to be the same uh as with Mary Bowen both Linda forier and Beverly sadak who are up for re-election this year both have informed me in writing that they will not be seeking re-election so that will be two vacancies um planning board member uh Mr M is up again um that's a 5-year term Water and Sewer commissioner Mr sadic is up again for a three-year term and the Regional School District committee we have one position up um for a three-year term moving on uh the registration deadlines so uh 5:00 P pm on Friday March 28th that's going to be the last time um folks will be able to register to vote if you're already an existing registered voter in town you don't have to re-register for this election this is for for anyone new who's moved into town or newly registered to vote um you can you have several ways in which to do that as always you can do it in person at our town clerk's office with the board of registrars during normal business hours or online at vote and.com um we've already discussed about already being an existing registered voter you don't have to re-register for that um so nomination papers that's going to be the next slide so nomination papers as tradition here in Freetown are always available the first day back from the holiday break which was last Thursday we've had some folks already come on in and pull out nomination papers um there are a minimum of 40 certified signatures for the regular offices um for regional school committee members or candidates it will have to be 50 certified signatures the difference with that is it's a formula that's used per the mgls it's 1% of the last governor's race 1% of the voters that turned out Out and because the regional school committee is combined with Lakeville we have the same election date because on Election Day we choose the Freetown representatives and the Lakefield Representatives we have to take 1% of the total vote so it's 50 and um that's the only one that's different the deadline to obtain papers is going to be Wednesday February 12th at 5:00 p.m. my office is open until that time and the deadline to return the papers is going to be 2 Days Later which will be 5:00 p.m. on Friday February 14th Valentine's Day it's a Friday as well it's going to be a busy day M so nomination papers who is eligible to pull papers any current resident of the Town um a current 2025 local census has to be completed um those were mailed out last week should be hitting homes um very shortly if they haven't already um you have to be over the age of 18 and a registered voter we have the key dates to remember that we just discussed um then um Thursday January 2nd was the first day to pull out nomination papers the last day will be Wednesday February 12th to pull nomination papers and 5:00 P pm on Friday will be the last day to submit those for certification vote by mail which will be Agenda night item number three to discuss on your agenda this evening um the board of registers held a meeting on December 3rd and we discussed uh the ability to vote by mail and as you can remember I've come for you several years now and last year I did let you know that I was coming in this year um with the opposite request so last year with all of the state elections vote by meal is mandatory for all state and federal elections we have no choice um in that in those elections the state does give us allowance to vote to opt in or opt out of vote by mail for our locals um we piggybacked last year on all of the postcard notifications that get paid for by the state um to do vote by mail so it would be less of a confusion last year for our voters so that they wouldn't um say well why could I vote you know why could I vote by mail in the presidential primary but for my local I can't so to minimize confusion we just decided to go with it and it R justed we incurred the cost for mailing out the ballots but we didn't have the cost for the notification um this year we held the meeting with the board of registar and uh they voted to recommend that the board of Selectmen take a roll call vote at the next posted meeting to opt out a vote by mail strictly due to the cost and the amount of return um for local elections not many people cut turn out to vote I do have the numbers um of the last elections for folks that requested vote by mail applications I mean vote by mail ballots and then return them um so just for a prime example last year we in between the March and September State primaries um 975 vote by mail ballots were requested and sent only 467 came back M so that was a 47% so it lends to show you that folks are going to vote if they want to vote M um so that was the reasoning behind that recommendation uh which you folks will take up on the next agenda item and we can discuss that further when that comes um next slide is just again just a reminder of when the polls are open and all the precincts will be voting from uh at the same location between 12 and 8 and then the next slide with the addition of the new doorway on the rear end of the gymnasium I'll come before the the board closer to the election date um just to go over this in detail and to do more of a public service announcement I did have a sisa assessment conducted by the state which is the cyber security and INF infrastructure security team from the state come out with a mass um State Police back in October um when the door was being constructed um one of the main things that's going to change is the current door that we use that does dual capacity in enter and exit they would like us to create that as just an exit location um and then the doorway that was near newly built have that be the entrance um the reason for that is safety concerns as we can see last week um in New Orleans where um there was a vehicle that plowed into pedestrians if we have the q line set up at the existing door now it could have potential um Danger where folks will be queuing up across that parking lot whether accidentally or unintentionally in order to keep people safe we're going to have