e e e e e e e e e good evening welcome to the select board meeting of April 2nd 2024 we'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right so uh we expect Mr Manan to be here present in the meeting room so all members participating in the meeting are present in the meeting room um if he joins by Zoom um we'll adjust the announcement um the public has the option of attending in person here at town hall or via zoom using the link posted in this meeting's agenda this meeting is being recorded so our first order of business as always is um public forum and please note that each person has up to two minutes to speak at public forum please start by stating your name and address is there anybody here to speak tonight iot Road so on Tuesday the 26th I asked marily not present of the status of my Cal complaint against the chief and a bush and um I stated I was going to go outside of the town which I have of written letters to the attorney general civil rights division Mass County District Attorney's Office the Northwest District Ada Steve gagy and to the governor Mel hey um Mory and to luk Governor um Kim Driscoll both letters have been sent accompanied by the um the complaint that I turned over to the police department and with a letter explaining why I'm doing it um so then my second point would be a few meetings ago you had a young college student looking to become a hopkington police officer and somewhere out of the blue you seem to come up with some very articulate very relevant questions of the young man to become why he wanted to become a h and police officer what his thoughts were on his style of Patrol was going to be how he was going to treat people and and I think that was great that that's definite an ad boy for that because that's very relevant to this town but 4 weeks ago you interviewed two Patrol men for the sergeant position and quite frankly the questions were definitely scripted and they were almost irrelevant and one of the two patrolmen failed to answer any of the questions asked of them and I believe you pointed that out there yeah so what my thoughts are is another word directly from you Mariel is as a select board be careful the chief hasn't appointed a lieutenant since he was asked to and now it seems like a mad scramble to get that accomplished and I think that some of the candidates have questionable pasts I know that there's been suspensions amongst some of the sergeants that may be considered and I have no idea who's being considered there's also civil rights violations against certain coming up on two minutes Mr snow okay and I just feel that the um the Lieutenant's position should be an appointed position from the next chief and deputy chief not our current ministration I think that would be very well to help this town get over our police issues thank you thank you anybody else in the in the room here to speak tonight yeah come on Timothy Bo in 41 Pine Crest Village uh I was late so maybe this question was already asked but who's the acting police chief uh the the current police chief is the acting police chief is he back on active duty I don't have the answer for okay so uh if he's not on active duty who's running the department he is who's running the department is it Norm who is it so that is a that's a legitimate question and we're going to talk about it later okay uh my last question is uh and I'm sorry I'm late I just drove in from Chicago um three weeks ago I was asking questions or maybe it was four weeks now and I was told this was not a Q&A session I just asked you two questions they were answered I'm I'm trying really hard to make this a better situation I don't know if I'm doing it right or wrong no so you weren't the one who told me it was in a Q&A session so my question is can residents ask questions of the board during the public forum yes or no you can but you can't necessarily assume hold on it's a fuller qu answer you can always ask questions yes if we're going to take up a subject it has to be on the agenda so it may be that we have to put it forward to another meeting that's the point of not going back and forth okay but I can still ask questions correct absolutely because when I just asked that question Miss laer went like this Mr nzru a two week a few weeks ago said I couldn't ask questions it's not a Q&A session you guys need to get your act together get it straight on what you're going to communicate to the community about how these meetings are run thank you all right you're welcome hand on Zoom uh do you mind who who's on can we liveen up whoever has got their hand up thanks Amy good evening uh Madam chair and uh distinguished members of the select board um I have a quick question about um pandemic relief funds so I understand uh from a recent audit that there that there are uh funds that are kind of use it or lose it funds and I I could be using this the the wrong way and I know that we Ed some of the money um in the pandemic relief funds to help pay for the uh water treatment plan you know the the pfast filtration um my question to the board is um how much is left over of that when um does it expire do we have plans to allocate that money for you know projects Public Works and things like that um and that's that's my question so you don't have to answer now if you don't know but if if we could somehow get some news on that that'd be great because I think there's a couple million bucks there there yeah yeah we actually talked about at that the last meeting um do we have the to I don't have the totals in front of me but they do expire if they're not firmly contracted spent or committed um in December of 2024 thank you ma' okay um anybody else okay thank you um our first item of business is the consent agenda the select board will consider the the following agenda items the minutes of February 8th and March 12th as well as accepting the gift a gift of a donation of $250 to the public library from the Garden Club to be used towards the new seed Library which I love but I don't think you get to return those seeds but I'm not sure um is there anybody who wants to split anything out on that agenda okay um and uh can I get a motion on the agenda I move the consent agenda second although those in favor signify by saying I I any opposed any extensions it's unanimous okay um then we are going to have a public information s session on the proposed General bylaw amendments um and I wonder Mrs Lazarus if you are prepared to walk us through those article sponsors here as well oh great so the first one on the list is a um an article proposed by the Conservation Commission uh that would amend the non-criminal disposition byw to include a penalty for violations of the wellons protection act so it just uh as a housekeeping item and Kim is here to answer any questions and explain a little bit about them great um can you just explain for the general public what it is is you said it's just correcting an administ Administration okay yep um so my name is Kim I'm the conservation administrator here in the town uh so the Conservation Commission via the town's Council has recently been made aware of the commission's Omission from the town's non-criminal disposition bylaw the non-criminal disposition bylaw establish establishes penalties for violations to town bylaws via the 21d ticketing process the hopkington wetlands protection bylaw was promulgated prior to the establishment of the non-criminal disposition by law and we believe the commission's Omission was an administrative oversight the commission is requesting a $300 per day per offense fine for violations of the hot and wetlands protection bylaw consistent with its previous actions the conservation commission's position related to enforcement is a preference for education and collaborative compliance enforcement and sub quently fines are reserved for extraordinary circumstances and remain a measure of Last Resort and I'm happy to answer any questions you have regarding the proposed amendment does anybody have any questions I do um so the $300 per day is it it's up to $300 per day or is it a flat rate does the commission have discretion uh we are proposing a flat rate it is $300 per day per violation um that is the maximum F that is established by the state like I said uh the commission does strongly prefer education and collaboration the commission only moves to fines in extreme cases and when there is non and no communication we do find that uh when there is usually a fine lby it tends to be towards larger commercial developers or subdivision Developers but it sounds as though the commission would still have discretion as to whether or not to issue a penalty depending on the circumstances definitely okay thank you youel any questions no I'm I read byw and I'm I'm all for it I think just to comment um it sounds good to me but this in line with the fees be charged with the planning board and other violate other people that violate other similar laws same as the zoning okay sounds goodel do you have any questions on that the I know just get in it's the discussion about the uh non-criminal disposition for the concom the $300 um no no questions okay um uh I I don't have any well I always say that but then I have follow up with a question so I do have one question um I I I like the concept of discre but um but how do we make sure that we're Equitable as we impose a discretionary um what's the process um to make sure that we're really being Equitable and fair um as we're deciding those yeah so there is actually already a process in place in our regulations so it's like a five or six step process it does start with Education contact um there has to be a notice of violation there has to be a site visit there has to be coordination with the landowner or the contractor after a notice of violation there has to be um an enforcement order which is regulated under the ma Wetlands protection act and the hackington bylaws and then if the enforcement order is not followed that is when fines are starting to be considered there's also a public hearing ing that's triggered by both the notice of violation and the enforcement order the Violator is invited and encouraged uh to attend all of those public hearings as well so there's kind of multiple steps along the way of you know working with anybody that is under consideration of being in violation of the bylaw before fines are even discussed great thank you I'm good thank you sorry one f so I'm I'm wearing my my old D enforcement attorney hat um so you go through let's say you go through all the process you decide that okay we're going to issue the penalty $300 per day per violation that can add up in any kind of one particular scenario you know as if it could be like $900 per day would the commission have any any any discretion and saying okay we're gonna we're going to go with the 900 but we're going to go count just uh one day per week okay yeah absolutely yeah and that those kinds of um discretionary talks happen at happen at the public meeting when over the enforcement because it's you know for something like Phil every day that the fill remains there is another violation so uh we are required to issue an individual ticket to the landowner as well so I mean we are also limited by staff time and availability so thank you no further questions great thank you very much I just have a quick question uh for the penalty amount how did you come up with that and uh have you checked around if other towns have um this type and what is theirs yes that is the maximum allowed um which is I guess the state the state says $300 under the 21d titing process that's established um and it is consistent with other Town bylaws and the reason why we are going with the maximum allow is that we find that with these larger developers um and Comm commercial developers sometimes it's it's still not enough a couple thousand dollars is kind of just a cost of doing business for them uh so we really did feel like the $300 per day was was a necessary amount thank you okay great since this is a public information session are we taking questions on these I I would happily take questions if people had questions I think I don't see any any hands raised um yeah we absolutely we would welcome questions if um if anybody had any thank you very much uh the next one is amending um the bylaws pertaining to membership of the appropriation committee and the capital Improvement program committee and the at large members of the community preservation committee so that members must be residents but not necessarily registered voters thank you you thank you so this one comes from us um I don't know if anybody up here has any questions no I except that I just felt it was a good idea since the majority of our committees do not require citizenship so it just seems fair to um to make it consistent with the other committees yeah I I'm very comfortable with too I see it as a welcome step I would EO that too I think it helps with the representation um with a major um constituency and across the isin diverse groups okay any questions at all from the public um okay the next one is amending a bylaw pertaining to attendance at town meeting to require the moderator to designate an area for non-voters and to allow any Resident to speak at town meeting subject to recognition by the moderator I see somebody making his way good evening hi Conor Dean town clerk so elen and I worked very closely on this Amendment um based on some interest from the board and the community to have some more voices to be able to be heard and we figured it's town meeting is one example where town meeting sets its rules so if we want to increase the number of voices that are heard at town meeting we have the availability to do it and it's up to town meeting to make that decision but we can give the the ability to do that and the tools to do it so um Elena and I basically looked at it with that really all we had to do was kind of loosen the rule around uh how people are recognized to be in the hall because the current restriction basically says that whatever is designated as the hall no one is allowed in unless they are specifically Allowed by the moderator because they're presenting something uh this would then ease that up to allow them entry because we would be recording our votes through electronic voting methods and then if we had to for whatever reason if something failed and we had to switch to another voting method then it would just be as simple as we would have the passes still and we would then move non voters into either a special section or an overflow room just for the vote okay so um I I understand that whole thing um so we would not necessarily separate out sections unless we thought that the electronic voting was not going to be correct successful we wouldn't have any need to um and that's why it was specified in the the bylaw amendment that it's uh contingent on the electronic voting system but then it just gives us that ability to still maintain our counts without having to worry about sections so that does that does pose a question for me so uh which I understand um is there anything that complicates it if we don't continue with electronic voting would we still have the bot to allow folks we would just have to make the Amendments or you just said it was contingent upon electronic voting so it does give both myself as the clerk and the moderator a decent amount of logistical leeway uh so it allows us to kind of figure out what method will work to not interfere with voting but kind of what we've discussed and I talked a bit with Ellen about it as well uh we were hoping that we could give an opportunity for people to still be either in the room or an overflow room uh if there was a case that there was too many uh too many voters that did show up and we needed to section off areas for voters but it would still then allow for them to approach the microphone and be recognized normally uh so it wouldn't necessarily stop them from being able to be recognized it would just change our logistical approach okay that really was my question is that we have we have um we are putting forward um a bylaw that will allow non-registered voters who are residents to participate in town meeting and it may look different depending on whether we have electronic voting or paper voting hand voting or whatever um but still we have a mechanism for allowing non voters who are residents to come okay thank thank you anybody have any questions yeah my question would be um so this would mean that um residents under 18 like high school students might be able to come too even though they can't vote and speak yep so it doesn't have any restriction on age this current version of the bylaw is only saying that any Resident of the Town may may come and we'll track that based on uh our records with the annual Street listing in census so that's how we would maintain that so as long as people respond to their census and say if they live here then they'll be on the list I think that's great I think high school students I think are particularly interested in this sort of thing too I do think that we have always had high school students in the hall at different times and and obser we have but they don't necessarily have the the right to speak and and interact in with the whole process unless they are also voters which we've had some as well uh I love when I see 18-year-old new voters who decide to come and and join us at town meeting because that's a a really fun experience I agree I agree yeah no I think that that's that's definitely a feature as well my question is just to understand the logistics so for out of town um audience that will still be handled the way we are doing it today like a separate place for sitting and yeah so yeah we'll maintain that if there are staff or uh or any um contractors vendors who are there to speak to specific specific things that we're looking for and testify they'll have already run that through with the moderator and the boards that they're working with and we'll have a spot for them to sit near the front so that they can easily move up and take over presenting uh and then we'll just make sure that they stay in those areas just to prevent it from uh if we do need to switch for whatever reason we're not chasing all of them out of the room necessarily thank you and I do think the electronic voting was really successful and uh hopefully we'll continue with that but the contingency that you mentioned for that we would need to be prepared meaning the moderator the helping um volunteers everyone needs to be educated and uh trained on this procedure that you just mentioned yep and then the other piece fortunately with uh with the electronic side of it we do have the benefit of having the vendor who is there dur on the day of for troubleshooting but again if it fails we have all of our contingencies written down in place for uh election workers who are there working as well as my staff to get it all done EXC thank you you're fun I'm good all right thanks Connor very welcome thank you appreciate this and then the next bylaw uh that we will consider at town meeting and for discussion tonight is to amend the town's leash law to allow dogs off leash at the dog park and to allow the select board to temporarily test alternative dog control approaches to leashing requirements with public notice Peter are you here for this one welcome good evening Peter legoy 21 Hayden Rose Street speaking here as chair of the Town Trails coordination and management committee or Trails committee um the issue of dogs on Trails has been something we've been working on for quite some time um trying to balance people who are perhaps afraid of dogs from having been bitten as a young child and so have a a deathly fear of of dogs with the desire of of folks to have let their dogs run free and we started looking into this issue I think shortly after last year's town meeting when there was the depth of the complication became evident it is complicated it's a very complicated issue um what we're trying to do was put together some forums and we we thought of putting together a forum and trying to get a more elaborate article for this town meeting but in in thinking about it further we thought it was probably best to take small steps so we are planning and having a forum the first or forums the first one will be May 1st at the senior center um where we're just listening to people's ideas what has happen what has been done in other towns um in other places um what are people concerns what are they um worried about not worried about through that process though in looking at the existing leash law there really is no way of testing any of these if we find an alternative that looks like a a good choice we really don't have a way to test it so the the primary purpose of this bylaw is to allow for that testing with the select board permission and with appropriate public hosting so um one that comes up regularly as a as a possible is maybe a relatively confined area like the Back Field at Pratt field could be opened with signage that dogs could be off leash in that area um as long as they're under control and then we can see how it works what what works what doesn't work um so that's the primary purpose of this change um while doing doing that we noticed some housekeeping that I again came up at at last town meeting which is that basically the existing dog park is uh illegal to have dogs off leash in that dog park the way it the rules currently stand it and why we're doing this it seemed like a simple fix to to solve that problem as well so so that's the point of that essentially a housekeeping and then a you know way to test Alternatives perfect I appre appreciate it any uh questions Mary Joel no just you said May 1st you were having the Forum we're having a forum right for and we're going to start the posting um again and where are you having it Senior Center Senior Center right I think o' but I'm not sure the exact time yet others are taking that's all right we just I just wanted to get it out there so the people know any any questions no I think just as we saw last year people are not all on the same page on the so it is good to get out um get feedback from a variety of people and see what we come up with yeah I would like to also hear how the um feedback you get and how it looks from the resident