today Monday April 18th please join me for pledge Alle pledge United States of America and the repblic for one nation God thank you you know every time I we do this I always think we should have the flag like over there to the the C but you're basically the podium and we're line it up like you're on a Podium I understand that but when I watch it back I understand that but if you want we can move it there for for the time being it's but I always think about when we do it then forget about it but something to think about I guess that is L right details yes sir Minor Details all right um department head contracts we have to sign welle I will make a motion to approve the um town of gry police chief Employment contract a second May a second then any further discussion no do we read any of it okay right all favor I anybody oppose yeah I'll keep this one open it is hard to get to than another that was the second one we sign both two I that there was one other that's it two just that one just yeah just the police chief yeah thank where's the other one the contract C agent CC agent that here I guess it's not here then no these are my departmental reports because I thought that's what we were going to move on to next because our appointments aren't till 6 let me just see if that just ended up in a in a different look in the 2B sign folder there me I just B guys are all looking at me like I'm holding back I got nothing I'm not saying word fell off I don't know what it spelled now I'm not saying a word check that as well we're waiting for Kathy to come back uh we do have a du frame rental okay it's a graduation party on June 22nd 2024 arriving 12:00 p.m. departing 5:00 p.m. area requested is the large Pavilion maximum number of people is 100 and there will not be alcohol on the premises okay next item would be Memorial Day Parade uh this year they're planning on changing the route uh when you come out I guess you are going to come out of the imaculate heart of Mary's Church turn left go down to Boulder Island then come back up around go to the new uh Veterans Memorial and at that point there will be a dedication ceremony for it we're hoping to get uh our representatives and Senator there and uh hopefully it'll be a nice dedication ceremony and then that'll be the end of the fre you're not going to go to the other cetar because they feel that all the names of our veterans are on the wall so that is the place that they would rather conduct a ceremony in okay and that was that was the plan before anyways after that was right but they want they want they're going to do it this year yeah the wall is almost basically done if you go buy it now pretty much most of the stone facing us on it um it's looking really really great it look sharp yes Pi Facebook page look sharp yeah uh also there is a meet the candidates night being held by the granv Lions Club it is on May 1st 7 P.M in the East Meadow cafeteria May 1st Chris at 7 p.m correct Pard May 1st at 7 p.m. May 1st 7 p.m. yes I I'm going to have to leave the meeting because something happened to the contracts but that's okay um one other item before you move on is that uh actually no we can we can do those during the discussion over more that last item so okay I will be right back we can go over the departmental reports by waiting we have to wa come back I make motion to approve the departmental reports second any further discussion did have a question for Chris about um have a good question forr not here I know yeah was just about one of the departmental reports um it was about maintenance about the thoro so the um School Department used the Toro and only part of it is getting replaced so I wanted to know what was going to happen with the other parts that need to be replaced that's all school department used something on the T well they used yeah they used it to do their fields for the baseball and softball fields um but they ended up breaking or returning it to the maintenance department broken so Jeremy asked them to go to uh Turf products to get it fixed and when John Sullivan dropped it off there they called him back with a whole bunch of repairs that needed to be made and John suvin is saying that they're only going to replace the part that they said that they broke although it was in working order last year when Jeremy gave it to them so I guess I'm just trying to understand if it wasn't working well other things maintenance stuff that needs to be replaced just just it's just you know over time wear and tear like some replace things on it right and Jeremy said they use it for 45 minutes last year I was down and the rest of the time I was used by the school department so I just was going to ask what down so John is only going to replace the part that was broken so what while using it yeah I have a question about that too why isn't the school using their own mowers on that I think we've always shared equipment though to that's when John Su was the only one before we created a building department think they talking about the groomer the groomer yeah the churo Sandro yeah I think that was actually the uh Recreation Commission and we got it and then um it was our in the town we it because they used to go over and take care of back and then they okay is it for the baseball field that what like for the the dirt field and stuff but did jery just get that no that's the TRC one of them the it's so wet there yes and is broken so so Crystal you weren't around for this but when we split them up what was the intention because CH put in hand the the building okay the maintenance and whatever did here school okay so we created them the dep for a person just to do the grounds so we bought them a lot of equipment to K care Brownell said do so and but I wonder if I I always have a question why is it leaning more to Jeremy doing more and more at the school when that was supposed to be on the school I don't think he's doing at the school I think it just a piece of equipment that they had that broken he's been mowing it he got you certain ones here certain ones of the school spirit so it's just an agreement they have with each other I think that he does the bigger and they the one small one's out front has a larger equipment they up to do yeah Jeremy yes so those well we can approve them on base on that okay so favor approve I anybody oppos how many minutes minutes um no our goal is to get up on the minutes before leave so can sign all this okay so Kathy and I will work towards that you come back yeah my fee goes up okay get paid now become a contractor yeah 500 per signature more have to come back and take care of that very nice we go over to um maybe War unless you have any questions before no I WR things down for myself really okay wait for Chris I will make a motion to approve warrant number 61 dated 45 2024 in the amount of $2,289 61 cents and this is a town bills payable warrant second second that any further discussion all in favor I anybody opposed y next one I'll make a motion to approve warrant number 61s St 45 2024 in the amount of $2,748 second second any further discussion um I will be abstaining from the line item that reimbursed me for supplies that I bought for the school okay all in favor I anybody oppose R is a motion to approve payroll warrant number 62 dated April 12th 2024 in the amount of you want me to go back to the this yes do all of them okay right next one is a motion to approve warrant number 63 this is a maintenance warrant dated 412 2024 in the amount of $15,300 79 second second any further discussion all in favor I anybody opposed I will make a motion to approve warrant number 64 this is the Bill's payable warrant dated 419 2024 in the amount of 96962 120 second any further discussion uh Chris I had a question on this one was the uh special town meeting from 2019 for du was that for the doors or was that for paint no that's just what the 600 yeah that's for the paint that he bought for you guys to do the work the last week so okay okay and do they always get salt this time of year is it cheaper to buy it this year because I noticed they were buying salt we we buy it now because next year it's probably going to go up like everything else always does so what we do is at the end of every fiscal year towards the end we try and fill the salt  up as much as possible and then um Mr August do we have an update on the cable I know he has a meeting set up with uh two members of the board of directors I don't remember the date but they're going to go over the proposed contract and discuss uh strategy on dealing with conest okay thank you all in favor I I anybody oppose I think there's only one copy of this it must have got paper put together one second NOP it's right last one is a motion to approve warrant number 64s this is a uh Bill's payable warrant dated 419 2024 in the amount of $3,757 58 second second any further discussion I will abstain from materials reimbursement to myself as well all in favor I I anybody opposed sh I think she just puts it in there you're going to rip it we need to it'll last like 10 years if you don't rip it it will used to I'm RI like couple months old right all right let's go back to the contract for C I'll make a motion to approve the director of senior services employment contract second second any further discussion all in favor I anybody opposed so right we have citizen participation none Chris you did the two FR rentals you think your correspondence y I did correspondence and any other business I said I was the last thing I was going to deal with would be when we're talking about the warrant okay you want start going down through the some of the old old business we can sure uh Town accountant uh I have that position advertised on the MMA website uh I am uh I contacted the mmaaa which is mass Municipal accountants and auditors associ iation to see if I could advertise with them and we are going to be putting it in the daily Hampshire Gazette and it's on the website okay uh updates on Forge Pond I don't have any I got to get a hold of uh Mr Leonard find out where they are in the process um update on the Council on Aging the new director started their first day of work was April 16th and uh we're hoping that uh she settles in nicely and uh we're available for any questions she may have uh the cookout we all know is uh in May the route two massot project well it started and uh it is a nightmare coming in at 7:00 a.m. and leaving at 4 p.m. well all the issues that they got and the is in the impr process construction uh one stop for growth Grant I did submit for the Water Project again uh they didn't they weren't taking applications for the uh for anything related to the West Street building project because that wasn't in the uh uh for for this year senior work senior workout program uh yeah we do we did do that I am in the process of developing the guidelines and forms for board approval uh update on green communities I don't have anything on that one and I know Crystal you do the open space committee yes so we're still um waiting for me to do the pictures actually and then send it to them for the survey but they have everything done on their um and we already talked about the last time that we would buy the signs for the for the different properties so I will put it on my to-do list for this week to take pictures of all the open space do you guys only want so I guess we talked about it the last time with the chief too Sandy Plains is like all Woods do I go and take a picture of the woods like or do you want just do frames you want Brown Allison like I kind of want the areas that they frequent the most like the east