the queue line towards the back of the building I'm working with the facilities manager at the school as well as the principal um on getting um roads blocked off during elections and things but that's still a work in progress and again I'll be before the board to discuss that in detail and do more of a public service announcement for folks um but everything else hasn't changed on that end and then that was it that's my brief presentation all right thank you very much if you have any questions so will it change the layout inside where you go to vote yep so because just of um the the space when you come in precincts one and two will be to the left precincts three will be to the right um which would actually help because precincts two and three share a ballot because the representative districts so um less confusion on where to insert your ballot towards the end at the ballot tabulator and then just exit to the right so that will be training that I will be conducting with both the election staff um and I have to train them yearly anyway on the the laws so we're going to have the state come down and we're actually going to do the training at the school we're just looking to narrow a date down Cheryl the the 975 that was requested right 47% you spoke about yeah you said September March through September is that when it was no that was the annual Town election that was held between March and September so those are the folks who requested ballots um from the postcards that the state had sent out so so trying to engage home like how many do actually for our annual town meeting that request it do we have for our annual Town election so we didn't have it in 2023 um we didn't have it in 2022 right like Co was kind of a you you're obviously more people it was only was I mean trying to remember how that worked it like Co was you can't compare anything to 2020 it was just a beer um it's one of those years we had every situation yeah and just um and those numbers were off the state was had vote by mail has been around since 2016 um but getting the laws written into the books and how we process it 2020 happened and we were getting the postcards in but the state still hadn't set up the system nor the procedures on how to input those postcards so it was literally flying by the CD pants week by week it's crazy sounds like the state but now that it's they've ironed out there's still a lot of Kinks still a work in progress but as of right now that at least there's a procedure in place still it's only four years away four years ago so they had plenty of time to catch up I guess and and then just that just in case anyone's curious like I know cost is the main concern of why we probably shouldn't do that it's cost and it's just cost is so you know investment on return right yeah so if people were we would have no issue if folks who requested ballots would actually return the ballots because it makes your all the work worthwhile yeah but they don't yeah because again if if there is it kind of runs like to meeting right if they're interested if they a candidate who's on there they're going to return a ballot yeah right yep if they don't see who they want they're not going to return it or they're going to use it unfortunately um which we saw during the State elections folks were using the vote by mail ballots as like sample ballots M to see what their ballot was going to look like even though it's available online to them and I can email them specimen ballots um you know and unfortunately sometimes too with the with the March P primaries presidential primaries sometimes by the time the primary election date comes some of those candidates have already dropped out yeah so people who have voted for those folks get a blank yeah because they no longer a viable candy yep so it's it's got it it's It's Tricky Yeah It's Tricky they still can get absente ballots though absente ballots will always will always happen that's written into the Massachusetts Constitution it's for a cause so if you're if you're unable to attend um the election because you're out of town or there's a disability that prevents you from attending or if you have a religious belief absentee is always is available to you sh that was going to be my next follow-up question that doesn't disclude anybody that has a legitimate reason that they can't be there for and because our town election is on a Monday I have to stay open until 5:00 p.m. the day before meaning the business day so on that Friday when everyone leaves at 12:00 our office is still open for absentee until 5:00 p.m. okay so that's that's a good point to for people you know CU sometimes last minute they realize oh I'm working or my is sending me out here I don't have I'm not going to be able to make it yep that makes a lot of sense okay any you guys any issues or any issues with uh with moving forward with the motion to opt out not at all thank you Cheryl all right thank you chery I'm do this so I hereby move that the board of selectman opt out vote by mail for the next annual local Town election on Monday April 7th 2025 in accordance with Master Law chapter 54 25b A1 with the understanding that the absentee for cause is still an option for those voters who are eligible so I'll make that motion I I'll make the motion ni second all in favor I I so it has to be done in a roll call vote yeah select my Matthews yes selectman zeger yes selectman Lopes yes all right of course as soon as Luan walks out we have thank you very much I do have to leave at 7 for S CU I have to bring my daughter to RM okay luck that luck thank you you it's never an offseason for sports right never never never all right L you missed the roll call but Dev got your back so thank you sorry La good night thank you thank youer right moving on to agenda item four discussion vot Waring the request for quotes for chipping or removal of brush yard waste pile at the transfer station like we got two different um quotes back or two different bids um I was just a little bit concerned on