perspective as well it's interesting I think uh there are a lot of um good reasons for it but I I don't own a dog yet so I'm not fully familiar with all the um delicates situations here but I can empathize with the situation and I think it's a good well thought out uh approach as it seems uh one quick question I had is um on the part C when you say silic board will time to time evaluate an alternative um can you clarify what you are uh thinking or targeting with that approach that would be for example the um you know can we open Pratt the Back Field at Pratt to dogs off leash so we'd post that we'd let the I mean it' be your we'd make that recommendation to the select board the select board would say for some Define period of time the back field of Pratt will be open for offleash dogs um get do proper um public awareness campaign and and let them do that and then kind of Monitor and see what we hear good bad or indifferent and then bring that back to you to you know do we modify it do we keep it how does it work clarify so would it be kind of like an event or parade permit you would come before us with your plan for how how you this approve that temporary plan okay correct yeah each temporary plan whatever it is would be approved by you folks before it goes out to the public not me I happily say those folks right I just um with this could include electric fencing though couldn't it yes yes it could like you could electric fence a really big area and let dogs go in it and yeah we're not experts on this people who have dogs pay a lot more attention to this stuff and people who are concerned about dogs pay a lot more attention so that's the idea is to get everyone in a room and get all those ideas in a room and then kind of try and sort through bring something to you again in in this type of meeting so again the public has a chance to weigh in and then Implement y test it rather than put together a the idea is to do something rather than simply putting together a bylaw that then like last year's town meeting people discuss the pros and cons and we really don't have any information as to what works what doesn't work y any questions no I mean I think it I think this makes sense it's um a trial period for various options and I would imagine that at a future town meeting then we would be proposing a law once we know what works and doesn't work so or final point you know I have been talking to the Animal control officer about that so making sure he's in the loop on on this process so um I really like the um the public engagement piece of it and the and and the flexibility to to test ideas it is a super challenging thing people have their own individual and I get it completely you know ideas of where they want to hike and where they want to go and what they want to do with their own pet and or how they want to interact with somebody else's pet but um I I appreciate this is a really solid step forward to engage with people and try and problem solve all we can do is try y y y okay great thank you thank you um okay ask one more time there probably no one that wants to comment but did anybody want to comment on that last question okay um okay um our next do we we don't need any votes we were just sort of commenting on it educating the public socializing it great um okay our next order of business is um New Town employee appointments welcome through the chair I'm respectfully requesting the board to confirm the town manager's appointment of Ray Stevenson as the town's reference technology librarian um this is a position currently funded ohome this position is currently funded uh at less than 20 hours uh per week and it will be replacing Kate klavas who resigned from the position go ahead right through the chair um uh the reference technology supervisor is a position that assists patrons at the reference desk coordinates supports and troubleshoots technology and technological services within the library um there's a lot of collaboration with Town it um and this role serves as a bridge between it and Library support staffs for improvements um maintains the library social media presence develops and conducts technology instruction and educ ation programs for patrons and staff and develops suggest and implements policies and procedures regarding Library Technologies as needed and the role also promotes maintains and educates the public about the growing library of things um Rey has um fashioned uh full-time position out of two part-time positions um as a library assistant in in circulation at the town of Welsley and um as a library substitute and then subsequently as a library or senior library assistant here in hopkington prior to that she worked as a or they worked as a photographer and has held various um customer service roles in retail and banking um Ry um has an associates degree in visual Fine Arts a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and photography and a master's degree and in progress in library information and Library science um we like to speak about relevant competencies when we are um when we have an internal candidate who's moving forward um Rey has a a gentleness and openness that displays their awareness and respect for others um Ry is smart articulate intelligent thoughtful in her Communications and displays maturity and discipline on the job um Ry has demonstrated in her time in their time in hopkington strong detail orientation um they're a self-starter participates in all staff training and professional development um and is trained in circulation young adult and reference service areas and I'll let um Jack tell you a little bit more about some of the um contributions Ry has made certainly um so raid started working at the hopkington public library in the spring of 2022 um in the two years that I have had the privilege to know them they've progressed in the library field exponentially um starting as we've mentioned as a circulation substitute and then progressing as a circulation assistant and now in the position of Technology librarian in this time they've displayed their competency in working with the complex technology that we have within the library especially relating to design and visual art which speaks to their visual arts background which is unique in the library field where so many Focus simply on the technology as it exists in and of itself where Ray finds a beauty in technology that then translates to our patrons in addition to their time working in hopkington Ray does also serve the public of the wells of Welsley working in their Public Library as capably as they serve the citizens of hopkington and this provides us in our library with a unique perspective having such broad Library experience additionally Ry has dedicated their focus for their master's degree of library and information science at the University of Rhode Island uh to working with special populations within libraries such as teens underserved patrons as well as championing championing deib initiatives Ray has been truly made an impact recently highlighting key topics from the conflict in Gaza to ending period poverty they've also helped design and label all of our new seed Library so Mel I'm sure you're going to take a look at that all of those beautiful love packets that are designed were designed by Ray and I can say they're gorgeous um they're committed to diving right right in and have been an advocate in our library for those who have been voiceless within our own Community as well as others Ray is the perfect librari and to help the hopkington public use the library technology that we have and help our patrons in this wonderful town access our library Services equitably it's for this and many other reasons that I'm excited to have Ray as part of our team continuing and going forward wow well this is is really wonderful um I will um I will jump in first and say um how much I appreciate the focus on folks that we don't necessarily um focus on typically right that underserved population uh designation means an awful lot of things in an awful lot of scenarios and different situations um so I really appreciate that and for me especially at the public library for me it is um it is one way to really embed the message especially for young people that there is safety here and that everybody is welcome and we are paying attention and we are seeing people um with intentionality so I really appreciate that I don't really have any questions I'm thrilled uh to know that you're going to be moving forward into this position do you have any questions uh no questions but um you know few comments when I went through your resume and uh it looks like you have extensive experience and uh I like your approach and kind of new angles and how we can merge Information Technology with the library um so I welcome it I think this is going to be a fantastic uh merging of of uh different aspects within the library so I'm all for it yeah no excited to see you as the final candidate and also great to see you have served us uh very well and we are able to find a um next career path for you here and also that we are able to snatch you out of Welsley so that's great you certainly have a great uh academic background and moving towards a great professional um career so welcome and thank you for choosing hopkington I um the question I had actually was this is be moving into a full-time position right oh no it's so she'll still have two part-time positions okay all right that's actually how we lost our last um library and it was a she found a full-time position they're rare in in the library world I've done that in my career too had um two halftime jobs at the same place for a while till something opened up and I could get full-time well anyway I hope that works out for you here it looks like you're on your track to get your master so maybe then there'll be something that you can get in August okay yeah so um so we're glad to have you aboard and it's another role great here Joe well I'm not going to ask you why hoping you already work for us uh no you're just you you really are just kind of advancing your position a bit and that's what you what you're doing so uh I wholeheartedly approve and I think that I congratulate you on getting your MK summer so I will um entertain a motion somebody wants to make it and to Rachel re Stevenson for the excuse me for the position of uh reference technology librarian second all those in favor signify by saying I I any oppose any extensions congratulations I'm going to insist that you stick around for a picture if you don't mind in a moment okay yeah I'll jump in I am respectfully requesting the board confirm the town manager's promotion of Jessica Lawrence from um benefits coordinator to the town's Human Resources Director uh as you know the Human Resources Director guides executes and manages the municipal Human Resources Services provided by the HR department except for the school department and the role ensures accuracy accountability and efficiency of services provided and is responsible for maintaining and improving upon these areas of responsibility uh building leading and directing the HR team is a key focus of the position uh the HR Director serves as the town's representative in a variety of forms and venues including the town's affirmative action equal employment officer health insurance portability and accountability act uh privacy officer and harassment grievance officer this role also functions as the town's designated agent in such matters as workers and unemployment compensation Ada flsa and Dei um let me also um perhaps with the with the chair's permission allow um Christine to explain in the process before she does so realizing that this is a significant position in town we invited all Town departments to participate in the panels all departments but two participated the two departments that did not participate cited emergencies that came up making it not possible for them to attend the interviews and also considering that this is an internal promotion uh we I need to highlight to the public that this was an open process we received applications from outside the organization and Christine will list how many people we in interviewed saass to say Jessica was the only internal candidate correct so we had eight candidates apply for the position um the first round panel interviewed five candidates um that panel consisted of elain Lazarus assistant Town manager Tom porier fire prevention officer John nce uh principal assessor Andrea khib Bri Youth Services Supervisor from the library and Nicole bratos the inspector of construction utilities um and uh inspections for the um DPW uh and town Engineers office um of those five candidates four uh were forwarded to second round and the panel included again Elaine Lazarus Aaron O'Neal uh hopkington police Sergeant uh vasuda duta executive assistant to to the town manager's office John leis Parks and Recreation director and Kobe Wallace of the land use um planning and permitting Department um and from there those four candidates Jessica was selected as the top candidate and recommended to the town manager and in terms of a relevant competencies um you may recall um Jessica actually worked for us for a while and then took a break assumed the position of Human Resources Director for the town of Charon we successfully convinced here to come back to hopkington uh where she worked with us um in the last 4 and a half years as the benefits administ lator so she has been in hopkington for 8 years in total um throughout the interview and also talking to uh Maria Casey who again was part of the interview process we confirmed Jessica's abilities uh relative to contract negotiations currently she's working with the town manager in negotiating our health insurance renewal uh Labor Relations as should mention uh Jessica has LED some of the internal investigations that we' have conducted here successfully uh she has extensive employee relations experience including conflict resolutions uh she's actually an mcard trained officer policy writing uh she authored the town's workplace safety policy she also has extensive Recruitment and Hing experience throughout the Enterprise Public Safety here Town Hall Library and DPW um she is great in data analysis um she has helped us in multiple ways um with our benefits calculations as well as confirming instances where we are having extensive salary increases uh as well as uh she has done a fantastic job in fact linking the organization to the individuals who have worked for us for many years namely our retirees when I went through her um her her file I saw a lot of a great deal of commendation letters coming from our rares so with that I'm respectfully requesting the board confirm her promotion from benefits coordinator to HR Director thank you very much um I'll start down with Mary Joe do you have any questions well we've got to know each other a little since uh I'm working for Connor and down there um I don't really I think that you've been doing a good job of what you're doing and I and I'm glad to see you being promoted a bit yeah I'm not sure I really have any questions either like it's always good when you when you're promoting some within everyone already knows you and you know the environment and um so I hope that that'll be a good move on well it sounds like sounds like you certainly went through the rounds with the interview process and um you I'm glad that we're able to bring you back to Hopkinson and I love the idea of you moving on up um I'm I'm confident that we'll we'll be in good shape yeah do have a question but before that I certainly commend your stepping forward and going through all the interview process and uh great to see you in the final round um certainly it's been very competitive and you have a great background great service to our town and thank you for sticking to our town and doing all the great work that you're doing uh the question I have is in your view um with the competitive market that we are in uh what would be your strategy for our thoughts on retaining and promoting the uh motivation of the Town employees well I think there needs to be um communication with employees um I had proposed um various different benefit um enhancements in an effort to um have a well-rounded um experience for to support employees that may be different from um either other communities or other employers um and also help assist since there has been such an increase in inflation um to help their benefits that would help employees to pay for some things that um are necessary cost in their life um so I felt like that was an enhancement that would assist with retention and recruitment I also would like to um an idea that um our previous HR Director had that um has not come to fruition um I would like to start to do stay interviews as um in addition to exit interviews and talk to employees around what are the things that they um enjoy about working in the town of hington and what are things that they feel like are um either changes that need to happen or further developed um in order to make it a better place to work thank you thank you for sharing sure um thank you very much um I'm always really gratified um at the rigor and the robustness of our process um I always appreciate I think I've made that very very well known um an open um an open application process and I always expect our internal candidates to do very well um but I think that um it is always a good thing when we look to um really look out to to invite new candidates into the process as well um uh and I lost my question I had one too wow hate when that happens oh I was I was more of a comment actually um we have floated the the conversational topic um about like employee satisfaction surveys and and feedback and so forth I'm a big fan of um of feedback on a regular basis and some mechanism so that people can handedly openly um without sort of attribution too to the comment some it's wonderful to to necessarily interview people directly but also sometimes it's important for people to be able to give feedback um that isn't attributed to them um so that we you know we build our processes and we make them better and we make ourselves better so I appreciate that idea a lot actually okay I will entertain a motion I move the motion to appoint Jessica L Lauren um as the H director for our town is there a second second all those in favor signify by saying I I any opposed any extensions congratulations should we take a picture or wait for the Poli wait for that wait for the other appointments are you able to wait yes I I'll be here anyway you'll be here anyway so you're definitely able to wait Ray are you able may lose Ray um by the time I think why don't we take two pictures why don't we take two pictures we can take one yeah all lose anybody way it's easy to [Music] Li can't actually talk about that right next but we can we just have to correct the impression I think okay next order of business is the senior work program is Mr nce here doesn't look like Mr nise but that's okay say you're better looking to Miss Denise oh easy welcome thank you good evening board um my name is R I'm the deputy assessor uh it's my pleasure to be here on behalf of principal assessor John M and the board of assessors uh I'm here tonight to request approval to increase current senior workof program limit from $1,500 to $2,000 uh to give you all some background on the program the senior tax credit volunteer program allows seniors and hopon the opportunity to volunteer for the town and in return receive a reduction in their property tax for the hours worked the tax reduction is earned based on the total of number of hours worked at the state's minimum wage rate of $15 an hour the maximum tax reduction that can currently be earned is limited to $1,500 recently uh mgl chapter 59 section 5K was amended to allow any city or town that accepts the provisions to raise the property tax reduction limit to $2,000 if the increase is is approved it would help provide hopkington seniors with a way to offset the rising cost of living and hopefully allow them to stay in their homes here in hopkington it will also provide the town with an additional thousand hours of volunteer service some of the places our seniors are currently contributing their time and talents include the treasure collector's office the assessor's office the town clerk's office and the senior center if impr if approved seniors in this program would be allowed to work the additional hours now through September 2024 to reach that $2,000 tax credit which would then be applied toward fiscal 25 tax bill uh the cost of the program for fiscal 24 was $660,000 we had 45 seniors who participated uh earning a reduction on their fiscal 24 tax bill if we raise that limit to $22,000 we expect to see an annual increase in the program of about $15,000 a year the program cost is funded through our overlay account and the amount needed needed to operate the program is considered each year when determining overlay needs uh the board of assessors along with the human resources department and the hopkington senior center are recommending the acceptance of this amended provision to raise the property tax reduction limit great thank you Loren um the cost of living has increased substantially in the last few years from uh preo 2019 to 2023 there was a 19% increase in um the cost of living and when we consider individuals who may be on a fixed income and the cost of um the the U value of homes um increasing therefore taxes increasing um this would be a step um to help mitigate some of those um increased cost for seniors great uh I appreciate you bringing this forward and I always like to when we talk about the cost of this program I always like to suggest that the program really honestly pays us back um so we more than get our value in return for this investment and our seniors who participate in this program so um any questions or fund yeah um just for the public public sake um how much of an impact on everyone else's tax bill would this really have um I mean at $660,000 I mean this is you know it it today it's 60 and it'll be 15,000 more right 15,000 oh at 75,000 um I mean it's it's not even more than a penny maybe of your tax would be to that's what I that's what I just wanted the public to understand is that if we're giving these tax breaks