the high school I sort of agree with you on that okay I I sort of yeah I mean I can go and take a picture of the woods you guys want me to yeah the only other thing we walk back there is foundation to some of the old buildings for the Sandy PLS yeah okay want me to take a picture of the old Foundation Oh I thought that's I I would say take a picture just in case anybody rides their horses through that area or whatever you know there may be a horse trail through there that we're not sure of place so why not you know and then I think the other place too was the um hoil Range M hoil range right there's part of that that's in grany right for our open space m so we can do I can do that one too it was just raining most of the time last week and there was an opportunity to do it so didn't think that those would be very nice pictures yeah so but uh um oh the only other thing I I wanted to bring up is we are in the process of doing the MVP Grant yes uh we're trying to get last year's submission so we can go forward actually I was texting uh the person in charge of the program to see you get a copy of last year's submission so you give us a heads up on yeah getting that moving forward uh regarding the West Street building project I received an email over the weekend we do have our EPA number to remove the underground storage tank and there hoping to schedule the removal sometime in May when may may anytime in may he didn't give me the exact date okay um but also I want to forewarn everybody that we're not going to allow people to come and watch the removal I am talking about having a police detail on site to turn away any residents who want to come and watch the removal process as far as we're concerned that's an active construction site at that point and we can't risk the liability of someone getting injured so I just want to let this board know and is the construction company that it's a it's western Mass environmental they are going to be in charge of the removal they'll hire the the excavator the the green company the the lowboy trailer to excavate it remove it haul it away okay and they will also be taking tests of the soil around where the tank was to make sure that there's no presence of any petroleum products in the surrounding soil did we have anything on the MW already no did you see that little article I think it was in The Gazette I don't read I don't read The Gazette sorry one of the State Rep s up it's pushing to get it of water into okay still around he is for now until the elections still the election yeah still maybe we could reach out to him well he's still around till he else happens but yeah right so then you're at 559 right now Mr chair all right it's now 6 o'clock this is a notice to hereby given under chapter 138 of the Massachusetts General law at the grammy Board of Select will hold a public hearing on Monday April 22nd 2024 at 6 pm at 10d West 8 Street the Senior Center building to consider the transfer of a retail section 15 package store all alcohol beverage on premises license for bruo Liquor Mart Inc to 367 East State Street Inc does business as bruel liquor Mark two to consider James Gibson as manager prefaces described as follows one story building containing 3,110 Square ft two rooms located at 367 East State Street gramy Mass 01033 hello sir good evening good evening if it please the board my name is Arthur Pearlman I represent VI Patel and 367 East State Street as you said they're seeking a transfer of the package store all alcohol license currently held by brusso lormont for the premise at 367 uh East State Street in grany and we also are requesting a pledge of the license to rockling trust which is financing the purchase of this business uh published notice for the hearing was accomplished by the town uh mailed notice to ABS is not required for a transfer of license 367 East Street Inc is a mass Corporation VJ Ben Patel is the sole officer director and shareholder of the corporation Miss Batel is currently living in Winchester Massachusetts she's owned and managed a business located in North Reading Massachusetts which has a beer and wine liquor license Jim Gibbons is will be the manager on the business and spend at least 40 hours a week at the business Mr giens also currently lives in Winchester he has worked for the town of Winchester retiring now from the water operations and is currently training for this business at Andy's lier in Wakefield Massachusetts so he's becoming very familiar with how we do it uh we request a business to be operated at 367 uh East State Street uh to be open seven days a week uh we're requesting hours of 8:00 a. to 11:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. the layout of the store will be as per the uh plan that I gave you I give you a Flor plan of the store uh both VJ and James have already been in the liquor business they are familiar with chapter 138 additionally they will both uh theyve both completed their tips training and I believe I gave you copies of their certification for the tips training uh they're like I say they're familiar with satutory law they'll become familiar with any rules or regulations that may be unique to Granby um I would ask that the board uh approve the transfer of the license currently held by Bruce liont for the premise of 367 East State Street in grur to 367 East State Inc as well as a pledge of the license to Rockland Trust thank you any questions for the board members the hours that you stated uh sir were the same as it's currently open right the St yeah the hours that you stated is that the current hours of the store uh not not exactly I I believe that the hours right now are like 9 to 9 Monday through Thursday 9 to 10 on Friday and Saturday and 10 to 8 Sunday so it might be another hour on each side usually what happens is most of my clients go in and operate with full hours to see what the public wants as the public doesn't want it they kind of reduce the hours to what the public is looking for okay this is a public hearing so if there's anybody from the public um has any questions comments concerns well maybe so so report checks if are required for the managers to take over this say that again or Cory check Cory was submitted it was submitted yes thank you for now did you say the license be held in trust the Leal license be held in trust no no it'll be pledged we we're asking to be pledged as security for the loan okay they they go beyond the UCC when there's liquor stores they take a UCC but they also a pledge of the license we want to make sure not that they're going to but if they had a foreclose on it they can have foreclose on a liquor store where they actually have a license they could ask you to transfer to whoever would buy it closure okay good is there a motion from the board make a motion to accept the transfer of Bruce so's um lior mark license to are we transferring it to well we're not transferring it to James Gibbons for just saying that he's the manager right what's the name of the company 367 East Street okay 367 East Street Street Incorporated a second have a second that any further discussion I believe we're approving the transfer not accepting the transfer so approve the transfer approve and and the pledge of license and the pledge of license as well thank you appreciate it have a good evening all in favor anybody oppos good sorry have a good night take care Chris we have any appointments did we wait didn't 6:30 well right mean like nothing as far as winning anybody we have some timing between for next one and 6:15 is it in the new business with the new Building Commissioner now being hired he fills various positions appointed positions within the town okay and these are the appointments to those various positions okay read that would you like me to read each letter yes for the appointment or what there I would just say the the position they're being appointed to right but the same person he list so I'll make a motion to appoint Damian Cody for the gry Building Commissioner um expiring in one year June 30th 2024 second second any further discussion no all in favor I anybody oppos I will make a motion to approve Damen codin for the parking clerk um again a one-year term expiring June 30th 2024 second any for discussion all in favor I anybody opposed just one I didn't think that would fall under this category yeah I will make a motion to approve Daman Cody for appointment as a gry sign officer for a one-year term expiring June 30th 2024 second second any further discussion all in favor I anybody oppose I will make a motion to approve Damen Cody for storm water phase 2 committee a one-year term expiring June 30th 2024 second any further discussion all in favor I anybody opposed and I will make a motion to approve Damien Cody for zoning enforcement officer on one-year term expiring June 30th 2024 second any further discussion all in favor I opposed pleas go you could probably do number six fairly quickly also that is basically the engagement letter to hire the independent auditor to come in and audit our FY 23 books okay so approve and sign the audit engagement letter for the chairman to sign now we by cck seems like he was just near not too long ago El report and go yep and Chris did the fee go up at all or is it the same same fee as last year $24,000 I will make a motion to um have Glenn sign the audit engagement letter for scandin and Associates to do our FY 2023 audit second second any further discussions all in favor hi hi anybody opposed how many years have we had them for long time many many years right I want to say probably a good 15 years problem we run into is there's not that many audit firms out here on this side of the state so and a lot of them they'll only come in for a day or two blow in blowout type of thing and um I just like having someone more local I can not talk to already we one I didn't know if you want to do it why it's just a minute one minute you better go fast no no all right I will make a motion to approve common vict license number um 24-35 this is to certify that Isel I'm going to probably butcher this last name but shopen does that sound right sounds good okay doing business as wandering waffles at 24 Beverly Street number two chicke Mass um is the common V's license sorry is 416 East Street Wine hos in that place only and expires on December 31st 2024 second second then any further discussion all in favor I ibody opposed that yeah thank you all right next 6:15 appointment now this notice is hereby given on the chapter 138 the Massachusetts General law that Grammy board selectman will hold a public hearing on Monday April 22nd 2024 at 615 p.m. at 10B West State Street the Senior Center building on the application of Lor and berer for something special catering service in Cafe seeking one a wine and malt beverage restaurant on premises license and two consider lorian B be a manager for the premises describe as follows 32 seat Cafe inside the floor um inside with one floor at 960 Square ft and 22 seats for outside patio at 800 square ft located at 181 West A Street Grammy Mass any questions from the board members no any questions from the public I got one is a staff tips certified we are not tip certified yet but I will be getting kep certified in um my full-time server two of them one for night in one for day and I'm always on premise for all business hours that's it are you open that night we are playing right now where our hours are to 2 Wednesday through Sunday but I do plan out opening 7 days a week from 7 to 8:00 at night okay close that portion of the public hearing no one have any concerns issues or comments sh start serving