this or not concerned a little interested so there's like there's two different options right Alternatives yeah is so one was to chip it on site and one was to remove it they all quoted for chipping on site Northeastern Tree Service quoted two different times with two different amounts so did we get the 158 yep y okay perfect all right so it looks like the low bid was uh Northeastern tree services $15,800 um you say why they went down no I'm not going to complain went in the right direction so okay so with that a motion to award the U the bid for or the request for quotes for sorry let me sell that over I'll a motion to award the bid for chipping or removal of brushard waste pile the trans Station to nor Eastern Tree Services Inc motion me second all in favor I I and then now we just have the agreement with them so gen five so I'll all a motion to approve the agreement between the town of Freetown and Northeastern Tree Services Inc for chipping of uh brush and yard waste pile at the transer station motion made second all in favor I I all right J item six discussion of vote the amount of the donation to the uh free Regional food pantry yeah we have voted on this already but we didn't we weren't explicit on the amount yep um so you really should revote so I can get this processed okay so I we've discussed possibly 9500 yep everyone comfortable with that yep yep sounds good to me so that a motion to um vote on $9,500 as the amount of the donation to The Freetown Regional food pantry motion made second all in favor I I all right uh now we have agenda item 7 discussion of vote discussion and vote on whether to approve the agreement between the town of freet toown and the town of lakel for boarding and Associated Services um for 111 2025 through 1231 2025 for the animal or dog boarding right um it looks like the yearly Association went up from 250 to 500 which is a percentage wise a big jump but it's still I'm not going to yeah yeah and then the rest I looked the rest of the agreement pretty standard it's the same as it was before I didn't didn't say anything jump out of me there right no no and they're always good to us so yeah I have no issues with this yeah this is this is great we need it this is a necessity so yeah okay so with that iend a motion to approve the agreement between the town of Freetown and the town of Lakeville for boarding and Associated services for 1 2025 through 1231 2025 motion made second in favor I I all right agenda item eight uh discussion of vot and hours of operation for the town Annex Building Deb yep so this is um one of the issues we we now have building and Board of Health in the annex up the street and those are primarily inspectional services for contractors and generally in the in the past this has been discussed about having the inspectional services open earlier because that's When contractors like to work right they start at 6 7:00 in the morning it's easier for them to have the inspection services the earlier the better so I had I had talked to both uh the health agent and the Building Commissioner about you know do they want to do that because they're both typically in the office by 7 o'clock in the morning both of them are early birds um so they both would prefer to work and do inspectional Services 7 to 3 that being said the clerks will still work 8 to 4 so the office will the office itself will be open 8:00 to 4:00 as usual but you know uh both of the agents will probably be out doing inspection starting at 7:00 a.m. or if a contractor needs to meet them in their office at 7:00 in the morning or 7:15 in the morning they will do that yeah um and I you know kind of put this out there as well because I I've been on the other side of the table as a contractor and I you know can vouch that you know you're generally out in the morning you want to get things going and you need the inspectors and and like I said these these both the inspectors are generally there at 7:00 in the morning anyway so that makes sense to me and then they're probably they now actually we'll leave it up you know they'll be leaving at 3:00 instead of 4 but I mean it's already docked by four it's hard to do inspections and true I will tell you both of them um will accommodate contractors in other words if they need an inspection on 330 and K on his way home he will do the inspection and the same thing with Kevin I haven't had anybody complain that Kevin's not doing inspections like pretty quickly so um I'm not worried that I actually think this is beneficial to I I wouldn't propose it like I said I've been on the other side of this table so for me I I think it's a win-win for the town but the office will still be there to 4 so if they need to come in and pick up a permit or do something they can still do that from between 3: and 4: okay so for the vote here right first of all everyone good with this I I'm 100% good with it my only question is is are we locking the the door staying locked or is it becoming interactive with the c can the public go in at 7:00 so I think it it would be by appointment only between seven and eight with the with the inspectors themselves because we're not because it won't be staffed they might be out you know I know that colon is way in does inspections on the way in and I don't know about Kevin I mean generally Kevin's in the office he likes to do a lot of his paperwork from 7: to 8 in the morning but if he had to do an inspection I think he would MH um perfect no I'm asking just for clarity yeah I think we keep the office locked but if you needed to meet with him and say hey I'm going to be there at at 7:15 they then they would let them in yeah so for the vote here should I say like inspection services from 700 to 3 and then but office 8 to 4 8 to 4 all right so I'll entertain a motion to have Inspection Services set 8:00 a.m. to 3: p.m. and with office hours from 8 a.m. to 400 p.m. half day Fridays wait no was the other way 7 7 7 to 3 for uh inspect for inspection services and then 8 to 4 for the office