what it cost them and they're earning it they are volunteering their time at the at the minimum wage rate and the town is benefiting from paying essentially minimum wage for highly skilled labor yes um and oftentimes people who have retired from um Municipal work here with the town and experence excellent thank you Mr Man yeah just to comment on that I think this wonderful glad to see it's coming I mean when we have Rising taxes inflation and everything going in uh this is gives a little bit more than uh what he used to so I think this a great move now that said I just want to understand a little bit of the Dynamics um because it appears to me that um you know it's given the parameters it's um very little change in my VI but uh when was the 1500 um ceiling established and what has been the inflation since then do you have a sense of it just in general you mentioned 19% in the last three years which 3 four years which makes sense but the 1500 when was it said the last time do you know I'm not sure when the $1,500 amount was established um but it was of January 2nd 2024 of this year that it was amended for the 2000 okay no understood so I'm all for it and uh I think we get a great value from the volunteers and the seniors and a little bit of respite so um this is great miss lefer I don't know if I have to recruise myself on this Vote or not because I'm I'm proud of this program I've worked uh and I can say that I do work and I and I get the maximum and then I wind up continuing to volunteer because we need so many people in these positions and it's for quite you know quite a long time I mean I'm pretty much almost done for this year and then I'll be volunteering through the rest of the year but this if this opens up too for more seniors to come forward and volunteer here for positions and then I won't have to continue to volunteer all year which I would probably will anyway but um it it it's so much better to give the seniors a chance to get out and and work for the town and be in the town buildings and see what their taxes are going toward and I also think that um they need the the outlet is is wonderful for of along with the senior center which is which is a great place and I've worked down there and um it it just it means so much to people to be able to contribute and and it it costs the town nothing compared to what it would cost to hire an employee to do what these volunteers do for that part of the year it it it's really a savings so uh I just want to encourage people to vote for this if I may oh sorry I go ahead you want to go ahead you know what do we have to open a public hearing 15 minutes ago yes could I entertain a motion to open the public hearing for the um the restaurant application for new all alcohol beverage beverages license at the Hopkins Center for the Arts and we'll come back to it all those in favor signify by saying I I I any opposed any extensions okay thank you sorry about that um and you wanted to say something on this yes about the public hearing and then also oh yeah on on on behalf of the Town Hall team um want to take this opportunity as your outgoing Town manager to thank the seniors for their time knowledge skills and abilities they actually bring a very EXC exting tone to the atmosphere Town Hall I can assure you that every moment we've called a senior to come in and help on short notice they do show up thank you amen I'll just EO what the others said this is a wonderful program I'm glad we can offer it and I wanted to clarify because this what I heard to so the state legislature upped it 2000 specifically they didn't want to tie it to infl so it will grow a little bit each year so 2000 is our limit correct and yeah 2,000 is the limit okay and and they don't apparently change it every year for inflation so that's too bad they didn't do that but anyway I'm very supportive of moving it up to 2,000 okay um so I'll enter I imagine we have a motion on to move to great I move to approve the changes in the senior work program for 15 from, 1500 to $2,000 per year as Allowed by Massachusetts general laws chapter 59 Section 5 K second all those in favor signify by saying I I any opposed any extensions thank you very much for bringing this forward thank you all right so our next order of business will be that um that public hearing for the all alcoholic beverages license for the Hopkin and center for the for the Arts located at 98 Hayden Rose Street Hopkin and mass under Mass General Law chapter 138 section 12 the public hearing will be held at Town Hall 18 Main Street uh I don't think I have to read all that welcome so I know that we have all interacted with the materials in the packet but uh introduce yourselves and what you're hoping to achieve with this uh good evening attorney Trish fonsworth on behalf of the Hoppington Center for the Arts and with me as you know both uh Kelly Grill the executive director and Denise Tracy the event manager and Denise would also be the proposed manager on the license um briefly we're here for an all alcohol section 12 on premise license um for the past 9 years or so alcohol has been served at the center in connection with events and performances and shows and fundraisers um they have been serving uh via Caterers um but um now that's been difficult just because of the cost um incurred and Kelly can explain more with that and also finding Caterers um but also this past summer um you all were kind enough to um issue I think 14 special one day licenses that um you know they did not use Caterers that they served the alcohol themselves again no issues um so there is public need you know the the center is you know a valuable asset in the town and this would certainly help them and uh you know operate they're not changing their business at all this not turning into a function hall or a you know an event center this really is just a a side use and um the ability to put on these events um also I just want to point out that Denise has tremendous experience um which she can address um if you have questions in her past with respect to the sale and service of alcohol um you know folks would all be staff and volunteers would be tip strained uh so there wouldn't be any issues at all with the sale and service at the center so that's just a brief overview um but I think Denise or I get pass this on and like Kelly talk about really the problem with the Caterers hello good evening yes we found um that uh over the past several years um that it's become increasingly difficult uh our agreement with the town was to use 12C licensed Caterers when we had any event um to ensure that we were using professionals that had that extra level of certification uh but what we're finding is the majority of our events are smaller there are some art shows some plays that will serve for about a half an hour or smaller events of 20 to 50 people and for these Caterers after covid several of them folded didn't come back into business so then when we did find those Li license level Caterers they um either were just too busy to take on such small work um so oftentimes we would have a concert and know a few days before we couldn't serve alcohol at the concert because the attendance was only for them uh 75 people or 100 people and it wasn't worth their time uh and so we started to look into the possibility of in addition to that the cost increasingly got higher and higher so every time we would have any kind of event where we served alcohol uh it would cost us anywhere between $250 to $500 to have that event just for that alcohol service um so so it it's become quite costly for us and it has become um a detriment to um some of the events as many people know uh has it has increased the experience by able to offer alcohol at whether it's uh an event that we're having uh or it is a concert or an out outdoor concert indoor concert or play or anything that we're doing so um that's when we started to investigate this possibility and we've looked at several other different art centers that went through this process and um were successful and we feel by hiring and a very experienced event manager who's been with us now for 3 years um and we have been basically doing the work for the last seven years um without an issue and so we went through the process of the application and feel confident that we can moving forward this is going to be much more successful reliable uh much more cost efficient and even have a little bit of a revenue for the art center um versus what we're doing now great did you want to LEAP in so I'm not sure how far you guys would like me to go but um if you consider that I started working at Hojo at age 14 I've got over 50 years experience in the food B in beverage industry um I've worked at many many establishments down the east coast and more notably here in um Massachusetts I work bavos for many years um my husband and I opened our own restaurant 11 years ago and um in Holliston was Jasper Hill and um we had a liquor license there then we moved to Millis so we had a liquor license there um for a total of like eight years until Co did Us in um and there were no incidents whatsoever with the license there um yeah great thank you um I'll open it up to the board for questions or um really no questions I think it's finally time that you apply for the all um all alcohol license uh we've been doing it one at a time and um I think the HC has run it fantastically there's never been an issue and uh I think it's high time yeah I would for the same I certainly see are have been a big fan of your programs and how how you bring the vibrancy to our town or have been and um great to see that um it's progressing and you have handled all the events very well very professionally and um I'm with to I think um it's time that you gain this efficiency and this better U cost management and go over the humps that you're facing and um certainly having someone so experienced and the record of years to handle it um very uh professionally and um uh up to the Mark I think tells a lot about that so um um in favor of this and I think it'll help also uh continue your mission and all the good things that we see from this Center Amy yeah um so I'm very supportive of this application it looks like staff comments were positive just the reminder that if it's over 100 people they recommend a police detail and and someone certified In Crowd management which I think that you're probably already doing and I'm glad you had a chance to try this out for a few years that makes it feel much more confident in proving the all alcohol license and I did see the superintendent wrote a letter on behalf of the schools saying they haven't had any issues so that's great um and um Dr cap is on the zoom if we had questions I don't know that we do but okay but any yeah I'm happy to move forward with this Mary Joe I'm going to be the denter again um I I have a real problem because the law is so specific about not allowing any alcohol within 500 ft of a school or church or a few other things and this is within 500 feet of two schools and I I know everything's been fine but the process we had was for each event and we knew what the event was and we knew when it was happening and it had oversight and it had police oversight and and this is this is like a a restaurant license it's like a a blanket license it's not the the same as the licenses we've been giving out for specific events and I think that we can do something I i' like to see something done but I want to see something much more specific as to what's going to happen when you have a 30 40 75 person event and and how we're going to how are we going to do it with uh all the the other protections that we have trash protection police protection all all the other things that we've had in the process that we've been using and uh it may I know now it costs you more we're going to have to what I want to do is try to find a way that we can continue with the oversite without costing you more of it from these companies that we can do something within your but it but a blanket license is not the way to go my feelings CU it's actually not the law there were a few um precedents that the superintendent was making sure they were following I don't know if we want to read those so yeah we do have we do have that letter from the from the school and I I appreciate that I wonder um kind of wonder if we have any sort of don't take this the wrong way sort of inforcement authority so if it isn't you folks in front of me but it's the you know the the the next ad Administration um does do the provisions under the law cuz also in the in the letter from um Sergeant Ben ralton from the police department um he respectfully requests they uh that the requirements imposed on other license holders be uniformly applied to the HSA to ensure equity and honesty don't know what all of that means okay I can I can address that that is the statute um the law is that you can have a liquor license within 500 feet of a church a hospital or a school and a school means um you know Grandma school high school um colleges and Nursery schools do not count but you can have that as long as this board makes a determination that the um alcohol license and in this case would not be detrimental to the school the ACT activities of the school and I think that the uh you know the school uh superintendent um voice that you know she did not think it would be detrimental um you know they've had alcohol there all these years so it hasn't been detrimental um before um so I it's not going to be detrimental and to your point I think you have more Authority um if you issue the license you can revoke this license you can suspend this license if there is any issue with it as opposed to a caterer license you the Hoppington board do not have authority over that that's the abcc so really by issuing this license you have more Authority you know these folks you don't know those Caterers who the staff the Caterers are so I I not that there's anything wrong with Caterers no no no no no I know but I just want to so but that is the law actually um how how it works and there are plenty of um you know liquor licenses issued um it within 500 ft of a church school or Hospital you just need to deter make the determination that it's um I I have no no problem with issuing it for events as we have been doing I just the idea of a blanket license is a regular license is uh well I think the plan I don't think it applies I want to know each individual event and and what they're doing could we apply individually to our motion that um Dr kavana put in her letter about alcohol should only be served at the H when schools are not in session can we add those to our motion as conditions so so long as the port finds makes a finding regarding those conditions if the port finds the appropriate yes the board can consider them as part of the motion um I had I had another question um uh and and by the way I have celebrated events at the HCA I have celebrated at events at the HCA I have enjoyed myself um entirely at all of those events um and they've been they've been wonderful the for the community I remember speaking to you when covid broke and we were gathering for the first time but outside um how meaningful and important it was for the community and the way that this um the HCA has really become what I would call sort of an engine of really positive activity and and uh Drive in the community um the the other question I have is that it seems different to me and I don't know the law um that we would uh we would assign a liquor license to a facility that is in a town-owned on Town property and I don't know what the implications of that are as long as I mean your at lease you can permit that um there's I mean sure there's other town-owned properties or city-owned properties that have been issued aici I mean they're like any other tenant yeah um you know if a restaurant went in there you could issue a license I mean and they're not going to be a restaurant they're not going to be using it but I do want to point out that they don't just serve alcohol they do want to make sure that there's always food available with alcohol whether they're selling um you know the the food items or whatever so it's not just in you know these right I'm just looking for procedure okay how do we know when an event is happening what's going to happen at the event what kind of alcohol is going to be served and we should know that at every single event and not just all of a sudden alcohol served I can address that we need to know huh I think I can address that um the last agreement we had uh was uh if we were to use a 12C license caterer we would not have to come for a one-day license and the reason we came to that conclusion was we have so many events if we had to come in front of this board we'd be here every every week um talking about two or three different events and it was just way too cumbersome so the select Board of the time had come up with a solution and so we have parameters of ours to serve and when to serve and we would not be changing those at all uh they are always not when school is happening they are only for these events this is a small the other thing that you can be rest assured on is we are a 501c3 nonprofit organization and in order to maintain our 5013 status uh 75 to 80% of our Revenue has to come from Mission driven uh Revenue generating um purposes and so we will only be allowed to do that about 10 to 15% of our time at things like events that brings extra revenue or else we would be subject to losing our license so you can be assured that it will never climb above that number we would never let that happen it's a it's a much smaller portion of what we do um and as far as the we really didn't have a situation before where you knew every single event and every single time was reported what we did is we followed the parameters that were suggested which was only when school is not in session uh only at the hours that the bylaws allow for us to have uh events happening at that time and we would continue to honor that agreement um okay uh professional I'll come back uh did you have any questions or comments Mr uh um Mal or Miss Lazarus yes um not necessarily a question but this could be one of the conditions if the board decides to move forward there's an existing list between the town and the HCA whatever action that the town takes tonight or the board takes tonight should comply with the leiste in other words we want to make sure that there's no there are no other changes that are required in the list are we looking up the lease as we speak Y and the I think based on prior discussions um it's the application is properly before the board IE there was an anticipation that there may be an instance where uh um the HCA May apply for an alcohol license and and and the list does allow that application to be submitted but we want to make sure is uh that if if the application moves forward that any adjustments that are needed on the list that they do okay I do believe um question and some comment uh so I think um Norman you answered my last question which is it has been Ved by the Town Council correct or through the legal lens to some extent or do we need to do further all these questions yeah I'll need to confirm with Vasa if this application specifically was sent to Town Council yeah we can do that due diligence but in the meantime I think um you know there some of the concerns that I heard and we definitely want to do what's um right for our town and how we can also promote HCA and the mission and provide the flexibility that we are looking for um and my understanding is you know it's not very uncommon for nonprofit and this type of U uh cultural centers or art centers to have these type of privilege um in other towns or generally in um other establishments but um so given your track record I think I I feel comfortable but it would be good also to for everyone to know how many events on an average or you have um managed so far where you served alcohol in the last take a pick and how many complaints or abuse of alcohol reports you have encountered so we I would say on average it is uh two to four events a month and we've never had a complaint we did actually get a letter of support actually from a butter as well um did you say that um Dr Dr kavan can we liveen up Dr kavana to just in preparation that's what I thought but uh just wanted to reflect that so you know there's no concern on that front um so it clearly shows that you know you are able to manage it and have the good reputation of it uh will continue to uh be able to manage it it's more about providing the flexibility that you are looking for I also see that the hours are after school hours uh which makes it uh I think more reasonable given the context it's close to the close to the school um so I just just wanted to add those comments and thanks for their information um Dr kavana hi good evening everyone um yeah thank you for the opportunity to speak can you hear me yes yes okay great um so I mean I think from the schools and um I I do like maybe the idea of putting into a motion um the idea that they can only use the liquor license when school is not in session or when we are not having um an after school event ourselves um and I I do want to say that Kelly Grill and the HCA have been amazing neighbors to us and I think the communication is always very I mean it's always very clear and it's open and it's two-way and I I appreciate and respect that um but we're not sure that this will always be the HCA leadership and so I I do like just having that that additional layer in there um so I guess uh the takeaway for me is I I guess I would just like to have very clear communication with whoever is at the helm and and I appreciate Kell's work at the helm because it's been it's been wonderful thank you very much um okay any final questions before go ahead Mary no I just thought when we did one day like a license on other town properties which we done but they're one they're one day things and we get to we get all the information that goes ever on town properties but I don't want to pick that fight I don't know if we've done them EMC Park we've done Park EMC Park yes and I voted one time I we've done it common on occasion over the way back in the years and um things of know a long time ago but I I also don't want to set a