dinner and stuff like that that's the point can make a reservation probably clo and for a couple hours at two and then going to reopen again 4 to 8 pass she Ming back to one of your collectional SC Bo checked on I do fill out the paperwork for it yes good how many liquor licenses do we have open cres and Grandy you talking deer l yeah you know your is there a certain amount that are available for the area though right it's usually the size Community okay only that we the the okay I think that's what one per every 5,000 residents I this discussion several years ago and we were allowed to have and based on the viation right well there a motion motion to approve it I make a motion to approve um the wine and Malt Beverages license to Lori and berer as manager for 181 West State Street gby masse something special catering service and Cafe second I a second than any further discussion all favor I I anybody opposed okay thank you thank you good luck y Gra how about the um what on the list Here sign in no town meeting election War do we have the meeting at 6:30 because that's going to take a long do we want to start it and then stop start stop do you guys want to read the yes there anything else uh I need to be discussed we do have a report from Jeremy for our meeting for 6:30 if you guys want to that's it yeah we're just waiting in and then we have another one from okay I don't have they got enough copies in here for everyone read so I was just going to give that one guess one sping out first that's probably the first one we want to be welome sorry Glen we just have to read no do abolutely no thank you I appreciate that time I here switch what ch says at 6:30 is Dylan debuk yeah he's from the athletic director from the school but that was put on here by Kathy right yes he did not get back to me okay make our decision okay we just want to talk about the with BR Team yeah they just want to put a Fielding over Brown nson which is fine by us we have but we can share you start CL uh no the other thing I just put a request and just um the the G would like to purchase some specialized infield dirt for uh do frames Park and also Brown Ellison the infield uh just kind of bring the levels up to make the base path safer for the kids and also when they go to slide it's a little softer for them the stuff we have now is just it's old packed down really hard um Germany did turn it over for us but it's got a lot of actual like actual soil mixed in with it now so it's not draining as as well as it should so the ga is willing to pay for the dirt if we can have some help with the Trucking from uh chin out of llo that would be a huge help to us just as we're not allowed to drive on the fields or anything like that we just be easier if you know I'm not sure who would go get it from over the highway or whoever but just you know him and Germany they coordinate and say okay yeah this gate's open this day this time we in put the dirt down jery said he would spread it for us to a point and then obviously I've got plenty of parent volunteers with ranks and shovels and wheelbarrows you know smooth it out and do the finished product so the softball field needs some and the two baseball fields that U do frames are in pretty rough shape so we're going to try to get them in the dirt situation we kind of s the top soil on SL we already handled that last weekend we went over to class grass and brought some dirt from them and got all spread out by hand to fix fixed up R El so that's for the second request to screen Loom so that one no longer needs to be we could use some more um but the initial holes were fixed to get the kids up and Jeremy had mentioned he got some risers for some of the uh water spring there so the holes are remaining he said once he gets the risers put in we can fill those holes in as well and then it'll be a lot safer for the kids to so do we have spring blow Chris at the highway department did we have it do we have it no okay there scen sitting brownon we dropped there last week okay yeah okay say you Dro so say it's good somebody dropped it Dave since you here is this on the highway department could do was getting real busy and I'm getting real shorthanded another guy who's hiring very shortly um just it's an issue for us as far as coordination goes there's a lot of other projects people are asking work to do paving at cemetery and all kind of other projects and we start committing all of these we're not going to have enough time they're just not hours in the Sun how many truck votes do you two two trucks two of three it depends if if we use one of the bigger dump trucks it' probably just be two loads if it's the smaller one ton dumps it probably three me food just because they hold less than the M dumps do um I mean I do have volunteers that have dump trailers that are willing to facilitate the trucking I would just need permission to open the gate and have them come in the you know at a pre-approved spot by Jeremy or whoever it's fine we can get in and out I just don't want to step on any more toes I'm trying I want to fix the relationship between everybody versus you know every might just kind of do whatever they want make it more waves rather not do that so we can do it ourselves per se if if that's okay I mean whatever I just whatever works I guess is kind of where I'm at with it how many's what the larger dump truck Carrie Dave um eight 10 yards on our trucks yeah you need two we don't have I for get one get one little or get one load over at East or up East Meadow don't don't get East don't don't go there all one to do frames one to BR now again if you can't you can't not you know just trying to do it the right way that's first let me ask you with two FR and BR Allison being known by the town is that something the town can cover the cost of having the dir truck in no we don't have that budgeted anywhere can I speak Onin I'm not sure what we did at Brown I can't remember da can you come forward please in in the um the little softball field was complet dug out years ago but we attack and we brought in and fi mix for the little ball field um there's no point in digging all that out you're not going to improve the advantage there it's what anyway oh we're not going to dig it out we're just going to add it to just to get the base level the Bas your quantity is way off I you're only talking few yards maybe you know five or six little yeah I just F we just have some just to spare so we can top off theine as we need that way I'm not asking you again I just want I just wanted to kind of do one shot and then just have it on hand if I said I'm going to do whatever I just just want to do it the right way we brought in sure we did Fields do frame originally bring in like Trail we dug it completely out yeah and dropped it when it was done but that's been you know can't remember exactly around 2008 maybe there one two Fields there again there's two baseball fields and there actually there three there's three baseball fields and aof two baseball fields and a softball field excuse me sorry soft Ballfield was the only one we worked on with the infield mix the other one  that's brought in by somebody else years to go on little little lead field that's fenced in the other one is was never improved with any type of infield mix which existing soil so it's not eight it's not two 18 yard truck full it's an eight or a 10 yes I'm sorry I was May clear I just I just want to have you know I figured we were going to use like say maybe 10 yards total but I was hoping to have a little extra that way we can kind of patch as we go and you know set it to all over again next year yes sir and understand so if we have um the people that want to volunteer their time truck it in don't we have the rule that you can't operate Machinery on Town property we just have concerns with liability that's always Our concern uh one of the people a he's a general contractor um has all his license has full insurance would that better if he sign a release or that possible that not just in general what work are they doing well they're Trucking in a load and dumping it so they're gonna have to go over that bridge right and then well you got the small you got the gate where the baseball fields are it's that one gate that opens that the they're not doing any work we're saying no machines on Town property sound machine it's a vehicle they bringing in material I don't I don't see that that's not to me working that's just dump thing Dum thing it's transporting before before they go in though I would want them check with Jeremy to make sure the fields can support whatever that weight is that's com over yeah for sure absolutely make I'm just saying just to make sure there's no running oh absolutely absolutely there's already RS everywhere I totally agree because they're ping the about to fix I get it I mean I would suspect the smaller truck trucks G less an impr obvious the weight if the weight is the concern as far as the causing RS um but I I mean I'd like to have the town do something here I mean you know we had the ga ging the money we have volunteers from the town willing to spread out all the the tops oil and stuff it's just seems like you know excuse the pun but I think the town just step up to the plate and do something here to be part of it I mean it's for you know it's for the you know but it's for the town I mean just it just it just benefits the town and you know numerous times you know sitting up here I hear complaints about you know how our fields are and stuff like that and you know people compare them to other towns and stuff like that and I think here we have an opportunity to you know the ga is one of the spend the money on uh some good quality U dirt or top soil you know we have volunteers that are willing to go out there their time and spread it do their part as well as Glen so why not um figure a way for us to kind of get it get it from point A to point B and then with that said least I feel more comfortable where you know um uh the town uh employees you know is going to do I don't say a better job but we be more conscious of where they're going where they're putting stuff and got to know where and how to do it drive on certain areas then versus someone that coming in that's not really familiar with the area and then something goes wrong and then there's a complaint well they don't up the whole area did they know that you know I mean it's in love though I mean a trip back and forth to love is a couple hours and I hope somehow some way we can find two hours of time to uh accommodate this that's just where I am with it if they were bring it in and dump it is their recommended SP where they dump it and know IDE it would be better to yeah kind of like off to the side just as long as we can like not have to take the wheelbarrow like all the way across D FR that's just a long way for volun Mo what I was like obviously if you're getting paid by the hour it's one thing but yeah you know you can only ask for volunteers for so much only be up so much so cter to the field better yeah yes so if we have like you know one load like e we can split the two Fields that'd be wonderful so one field well I was trying to address the the r problem they're bringing a big truck like that it is it is soft over I'm not saying it's not it absolutely is so it's I know there is there any perfect solution to it I mean I'm not sure if jery has a tractor with a bucket on or not I'm not sure if he does or he doesn't but you know if we stick it over where the G used to have an old storage shed over there like that's out of the way and then you can go over grab a scoop