hours right on Monday through Thursday and then Friday Friday I think it just be the same half day same yeah8 8 to 12 yep all right do we understand that no change to Fridays motion made second all in favor well sorry about that to clean that one up okay moving on to jend item nine discussion vote whether approve the following policies we have uh a which is 5.1 debt management uh B 5.2 Financial reserves and 6.3 Motor Vehicle Tax ab bment and exceptions I actually read all three of these today and very very good um I think these are our last three right I think these are the last three policies we have yeah a couple more on the next one maybe that I don't know I thought we were pretty much done but anyway we're getting done um did run these in course they they're they go to department heads they go to Town Council we we bet them all they and it's they're all referencing like a lot of either standards that are already set by the state or or general Master law right A lot of it but no it's I think it's good to have these yeah it's good to have a baseline you guys can always change them it all seems reasonable to like you know the percentages that based on you know like um for how much we can borrow and how much you know it all makes sense like one one thing made me think about reading that though is like I wonder if there was opportunities for us to refy stuff you know when what rates were really low we have no debt we don't really yeah okay oh yeah we don't yeah I mean now CU right now obviously interest rates are crazy but um the only debt we have is this building I was going say I was thinking about this building a bond uh Bond and I think it's like really low yeah because it was taken out maybe three years ago perfect um we and the only other the only other barring we do is our lease programs on our police vehicles that I actually spoke to the police chief this year and be talking to fincom in a few weeks here about just budgeting what what we would buy the cars as opposed to lease program because we're paying 5 six 7% why do that when we have the money available if we're in a financial position to to not borrow and so I think I even might get away from that so we we do have a couple lease purchases like a I think there's a fire engine we have one more payment on might be an ambulance that we have a payment on but they're just about at the end so um trying and we've been funding things with our free cash in the fall and i' like to continue that but you know that's not always possible but right now as long as we can I would like to do that um so we're so we're we're not NE we don't need to refinance anything right now yeah no I wouldn't right now anyways right right high and I don't want to take new like I'm yeah clearly trying to stay away from even the lease purchases because it's still borrowing and it's still at a higher percentage rate so if we cannot we won't perfect any other question questions concerns these policies no straight puts a smile on my face to keep hearing more about these policies being yeah they're great all right so with that I'll a motion to approve um policies a through C listed on the agenda motion made second all in favor all right all right okay J item 10 this is discussion about whether to designate two parking spaces at town hall for visitors like do like a 20 minute is thing in here oh I I just you know we we've never we've always been you know 25 employees with 18 parking spots but now that we've moved people up to the annex that takes about six spots one 2 three four one two three four five six seven spots are up there so now we have a little more um Breathing Room in our parking lot so I didn't know if you wanted to designate two spots as visitors only so that the employees don't park in them so that when right next to the handicap spot so when people come to pay their taxes they can actually you know they have they have a place to park M that makes sense to me do you think we we won't get too much push back from Folks at Town Hall I don't want to take someone's spot you know what I mean you know there's someone there do you want me to take the second and third spot I mean there is somebody that parks in the first spot but I mean I I think he'd be accommodating yeah as I but Trevor brings up a good point as I wonder but I don't even know if we really need to is put a time limit on him but how do you like a most people go in the town hall do their business and leave yeah I don't think par there for like if we had more businesses there then it probably would be a problem right because people would use that spot for whatever right so yeah no and I mean and actually if we if we cleaned up the other side where we do Park sometimes um we could probably get some more employees to park over there I've parked over there a few times just trying to free up some more over on the other side yeah but yeah I think it makes sense to have two yeah probably the it should probably be the first two spots if hopefully whoever's spot we're taking is is is I don't I don't expect any issues on the town hall employes I really don't got some yeah all right so that that I'll intend a motion to designate two parking spots at the town hall for visitors a motion made second all in favor I all all right agenda item 11 this is uh discussion of vote on staffing needs Sally arrange for Town planner so this is obviously you know we have nobody in the planning department right now or the conservation or the uh um but we we we have gotten some candidates that they're really qualified for planning I think one of the issues we have is you know culturally with the town we've not carried full-time staff in the planning department and we've done it with clerks um those days are really over um and we were able to do that because Kevin actually was work working for the town and was very good as being the chair of the planning board um you know I think at this point we need we need somebody in that department that's really pushing the agenda