precedent for somebody else who's that that's all I I I I want to see this I want to see this happen I just want to on a more individual basis uh really know what's happening like like like Carol she wants the other layer and that's all I'm looking for it's a it's another layer of of uh okay maybe we just need to talk this out you know and you had a final Point uh yeah just I I like the idea of another layer and I think you know Mar you're taking your um concerns to account that certainly is also helpful uh and I I think I may have missed the field but um once we provision it um if it move forward moves forward tonight how long would it be valid for and when will it come back for time to time review annually is that right they come so there's an opportunity for annual review all the time right I just wanted to make sure that's also highlighted that it's not in perpetuity without any opportunity to review on a yearly basis correct yes the renewals the renewals are done in December every year thank you um avability public comment on this uh yes it's a public hearing as it happens thank you for the reminder um is there anybody in the public who would like to comment we'll start here sir yes so what I'm going to say and it's a little challenging is that Folks at home can't really hear you unless you come up to a microphone y good evening my name's Martin Bay uh my address is 106 Hayden row I'm the immediate ABD to the south of the HCA I would Echo Carol kav's comments uh the HCA has been an absolutely wonderful neighbor and I think with reading through the pre the pre materials for the uh the meeting tonight I thought the the wording of the suggestions from Carol kaver about the ways to manage uh the uh the events was entirely appropriate I Have No Reservations whatsoever they've been a wonderful neighbor and I look forward to them being so in the future thank you thank you and I and I saw somebody else savine hello saine St Pierre one Woody Island um I just want to say that I'm in full support um I've been to events at the HCA I've been in events at the HCA um so I've been on both sides of it and the professionalism that they have there and I understand the board will change but it sounds like you've got you know parameters in place that you will follow and continue to follow some new stipulations that you'll put in um and you know the revenue that they bring in people that come in from out of town we just did a show there were five shows and they were all sold out and people came from everywhere um so I think it's just a great thing for the town and this will just continue to enhance the experience there thank you okay um so let me ask directly did we have a Town Council review this for us I don't have an on say it don't have any answer we could make a we could do pending yep yep yep yep yep all about it um so how about this I would entertain a motion um and I would like to include the stipulations that Dr Kavanaugh included and then um one that we have it vetted um by Town Council on our behalf I moved to find oh could I do we want to include the conditions recommended by the police department oh yes crowd someone certified In Crowd management yep and also over 100 people yep yep appreciate that and also um just I don't think it should be part of the motion but um but yes you know we would we would manage uh this um the requirements of this license like we would any other liquor license in town um go ahead Chad just we what is exactly the 400 people Clause you wanted it's here if there is um a over 100 people in attendance they would be required to hire a detail okay yeah 100 yeah thank you I moveed to find that the premises which is located that's the one mhm which is located within 500 ft of two schools is not detrimental to the educational activities of the schools and to issue a section 12 all alcohol on premises license for the hopk Center for the Arts at 98 Hayden row pending um legal review completion and also adding the Clause that um they would be hiring details should the events exceeded the number of participants uh more than 100 people yep and the schools and um event suceeding one and her people should have a crowd manager oh and the fire chief event succeeding um 100 should have a a a crowd man I can just be a it can just be a staff member I think that is sort of that does crowd management Y and okay thank you and we have some more and uh alcohol should be served at the HCA when the schools are not in session uh with the condition alcohol should not be served when the Hopkinton Public Schools is hosting a major afternoon evening weekend event that would involve the use of the high school middle school or Hopkins school facilities in the evening and that there will be adherence to the parking agreement entered into by the HPS and theca on July 7 2017 okay did that cover everything I think we got everything attorney review we did say attorney review okay second well it's been it's been moved and seconded any any further questions or comments yeah I hope I'm still going to be able to get my glass of wine through all those in favor signify by saying I I all those opposed any abstentions okay great thank you thank you okay our next order of business is a joint meeting with the board of Library trustees to fill their vacancy so please come forward and fill in [Music] okay welcome do you need to bring your committee into session um yes so I'll call the the meeting to order at 7:40 okay do you don't have anybody on Zoom right yeah that's what I thought yeah yeah um okay um so uh you don't have to do a roll call here by just because everybody's here um so we're here to discuss appointing a candidate to fill the remainder of the term until Town election fills the seat what is it the the seat that is currently open that we're filling through the May election what is the unexpired length of the term one year one year so a so in the election somebody will be running for the oneyear seat okay all right so typically just process-wise let's just level set um we've done this before together um usually one of us um chairs if you don't mind I'll chair okay um and then um and then we will have an opportunity to interview the candidates um are both candidates here it's actually one there was a little clarification for Mr Elm as to his eligibility to subsequently run in the election so he formally um informed us a couple weeks ago that he was unable to move forward oh so we have one candidate okay is is that you sir yes oh you can come forward and and you can come forward and explain are you uh are you withdrawing your application uh no I'm actually here if it's needed for the uh okay so what we haded was um if you don't mind me explaining the situation so Mr alazri was informed that um he's still a Canadian citizen only at the moment pending his um US citizenship he would only be able to fill the appointed seat but wouldn't be able to subsequently run in the election for um you know the actual position so when we met a couple weeks ago the the um understanding was that he wouldn't be able to fill any aspect of it um but in this case it would be just it would be one month essentially that that would be available if Mr El wants to that okay um okay so uh the the other question I have is lots of times we don't fill a seat when it's so close to the election and I don't necessarily have an objection to doing that but um uh I just point that out that it would've been you know it would be fine if we didn't as well um so process we have two candidates we're back to we're back to level setting we have two candidates because any candidate can certainly put their name in um that is qualified to apply so um we will go around the circle it's a big circle um we typically ask the same question of both candidates if we have a question it's not necessary for everybody to ask a question but everybody is um welcome to ask the questions that are on their um are on their minds so I think I'm going to suggest that a couple people move over to this side so that the candidates Can U move forward um and be available to also speak um when we're asking questions um and then the only thing I would say that when you're sharing microphones is to make sure you move the microphone over so you can be heard one the time when you are speaking so the candidates if you grab a chair and and come on up to this table that will be helpful yeah and welcome and I I so it behooves me to say how much we appreciate that um that we have so many people that are willing to step up and volunteer for the town it's really wonderful um so because we have two candidates my question is going to be this I'm going to ask each of you to briefly introduce yourself and your desire to fulfill this role hi everyone um so my name is Hisham musri uh as you heard I'm from Canada and so I have uh an interest in filling this role essentially to help out education and Community have been a big uh proponent of my life and when we moved to Hopkinson myself and my wife about a year ago we said how can we give back to the community and this opportunity arose and I said well here's here's a chance in to apply my background in this area and as far as my background goes in case you're interested uh so I have a background in Academia so I have my PhD in electrical engineering I have participated in organizations from not profits to support research across academic fields in the micro Electronics areas across universities in both Canada and the US I have also in my career focused on working with organizations like the math Works where we supported research globally in the field as well as currently where I focused more in industry but still in the same area of supporting research in the area there so I've been a strong proponent of the stem area for Education and Research and as far as Community goes well I mean the story for that is when my wife and I were looking for houses originally I had the idea of I just needed something with a big room or something you know that's my dream was that but it wasn't until I saw Hopkin and we saw the neighborhoods here and the community we said this is where we want to settle down so that's kind of a little story about the interest I have in the community as well what's your address sir usually we ask for name and address I'm sorry oh sorry yes no my address is uh 49 Teresa Road okay oh great neighborhood you look at you go um okay thank you for that thank you hi it's Stan pck here uh 11 Downey Street um as most of you know I have served on this board several times over the years um I was appointed to the first board as a result of a tied election and I ran for election several times and and made it um when I heard that there was an opening um I decided I'd go for it again um because there were only going to be four people on the board and if something contentious should come up you need that fifth vote um my goal is to serve the library and the Community um in the best interest I am on the ballot for uh the May election and as far as I know I'm going oppose but that could change well it would be hard to change now unless there was a right in but I don't want to call that for it um okay I'm going to move around to my left sh told you have any questions for the candidate just in general and thank you for stepping forward uh to serve uh appreciate new faces as well um in general what's your um vision for a library like ours in a town like ours do you want to State um maybe two three points of what you want to achieve through this role and what do you want to see in our library for future want to go first so in terms of the vision one thing I see the Library already doing is a lot of community events in terms of encouraging people to go to library and participate and see all the benefits that has in joining the library and what it provides there to the community as well as seeing it as an addition to the already amazing academic facilities in hopkington as well so VI have the schools the community the libraryies of center of both thank you when we did the expansion of the library it would we were really really hoping that it would become a community center and it has and through the previous director and our current director um the many many programs that they have come up with very Innovative stuff uh I I want to see that continue um I know they do a a really neat thing on early release days in conjunction with the police department I think and um I was over there the last time they did it and there had to be 110 kids in there I like to see that um there's a lot of things that I'm groping through a word here um there are a lot of things that can happen um regarding First Amendment and book Banning and things like that and I am staunchly pro- First Amendment and to me that's probably the most important part of being a trustee is protecting those rights thank you thank you again and one thing I just want to add is that we are have one open position and two wonderful candidates so one of you will not get it but I would certainly urge you to stay um interested for future positions and uh come back to us for and of the time thank you fun so what are the areas of improvement that you would uh want to see in the library that was my question or my question the other end myself I I I I would hope that in the future um there will be more opportunities for the staff to have different type of training than they have in the past um things change things are changing rapidly in our society um earlier today we saw an example of that um I'm not sure what other improvements can be made you've got a a physical space that's very defined and I wish we had more parking and things like that but you know it's I I was very happy to see that um when the budget was presented this year that it went right straight through with no problems and I hope that will continue in the future so my experience is limited with the uh hopkington library because I've only been here for a year but if I had to pick something from my own experience it's more the ebook selection and The Limited amounts there tried to check out a couple of books recently and they were all checked out on my reader so I had to go without couldn't sleep at night so that's on me so I would say that you know something and I don't even know if that's under the libraryies perview or not but if it is then that would be something I would focus on in a limited time I would be there and I understand that is being addressed yeah um Mr Mr how long would it be before your citizenship is approved and you would be able to run for office all goes well just a couple more years okay yes is this on already it's on okay I've been very quiet just case be careful that's right um it has been my utter Delight to be um a trustee with these folks and um to do our very best to serve what I think is a gem which is the library and its fabulous staff um and a great work environment there and something that I've Loved about the trust being on the Board of Trustees is that we have the privilege to um discuss issues until we are in full agreement we've only had um complete agreement on all of our votes since I've been there um probably beforehand but I really enjoy that but it's also a challenge because we're only you know we were the five only the four of us trying to bring in different perspectives that we think the town you know other people in town might have so can you tell me you know what experiences you've had or how you may try to bring in perspectives that are not maybe yours but are other people's in town to represent them when you come to a trustee meeting okay before um so with my past experience in working with organizations to bring in uh outside experience usually communication listening to the community and seeing what they're looking for uh my I'm a bit biased technology is kind of my background so one thing I'm always interested in is using that as a tool if you will to get people excited in at least participating and communicating one thing that in my again my experience I was the uh president of the local International electrical and electronic engineer uh chapter in my up in Canada where I was living and I want an award for encouraging more people to participate and join the group by opening up those Communications with a number of groups in the uh community and getting them to participate in terms of just being there and learning about the services that we provide to top that one um let me say this this gentleman appeared at our at the at the board meeting uh last month and we were all kind of knocked over by him not physically not and I feel that he has a great deal to offer the community as a whole um if you want to do this for a month why not well we already talked about joining the friends of the library and stuff like that you know and and he was very amenable to that um I see him in a couple of years doing big things in this town and if this is the way he can slide his foot in the door I can handle that all right well thank you very much harder go ahead I'm sorry you're you're any if you have a question we don't all have to ask questions I if we want to but if you have a question please ask it oh you know I think a lot has been said here tonight i' I've been on the board for quite two years now and have like an I've been delighted to be a part of it I think we've um done some terrific things in terms of programmatic efforts um and maybe most importantly over the last year or so I think we got out of head of this whole uh attack if you will on the First Amendment and libraries specifically um it exists those efforts exist within our state but I think we developed a very solid policy with regard to that um we have undergone we think a small audit of our of our Holdings and passed that we weren't worried about anyway but but nevertheless um we've not we've not had to confront anything and I think part of it's because we we've done a good job of of letting people know where we stand and I'm sure that that will continue regardless of which of these gentlemen is is involved great thank Youk yes right um I don't really have a question either I um as I Echo um STS com that we were blowned away by Hisham when he came to our our trustee meeting and he I can't believe how much that he would be able to offer to us um if he would like to fill the position for a month and to get his feet in the door and um it appears that Stan will be on our board come May anyway since he's running unopposed uh so I am just saying yes um I think that and Sham is going to be a fantastic addition to our community thank you very much yes um I Echo you know what an and Warren and Susan said I also just wanted to commend you Stan for you know opening up the door for hasham to step in I was new to town too about 10 months or so and I decided to run so I think it's a wonderful opportunity to just meet people get to know um you know different ways that you you can participate so I look forward to you know whatever duration and having you involved thank you s you're still involved with us as you know leaz and as friends too so we have your your you know your um input and your knowledge as well this seems to be a good balance for for both our candidates Mary Joe well I uh I was very impressed by the resume and Mr M El mazri here tonight and I've known Stan for years and he's done a wonderful job um and you are running on a post I take it uh in the election so I would I would think that it would be a good place for you to start and see what what's what that's just my thoughts yeah I would agree with Mary Joe and um to have to put his on on the spot for now and then um and also just most of most of our other committees don't require um citizenship so maybe after that few weeks is up maybe you could try cultural counsil or design review or or all we have openings on these right now kinds yeah great minds um yeah so I don't I don't think I'm going to ask any questions I think we've all said enough yeah so so fascinating because I will tell you that I would ordinarily like just sort of my Common Sense pragmatic mind would be like just for heaven's sakes you know st's going to be there blah blah blah and let's find a spot for you um but uh but also yeah there's no reason why we uh wouldn't um put you forward for the month but also find a long-term spot for you somewhere that's all I'm saying right I just don't want to I don't want to go without saying that cuz I really um always appreciate when when new people come forward sometimes it's not easy to get new faces in spots and we want to make sure that um we're doing everything we can um to welcome people um it's exciting to hear that you're you know that you want to participate here in town you've only been here a short while that also intrigues me and really Enthusiast me when people are here for a very short time I want to jump right in um so I will how about this I will entertain a motion for the the one- month position for the library trustees it moved appoint U Isam El musri to the board of Library trustees to a term expiring at the May 2024 annual Town election second it would be wrong of me to put a condition on that that after that you find another spot but I'm tempted I'm tempted I want to do that we already have spots all right um because we're all in the meeting room we can take a Voice vote all in favor signify by saying I I any opposed any extensions great congratulations congratulations thank you yes I mov8 yes all right our next order of business is police officer appointments so we Shuffle the chairs a little bit oh what is this um gummy we couldn't get U oh no I'm not going to take your little no than you can only eat so many of these things before you all right we wait for ready okay I didn't have din either but I ate today it's different hi Miss Merill yeah get some water okay as we're getting settled people are just taking a little break and getting some water doing the chaa in the hallway yeah we'll just wait a couple of minutes welcome um we're just waiting for a couple people to come back from a comfort break we'll be right with you you okay all right Mr Calo you want to introdu who's who's leading leading us off Chief Miss Merl chief chief sure great um through the chair thank you for the opportunity to be here this evening we like to introduce a few to you um we going to come