go put a rub he want to go put it that's fine with a tractor but if you're doing it by hand then it a little bit more know which you did say that he was willing to spread it right okay um during conversations he said he's certainly willing to help us as much as he can again but I don't know if he has the equipment that he needs to do that jump I don't know if he has a tractor with a bucket on I know he's got the r till because he turned the fields up for us they look really good that's you know a thirdly aming progress there so I don't know if he has though we can ask da does he have the equipment to spr a one yard two yard bucket not it's a small bucket it's a small bucket you know we kind of take a we can get that's kind of where we're at we just want to make things right and make them good for the kids and you know it's all we really care about basically when they're down to which only bre for the kids B for everybody TR bring it but they bring it in one I think they probably bring it in two um that's I I didn't want to try absolutely that's just too much it be 160 right if you get two but you said possibly three right big I think too sufficient most case scenario years do this again to uh drive the dump truck date do they have to have a special license CDL or anything for the dump truck yeah okay th I um say one thing I mean it's not my under Department any longer but in In fairness to Jeremy um everyone can care of our town surrounding towns that have Parks departments that are bigger than our entire so gramy never got marks in this shade some of the other towns are it's just it's not going to happen unless you spend an awful lot their money on DBW and Staffing for parks there just not enough hours in the day um to do all of this stuff and uh I mean we we built that par around Alis in 2001 we built soccer fields graded in rning track and I designed all the gradings for that part I mean it it isn't like we have not been working for the community we do what we can with the hours we have but we're ping many different directions and I'm sure you know again with Jeremy um he's got a few guys working on that he can sell take care as well very busy I GRE little I yeah I don't see you guys do what you do I work for Bel we have five times this my department you know I get Bel to right just yeah just for Highway plus another six of you know four of us that do all the mainten stuff so I I get it and and this is a little off topic but I think maybe something that as a town we can look at is you know I know the town has a very strict like no no volunteers doing any kind of work on Town property type thing but a lot of smaller towns like C or whatever they're completely they're their parks are really volunteer handled didn't care by the volunteers the weed whack and the moan and all that fun stuff so if if there was some way we could find some kind of way to you know whether it's through the Parks Commission or not the um the volunteer People Help The Parks is if we can find some kind of waiver system or something have a few individuals that could like just go weed whack for an after like I again this is one of those things how do we work around asking the same you know five or six people to do everything in town it's so much but if we've got a volunteer base Bas is there some way we can find a way to utilize that base and have them go and it sounds silly but have four three people go weedway for a couple hours on the weekend but that that makes a huge difference in the overall appearance of what we offer as a town for Parks it's you know just just a food for thought and again I know it's not going to be a two hour you know one hour solution but I think we have the people that want to volunteer to do the work but we just don't have a way to re I that labor pool per second my personal thoughts okay back to this I know back to the matter sorry so the hangle would be getting if we exclude the highway department just your volunteers Z so the hangup Chris is the having them Drive their trucks and dump it in appropriate spot no the hang up is avoid the liability but that's I don't think that's a is it just coming in to to dump it's no different as long as the fields are dry enough to withhold the weight I get that that's that's my biggest concern right so that would have to be where someone is telling them where it needs to go or is it's okay to drive it out a field Jeremy yeah yeah and there's no there's if someone has a dumb truck and they're licensed and they're insured it's no different than a trucking company bringing something in because they're license and assured in the vehicle um we're worried about ruts and stuff like that that's why I said I I'd like just have the town take care of it I don't think it's too much to ask the town to do something like that you know again it just I mean if this board wishes to order it it will be done I'm talking to my other team we're talking about two hours and we're talking about you know we're talking about volunteers we're talking about people that are going to go out there and spend probably more than two hours volunteering their own CRI to spread dirt and if they have to you know some people might depending on what Jeremy can do if people got to wear Barrel that back and forth probably a lot more time I just think you know we need to give something I I think this is a time we have an opportunity to give give back a little bit so why don't we give babe I understand you guys are busy and I don't I don't fault that at all but I would hope you know in a two we process you can find an hour two hours to spar to go down there I don't know where turn is brown you know half hour 20 minutes half hour 20 minutes there 20 minutes back so it's an hour call it an hour that's a pretty fair you you know there back whatever else and yeah so last thing I want to do is have someone else come in and bring it in and they go on the field whatever something put ruts whatever and now becomes a totally different conversation you know I feel that the town can do it and I feel confident where if it's the town bringing it in they're going to look at what is the best solution put where to put the stuff so does it cause any additional issues to the fields it's easier to coordinate with Jeremy too when it's brought in and where to put it well not Jeremy it's they they well yeah but Jeremy's got to decide where it goes yeah yeah so a couple hours to get to two trucks there or one truck two two trips yeah I mean you were thinking like eight yards really wean was yeah that's it excuse me so we we got one truck load over two frames one of brown Allison or if you want just dump both do frames and brown Allison is fine for now I I'm I'm I'm good either way I just as long as we get something down so we can you know level the fields out for the kids that's that's a win as far as I'm concerned but you still need the brown Ellison field done as well so obviously be better if you do one in one it would be better well there's some over at Bri Allis now is there and they spread it already just about your life St I I think if if we if we have the volunteers that are willing to go out there and put the time and effort into do it let's get the Mater there yeah yeah agree all right there we go so Chris you'll work with David on that I mean we need some time he have to work into his schedule where understood I got problem with that just I mean in the next like you know week two weeks would be great just dump it in just it's there we'll we'll hammer it out and we'll make it look right well I appreciate you I appreciate all the volunteers too it takes a lot to to to do things like that that's all physical lab it is nothing fun about it it's not but when you see the kids out there and it's just you know our first day of practice in brown the the fields were all full it was beautiful because there were kids everywhere I agree I've been I've been there and I and I do I think it makes it it makes it worth it it really does makes a difference yeah all right thanks guys appreciate it you there anything else yeah we got to do the La Cross and here Meg isad the 6:30 oh okay all right so I guess Dylan's not coming this evening I was just texting with him he said um they're basically removing the request um they moved all the games to the South Hadley turf field at the high school and um I guess they're just going to stay with that so they no longer need use of not even for senior night I know that was a big thing yeah it sounds like he said everyone who's content with sadly at this point I think that's where we're going to stay so sounds like it's not an issue anymore man I like the idea of moving to a turf field I don't like the idea of moving to South Hy gotcha understood thank you all right that's it correct I miss anything War just a war I'm trying to get by that can't get by that H right all right crystal says can take a long time so there's a lot all right all right so Commonwealth of Massachusetts town of gry annual town meeting Hampshire SS to one of the consales of the town of gry in the County of Hampshire greetings in the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are hereby directed to notify and warn the inhabitants of said Town qualify to vote in elections in town Affairs to meet at the East Meadow Elementary School on East Street East State Street in said town on Monday the 13th day of May next at 7 p.m. then and there to act on the following articles to it article one to see if the town will vote to conduct the business of the meeting as follows on May 13th 2024 consider articles 2 through 23 and on June 10th 2024 consider articles 24 through 32 or take any other action in regard there to so am I reading each article and then if there's any questions stopping to see if there's any questions and then going back I would just I'm sure if the board has a question they okay article two to see if the Tom will vote to approve the consent agenda as follows article 2A to see if the town will vote to authorize the select board to conduct the following activities for fiscal year 2025 a to sell after first giving notice of time and place of sale by posting such notices of sale in some convenient and public place in the town 14 days at least before the sale property taken by the town under tax title land of low value procedure provided the select Bard or whomever they authorize to hold such public auction May reject any bid they deem inadequate so I did have a question about this Chris because is that the title five that um Steve n said was not um done by the town The Collector is that the title five properties of people who don't pay taxes it's not Title Five property but tax title takings yes foreclosure okay so that's what that article is referring to yes okay all right B to apply for and accept federal and state grants or monies as may be made available and to allow the select board to expend any funds received as set forth in the appropriate application C to enter into a contract with the Massachusetts highway department for the construction and maintenance of public highways for the ensuing year or take any other action in regard there to article 2B to see if the town will authorize the various Department depents to receive compensation for services rendered for fiscal year 2025 as follows a the cemetery Commissioners should be compensated for the bylaws of the town of gramby volume 2 chapter 19 Personnel bylaw appendix D Compensation Plan pay schedules to dig Graves at a pay rate of grade three step one and maintain the equipment and grounds at a pay rate of grade 1 step one in the cemeteries