for the town Economic Development uh some of these Street projects in working getting the grants the best through our ability I don't know how that's going to work out with the MBTA and plus the the Departments are pretty busy especially if a planner is handling planning conservation and Zoning mhm um but with that I will tell you and it's people don't realize it but the planners are very highly paid and Hansen I was the highest paid one other than the Town Administrator so we have put on a a salary range of between 70 and 90 we've got some candidates that are pushing that limit a little bit so I just wanted to have that conversation of how much difference do we have with this salary and it's a double-edged sword right because we've got other department heads and employee morale to sort of factor in it's not just about well can we afford it let's do it it's really about the whole package well what will this set off for other employees get start comparing themselves to that um and I don't I honestly I see both sides so I you know if I had a real strong one way or the other I would push it although I do think at some point culturally we need to accept the fact that we need a town planner and we're going to have to pay if we get a good one MH I think that's a and I think a good town planner as you can see because I was a planner like what we can bring to the table is a lot of grant money we we can make back our salaries not that I'm a planner anymore but um I think a good town planner is worth their weight and gold MH um so I I don't have an issue with paying a town planner their value if you can get one that's qualified um so that's the discussion of sort of how far can I go with the salary range on the planner knowing that there may be some turbulence with other department heads and I'm not sure where it is on here if we put it on here but it's on here somewhere one of the one of the issues that has come up is maybe we can split a planner with another town which I enhance and we it person just because two towns couldn't afford it is very expensive y um so that's that that's sort of the other piece of this puzzle like okay if we don't want to go to the $100,000 range for a planner do we want to entertain splitting a planner with another town close by and I don't know that I have a candidate that would do that but would you entertain a regional agreement where we maybe pay that planner a little bit more because now they're juggling Two Towns maybe we can get get say $120,000 plan but we're only paying half of that but we only get them for 20 hours but I do think a good planner with a good clerk can do the work in 20 hours too if you've got the support system in place do you think like what I mean does Lakeville have a planner Lakeville is hiring for a planner right now Rochester's hiring Berkeley wouldn't be able to plan yeah um we're hiring there's three right there and that's just local I'm sure plenty more Lille probably makes the maybe the most sense especially like because of the schools and schools and then also like now we're both going to be nbca communities right both have the trains like there's but don't forget you'll be competing a little bit too so um yeah and I don't know whether they mean as far as like grants yeah sometimes I mean you don't want it's like business like it's a very deconomy so the other thing I mean if you get a good planner they don't need a clerk generally they can do their own leg work I didn't have a clerk I had a clerk in the beginning and my clerk retired so I didn't have a clerk and I was able to run my department without a clerk um but if you're working parttime then if you're working part time you definitely need a clerk in there so I know there it's there's no I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here I need direction so that I can fill that spot yeah um so what do you think what's the number you have I guess in your head I think if I went with a full-time planner I need probably $100,000 I think if I'm going to split the planner I need to push it up and then divide it in half so I'm looking at 55 or 60 yeah I know has been T I mean we've you know because we've interviewed people and stuff so he he he knows kind of that's the discussion right it's like it's a high it's a higher than usual number for department head now is there is there value in that department yeah all departments but this one it does impact the town quite a bit right so the discussion is how do we make this work without really breaking the bank and and ultimately Without Really setting a future precedent for other departments as well right because we we're still a small town after all right so Deb's come up with some great ideas especially the one with sharing it between two towns if that's feasible that's absolutely that's I also like that sorry I also like that because then it can show people what a good planner can bring to the table right it makes it a little bit easier to swallow if we say down the road we we going to go from part-time to full-time with this position because look at everything they're doing and in planner you know a lot better than I do they do a lot with the future right like there's a lot of and you know that makes sense I mean pull stuff sorry I don't want to cut you off but I don't want to forget this is this will help pull things off of your plate right where we have Debbie because of and probably a lot of and other department heads too yeah right I'm sure like just any kind of Grant get like things of that nature thing over the past few weeks or months right since we've lost the or others have moved on from their current position in the planning department we have I see them and a lot of their their staff right working extra hard on planning needs right luckily right now it's so like oh not a l b it's you know a little bit slower right now based on the time of year but as that wraps up I don't know where they will find the time to continue doing what they're doing at a at a at a at a