in one at a time because uh of the in question process with you in respect to that um we're going to go by the order that's on the that that appeared on the agenda and uh and we'll go through there so um I brought with me detective s van he's leading on all the recruitment he assembles the interview panelists he works constantly with Mrs Merill to uh to bring these candidates forward as I've said before it's a daunting task it's a lot of work it's time intensive a lot of scheduling of different phases of the process so I want to personally thank you both for for all the work that you do um tonight I'm here with Benjamin vas um I'm going to let Sergeant en ralton do the introductions um and then uh Mr mer if you could start with the process how we what problem is here tonight all right thank you through the chair um uh the three candidates meet this evening are from that same pool of 33 that we referenced um few weeks ago when we had um brought another candidate to your attention um we interviewed nine applicants first round uh seven were forwarded to second round and six were selected to proceed to pre-employment process um when we evaluate candidates we um you know our posting was broad um we looked for education and experience that reflected a sincere interest and passion for police work um and each candidate I think you'll find after meeting each of them this evening brings something unique to the HPD team um I also wanted just to elaborate just a little bit further on what Chief Bennett said about the process because it is an extensive process that involves a comprehensive uh medical exam a comprehensive psychological exam that's almost a full day process um uh and a comprehensive background check so it's time intensive it's on their own time um and you know it's it's um it it also uh demonstrates a real commitment to um to becoming a police officer um I'd like to just briefly thank um Sergeant van ralton Sergeant santor Santoro and Cody Normand and officer Cody Normand and who um all participated on the panels as well as the chief and Jessica lens and then I would be remiss without mentioning Sergeant dor who does all the backgrounds they take a lot of time time and effort so um that's our process great thank you thank you maybe do a sergeant could you do just a brief overview and an intro for the board questions uh so I'm excited to bring forward uh Benjamin vas um he has uh completed his bachelor's degree in criminal justice he's currently working for the Northfolk District Attorney's office as a victim witness Advocate um the victim Advocate works with obviously the victims but also works with the District Attorney's office and he's basically that Medium um between the two to help victims through the criminal justice process and to to keep them involved um it's it's great work um it's been great exposure for him um and prior to that he worked um as a security consultant Casino I think um eager to to hear your questions and his answers um I think uh he'll be a welcome addition to the police department great thank you very much um I will start and I first give you an opportunity to introduce yourself to the community a little bit about um about why you want to come to hopkington but my my first question really is what brings you to uh police work what's your personal why for wanting to particip to invest yourself This Way sure um first I want to thank you all for for taking the time to meet with me today um what why I want to become a police officer is I genuinely like helping people um I like being there when people need someone that they can rely on um like I said I I enjoy being in that position I enjoy helping those who who need the help who sometimes don't get the help that they are deserved um and I feel like police officer is a perfect position for that great thank you I'll go to my left first thank you again for the intro and for um your interest in our town and this position uh I just wanted to ask um based on your experience and you have great experience great Academia too also continuing thank you for that um based on your experience in the victim Advocate um office how do you relate that experience to the role that you are seeking so as a victim Advocate um I get to see kind of the back end that the police back end work that the police do um so I get to see how the case how the the crime itself affects the victim um you know as a police officer I'm going to be working with the victim soon as the crime is committed um so being an advocate seeing both sides of of things I think that is going to help me um my experience will definitely you know help me be able to deal with the victim um and the defendant in the case um you know much more easily than if I wasn't an advocate I would say thank you we fine I'm very very impressed with your with your resume and your uh your educational uh background um particularly the the the victim Advocate um one thing I'm I would like to know is if you were hired as a police officer in hopkington what steps would you take to build trust and legitimacy fellow officers and the community sure um so for fellow community and my officers i' first of all would like to be transparent with each and each and everyone um build relationships strong relationships become some that they can trust on they can rely on um and that they can call for in their darkest times and and to help them out thank you Joe yeah I just want to say we have something in common you worked at PL Ridge and I assessed PL Ridge as it was being built so that's it's a fascinating facility um but uh I think what I really want to know is why hington what is it made you decide to leave norol for hopkington sure um so I'm from T Massachusetts um I've been coming to hopkington my whole life my mother and her side of the family are from here um ever since I've been coming here as a child I've noticed a sense of community um you know a closeit relationship between police officers between the community itself something that my town doesn't have so much of um so just the the community aspect you know the trust that the citizens have on the police and and vice versa I think that is initially What drew me to the town of Hopkinson thank you okay I wanted to point out I saw in your um cover letter that you worked as an intern for the mayor of tonson and I can see how that can really relate to you know interacting with the community and people are often angry with you uh and with the with the town and what can you do to help constituent issues so I think that's really good experience that can lead into your Comm policing work so my question is um what message might you share with Progressive uh perspective recruits regarding community policing sure so I think um community policing is definitely essential in in today's environment having the community involved again being transparent with the community um building these relationships letting them know exactly what we are looking for and vice versa what they're looking for in our work um I think that is essential and I think that would help with the community pleasing aspect of things in this town I'm going to ask one more we have um the town of Hopkin has adopted the pledge principles and actions on systemic racism in our community and other communities that pledge reaffirms hopkinson's ongoing commitment to address systemic racism social injustice and inequity in our governance and provision of services to Hopkin and residents and businesses in what ways um does that resonate with you and can you support that pledge sure um so I think every everyone especially police officers should hold true to that pledge um again we are the people that they call on when they need help and we need to be able to be trusted by the community um we need to build relationships with the community build that trust build that connection that again we can we can rely on um you know don't bring biased any biased thoughts or anything like that to our work um to our lifestyle anything just be transparent with the community and and work with each other to build a safe and healthy environment for all okay thank you um anybody else all right are we doing them one at a time all three yes one at a time is fine I move to appoint Benjamin buz I'm sorry I moved to appoint Benjamin buz as police officer in the town of Hopkins second all those in favor signify by saying I I I any opposed any extensions congratulations congratulations you guys so the first thing we make you do is stay and take the obligatory picture after we finish okay chief take us away all right I'm here with the leenie MOs now um I wanted to talk a little bit about Alini and how happy proud I am to have you here tonight uh Len came to us as a person that walked in the door and expressed an interest in law enforcement she did a ride along and I was at my desk and she was sitting at the dispatch desk and the communicator called me and said Chief do you have any of those internships and I said is she sitting right next to you and she said I wouldn't do it to you Chief if I didn't think she was good and she has just delivered she came came in she was an intern for a long time did amazing work worked her way into part-time dispatching came a a year ago she was before you as a full-time dispatcher and now she's going to be born academy so because she took the initiative to walk in the door to welcome and engaging Police Department she's reaching her career goal um of becoming a police officer so in this day and age where recruitment is extremely difficult we need to look at every stream and and uh this is truly a success with that we go to formality and you can walk through uh the introduction and uh so again uh excited to see somebody from within our agency um apply and go through the process uh Len is just about to finish her her bachelor's degree criminal justice she's been with the Department uh 3 years now from internship um to part-time dispatch or full-time dispatch um and now police officer she is slated for the Boon Academy which will be starting in July and she's signed up and ready to go great um so that's such an interesting story how you started um uh and I I applaud you for it because it is not necessarily easy to um to just put put yourself out there and sort of make it um a little bit impossible not impossible but a little bit impossible to ignore and to say no so good for you um tell us a little bit I know that we know you but tell the community a little bit about yourself um the work that you've done here and why you want to be a police officer help us understand your why AB first of all want to thank everybody for having me here tonight um well I'm molini mat I'm 22 I'm currently set up to graduate from UMass Boston with the bachelor's degree in criminal justice and psychology I started off here back in September of 2021 as an intern Like Chief said and worked my way up to become a perdm dispatcher for about eight months and then a year ago today actually um I was um here to be appointed as a full-time dispatcher um I'm fluent in Portuguese I speak a little bit of Spanish so I believe that uh that's a great addition to to the team and I'm look forward to to be part of the community in a different level now great all right I'm going to let you go next Amy so they don't take your questions okay well I'll continue with doing the same questions it's fair to all but um yeah I really appreciate it you know it's really great that you've been here for a long time so you're familiar with the team and the town and we've listened to the calls um you come in so you have an idea of what you're going to expect so anyway what message might you share with prospective recruits regarding community policing yeah um the town of hington is very um community policing oriented so I believe that speaking with the the kids and families about the the town and and um telling talking them about the the force of the job and what to to expect um I believe that um the town is very um diverse is becoming very diverse so I I'm happy to to be part of that thank you here Joe oh I am I'm very impressed with your initiative and and the way you've taken it and I'm glad you have gotten your bachelor's degree and uh that great and I think you're going to have a a good time not not a good time but a good uh stint at the Academy in July and um it's it's just nice to see how fresh you are I feel like we're parenting you along in some ways and uh I just think you're going to be a great asset to Hoppington thank you I'm very happy to be here so or fun I love your story thank you um so if you were hired as a police officer what uh what steps would you take to build trust and legitimacy with fellow officers and the community yeah I believe I've I've been working on that for quite some time now um being here for three years I was able to build a incredible relationship with officers dispatch or just everyone from the Department itself and I just work on building like a stronger bond with them actually from being behind the desk to being out there with them I think that will um solidify our relationship even more and I look forward to also building trust and with my new officers coming in so yeah and with the community of just being out there being with the within the community events meeting new people talking to everyone I feel that that goes a long way thank you um again wonderful story and great that how great to see how you are building your career finding your path and um yeah it's tremendous um how and what you have achieved so keep it up thank you um the question I have is remaining one the town of hopkington has adopted the pledge principles and actions on systematic racism in our community and other communities that pledge reaffirms hopkinton's ongoing commitment to address systemic racism social injustice and inequity in our governance and provision of services to hopkington Residents and businesses in what ways can you support the pledge yeah I believe that being a police officer you're in a great position where you should stand with that pledge you should honor that um coming from an immigrant family I believe that that's very important to me um just treating everybody with respect treat everybody the way I would like to be treated my family friends just everyone with the utmost respect and U with transparency so I believe that that's the way to go thank you um because I didn't get my second question because shadu stole it um I'm um I'm going to ask you another one um what are your views um this one is actually both of these questions are really near and dear to my heart um what are your view views regarding restorative justice court diversion programs Crisis Intervention teams and the like to help individuals experiencing mental health or Behavioral Health emergency I love that question um thank you um when I first started I I know we had a a clinician um and I believe that we should bring that back I feel that that's very important especially with how the community and how the society itself it's moving so I think that's very important and we should look into that to getting more help and and more programs um within the town to move with that thank you okay any other questions so I'm going to tell you the story I I famously asked as a 19-year-old if I could just like sign up for air force ROTC or did I have to do something special I was signed up so fast you have no idea right the Air Force was like sure come on down um any want to make the motion yeah if I may yes um there's a slight correction in the motion a correction in the motion yes and and the board will have to revote thee motion the appointment is Police Academy officer okay do we have to repeat the previous one as well we will'll do this uh I move to appoint alen Matos as police academy officer in the town of Hopkinton second all those in favor signify by saying I any opposed any extensions congratulations don't forget to stay taking a picture so we're gonna we're going so we don't forget it we'll revote that first motion if you make uh I move to appoint Ben Benjamin V I may do we have to reconsider reconsider yeah we have to have a motion to reconsider the vote for appointing Benjamin baz so move okay so move second all those in favor I any opposed any extensions okay now we can make the new motion thank you I move to appoint Benjamin VZ as police academy officer in the town of hopkington second all those in favor signify by saying I I any opposed any extensions okay clap cl cl cl we got it right all right welcome thank you the chair our final and uh candidate for the evening um I'm going to just pass on to Sant van ralton as kind of laid everything out so far and uh we'll take it from here okay so uh Justin cap capucho um is currently with the uh Fitchburg University uh 4 plus1 program um we've had some uh other officers that have gone through that program it is designed as a bachelor program and then with an academy um at the end of graduation with your bachelor's degree so he'll be finishing his bachelor's degree in May on would you say Saturday and then you start the academy Monday yep graduate May 18th and we Jump Right In on May 20th so yeah you don't want to take a break yeah NOP just right into it it's overated uh so he is uh currently a intern uh doing his internship with peil police um he came to us um through our process and uh ultimately accepted our offer and went through our process great um okay so I'm going to ask you to introduce yourself um tell us a little bit about your why um and I see that your resume really is all about this direction um and always has been so tell us a little bit about how you knew um what you wanted to do from the beginning yeah absolutely so I just want to first off thank you for having me tonight um it's been an absolute great and positive experience going through this process um a little bit about myself so my name is Justin capucho I'm 21 years old I grew up in westbo Massachusetts um graduated from westbo high in 2020 and I've spent the last four years at fishburg state in their 5-year police program um when it comes to thinking about my why policing is um growing up I knew that I wanted to help people and I didn't want to sit behind on a desk so um with that I thought let's drive an ambulance um obviously we didn't not go that route um policing is definitely uh more my route I love interacting with people being out in a community um and just being there for people that uh can help themselves ultimately um you call on police officers for help when you're not sure what else to do and being there for others is definitely my why okay thank you SE comeing to you yeah um thank you again you have a wonderful background and um being groomed for this position that's it looks like and your aspiration um and hard work certainly is outstanding uh my question is the town of Hopkinton has adopted the pledge principles and actions on systematic racism in our community and other communities that pledge reaffirms hopkinton's ongoing commitment to address systemic racism social injustice and in equity in our governance and provision of services to Hopkinton residents and businesses in what ways can you support the pledge um so thinking about a pledge like that three words that come to my mind are transparency um accountability and proactivity um being in law enforcement being in an agency like this being as transparent as possible um is Paramount you know it's it's how Community is going to build your trust going to get gain um gain their trust um so transparent transparency is definitely um up there for me um accountability is another big one I expect anybody in this room to hold me accountable anytime I'm doing something wrong um as I would do the same for them um being able to be honest with yourself about what you're doing make sure you're doing the right thing for the right people because at the end of the day everybody's human any person I interact with is going to be human um and then proactivity is building trust with the community um it's going to take some proactiveness so you know getting out of the car interacting with youth interacting with businesses um so I think with a pledge like that you definitely have to be proactive over a long period of time wonderful thank you so from looking over your resume I see that you are very very Community oriented um it's it's obvious uh you're an eagle scout uh I mean yeah that's all great um what steps would you take uh to build trust with fellow police officers and with the community yeah so that's going to come back to the accountability for activity um building trust with the community as well as the agency um again I'm going to have to find myself to be coachable I think that understanding mistakes that I'll make along the way which is inevitable and learning from them and fixing them um as well as being molded into what the community needs for Hopkinson um having that accountability and coachability uh along with proactiveness is definitely a way I see myself building that trust um so that's that's what I great thank you here Joe [Laughter] well again we have a a new recruit I I I feel like harington's parenting good new police officers and we're glad to have you um I I did see too that you were an eagle scout which is we know a lot about those up here and uh it's very impressive and you're off to school again you're just getting out of school and you're off to school again so uh I wish you all the luck in the world and I think you'll be an asset to the department thank you all right so then um I noticed I you volunteered for all kinds of things police related that I didn't even know you could it was a role player and an active shooting training it sounds like yeah I helped that on an academy last year I work at a a school district and we had some of our high schoolers do that sort of thing and so we the video Club recorded a video of you know what it would be like if they came into our building and and it was good for everybody to walk through and see those scenarios Play that video every year a lot of great experience from that yeah so I'm glad that you volunteered to do stuff like that so um what message might you share with Progressive perspective recruits regarding community policing um so community policing is all about going that extra mile in my opinion um it's interacting with