B the members of the board Board of assessors are to be compensated $15 per parcel for necessary field work and data collection for services rendered in connection with the reevaluation and recertification process involving one six of the improved Parcels in town C the members of the Board of Health and their Consultants are to receive compensation at a wage rate of $35 per inspection or specific required activity D the members of the planning board or their appointees are to receive compensation at a wage rate of $65 per inspection or take any other action in regard there to so Chris did the pay um when they say the grade one step one in cemeteries what did what was the rate that that changed from the previous year was it just a 3% increase yeah okay and then the board of assessors $15 per parcel that's same that's con okay 35 is Conant and 65 is constant okay then Article 2 C to see if the town will vote to authorize a Conservation Commission to charge a fee of $75 for each site inspection deemed necessary by a quum of the commission fee shall be payable to the town of gramy Conservation Commission and deposit it in the conservation hatch fund or take any other action in regard there to article 2D to see if the town will vote to accept the following gifts in calendar year 2023 for Perpetual care of cemetery lots Natalie buys $775 Linda M robar $775 Carl elstrom $1,565 Betty fet $1,575 John and Susan Gan $1,575 Russell F and Deborah a gay $1,575 Brian F and Barbara a hosch child $635 and I just realized I apologize I skipped over a name Sharon Delaney $775 get small done um Richard R and Wanda J Fields $1,565 Francis Donovan $775 John Sullivan $1,565 Francis Pike $3,150 $ 5 Helen Brooks $775 Kevin Allen Deborah a cut Kido $1,575 Barbara white $775 John McGrath $775 and Stephen and Beverly saborin $775 or take any other action in regard there to article 2E to see if the town will vote to authorize EXP expenditures from these revolving funds for fiscal year 2025 without further appropriation a a Parks oversite revolving fund from which the parks oversight ad hoc committee may spend $40,000 in revolving fund monies in fiscal year 2025 b a charter day revolving fund from which the charter Day ad hoc committee may spend $30,000 in revolving fund monies and fiscal year 2025 c a planning board fees revolving fund from which the planning board may spend $25,000 in revolving fund monies in fiscal year 2025 D an after school committees program revolving fund from which the superintendent of schools may spend $20,000 in revolving fund monies in fiscal year 2025 e a dog revolving fund from which the police chief may spend $4,599 in revolving fund monies in fiscal year 2025 f a a library revolving fund from which a library Commissioners may spend $2,000 in revolving fund monies in fiscal year 2025 or take any other action in regard there too um so Chris with the um clear cutting of the for not clear cutting but with the conservation going in there and doing the logging of the park that $76,000 was going back into the ad Haw Park committee correct is that where those funds go no I put them on I just put them in a special Revenue fund pending uh appropriation for a project okay so what does that mean exactly just so it's not in free cash it's not in any kind of so it's a separate account it's sitting there and in essence I I think the board of selectman should determine or approve any project that that money is being spent on to be honest with you okay and then the charter day revolving was that always at 50,000 yeah but you don't have 50,000 in there right now so I just dropped at to 30 but if you bring in enough receipts to cover you can spend okay I I was just worried about the tread Day committee for the following year because I'm pretty sure um last year we spent over 30 and we did dip into the savings we brought in 30 I don't know exactly how much it is I don't have the paperwork in front of me there's around like 15 grand sitting in their 15 16 yeah so each year it gets more and more expenses so each year we go into that in fund and we hope that it will pay for itself but it doesn't so the only time it pays for itself if you have three days of good weather yes yeah yeah and if you get the the people is there um or just better off leaving that a higher amount or that's what the board wants I'll change you I think what Chris was saying though is if we don't have the funds we don't want to take from the taxpayers so if we keep it at 30 you can do the 30 plus dip into the 15 but you can't go over the 15 so you would have 45 is what he's saying give or take if you bring it down to zero I think that's what he's trying to say but we're at less money this year than we were last every year it goes down yeah because you've been you've been expending more than you've been bringing in yeah for last two three years his cost went up but we didn't have the money in parking we went up on Saturday but we didn't go up on Friday or so so at some point you may have to look at and maybe curtailing some of the activities that you do during Char days yeah okay yeah there and then all the other ones were the set amount as I just noticed those to all right article 2f to see if the town will vote to authorize Town departments to enter into agreements in accordance with Mass General Law chapter 40 section 4A for the fiscal year 2025 or take any other action in regard there too article 2G to see if the town will vote to allow the select board to appoint a member of the select board to a position that is under the supervision of the select board as allowed under Mass General Law chapter 268a section 21A or take any other action in regard there to so what is that Mass General law that's the ethics law okay article 2H to see if the town will vote to amend the bylaws of the town of grany volume 2 chapter 19 Personnel bylaw appendix D Compensation Plan pay schedules and substituting a new appendix D showing the nine pay grades and 10 steps to be effective July 1st 2024 or take any other action in regard thet copies of chapter 19 appendix D are available at the select board's office will that be available during the town meeting to the people too it's usually one of the handouts we have out in the front and then article 2i to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $3,520 greater or lesser amount as its a portioned share of the fiscal year 2025 budget for the Pathfinder Regional rotational Technical High School District or take any other action in regard th to article 2J see the Tomo vote to transfer from available funds a sum of $272,700 or a greater or lesser amount authorized under chapter 291 of the acts of 2004 for Highway construction and improvements defined through chapter 90 of the general laws or take any other action in regard theto article 2K to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow or Bond 175,000 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the town's other post employment benefits OPB liability or take any other action in regard th to article three to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrower Bond $86,700 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the purchase of a pickup truck with a plow for the public Buildings Department or take any other action in regard th to so Chris that was the conversation that we had with Jeremy right and he went to the Capital Improvements so it this isn't going through Capital Improvements then or it is still we just have to get the because doesn't Capital Improvements have their own funding source well we still need the appropriation at town meeting but it's not coming from the capital funds no we're if we have free cash available I'd rather spend cash for the vehic okay instead of going out and either borrowing or taking from a stabilization fund that way it's uh the capital free cash is meant for basically one-time extendes and that's what I'm trying to do is spend mainly free cash and allowing these onetime expenditures I guess my understanding was that the Capital Improvements has their do don't they have their own account they do but what it is is when we borrow the money for those items is when I take it out of stabilization to pay the debt service for anything that is borrowed for that is approved by Capital Improvement okay how much is it our free cash Cris 271,000 pin change okay all right article four is to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrower Bond 8,750 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the purchase of a landscape trailer for the public Buildings Department or take any other action in regard there to Article 5 is to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrower Bond $1,856 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the installation of insulation and space heater in the Carnegie Pavilion for the public Buildings Department or take any other action in regard there to um where's the Carnegie building I know I asked you guys that's the old library library the old library so the Pavilion right the little white building yeah on the side of it towards the and the old library is where the um early voting was right is that the one if you look on the front of the building it says it's Carnegie Library okay but it's no long it all the time it's not a it's not a library anymore so now we just call it the Cari building and what's the building in front of the Veterans Memorial because that's the one I was picturing the whole time that one's gone that was the garage to the old ald Hall which was taken down the building in front of it is is the garage that is coming down also okay CU that's where the Gazebo is going to end up going eventually yep okay all right article six to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrower Bond $1,933 or a greater or less amount for the purpose of funding the installation of fencing at the COA building or take any other action in regard there too so that's this building that's this building why do we want to fencing along this backside because we've seen some elderly almost go over the edge and into the pond okay uh what we're doing it's a safety item as far as we're concerned because sometimes when we're older and even our age sometimes we think we put it in reverse but it's in forward would we be better off putting up like a Gil type I was thinking that well that's what that's what is it's it is it's still fencing but it's a guard rail type fencing is it metal or what is it fencing is it a guard rail it's considered fencing no not necessarily necessarily because most people think of guardrail as the galvanized steel okay I'll give that to you but I've seen a lot of guard wheels just like the W the woodw those are like the yeah the bigger 8 by yeah be I think they have it at the um Safety Center right they have it what yes yeah so it's going to be something like that that will stop them from on that idea just to stop them from going down the hill and into the yeah no we're not putting in a six foot fence or an 8 foot fence but I I say that to clarify that cuz people will think of a fence thought you were putting in a fence think Stockade Fence going down yeah down thing no it's a I what you wereing we've had this conversation with thanks all right article seven to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow a bond $2,251 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the installation of fencing at the brown Ellison field or take any other action in regard there too that is the actual fencing there's portions that are basically terrible and we're replacing the bad sections of the fence out at Brown