steadier crazier rate I just don't I don't want that for I'm going to tell you oh it's notable we are struggling with it oh absolutely both of us and we're both putting in extra and today I was like I I I don't abely so much we can do right so yeah it it's it's it's it'll be that but you know that's just finding some talent I will say that's kind of how they got a town administrat right originally way back when they proposed bringing in a Town Administrator because they didn't have one they did it on a part-time basis and so they realize the need and then push it to fulltime so maybe if I can get somebody who is willing to split and the other town is willing to work Regional that might be the soft Landing to get the culture sort of changed and and people thinking of a planner a little bit differently than what we've done in the past which is just take care of planning boards meetings and their agendas a true planner does a lot more than that yeah has Lakeville had one in the past yeah they have so there you so I guess because my question was is this a good opportun Unity for them to get into the door like us so where now they're looking for a full-timer because they've had a full-timer so for them to go backwards to yeah I don't know that they be so I think it's going to be hard but it might be better it might be like it might be better to have like a town that's even Rochester is looking right now and I didn't check today who else is looking but it's always posted on the that website right is there like uh yeah it was posted I don't know where it was posted I saw it but so yeah the problem is is we're now slowing it down that much more because now we need to go to set towns and try and work in agreement out with them yeah I think once I know that what I can do at least I have that option right if if if you if you're all willing to entertain it and then so I think so numbers you're right where I thought we were going to be so it's 100 for a full-time and then 60 for a half time for part-time Mak sense I think so we good with that yeah I'm good okay so um I'll a motion to set the uh salary range for a full-time Town planner to $100,000 and for a part-time to 60,000 motion made second all in favor I I all right moving on J item 12 discussion of vote whether to approve the sign and sign the estimate from fulsome well repair for the well at James White library was it 3500 MH yes we we had come in a few weeks ago because we had no water um we now have water because the drought cuz it rained but the well well still needs repair and they think they can do it now for 3500 instead of drilling a new well that seems reasonable to May any questions or concerns no no okay so with that I will entertain a motion uh to approve and sign sign the estimate from fome uh well repair for the well at James White Library motion made second all in favor I I all right uh 10 13 is update and possible vote on the county road water issues yeah this still continues to um be a leak on 23 County Road it's in the middle of the road it's it's undermining the actual road which is under mot's control mot had asked to meet with me and your Bedford last week so I said yes I put this on the agenda as a placeholder in case I had anything that I needed to bring before the board we we are actually meeting tomorrow so I don't have anything new just to tell you that it's increasingly getting worse it they keep telling they they might have to close the road down um and some folks don't have water at their house right right they still don't have water they don't drinkable water yes no they don't have drink of water and so um there's a meeting tomorrow at 3:00 that uh we will be on to discuss with mot is driving this they've asked for this meeting I don't think the meeting I don't think that anything changes the outcome does not change um free town it's not our line we're not going to fix it uh it doesn't change but we're going to have that meeting I guess the only other thing that we could talk about is I as you know our Town Council is their Town Council so I need to get separate Council for this issue I have um looked uh I have contacted somebody who seems qualified to work on this I I I guess I could entertain a vote to allow me to engage with a different Council for just for this special purpose of the water line everyone go with that yes so I'll a motion for Debbie to seek outside Council for the um water issues on County Road motion second all in favor said all right that let give me a move on that to um just a caveat to it I have some to add to this so I have reached out to new Beford Council uh city council members that I that I've known from the past reached out to the mayor um some back and forth some dialogue going on um the issue stems from who owns it right long from 1896 till today who has owned this line that's basically where it stems from so to get that information um had I already submitted foyer requests or permit requests from Mass do um and they responded today um I have to yes they responded today which is good because right now what Mass DOT is doing they're racking up a bill right the concern is there's thousands of gallons of water creating potentially a sinkhole in that area yeah right so they have to go out there every so often with with Manpower Salt trucks cones and everything else to make sure that the area hasn't you know gotten worse or ice conditions and things like that well that bill is racking up that bill is continuing to increase all right and right now they're wondering who who owns it right whose responsibility is this so I think right now that as far as the town water Commissioners I think we need a short-term fix and a long-term solution and that's where tomorrow's conversation is really going to stem from hopefully that's where it goes and then take it from there cuz a lot of right now there a lot of finger pointing of who owns it who it belong to yeah at the end of the day it's new bedford's line right and we pay them if that that section