kids it's interacting with really anybody um through experiences like sergeant said with my internship um I've been doing that internship for the past two semesters now and it's riding around with officers seeing how they interact with everybody on a day-to-day basis and from there I've been able to learn a lot of um you know how to look out for the usual people that you may deal with um some people that may be in need like one officer I know um he always carries two pairs of dry socks in his bag because there's a homeless man in town that hangs out at 7-Eleven every day from about 3:00 p.m. to like 8:00 p.m. it's like hey if you need some dry socks here you go so it's a small thing that can build that little bit of trust um where you're going the extra mile for somebody else so I think uh community policing is really building that image to go that extra mile for who you're serving great thank you the small things are very often the big things right exactly yeah um one of the things that um that uh I'm going to ask the question of views regard what are your views regarding restorative justice court diversion programs and Crisis Intervention teams to help individuals experiencing mental and Behavioral Health emergencies um and then then just a little bit of of your your um you know what you would hope to see in the next I don't know 5 years in terms of that for not just you you and your department but policing in general yeah absolutely so obviously mental health is an issue that's constantly changing it's becoming more prevalent fortunately um and my thoughts on co-response teams clinicians jail diversion programs want them 110% um again my internship in peil unfortunately their a clinician had taken another job so he had just left um and that is a definitely a huge loss um I personally have been on calls where he's been a tremendous asset and has been able to deescalate situations and get people the help that they truly do need um going forward thinking about um that 5ye 10 year goal um as much training in mental health as I can get is what I would want and even having those co-response teams available um because at the end of the day you never truly know what someone may be dealing with and having someone that can specialize in that and can read them exactly how it is is definitely beneficial and an asset to any Police Department any community so I definitely love the idea of clinicians correspond te TR version great thank you any other questions uh I'll entertain a motion I move to app Justin kucho as police academy officer in the town of Hopkin second all those in favor signify by saying I I any opposed any extensions [Applause] congratulations now the picture St [Music] let me you want to go upstairs on the yeah sorry [Music] that's are ready all right thank [Applause] [Music] you con great story about Community yeah it's awesome I'll share it with you later oh I have a great story about okay thank you all for your patience I know we're way behind on the agenda but fun things happening um so uh the next is a hiring process update we'll start with a hiring process for the town manager good evening good evening thank you for uh thank you for having us certainly a a very active night here in hopkington we're glad to be here uh my name is Bernie Lynch um principal and founder of community Paradigm um and I'm joined by uh Sharon flarity also a principal with the firm and and John petran who you all know from your fire chief search uh with Community Paradigm um I just thought I'd I want to have an opportunity to come up tonight and give you sort of a little bit of background about Community Paradigm and our process with regards to um the town manager search uh and what we see is the steps moving forward um just by way of background uh Community Paradigm has been in existence now for 10 years uh really took on on the issue of recruitments and um working closely with municipalities probably around 2015 uh thereabouts and in that time we've completed 110 Town manager or town administrative searches across the Commonwealth uh so needless to say we've been very busy uh during that period of time uh there's been a tremendous turnover of uh manager positions across the state um during that period and um we're very pleased that we've been selected by um you know that number of communities to come in and and provide our assistance um my background and John's background are as Municipal managers ourselves as you know John was right next door in Ashland for a number of years and served a number of other communities uh here in the Commonwealth uh and I was the uh Town manager of chumford for 20 years and the city manager of LOL for about eight years uh and um when we left or when I left I decided to keep my hand in municipal government and hence Community paradigm uh Sharon's background is in Communications and journalism uh working in a number of newspapers including some of the lar larger dailies uh here in the the state um and what we think we bring is a knowledge of municipal government a knowledge of uh what a municipal manager does uh and an understanding of what uh a select board uh needs uh but obviously we need to hear that what you're looking for for what you need from you and we build that into this process uh I think Sharon has been um uh in touch with all of you to try to set up some time to get a handle on what you're looking for from the next town manager uh and what the issues are facing the the town uh moving forward uh in addition to that we're John's been out talking to the department heads Sharon's been in touch with the department heads to um with questionnaires to gather information about what they're looking for and what their projects are so that we get a a full handle on uh What uh what Hopkinton needs um and um we're also what we think is something that we've believed from the beginning when we started doing these searches is that the community should be involved as well so um what we have found to be the most um successful means of getting that information our community surveys uh and so we have been working with uh Norman uh to uh get a Community survey out uh to get a sense from the the residents of the town uh what what they feel are the important issues that the next town manager is going to have to Grapple with uh so with all of that information we're going to be putting together a position statement that we use as a recruiting Tool uh but we think it's just a great process even if nothing ever happened with it it's a great process for the town to go through you know Norman's been here a good number of years now uh it's not the same town it was when he came so the needs may be somewhat different the issues are going to be different and this is a we think this the process is a good one to step back and think about that talk about that and then so we put this into a document that we use to recruit candidates and uh to evaluate the candidates and the screening committee that you choose will use it to evaluate candidates and assess which ones should be moved forward so uh that's our process that's to get candidates uh and then there's a whole process that John will be working with you on uh as the person on in town here with you um to get you to the point that you have finalists before you uh hopefully uh by the uh end of for the finalist will be announced probably uh mid we're hoping mid June uh so the the the new board that will be in place at that time will be able to make a selection ction by the end of June um before the summer starts and people start candidates and others start disappearing so um I'll turn it over to John now to sort of talk through uh sort of the meat of that uh and what we we need moving forward but uh we're here all three of us are here to answer any questions you may have as well great thanks boss so um um glad to be back you know it was only a couple months that I was sitting before you uh with the you know uh the final interviews with your fire chief and that was a very successful process and uh the position statement BR mentioned this was the fire chief one so the good part is we had some base work done you know um as part of that but we need to make sure it's updated for a town manager uh you know search aspect so that's uh the process we're in now um so as Bernie said we've gotten the questionnaires out to department heads I've been in uh Town Hall I met with Norman I met with elain uh met with the police Chief uh Finance director Tom Clerk and we'll meet with others you know as we go forward so that we get an understanding of the projects you know I want to understand the uh you know the discussions around Economic Development uh uh the uh buying of the lines you know out here your MW issue you know um and and dealing with water which I've done in my career you know it was kind of interesting Ela and I were talking about that uh yesterday so um so we want to get that understanding so that when we're talking to candidates and recruiting we're able to be able to discuss you know the opportunities and challenges you know that the town has so but we do need to hear you know from each of you uh that's important in this process so what we're looking for are the characteristics what are you seeking you know in your next town manager um and I'm sure we're going to hear things such as experience you know um you know where you are as a community you've grown so quickly you know in this community where where aw of it Bernie grew up next door in Ashlin so um so we have familiarity here um and so we'll be doing that we want to be prepared to advertise this um in a few weeks so we'll work with Norman and his team to get the position statement approved uh which we'll be writing uh very shortly based on all this information coming in um we also need um um we'll work with the screening committee uh so um so you'll be putting together that screening committee so um as soon as we can get those names that will be helpful because we can start SCH dates um that was you know that's always a problem that is the hardest part that's the hardest part so if we can you know get that going as soon as possible get the dates on the calendar because that's what you know slows us up in every process so we'd like to be able to do that and we really want to get this done we're going to stress we want to get this done by July 1st uh because we you know July 4th July brings about a whole new you know problem of dates you know so we want to try to get this done uh by that time so with the screening uh committee we'll get that done we will do reference and background checks uh done and you'll get a report from us on the final candidates so you'll see that on each of the final candidates um you know before you do your interviews you know as the board that's the way we do things uh in our firms so we're kind of ready you know to move forward um I know we've been pretty quick about this but you've had us you know the way we work and um uh so we do want to process this quickly uh because of everything happening you know so um and we want to make sure we're good in the market conditions of today and uh so that's that's why we want to try to get this done for July 1st um one thing we'll uh work through nor again is one of the things we will need to know is uh advertising uh the uh uh the salary the pay situation um so we'll work you know and get that you know settled as to you know what are we putting down you know on on adaptis and if you look we tend to do a plus or minus range you know when we work sometimes we do a range of you know this amount to that amount so we do need to have that discussion you know uh with you folks as to um what be you'll be comfortable with you know as we advertise that going forward um so I think uh that's what we have uh Sharon uh did a lot of work in the fire chief piece uh she's uh she really keeps us in line the scenes we brought her up and she said do I have to sit at the table tonight um you know so um but she really does a lot of work behind the scenes and she as a former reporter when we do reference checks she's great at that you know being able to talk and when we do a reference check just as a note we don't talk for five minutes we don't just get you know a quick you know um you know how's this person it's a 45-minute discussion we have with each of the references that that we're using to get some background on them so we get in depth on that yeah I think that the uh to John's point is so we spend as much time uh with uh each of the references as we do generally doing the interview the preliminary interview uh and we try to get information to you and um again Sharon is is really leading the charge on that of getting the information about the candidates and about the projects that they've worked on uh the strengths that they bring to the uh the table the a process that they use their decision-making process that type of information that you will be able to use to understand these candidates that coming before you uh at the end of the process and we can talk about some different ideas uh as we get to the end of the process of ways to help you evaluate these candidates uh that you see brought to you so great so great happy to answer that question um okay so we are targeting for the mid to late June to have the decision made we are targeting um when to have the job posted I know the survey is open to the public until the 15th right 16th okay oh great because Marathon day is the 15th um we received it today has the public received it yes yes oh okay great and it's going to be available in paper copy to at the libraries in the senior centers is it already available Library I believe so okay yeah we were in communication with the library in terms of printing it and uh great being ready to share with the public I know the chairman had discussion with Maria this morning regarding how some assistance coming out of town to get those paper copies to you uh to supp get them to us the the data entry part of right yep great we'll work on that great and so um so that all is open until the 16th and then you're also Gathering data on the position description and and to Target a June mid June selection potentially selection date when does do you go live I apologize if I missed it go live uh we would go our our goal is to go live go into the market in mid April mid April oh everything everything's happening at over the next two two and a half weeks okay so that we we tend to put four weeks into the roughly four weeks into the posting period advertising period uh so our expectation is that we would John will be meeting with the screening Committee in miday uh to review resumés narrow it down to the six s yep people that will be interviewed and then um conduct those interviews by the end of May and then we spend those two weeks in J in June doing the background checks of the folks that you are putting forward to the select Board of the day right hopefully three finalists that's what we always should okay okay um I don't have any more questions necessarily shadu do you have some questions um no I think you've covered it well um so timing wise is what we are certainly um my questions were around that what we are looking for I think you laid out the picture well so I'm good with um the structure and I like the timing we really want to do it um quickly but efficiently as well and doing all the right right checkpoints one quick question is how is the um interview boards are going to be constructed do you have that laid out now or it'll be part of the process as well I think we've had some discussions uh with an expectation that um we would have uh uh members from the Personnel Board that would be uh involved um I'm trying to recall the two Personnel Board potentially two members from the Personnel committee uh a member from the select board um School Committee Member and then an at large member um as well as the board could consider also having an area Town manager participate y M the issue you run into a little bit with the area Town manages is there some eth ethical issues you I I think and this when it comes to Chiefs that's usually on an issue with the manager may be maybe is a little bit more oh we can talk about that okay yeah so there's a list to choose from thank you that Mak so that it makes sense to for this board to be thinking about how to advertise and potentially structure selecting um an at Large remember if that's that sounds attractive to us um and yes getting the meetings on the books for once the candidates have been um screened and the interviews are going to be hold take place that that is the hardest thing so to get them scheduled in advance also helps people know if they can participate and beond the beond the committee the um currently there aren't um many manager positions open Statewide uh there's been again there's been a tremendous turnover so we we try to look at stay on top of the market what's out there for candidates um I think the real um burst of activity for um managers was probably about three to so years ago so some of those managers may be at a point where they're ready they've made through their first contract and they maybe because one of the challenges we've had because of such there's been such a turnover uh Statewide it's it's probably somewhere around 75% of the communities in Massachusetts have turned over over the last five years and um so that has made for a very it's really a sellers it's been a sellers Market uh and you haven't had a large number of people applying for um a number of these positions um because people have just been in their job for a short period of time and just not ready to move we think that's loosening up a little bit we're starting to see a little bit more activity and there aren't a lot as I said there's not a lot right now uh the town of Lexington will be coming up that's what we're seeing right now are smaller communities which is not comp you know competing with you know your size community at this point right so I think you're in a good you're in a good place right now I think July one we'll see some openings that will be coming up because that's usually the time of year you know when contracts are due and everything um so but that's down the road so right now you're in a good place so we do want that's one of the reasons we want to hit this Market early you know um so that we're not competing as much with a market that might be opening up down the road right makes sense so that's why we're asking for you to make the contacts quickly you know with Sharon so we can get all your information because that's critical you know uh to make sure we're understanding where um you know uh you know the the board members are you know on this and to get your screening committee you know in place and um I think we should run smoothly you know with that happening makes sense great thank you so much um okay Fant any questions no no question I'm good Amy um so the screening committee for miday so we don't have to decide who who will be on that tonight right no okay s the next meeting you can if you like Perhaps Perhaps you perhaps your next meeting uh kind of think that through yeah that yeah as long as we have them by the next I think the let's just at your next meeting if if it's the board to making a decision that'd be nice at you next we someone to call me oh yeah oh you called I and then it it sounded like you already had one Prospect oh for the manager position yes well we've we're speaking to people already so um so we are talking to people you know um as to uh the position um so um people are aware um that we have you know uh this and there's you know we speak to people on a regular basis so yes we've had you know conversations I have you know with folks who may have interest great our goal is to get as large a pool of candidates as possible for you and we'll work that um as as Norman and Elaine have seen my emails on a regular basis every time we have a position open it goes across to every single manager and assistant manager in estate once it's posted we have this done they'll get that and then we make our phone calls as well you know for people who we think might be U you know a potential for a fit great Amy no I think that was it all right so um you don't particularly need anything from us tonight um just laid out the schedule which I really appreciate because I think the public is super interested in that and the process um and I did uh send an email so that we can connect so I apologize I didn't I didn't get that before so I broke my my traditional rule of emailing and did it right away so that we can make the connections um thank you all very much thank you we looking forward working with you and you have our emails and my cell phone in particular just call me if you know any questions come up from any of you you know as we go through the process great thank you and we will work closely with Norman and only you know on the process as we go through perfect great thank you thank you thank you we didn't get to these too much during Co so I still a whole bunch of thank you thank you thank it's the right card thank goodness okay um and do we have any um updates on the deputy police chief the deputy Fire Chief and the police lieutenant in terms of scheduling yes um Deputy police chief the position is posted it closes April 12th 12 um and we also uh Contracting for the administrative support for the position um already contracted we have a contract in place I'm sorry say that again we have identified a consultant to work with it yes on this they're already in place they're already at work right yeah so the key here is that the Board needs to think about a screening committee yeah we had talked about that already I think think um we have um this is the Deputy police chief yes um Shu expressed interest I have interest um and uh I think Chief Hicks is supporting it do we have um Personnel committee supporting it we will ask we can't do three though or it's public well yeah ask me well we can talk about that for sure um so we need we need a select board member or two one one or two Chief Hicks one personel Committee Member and somebody else and uh somebody else who Could That Be um at do you mean at large or could be at large it could be from another town committee it could be a department head okay yeah would