l so the black fence that's in the front there then along some of the back sides and for uh I don't know if you noticed though but I believe the back stops at the playgrounds or at the ball fields were replaced by us we repaired those this year they were actually just done probably I don't know if chairman reported in his I report but uh we had a fencing company come in and re repair them so they are looking good again so that's good all right are article 8 to see if the town will vote and raise to raise in appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow or Bond $70,000 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the paving of the public library parking lot or take any other action in regard there to that is at the new library uh basically if you look at the parking parking lot it's all fractured and stuff due to water damage water look and settling underneath it so what we're trying to do is to uh repair it basically Mill it and then put a overlay over it to get it back to a better condition than what it is is that GNA fix the problem it will not fix the problem the problem is when I spoke with David is they never brought the ledge down low enough to compensate for the amount of water that drains along the ledge the water just not draining properly up there FR just pushing up the the as y so uh the only way you're going to do that is if you tear everything up lower the ledge and bring in probably gravel and other materials to allow it to drain away from the property more expensive than 7 I'm sure it is yes and how old is the parking lot now like how how many years have we been able to 13 15 20 years I mean that's that's 2013 2015 so 10 10 years 12 years the new AR as as years ago you're not going to get so article 9 to tr see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow a bond $2,174 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the replacement of the battery backup unit at the police department or take any other action in regard there to yes that is a battery backup unit located in the dispatch room for the e911 equipment that is supposed to keep the equipment operating between the time you lose power and the generator outside kicks in to supply power and it's not doing it now uh well let a that that was installed in 2010 and we're told that these systems at the most last five years so what we're doing is is I've been actually talking with Chief O'Grady we're looking at Alterna is of instead of investing this type of money every 5 years to get individual little UPS devices on each of the computers get it onto his radio system and so on and so forth and we believe we can get this probably done for probably one half to two3 to cost of what we're putting here so the 92,000 would be the individual UPS or it's still the battery is to is to remove the existing one which is basically almost the size of a room to purchase a new unit and have it installed and then have a service plan for five years and then and then in five years you'll have to replace it again because the batteries are no good you just can't go in and replace the batteries you have to replace the whole unit and even with doing the individual uh did you say UPS on each we're talking instead of having to spend this typee of money all the time yeah go out and buy a $900 UPS device you plug it onto the computers like most a lot of people do at home yeah you know you buy you pay yeah it's a little little battery that sits off the side and when the battery dies a lot of those you can just pull the battery out and put a new one in okay okay and we're just thinking instead of spending this type of money every five years to turn around and find an alternative way to do it to maybe get it where we can maintain it at a reasonable cost instead of having to do this there just's plenty other departments have the same service that we have so it's must be other way other other options besides that one so be great I'm sure the chief will reach out to various departments to see what they're using yeah so so he's looking into that doing it that way but for now we still need something working we have to replace this unit no matter what okay okay okay and this was the price that we had gotten that gives us a ballpark of what it's going to take to remove install and uh purchase an actual unit so article 10 to see if the T will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow or Bond 69794 or a greater or lesser amount for the P purpose of funding the purchase of a Cruiser for the police department or take any other action in regard there to and I think we talked about this before Chris that every year they do it right just to keep the fleet going and operational yes so what's the oldest one that they're going to be getting rid of yeah they ask me that one I don't I don't remember I don't remember it over off the top of my head if you want I can look it up and send it to at the meeting he'll explain it to right but but if you want I can I can send you an email which one planning on replac them and then that's the same thing for article 11 right the unmarked so to see the other one yeah is we only have two unmarked Cruisers so those should last a little bit longer because they're not really used in regular rotation uh 247 yeah so those should last a little bit longer than every three years or what so we have two but wants another one no this is replacing the second because he did one last year too right then I got two last year I got two last year he's getting two this year and then he'll go back to the one again okay all right so article 11 is to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow or Bond $ 67,5 126 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the purchase of an unmarked vehicle for the police department or take any other action in regard there to article 12 to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow a bond $ 7,340 or greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the replacement of security cameras in servers at the police department or take any other action in regard there to so that the 2010 that they put it in yes another outdated system yep all right Article 13 to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow or Bond $383 184 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the replacement of security fobs and controllers at the police department or take any other action in regard thet and on these two articles while it says Police Department it really is for the whole Public Safety complex and again it's the old system that was put in original and they're starting to have issues with the the pads and so on so forth so all right article 14 to see if the T will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free free cash borrow or Bond 1,300,000 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the purchase of a fire engine for the fire department or take any other action in regard there too yep that is to replace uh engine number two then the problem is this has a fiveyear weight to be delivered and according to National NFPA standards uh a second response vehicle needs to be replaced every 20 years and they're replacing a 2,000 7 so by the time they get it it will be 20 years old all right that's a big hit next one Article 15 to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow or Bond $89,000 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the purchase of of a pickup truck for the highway department or take any other action in regard there to pickup trucks pick TR start look at the patches on the sides floorboards all right article 16 to see if the to will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow or Bond $275,000 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the purchase of a dump truck for the highway department or take any other action in regard there to same thing and that one this has a threeyear weight now to for delivery of dump trucks and the one he's replacing the basically the body has rusted out it's been patched numerous times it's steel body all the newer trucks have' been purchasing stainless bodies and then we are not going back for steel it's just they cost more than they last longer yes it's we they're being it's free I've got slip and Sanders that are from 2001 are still in service with very little this steal ones or the stainless okay stainless r um what year was the was your truck okay and then what year is the um dump truck 2009 is the big truck okay all right article 17 is to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrower Bond 100 62750 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding paving at the West Street Cemetery or take any other action in regard there to in essence uh I was approached by a few residents that are saying that is terrible driving into the West Street Cemetery uh there are some parts where to get out to the graves that's not even paid you drive over dirt driveways so I was asked I asked David to go out and look at it and come up with a price estimate to pay the entryway again that would be to Mill in place and replace right recl recl in place and then to actually put start putting down some Stone and then a pavement out to the areas that are unpaved so people can get out to the grave sites without having to deal with the growing through dirt and sand and when it gets wet potentially getting stuck and things of that nature Is that West Street side or from the that's from the West Street Side West Street entrance yeah so it' be the entrance and then you said Stone and what else to get to the other areas well there's unpaved areas to get out to the actual grave sites I want to just pave those okay they were originally all paved and the Pavements broken up pretty bad it was oil and stone for a section there that's Sports ring rep had but the price we put together was to do the entire area that was originally either surface with stone seal or pay was C uh 1 um 6062 62750 now that is to B it out and have someone come in and do it David can do it but the concern I have is the availability of manpower to do it while he's trying to get his chapter 90 roads done dealing with the culs that he has to uh either maintain or replace catch basins things of that nature he has all that other work that still has to be done and as he alluded to there is a retirement coming in his department and we've had this discussion before is the availability of replacement Manpower because right now we can't find people to come in who have a class B license everybody's having issues getting drivers with a Class B or you got to be down with going to be down with one very shortly he's planning on going July July one or two whatever birthday and he's got vacation time makes sense only got a few more weeks how many people do we have at the highway department Dave there are six fulltime right now I have two SM V interns helping us out time basis how's that working out yeah any way we can bre got off and been different years in the cemetery they do the entrance way and then do this the side Trails later is that weird I got a feeling was was all sudden and done to get tell me like $5 left in bank account what bank account everything I know everything is expensive to be honest with you most of most of this cap or actually all of the capital is coming through free cash and the only thing I'm borrowing is the 1.3 million for the fire engine and the 275,000 for the dome truck which leaves us of what our free cash will be spent so if there if something and there is some money going into stabilization funds well free cash is only good till June 30th then at after once July 1 