is New Bedford line if they build those customers we don't even build them we don't them we don't touch it they we don't touch it we haven't touched itom they put it in 100 years ago in anonia like we pay the water and ser commission and then but they right but this isn't that way those your Bedford builds those customers directly those customers pay New Bedford directly and they have for the last years they're not our meters they're not correct so newford so we our commissioners reached out to their Commissioners and in our and our our thing is the customers call us we tell them hey you got to contact the person you pay your bill to which is new Beford new Beford is essentially saying nothing we can do I think there's pressure being put on on both sides right especially the residents um it's only going to get worse so that would that mean that like there's been no maintenance on these well the the real problem is no Bedford has taken care of this line up until recently and this been this is this is all new this is all new we think it you know we think it was triggered by the the um State requesting an inventory on lead pipes correct and then they realizing that there's lead pipes in those pipes and you know the state coming down saying you need to fix these lead pipes and replace these lead pipes I think New Bedford and and I'm speculating 100% I have no idea but it would seem to me that they've almost decided hey it'd be cheaper for us to just abandon this water line and let Freetown deal with it then it will be to continue to but we need that like at the same time we do like it's not like you can dig Wells you know what are you supposed to do I don't know and and so so I think I mean and I think part of the caveat and I'd have to go back and look at my emails was that they said they would fix it newfit said they would fix it but they wanted all these conditions they wanted me to agree to all these conditions that I would take it over once it was fixed that I would be on the hook meaning the town of Freetown would be on the hook for payment why are we going to pay for this right um who's been paying you for the service they they the home has been um there was about five different things that they said they would fix it but they wanted us to agree and first of all I said I can't agree to anything the selectman would have to agree and none of them made sense right so this unfortunately because this feels like something's going to be dragged out and this person you know unfortunately yeah that's what we talked about we had the gentlem in front of us and everyone was very upfront and honest with them we all feel for them but unfortunately there's nothing we we have that's that it's the homeowner's responsibility which this break is in the middle of the road so you got to dig up the road fix it it's expensive it would be expensive even if it hadn't gone this long and now we've got undermining of the road and trying to repair that road is going to be a nightmare okay yeah all right I don't want to speculate so let's let's see what happens tomorrow and then we'll Circle back on this cuz yeah we'll keep I'll keep you updated um but the meeting is tomorrow at 3 okay all right anything else we we go on this issue no all right it's crazy but okay uh then agenda item 14 discussion of vote weather hold a special town meeting on 224 2025 at the middle school beginning at 700 p.m. I don't have to read this public notice do I no no that was just it was supposed to be high school but um but we changed it to M school the high school is not available so yeah thank you for noting that though because I it's it's um on the agenda it was printed as high school because at the time it was the high school but now it's going to be the middle school I get that right Lan correct right and then you we want to have a vote for them to open the warrant for submissions for from the 7th to the 15th it's on that notice in front of him 7 to 7 to 16 I think okay so so I should read so I should read this public notice you don't have to read the whole thing I to read the whole thing you just have to a vote to open the warrant for submissions from uh January 7th to January 16th at 11:00 a.m. sound right January 7th yep tomorrow morning 8:00 a. through the 16th okay all right so first I'll say a motion to hold a special time meeting on 22425 at the Middle School beginning at 7: p.m. motion made second all in favor I I all right and then next I'll entertain a motion to uh open the warrant um for submissions between January 7 2025 8 a.m. through January 16th uh at 11: a.m. motion made second all in favor I I okay and now I'll take it over to Personnel thank you Mr chairman all right Personnel Board item agenda 15 discussion and vote whether to approve the following appointments a through C We Have Allison Sylvia senior clerk part-time Conservation Commission and assessors effective 113 2025 through 6:30 2025 B we have Craig mallister to local emergency planning committee ISP representative effective 17 2025 through 630 2025 and finally we have C Mr Riley manani as senior clerk full-time Board of Health effective 1:21 2025 through 6:30 20 2 all right um yeah we've done some hiring and some planning on this miss mix it all official so uh any questions concerns all right I motion to approve the appointments bed in in agenda item 15 a through C motion made I will second it all in favor I I and 16 we talked about yeah correct discussion vote on the use of regional Staffing which we just discussed regarding um the planning and land use we have to put that to a vote I don't think so right we already voted on that you voted yeah I think we voted on that so item agenda 16 is hereby removed from discussion all right J gets nothing easy peasy yep it was a hot day and yes yeah I just wanted to tell you that we get a grant it's a small Grant we get every year or uh viy actually does it at the transfer station for the um recycling so we get us $7,200 from the state and this year the grant