that not be I respectfully suggest HR director director yeah all right that makes sense don't sense when um if you can lay out the schedule do you have the schedule in front of you just to remind us um let me work with the with the consultant well we are we already have a schedule right yes yeah we do um I can pull it up one second this for what must there no problem sorry um and just to remind the public I think we're targeting the 16th for the lieutenant um interviews is that right um is that right yeah the timeline was they needed 11 weeks which there for means they will complete the assignment in May right um and so the first step is the the consultant does the initial screening then the selection committee inter in reviews applications with the consultant um the step one is the initiation of the project that has happened y step two two is the preliminary candidate selection step three will be the assessment center yeah and then step four would be the evaluation of the finalist candidates which if I remember correctly the um the the professional consultant does that following the assessment center yes and then sits with the screening committee after after they have they've got the results of the assessment center correct yep and then the screening committee with the fire chief we interviewed the candidates before the assessment we chose who went to the assessment center and this will happen in that order as well here yeah yeah and then out of that process the finalist candidates will be recommended to the select board yep okay can you um the the uh the initial screening is expected to be completed when I I don't have that timeline here that's why I want to discuss that with the consultant okay all right and then and then there's an interview with the the um the screening committee MH and then there's the assessment center yeah and then um um and then the screening committee selects the finalists yes working yes working together with the consultant would I yes yeah there when I think of the screening committee not they're not actually the Consultants aren't actually voting but I sort of think of that in my head altogether um presents finist okay so last time we talked about this I was hoping that we would um finalize that schedule and get like the assessment center booked the interview blocks of time scheduled so that that also helps people know if they're able to support it okay okay um but we should have um we should have uh the final big pool the screening the consultant should have the final big pool of candidates April 12th okay all right um uh so what today's the when do we meet next 16 yes 16th yeah so um so we should have um we should talk about the the the candidates for the screening committee tonight and yes not wait yes I think the board should finalize y the composition of the screening committee tonight y so I wrote down HR Director chief Pi select board and Personnel committee did I miss anybody no okay and and uh you'll reach out to the Personnel committee for their person yes okay all right um OD number two three you do kind of need it well an odd number helps what number do you haveing four or five if we have two select board members or two person Notting yes yeah I was making under the assumption that the the the assistant would be one yeah yeah I think so too right yes or or acting Town manager as we transition um okay would that be different if she applies yeah I was wondering that as well Deputy police chief that's not going to happen um so then I think it makes sense to have one select board member and have the five it's less cumbersome yeah so um I'm happy to have well I'm happy to have anybody do it actually but to join J is interested Mary Joe has expressed interest I have too but I did the fire chief and as much fun as it was it it's a great proess process actually I'm not being I'm not being vitious so I think it makes better sense to have one somebody has to have the time to do it and that's why partly why we have to get the meetings scheduled because we need to keep the schedule I can make the time but if mind you if you're interested okay so yeah I'm I'm thinking I'm probably going to be interested on the town manager when it comes yeah okay we'll see all right well I would really like to do the the deputy police chief you say there's three opportunities right there'll be the deputy fire chief opportunity so we can yeah do you want to do you want to just uh pop into I can't do either of the other two right happily happily I'll be done um so if it's okay I'll do um you you want to do the town manager does that feel right to you sure yeah I'm not going to be here hate being on interview you hate being on interview commit we're not we're not we're not selecting you out perfect yeah I like to read the paperwork but I don't really like to do the do the interview okay well that's good to know so if sha D did Town manager I do deputy chief for the police and you do deputy chief for fire does that feel right sure okay great um and it will help all of us I know Mary Joe has a tiny bit more flexibility in her schedule um she's happily retired lucky her um but um if getting them scheduled will be very helpful to anybody who's on the Committees and having a fixed schedule yeah and I'll say if somebody can't do it because of the schedule I can step in and do it for the person who can't who if somebody's traveling or something be a good practice good great oh but I could be traveling too so yeah they are so we did we did them by Zoom too I mean I know lots of times you're traveling you're working but it is possible also to um to fit them in if you needed to from a distance so oh that's good um okay do we need anything else for um those processes right now um just confirmation again the board decided this that the the the review of the police Lieutenant candidates will be at the 416 meeting so we need an opportunity to um interview the finalists yes that is what the board discussed 4:16 is the meeting that they would come forward yeah so um I got to look at I have to look at a calendar I can't do it my head um so that gives us next week um to um set up a day or two like we did the last time where we have shifts um are is anybody is everybody available next week in town I think so to go to police station andw records yeah think so on the ninth is it well would be it would be any we should pick two nights at the most it's long we each get like 45 minutes to an hour so we should pick two nights um and then session no we're going to be separately interviewing them oh okay like we did like we did before yeah so does the Thursday and Friday work or no well next week is the theek On th on Thursday so does Thursday soed Tuesday and Wednesday work I'm just trying to Tuesday and Wednesday okay for me that's our Christmas right Tuesday two both days Wednesday it can be either 10 or what day works best for you I apologize for not knowing that sorry no no problem um I would say probably Thursday Thursday is best for you what about you well um the E kind of depends on the moon and it's projected to be on the 10th or 11th so it could be Wednesday or Thursday so if it's on Thursday then I think both of us would be finding it difficult to attend what about Friday but Thursday's hard for us because of the marathon start too right but we could do like Wednesday and Friday maybe we can split it out what works what night works best for the two of you CU you could go a different night uh Friday could Friday could work Friday so at 6 and 7 yeah okay that's two slots yeah is on a Sunday yeah how about earlier does the Bo want to start earlier instead of can five that's okay it's five early enough yes I'm also I'm looking at the chief just to make sure that the chief and the candidates are available um yes so and then so two hour two blocks on the Friday or a third block on the Friday if that's better because I can be flexible on the Friday um or Wednesday does that make sense and then Wednesday would be better for me Wednesday's better for okay this Wednesday is is good for me fun Mary Joe I can do Wednesday Friday or I can do Friday it's stats race weekend and that's fine have people coming in yeah um Wednesday Amy okay so if if we were able to have um two hours on Wednesday starting at 5: or 3 hours or or they are or the same on Friday so we have five hour blocks but we need two on Friday and we need two on Wednesday cuz some people have to be at one of those how about Monday Monday could be another opportunity maybe make some but maybe Monday works m is Mondays also works Mondays I think Monday is fine for me no race Monday is no Monday Monday the week before the race though yes works for me give enough time before the race will we know the finalist earlier we go he has the finalist okay yeah Monday and Wednesday work for me that weekday works for you Thursday is the only bad day for me okay are you both going into Boston mhm you want to go together yeah I think it's makes sense and then we would expect that we would do the um the inter you know the formal process here yeah the interview on the 16 yeah um if if I may upon further consultation with the Chief we can work with the blocks of times that are identified however we're thinking there could be a more efficient way of cycling the conversations through that block so we may not need all the five that would be great yeah if there are efficiencies to be had that would be magnificent right yeah yeah so Monday Wednesday and Friday seem the best although Wednesday is not available for shulan also there's Monday as well is Monday did you mention Monday as well yeah so other people said Monday would work so if there's a more efficient yeah so who's who's available on Monday elen and I miss that Amy let me just make sure UHS in case that anybody's decision I I'm available on Monday are you guys avilable on Monday yes I propos Monday so yeah Monday all right I think everybody's available on Monday as it happens and then um three of us on Wednesday and all of us I guess on well four of us on Friday but nobody's in a hurry for it okay great so you will reach out and let us know what the the cycle is yes okay all right um perfect um and then we have we discussed it all runs together have we discussed a timeline for the deputy fire chief I don't remember I don't does anybody remember if we've talked about the deputy Fire have we established schedule no schedule are we I don't think so did we identify a a search committee Chief is here he yeah come on down did we did we set up a process for the deputy Fire Chief and I'm we're not yet we've only uh picked a company to uh do the ground search we picked MRI last week okay great all right I haven't met with MRI I think we're still waiting to get the contract finalized and then we can so we could put that up yeah okay and then so you'll come forward with the timeline and um you'll need some support on a selection committee and that whole thing do you do an assessment center I assume for awesome I I loved hearing about that Assessment Center we always do an assessment for our lieutenants and our Deputy fire chief great great okay all right so more to come for the deputy fire chief okay and he gave you two thumbs up from back there Mary Joe for helping with the the selection so all right great thank you all right May 6th annual town meeting and May 7th special town meeting um the the the warrant process is progressing well under elain's leadership uh as you may have seen in your pocket we um even have some versions of the draft motions and article numbers and exactly and the article numbers and and and one thing I should mention to is that uh Elaine is really put put a great deal of effort in Consulting widely with the with the department heads um to and making them part of the process um making sure that they review all the drafts that that I issued um and then um simultaneously we moving forward the the warrant process for the special town meeting the big question for you tonight is to uh review and approve the ballot questions so that they can be forwarded to the town cl's office they have been reviewed by the legal team as well as by Bond Council so there question does anybody um I my computer died so I'm furiously scrolling to find my spot does anybody have the ballot questions in front of them just do you have our right motions are right in the Motions to arum yeah yeah yeah okay thank you um so the question are shall we be allowed shall the town of hopkington be allowed to exempt from the provisions of the proposition 2 and a half socalled the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for the digitization digitization wow made it of all Town paper records including any and all costs fees and expenses related to the same do we have a ballpark or a number on that yes we do have a number I'll mention the number in one second in the budget just looked it up for 60 question here yeah it's 6675 667k and change yeah 6 67 I'm sorry 667 500 I was right okay I was worried I had made it bigger than it was okay so 6,6 67,500 okay shall the town of hopkington be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition 2 and 1/2 socalled the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for the replacement of HVAC air handling units at the Hopkin and public schools including any and all costs fees and expenses related to the same that 700,000 700,000 700k okay um shall the town of hopkington be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition 2 and 1 half so-called the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for renovation and in addition to the Hopkins Elementary School including any and all cost fees and expenses related to the same the actual number is pending I believe the last number that was shared publicly was 42 million now I written that 46 so yeah at least the one I saw I can check but the number is pending but pending 42 million but the number the final number is pending and when when do we expect that by the 15th by the by the 15th by the 15 15 all right um you know how the beginning of the question sounds so a number a bond in order to pay for survey design engineering permitting and construction of drainage improvements on Ash Street and Fenton Street including any and all cost fees and expenses and what's that total 500,000 500,000 okay and the next one is survey design engineering permanent construction roadway sidewalk and drainage improvements on De Carlo pepper corn and Barbara 780 780 and then uh the pay for the survey design engineering permitting and construction of Culver replacement on Granite Street including yeah including all costs and fees and expenses 850 890 oh 890 a it's a f no 850 one second let me check one second move the motion and then the numbers change we have to do it again right no I don't think so it's just it's just the questions this is just informational I think it makes sense to have the actual number so people know what they're voting for I don't think can legally in the wording right eventually at the town meeting there's amount but the ballot at the ballot they don't do the amount because it could change because we're just agree with you by the way I know the ballot could change and the numbers could change but you can't print the ballot and you got to print the ballot in advance and all that I get all that but it just seems there should be some type of uh information available to to the voters as to what they're actually voting for I mean amounts wise yes MH absolutely here's the explanation okay we have the warrant and motions document the the Motions document will have the numbers the template for writing the ballot questions is set by the state MH um numbers are not included in the ballot question however in past years there's always an explanation if you vote Yes here's what it means if you vote no here's what it means and that explanation always has the numbers okay and that that happens right at the end when the information is final final yes all right so what was the answer 850 or 89 oh one second it's 850 850 850 so big ticket items uh so we need to make a motion to yeah we need entertain a motion to approve the ballot questions for the 2024 10 election so moved second uh any discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I I any opposed any extensions okay all right some Hefty questions on the ballot for folks all righty we have to withdraw some land purchases that we're not going to be able to do yes um okay I'll entertain a motion uh did you want to walk through these are these These are straightforward because we've talked about them uh withdrawing the um from the Town maning warning land acquisition the Kella property the McD property the cell tower prop uh cell tower on Clinton Street and a placeholder for the MWR related items we need to withdraw those correct um for the benefit of the public because we did receive a question on this the if the board approves withdrawing the cola property this does not mean that the town's effort to purchase that property goes away what the select board had intended doing was to set aside an article should the town require more money to purchase that parcel than what CPC was approving fortunately CPC has approved to recommend the entire amount so there will be an article a town meeting through CPC for the purchase of col property so we're just eliminating an extra yes that will covered enough yes okay okay okay um so move second all those in favor I I I any opposed any extensions and then there is a uh a motion to submit an article into the special town meeting to authorize the disposition of zero Hayward street so Mo yes um okay I think so long as the board will have a discussion uh you can move a motion secondly then there's a discussion a discussion on the what I just brought forward zero Hayward street correct okay yeah discussion yeah I believe there may be residents oh my gosh youve been waiting all this time back there sorry yeah we appreciate you guys so welcome go ahead and introduce yourselves names and addresses my name is Tim Walsh I am not a resident of hopkington I work with Century 21 Real Estate Group and uh this is Alice pin to Woody Island Road I am also married to Alice's uh granddaughter oh very nice yeah so um basically um Alice has lived in hopkington since 1964 uh at two Woody Island Road um she had intended to live there for the rest of her life uh unfortunately in 2015 her husband um was diagnosed and passed away from cancer uh relatively quickly um he was responsible for you know a fair amount of of keeping the home and the grounds and everything um and Alice has continued to do that and then last year she was diagnosed with cancer uh went through uh surgeries radiation all that um and it's just become difficult for her to uh maintain the home so she decided to sell it uh in October had it under agreement with the builder was surveyed and it looks like half the house is on town on land um it it it's a really weird situation that is often not encountered but in that neighborhood perhaps it happens more than uh we think it's more than you imagine that you know yeah so then it wasn't done as neatly as right exactly and we think the home was in her husband family since it was built so like there was never any like real transfer um and so it just never came up or wasn't properly surveyed um so we're you know Alice really um basically just wants a resolution that benefits kind of everyone involved her the neighborhood a future homeowner the town um it's a relatively small piece of land that her house is partially sitting on um and so we're kind of looking to um have the town work with us to kind of make it one whole parcel so that um the property can be purchased cuz the build are pulled out there's been five or six other people that are interested and then once they find out the situation they're not interested um so there's a financial hardship um and then you know every month that that passes is money loss by Alice um she's already moved into Davis Road and will continue to be a hopkington resident so um kind of just want you know to work with town to to figure out a solution that that benefits everybody okay um okay um and I so the house is on your your property and and it's on some Town own property I at least do you guys have pictures yeah I looked at the maps and things and at least almost half the house is on the town property I mean it runs went right through and there's two Town Lots one one of them is the one it's on which is 25 by 100 ft I believe or close to it and there's another one right next to it that the town outs which is another 25 by 100 ft so they're not really buildable Lots but they're all right so walk us through this tricky process putting it on the warrant isn't the hard part but how do we how do we navigate this in the most straightforward way yeah um here's the context the board will recall that several months back we went through numerous town-owned Parcels uh to determine if the town would consider them Surplus and dispose of them so there's a process that is laid out for the town we went through that process and fortunately the pel in question was one of those pels y That's the good side the other side to it is the board made a decision that the PS that were closed to the lake would not be up for would not be declared Surplus what we did not know at that point is that the pcel in question had a structure on it we did not know that so yes the pel has gone through the process the vetting process for can this be disposed of as suus property um the decision back then was no because this was one of the properties that are AB in the lake what we did not know then was that there was a Structure okay yeah if we go through the process uh to decide it's a surplus property at town meeting and open it up for sale that doesn't solve the problem necessarily correct okay because of procurement law that parcel becomes available for anybody else to purchase right okay then what do we do next I'm by the parcel in the right exactly yeah yes yeah yeah we have offered the next lots to AB butters for reasons but when we went in with sewer and water and all that stuff down there we we to open them up uh and we we have offered offered deab betters and she would she's more than butter she's on it um yeah the in other instances we have used