hits you have to get it recertified based upon the June 30th 2024 right balance sheet and some's going into Municipal build we're going to get there in a minute but some's going into Capital yes stabilization some's going into Municipal so if there was an emergency we do have a little bit of we do have we do have funds available okay uh we got about we got a little over a million in I think it's around a million one in capital I think we got about a million two in buildings and I believe the general is at about 200,000 and the problem we've run into there is a lot of times when the school is seeking additional funds they usually try and tap into the general general fund General stabilization fund do you still want to see if we can separate that I mean I mean find out when we get the BS and see what it cost I me this just speculation at this point could be could be more could be less but well with the price of O oil's been going up the price of gas and stuff um I think this may be a short figure to be honest with you all right article 18 to see if the tell Will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrower Bond $15,000 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the purchase of a mower for the cemetery department or take any other action in regard thet do they have a mower now or no yes they have a mower they thought they could just go out and buy a new mower for 15,000 and the town would just have to come up with the money with and I told did they already buy it no they bought it they haven't bought it uh but that was the the attitude and my answer is no we have to get appropriation for them to to purchase it so that's why this is not more are they buying it's a sereral term zero term M commercial grade and there's is old obviously right yes okay yes all right Article 19 to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrow or B Bond $833 188 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the tuition of for Smith vocational and agricultural high school students or take any other action in regard there too we are planning on sending four students to Smith folk for fiscal year 2025 and they have to commit my nth grade right and that's only if it's not available at Pathfinder correct article 20 to see if the town will vote to transfer from free cash the sum of $ 41,5 6043 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the opioid settlement special Revenue fund or take any other action in regard there to so that was what we got from the settlement right this was back in 2023 yeah we had received money after we had gone to town meeting M and we didn't hold another one beforehand so this is appropriating that money out of free cash into the opioid fund as required by the S and I was going to say and we have specific requirements that we have to spend that money on which is why it's going into that account correct and I think we had what talked about possibly working with another Community to try and figure out how to do a not a seminar but some kind of community engagement right we also asked uh I think it one of the projects we asked uh pvpc under DTA funds to see if we could merge with one or two or multiple agencies to be able to try and pull the money to have get the bigger bank for the buck for it and we didn't hear back from them I don't think that could funded okay all right to see if the article 21 to see if the town will vote to transfer from free cash the sum of $59,500 th000 is that including the 59,000 that's going in so that's just adding to it article 22 to see if the town will vote to transfer from free cash the sum of $59,500 stabilization fund or take any other action in regard th to article 23 to see if the town will vote to transfer from free cash the sum of $59,500 652 or a greater or lesser amount to operate the municipal Solid Waste Department or take any other action in regard there to on that on that article just so you know our current contract expires June 30th of 2025 so we need to start looking at a new RFP probably starting in July and I am seeing if I can get someone from Republic services to come in and talk about the current market because what they're trying what they're saying is is the industry is getting away from the drivers climbing out of the truck or having a helper climb out of the truck and load bags and containers into the hopper they're going to want to be all automated so we're going to have an issue with pay you Throwbacks because can't picked up they're not going to be able to just stack four five six extras on the side and have them picked up so either we're going to have to get extra carts for these people and that's going to cost us an arm and a leg would that be something where the town's required to supply one and if they want any extra they would have to get their own but it would have to be able to be picked up by that like the green waste management wants still what the size that they it's not the size it's the weight I believe it's not more than 50 lbs well those perrows aren't cheap either no B is at a 32 gallon one like we can we can get up to a 96 gallon container if you want but you you do a 96 gallon container and that's going to be heavy especially when people start throwing diapers and things like that and food waste into it so Chris what was the um assoc not the association but what was the company that you were talking about I'm looking at Republic Services Republic Services I had a like a half hour presentation by him and I asked if he'd be willing to come into the board and make the presentation to the board live so that you would know what you're dealing with for the next contract season some citizens right now have that I saw some public trucks driving around town they may be private yeah yeah okay just like you'll see uh uh I think what is it Comp USA or something like that or USA and dumpster 413 413 then there used to be a triple t used to come through and you know there's all different types these are people who have dumpsters in their yard yeah and they're coming in and emptying those dumpsters or they they contract privately with these companies and that way they don't have to follow our rules and regs they just follow whatever the company so you said it because we're not going any more extra bags well we that's the problem that's the concern I have is that is this program going to be able to be affordable for curbside collection through the tent it's a it's a it's going to be a heavy duty decision on partment support well just gets more and more expensive to get trash the only other way around is stop the services and everybody have to hire private yep and that's going to be a not going to go over very well because now you're going to find more illegal dumping yeah and David is going to be out there picking up trash and Jeremy's going to be picking up trash out of our parks whatnot and it then it's going to be the town disposing of all this illegal trash instead that was the fear before yeah yep I was a fear that was a concern before it's a fear because we know that's what's going to end up happening we're seeing illegal dumping at two frame Park as it is now even with herside collection because people don't want to pay the the uh $4 whatever $2 for a bag or yeah they can't they can't be bothered you know then I'm sorry but I just have problems with that we're going to have to lock each one of our dumpsters at all our sites you know yeah ask has yeah but it's not going to go over easy people are are not going to like that that's why we're starting to install cameras I think we would need to have cameras installed at every site we have a dumpster so we can catch people when the ille dumping all the sight streets they go down and prob them into the woods yeah and what'll happen is he'll get a call go pick it up to take care of my section but but you go you call the police because it's illegal dumping you go through and you have to go through the whole back of garbage to find out if they happen to throw something in there that contract yeah and people are getting smarter and they're not doing that takes time yep all right do you want me to go to the next article please okay article 25 to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate or transfer from available funds $27830 or a greater or lesser amount to operate the sewer department or take any other action in regard there to so that is just for maintenance right and the fee we have to pay to South adley for user fee all right article 26 to see if the town will vote to raise an appropriate transfer from available funds transfer from the stabilization fund transfer from free cash borrower Bond $75,000 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of funding the purchase and installation of a generator at the Pleasant Street Pump Station or take any other action in regard there to currently if the power goes out Pleasant Street pump station is without power unless David brings in a portable generator to run it this way we'll have power to it all the time and not run the risk of the pump station overflowing and contaminating the streams so what happens when the power goes out and the people hook to that station right does it will it ever back flow or no because of the valves I don't think there'd be enough pressure will overflow in that area pressure to go backwards it okay in that area but it okay just a section from Co Hill Street basically isn't the entire system Pleasant Street pal station will and so now it will be on site there and fenced in so that nobody can take the generator or anything like that uh I hope so yes yeah we be SED to the ground both of them in theed it's a station cemeter is not pass been on enclosure okay all right article 27 to see if the Tom will vote to raise an appropriate or transfer from available funds $568,000 9 $568,500 on this one the I I was speaking with the chair of the finance committee they have a concern with us contining to add Personnel to the fire department ambulance department um as we go along they've been ever since I think Chief O'Neal has been here we've added one person at least one person on every year and the question is becoming is at one point does it not become a affordable for the town to keep adding Personnel I know he says his run data requires shows that we need all these people on site but at some point it's going to it's going to break the budget we're not going to be able to bring match revenues with the expenditures going and we have to really decide should we try and look at regionalizing with another town or trying to figure out should we try can we go back to part-time call force or are we going to have all full-time staff 247 and again I understand we're talking about people's lives we're talking about People's Health the ability to take care of them but again I agree with that but we also look at the affordability can the town actually afford to offer that type of service and when we had it before didn't it pay for itself when it first started yeah it was paid for itself okay now we're talk about the ambulance the ambulance yeah okay but but the ambulance before when they first started it the salary of all the employees was charged directly to the ambulance department none went to the fire department now we are funding 72% of their salaries out of buyer and only 28% out of ambulance because the revenue streams aren't there to cover the full salaries anymore so the taxpayers are picking up a larger burden to cover the Staffing of the Fire slm EMS depart what go back to discussions that we've had in the past whether or not because I contractor ambulance