came through but it's got a caveat on it that if you haven't approved the MBTA zoning you're not getting it so I'm just going to get you this is just like the first taste of what's going to Happ I'm just going to let you guys I'm going to bring them to your attention as they come you know what I mean and I never would have expected this one they would pull because this is just like a run-of-the-mill one so this is crazy we we live in a let's face it a very blue State a very um Dem Democrat leading state right Blue State it's one of the blue on the map big on recycling big on green energy but yeah we're going to punish a small town that has a transfer station and does the proper thing because they're upset that we the town exercised their right to vote and turn down their idea of increased housing across the area well I find that shameful in so many ways but I guess I guess that's that's what happens and with the new laws anyways about like adus just like the lot sizes and with the adus and the common ownership stuff obviously it's not quite you know the density but overall the full density across the town with these new you know it's going to be increased just based on that do we know how like the legal proceedings are going no I I think I I heard that Milton will will there something like April the decision will be coming down in April and my my thought is that uh the governor is not going to do anything until that is resolved in April but I hear I I have heard from planning agency that they think that she might re um redo some of it but then I've heard other people say no way she just spoke the other day and she's hard fast on passing this um doesn't a lot that Adu stuff kind of mitigate the 3A requirements right when you look at the like like Trevor was saying like the the breakout of the adus with the thing although it's not going to be concentrated on that one area it's still going to have a massive impact it's it's massive everybody in town every single family home can have a 900 foot Adu on their house law and then a lot of people who have like multiple eer Lots can now putl those lots like little mini compound for the family it actually makes me happy then you know you mean because it's like the you know the characteristic of the town right that we had both then yeah it could this could already theoretically changed a lot never mind if you had both the other thing is that the governor can also just turn around and make it a law like 40b where they just say no this is what you're doing and and that's the other thing that she might just do which is I would prefer that over her her them saying you have a choice but when you make the choice we don't like it's not really a choice it's not democracy but if you don't make the choice we want you to we're going to take away $7,000 $7,200 in points for recycling the proper way because I said just this is just a this is like a little shot across the absolutely they're going to just keep coming like where they're going to you know say no more grants for you or I we do have a couple of federal grants we're working on that those haven't been affected and those are fairly big one is the bridge I'm so moving forward with the Bridge Project and then but Federal that shouldn't be impacted right right those aren't impacted so luckily and that's where but Federal I will tell you federal grants are much more difficult to manage they're much more involved they want everybody's time sheets it's it's a lot a lot of work we we do have one that I'm actively managing right now um which is why you you need a planner if if I'm managing nothing but federal grants it's difficult they're they're way more difficult than state grants gotcha so and they're harder to get right because you're fighting with the whole country it's a bigger much bigger yeah pool you're in right and we're lucky that you know we had um aen gloss get us the one for the bridge and then the second one that we're we haven't been formally approved for is the new building so um we'll wait to see if that comes in the coffers in the next month or two we should hear on that okay pretty soon actually so I think I'll just do signatures now are we good do you have anything else no I think that's it I'll just talk while you guys are signing I mean we got the fire station project I toured it last week it's framed it's um it's just in that condition there's a lot of stairs so those firefighters going to be in great shape something you don't think about you know you're thinking it's two stories and it's like a regular set of stairs but it's like three flights of stairs to get to the second floor um so I I'm excited for them to have single you know their own bunk rooms but we're still a ways away from it being finished I got to go drive by there and check it out we're still ways away the COA the Pod is just about done we we put the ramp on the handicap ramp and so we're just tweaking a couple of things that is going to be all set so I notic like it looks like the um already I mean now we have the town an one that space being all open like I mean looks like a lot of opportunity there for so the second floor um we we're waiting for um uh the facilities Department to come and clean out that room and then I will be coming back to you to with ideas on how to upgrade that to NX is working out so far so far so good I think it went smoothly I mean very few glitches and that's that's a that's a lot yeah CU they're up and running and it's tight still but better better than what we had I have not gotten complaints have you so residents have pretty well good with it you know I haven't gotten resident complaints which I'm always you know concerned with so um I think the agents and the building inspector are happy because they have their own space and it's just easier to work if you're not sitting four people in a 12 by 12 office listen I am proficient at this that's it all right miss all right so with that a motion to adjourn motion made second all in favor I [Music]