services with the to you're right yeah I remember having that conversation when I first started because AMR took over for Greenfield right and we had that conversation then because they couldn't afford yes they could back fire down the road I think they use a combination now of AMR and in Department we Bost paramedics but they went to sprink they all went down there they Opera out of Base they yeah now just us I mean lost the or four that I'm of so I think we lost a couple of here they because they're paying huge money well that's the problem but that's the problem you're going to run into no matter what we can't afford to keep up with what other people are paying out now and that's the same discussion we talked about with David and when all all us department heads start retiring you're going to find you canot it's going to be sticker shot I know for this town I know yeah I don't think that the people understand that at this point is that at some point it's got a break yeah you know I'm going to be honest my my position it starts at 150,000 now from those places you look across the state that's the lowest you see is 150,000 and they're and I'm sorry same with his position same way well with his credentials with his credentials yes he'd be 150 almost probably 175,000 if you honest with you they just have engineers in those departments that do what he does it's not even the the department head it's just an employee a civil engineer who does all that work so we've been talking about this for several years now but it's coming to aead you have an aging Force he has a gentleman who's going to be retiring with with you know he has a basically a Class A license we're not going to be able to hire a class licensed person cuz we can't afford to pay them $170,000 a year that they could get out on the road doing tractor trailer I don't know what we're going to do to try and replace that individual when he retires years ago municipalities gave better benefits now Private Industry has caught up with the benefit portion that and the fact that they can pay the higher wage because they just pass it off onto the consumer we can't do that yes we're limited well here you preach it to the choir I understand that you know what I'm just saying is you know we we talk and we talk and we talk about it but now it's coming to realization for him what's he going to do if he can't replace that person now he's down one full-time person you're going to become a training room right you know we'll invest in them to get their license es and then once they get their license A Private Industry will snap them up and they're gone same way with the p came in everybody got the academy stayed for a while but continue all right can't take any more CHR is Bad News Article 28 see well I I know I'm being the realist but you know it Al it is real we've been talking about for several years but you know I hate to be the Doom and Gloom person but I think that's part of my job is be Doom and Gloom for you guys yeah to be honest with you get it out on the table it's it's reality we've been I've been on the board now for seven plus years or so it's it's we've been talking about it we know this isn't nothing new for the past several years ever since Co we've been fighting with you know keeping staff and we we've seen it recently just with our building y y you know just trying to how many times you know just not there and that's one position and the other ones hold true because these are positions that are in demand it's real Article 28 Article 28 see if the town will vote to raise appropriate or transfer from available funds such sums of money as may be necessary to defay the expense of the Town including debt and interest for the ensuing year and to carry out any vote passed under this article and one Bloom and doom on that one is the select board sat line item salary finance committee will only agree to a 3% increase from current year to next year if you want to argue that with them they have a meeting on Thursday night and you're more than welcome to log in and argue your case to them that point because I put in what you wanted the 15,000 for the three board members 5,000 piece which is basically $1,000 of raise just for really coming live in I mean it's just you can argue with the finance committee I I talked with them and they're not going to honor your request just so you know what was the time on THS 6:30 I think they 6:30 all right article but uh sorry for Article 28 it says to defay the expense of the Town that's our that's all the departmental budgets that's like that school so anyone that went over budget for these are the budgets for FY 25 School moderator town clerk selectman uh Highway all the all the municipal departments okay so that all falls under 28 yes okay and then we'll have it itemized once we get to town meeting for yes you'll have moderator wages or Personnel yeah expense Capital so much so much and that's all the ones that were already presented in front of us anyways all the ones that felt underneath your purview okay okay you don't see the elected ones for like the Board of Health the assessors town clerk uh collector you don't see those because they don't report directly to you right they report to you right and they report to the town towns folk to the voters just like us yes yeah but they they give you the budget and you have to put that budget in I put it in I talk to them about what they're looking for okay and then I forward that to the finance committee for their review and subsequent questions do they do the elected officials see what's going in front of the town before they get to the meeting or do they find out after the meeting what goes in front so if like the request isn't granted by the finance committee will they I would notify them okay that the finance committee isn't uh isn't agreeing with your request to increase the hours from 30 hours a week to 35 hours which is what you did tonight letting us know that the finance committee doesn't agree with is that suppos is that supposed to go town floor for vote what what's being if if um the the elected official can stand up and argue at town meeting yes but is so if the town put puts in a budget ,000 in most communities you are correct however in our bylaws it says a balanced budget is turned over the finance committee and it is their budget to do with as they desire so our bylaws overrule what you're saying which is why I remember the town clerk had to um stand up right KN County yes yeah yes and that was why the original bylaw Review Committee changed that wording a little bit so they didn't have total control of the budget once it's turned over to them which we didn't get to approve that at that meeting right as it got tabled because the finance committee was arguing grammatic okay stuff on it and they were going to make that meeting drag out for four five six hour yeah because we never returned to that meeting nope okay all right um article 29 to see if the tell Will vote to transfer from the capital equipment needs stabilization fund $220,400 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of reducing the funding from tax levy for the fiscal year 2025 Appropriations or take any other action in regard there to and as I mentioned earlier that is the amount of Debt Service being paid in fiscal year 2025 for any article or any equipment purchase authorized by the C Capital needs Capital Improvement committee that was borrowed all right article 30 to see if the town will vote to transfer from free cash $ 8923 n4.7 for the purpose of reducing the funding from tax levy for the fiscal year 2025 Appropriations or take any other action in regard there to and basically is using free cash to uh make up the deficit that we would have if everything was funded by tax levy which includes an additional 600,000 above minimum for the school department over minimum all right and then article 31 is to see if the town will vote to transfer from account number 30-12 2-58 1- 0000 Bond premiums to be applied $1,470 32 or a greater or lesser amount for the purpose of reducing the funding from tax levy for the fiscal year 2025 Appropriations or take any other action in regard there to that item there is when we borrowed for the East meow addition renovation project we received more money than what we bonded for Pon premium accordingly what we have to do per Department of re Revenue regulations is to amortize that amount over the life of the loan there was a 25y year loan we had I think originally had gotten I think it was 155,000 premium and that is being reduced every year year according to a formula by the Department of Revenue that's this yes for fiscal year 25 yeah so we're transferring it to what though general fund which will then reduce the amount that we need to raise from taxation okay to cover the debt exclusion V all right in article 32 to see if the town will vote to assess the amounts raised and appropriated under these articles and morrant on the Estates and personal property personal property of the town of grany that allows us to issue tax bills should probably start off with that I can see all right and you are hereby directed to serve this warrant by posting attested copies thereof at five or more public places as of the bylaw before the time of said meeting here of fail not and make due return of this warrant with your doings there on to the town clerk at the time and place of meeting AET given under our hands this 22nd day of April in the year of Our Lord 2024 sir a second I'll second that yes that's my motion any further discusss no no all in favor I I anybody oppos there's nothing else on our uh no you got one more got the election warrant to do this one first down no yeah I'll do that one actually I Pro well let's sign this I guess and then pass it back to me the election warrants underneath it yeah that way we only have to do one posting yep we only have to do one registration for involing buers things okay and the polling hours are 12 to 7 thank you all right at 385 East State Street in said toown on Monday the 12th day of May 2020 4 from 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. then and there to cast their votes for the following offices for 3 years a select board member an assessor a Board of Health member a moderator a town collector a Treasurer two school committee members a commissioner of burial grounds and three Public Library Trustees for four years unexpired Housing Authority for 5 years a Housing Authority member and a planning board member and you are hereby directed to to serve this warrant by posting attested copies thereof at five or more public places as of the bylaws before the time of said meeting here of fail not and make due return of this warrant with doings thereon to the town clerk at the time and place of meeting as AFF for said given under our hands this 22nd day of April in the year of Our Lord 2024 so I make a motion to approve the town annual Town election War second second any further discussion no all in favor all anybody opposed good job I would have lost my voice what what I would have lost my voice all right well that's it for that portion of the meeting so has any anything else regards to time uh it's 8:00 uh we do have an executive session on our agenda this evening so that said we went to Executive session under 38- 21-2 this is the conduct strategy in preparation of negotiations with a nonunion Personnel so out of a regular session um after our executive session only to this time we'll call for roll call vote to enter into executive session sex and I your eyes do I thank you folks thank you