the the unique acquisition principle we can discuss with Town Council if that applies yeah so it seem to make sense to put it on town meeting and gather more information yes yeah yes cuz you can't do anything without being able to buy that part right that you're stuck without accessing the parcel yeah correct right so you would like us to put it on town meeting but this is us telling you it's not a super straight necessarily A straightforward process always a good idea and I know it's more money always a good idea to hire an attorney that's knowledgeable in um such matters so there there is a way through it um if if the property were to be diso you know town meeting says that we can dispose of it um you know you could off enter into an agreement with the town to buy it correct contingent on selling I see selling the house so I see so um kind of it would be back toback I got it purchase and then sale of lots okay that make sense yet yeah yeah so that this would you know go on town meeting um and then if the town decides to dispose of it then we could uh purchase it um and go from there that's kind of the process frankly I think no one's going to want to buy it well yeah who's going to want to buy a parel that has half a house on it right yeah one one hopes that it you know that won't happen right for sure okay yeah um or it could happen the other way around where the the buyer the both by the other side too yeah that's true that's true um okay so we have a motion and was it seconded I'm sorry we jumped right into I'm happy to second okay um any more discussion uh all those in favor of putting on the special town meeting warrant signify by saying I any opposed any extensions good luck thank you yeah and and I hope you're well a lot of we need to amend all right um the town meeting articles number is it all of them one through 41 we have to put recommend for all those not tonight not tonight yeah not tonight not tonight usually um for the financial articles the board defers to let the Appropriations Committee make his recommendation first and then the board acts on but there are some articles that are non Financial that the board could act on but it doesn't have to be tonight okay do you need a vote to put them uh they're already on the warrant yeah they're on the warrant so this is just whether or not we recommend them yeah all right and you don't need that from us tonight okay okay all right so that'll come back to us on the 16th di all right okay um I know we're way behind but we are going to um press on we are going to do um the midyear goals evaluations with the police chief or continue good evening good evening good evening so just in terms of process um I know that we received a lot of information what's the pleasure of the board in interacting with the the goals the information the feedback what do you want to do how do you want to do it well I mean I think um it was a process established when we when we did the smart uh the stretch CL um and did the the worksheets so I think we just kind of Follow That proc okay and I think the public would like to hear the brief updates for the um items that were submitted since the last meeting right I think so too yeah yeah so uh so Chief how do you want to start do you want to start with the update on the items that were submitted or how do you want to start what's first time through this so I had no reference point to make suggestion on that um the way we arrived at our goals and you know you were part of the process is as you set your goals we then work with the town manager and the vendor to align the senior's goals in line with their department needs and with the town's the town and that was done we came up with my three goals for this year um I I've reiterated them a couple times first and when we made the stretch goals secondarily when I U produced my mid review um in accordance with the email that sent out and the forms that were were sent out to review the period between July 1st and to current in preparation that we can put together to set up an environment for me to succeed in my goals at through this year's this year's goals so glad to be here glad to to talk about um um and to solicit feedback on how I might make sure that I I achieve these goals so maybe the best logical thing is to to work through the midyear evaluation and work through that I know we had started the first one um I submitted some some updates to uh each of the goals um been occurred since we last met and uh I think for me that's what I would as your employee expect this process to be so through the chair I mean I think it makes sense for the public um to know what the the 20 fiscal year 24 stretch goals and object objectives worksheet um set um this is this is the evaluation is based on you want me to go through it uh yeah you can I think that the goals are a tiny bit different than they here than they were in October when they were presented to us but I'm happy to use these as the framework to talk sure so um the goal was uh recruitment of uh qualified police officers and recruits the tasks and activities that are associated with that would be to open the process to recruit H train applicants with no prior law enforcement experience um to enhance the use of social media team to promote the hopkington police department evaluate the value of of of aailable vendor resources for marketing and advertising and evaluate and participate in high in high potential return recruitment events and advertisements uh the resources that would be needed to achieve those objectives uh would be to collaborate with with HR to develop a job posting in line with the town Charter and town goals including enhancing d uh the eiib evaluate the job posting to the select board appearance for the appointment process to identify potential Effectiveness then evaluate online presence with an eye towards recruitment so with that um so that that was the goal for um recruitment right we had a second goal which is the promotion and professional development of Command Staff and in order to get there we would collaborate with human with with HR to ensure compliance with mcop CBA Town Charter labor law and best practices offer training to Command Staff members at every level and topics relative to the next level of promotion officer training and practical skills necessary to function at the next level within the Command Staff to train all Command Staff of the awareness level on the next command level work projects and tasks um the resources uh needed to ACH achieve those objectives would be support from the select board where we would provide a clear understanding um so no sorry Chief would provide a clear understanding to the select Board of the mcop CBA enumerated processes Town chter labor law and best practices and what goes into bringing candidate forward uh determine the expectations of the select board involvement in the promotion process there' be training costs which would be covered by the existing budget funds in collaboration with HR uh constant and continual collaboration currently exists and is anticipated to continue and then administrative M uh administrative manager Schuler uh various Town employees will work together uh for the Command Staff practical skill set development and awareness growth I think those were the objectives that we had right M and so we have the chief's input your feedback Chief do you want to go with Goal number one all right um so as I spoke to earlier officer recruitment is extremely difficult um I know uh we're not alone in this in law enforcement I know recruitment of quality candidates is a struggle in every industry uh fortunately in law enforcement it's an extreme struggle uh finding even interested candidates is difficult and finding qualified candidates is even harder um there's a lot that goes into onboarding of employees and I've outlined that repeatedly all the work that we do in collaboration with HR uh and we continually looking for opportunities to that end um and with the mindset of increasing diversity we have researched online resources and posted through them um we continue to look for opportunities to share our job postings this job posting was the first open solicitation for Academy candidates in a long time uh it's been we've been fortunate to recruit from other departments and other trained Academy PE people some later in their Academy process were hired um we saw um that tonight we brought three on we brought one on before we still have two in the queue and it's it's moving moving pretty fast great deal of work and thanks to HR for uh not only guiding us through uh um the whole process maintaining that we we do everything in conjunction with the town's hiring processes and best practices as well as uh the recruitment team the recruitment within the department has been exceptional many people that we've hired are are their recruits directly from a knowledge of one of our employees uh they're interconnected the group that we we've been hiring and from my experience uh that's been the best source of candidates when we have quality officers recruiting quality candidates it really does help build a a tight and cohesive team so recruitment is is doing really well um when you speak to um to recruitment of police officers um you know a lot has to do with their experience when they get here so one of the things that we've done recently and it's in line with the other uh the other goal is um we've looked internally at our fto program we had a sergeant who developed it and rent it for years uh we had conversations about where they are in their Career Development and where they want to go what is their bandwidth and what might what might change through that conversation uh he actually solicited his his successor in the fto program which uh unfortunately in law enforcement is a uh was not the way it used to be done you would you would collect your skill set and climb out through the ranks and it wasn't the skill sets weren't distributed throughout the ranks but we're shifting that Paradigm where um now this this this Sergeant has ability to say he built a program rent for years now he's pass that skill set that program on and um that is a development that's a Next Level type of thing to know that you're that that's that's what is going to be looked for in his NE the next level of interviews is okay you can do it can you can you pass it on can you build a team uh I'm happy to say that the fto coordinator that was selected is doing a fantastic job I've sat on several meetings with them as during the transition he's recruited additional fto met regularly with with them and and that is really you know it's a big night when you get hired when they come before you now and get hired it it's a big night you know no one forgets that but really what shapes their perception of the department is every interaction with the members in the department and having a strong and cohesive field training for as with any onboarding of any employee is critical and then they develop those those career-long relationships and they learn who they want to seek out for advice throughout their career and uh so so really happy with with with that transition because it falls into both categories it supports the the onboarding uh the new newly hired employees as well as it supports the development of the um other officers um who are not sergeants and the other and the sergeants who might be a key key player in the in the field who is the new fto um uh Sergeant Bill burchard offered to to Step Up When is when was that then I don't know oh is is it recent or has he been doing her for a while it wasn't really once yeah six months I remember doing it okay so he uh um I believe he's a strong fit for the role um I was I believe sag mcneel made a um a good choice to say given where what he wants to learn and where he wants to develop his career to create some bandwidth he passed it on and again I'm pleased with the way that um they have interacted with the team during the transition um so it it's going very well okay um on the recruitment do we have question yeah absolutely yeah Chief um looking for some numbers in general um I always go by metrics and first for objectivity um so we have 29 uh officer positions and when we last spoke we were at n 19 or 21 you want 21 right yeah I think 20 22 20 oh sorry we added one last meeting so right yeah okay and we added three more no I was refreshing back in June when we had the objective um the number was around 19 or 20 at that time and including today's what is the number now so right now we sit at 24 with two potential candidates deep in the in the onboarding process and um all of those candidates six candidates will be online in the calendar year okay so that would bring us so we're at presently at 24 25 26 depending on the outcome of the deputy chief would bring us to 27 I I understand our maximum size ever to have been either 25 or 26 and that was in the period where we hired two officers and sent them to the academy um through the first couple years there were there there were positions added in incrementally to to bring the department up to the targeted goal and positions were added even after I was I became chief bringing that that 29 up so um we've never been more than definitely never been more than 26 but I think the number might actually be 25 so we'll we're on target to be the largest we've ever been thank you that's helpful um another followup on that so you sent us some emails on the updates for the lieutenant position yes and also updates on deputy chief we talked about do do you want to share that in this context as well sure I think that comes under the next school you want to just go to the next it's fine I don't care it's hiding in Su it's fine I'm I'm fine if you want to talk about that yeah okay um so um as far as the lieutenant process the position was posted on February 27th and interviews occurred on the 25th of 2024 what the process dictates is that there's um independent two independent processes there's an oral oral panel that was made up of three Chiefs and um Kristen Merill and they conducted an oral interview based on a metrics of particular characteristics qualities training and they were scored each individual question was scored and ranked that process is independent of my process where within the within the policy it it identifies things that they can be assessed on and I developed um going back with um with the HR Director and then re visited it prior to executing at this time that metrics and using that metrics I do an independent evaluation and a score is generary and it's when um the director or the HR representative comes out of the because it occurs from next to my office um when the after the interviews are done the interviews are scored the the hr's staff member comes out asks me for my review it has to be done before now they happened simultaneously we we put this together in like a month um and I presented the uh the the scoring from my evaluation and they uh they were compiled put into a pre into a spreadsheet essentially to come up with ranking and scoring and do you have it timeline in mind timeline for for hiring or finalizing the lieutenant that's what we going to talk about oh you that's was your earlier conversation about the process for next week and then to appear for at the next select Bo meeting thank you any questions um yes so the social media team um where are we with that excellent so um again a sergeant and again uh Sergeant bir Char approaching me we had the team and I was and I was leading the team and um he approached me and asked to take lead of the team he's done that he's held regular meetings with the team and then as in support of recruitment we they're working to design a recruitment video um they've also taken a great deal of classes they uh they um it's a it's a very vibrant group it's uh when they get together they come they bring PowerPoint and and examples of what other communities are doing and uh they' they've had training and different legal aspects of social media uh it's also another example of a very vibrant itive group of It's A large group of them um I wish I had the number for you but it's over 10 people and it includes the communication department so members from the communication Department I think we've definitely all noticed a lot more posts from the police on Facebook people really appreciate knowing about the road closers and like you said the Fruit Street bridge opening was the big the big hit yeah like sometimes you see some jokes and I can't actually say because I hate Facebook I'm off you you yeah well my wife hates that but um but increasingly social media is the mode of uh people gaining information so I think that's why we set this as one of the goals is to be able to communicate with the town absolutely one of the things though and and and I'm sure you as board members have found is you present information a little bit of time goes by and that information Falls away so it is a constant and I see it when you do your budget talks you know you don't just have one session you repeat it repeat it you go to different groups you share it and that's the thing that we need to do with with our initiatives is to continually get on to that's one of the things I want I've tasked them with doing is building a schedule where we think we want to revisit things um earlier we talked about the jail diversion program and there was a period of time when people were asking about it and um years ago and we had had it for a long time and we had posted but we hadn't posted it contemporaneously enough to the event that triggered the conversation so it's a lot of work it's a lot of time but um the the group is excited and and vibrant good any other questions I have y yeah um one thing is um part of Recruitment and overall kind of talent management is also of course retention uh hous our retention has been historically and now and um we can't ignore that the last couple of years has been challenging for various reasons that we know um has that how is that impacting we kind of sense it but if you have any numbers to share and then also the second part is what is their plan and um kind of to mitigate that or manage that better sure um so is our our retention for 2023 um we had one member leave and move to Vermont we had one member resigned we had another member that resigned um so as I as I remember we lost three and then we just lost another one in February um but across 2023 and 2024 that's that's what we had um so and there was more less a couple years prior around 21 right yeah yeah there was a tough there was a period where we lost lost a fair amount of officers we had um presently three of them are in the state police um couple of them went to their to their home communities um we had one that we hired knowing they would be shortterm because they they were already in the process for a federal agency he came in and he did a fantastic job and I think he was a tremendous asset actually recruiting other officers as well their offices there today because of that higher um I think one left for the military two right one left law enforcement went to the military a couple of them are no longer police officers there was some retirements it was a difficult period for sure um um and thanks to you and the support of Mr camalo we're able to do some initiatives to ease the burden placed on the patrol force due to the vacancies by compensating them and giving more motivation for people to voluntarily sign up for over time uh Additionally the uh the contract was settled very favorably um in uh July of um 2022 and um so it it has stabilized I'm not going to sit before you and say that people aren't going to leave that we're not going to hire people and that they're going to leave it's a very marketable position and most police officers can find a job in three weeks and they leave for various reasons there are some things that we can talk about as we move forward in the organization regarding scheduling I think that there's an opportunity there to be a uh to recruit other officers I know a couple officers left for a community that had a for force schedule and that's attractive to officers they um I'm sure you find in your in your lives as well uh people value their time off and it's important to them and if they can see an opportunity where they can uh cluster their work Tighter and then have more time off four on four days off every rotation that's very favorable would Rees additional bodies and there's some other um issues issues related to paying back time and that but that serves also to benefit having extra Staffing on as well as uh accomplishing training objectives with no incurred overtime so there's a whole cost benefit analysis and you'd have to determine the build out of the department where it is and maybe through U other processes that we been we've been talking about we can determine where that might fit in in the growth and expansion of the department yeah thank you for sharing that and one other thing I wanted to kind of uh and just curious and want to note as well is that when I I remember uh when I joined and we we're talking about the new negotiations and the police compensation and the retention and it came out I I don't remember who prepared it there was a um quadrant or there was like a um data and metrics creating quadrants for competitiveness in terms of our compensation for police officers across um the relevant towns yes and Hopkinton at that time was in the third or fourth quadrant pretty low compared to others in terms of competitiveness and then we worked on um and I I remember you mentioning it and we all supported how we can be more competitive and uh we supported the to kind of filling the gaps for lack of compliance with the queen Bill and added the educational increment which after analysis pushed us to the top quadrant so and it happened not too long ago it was waiting for decades and this is the first time it happened and we are one of the few towns to do it and I'm I'm happy that we did it I think the whole board supported it for the same reason because we want to be competitive and we want to encourage our law enforcement for retention to motivate them do you feel that and it hasn't happened too long so it's um you know the jury is still out there uh that is helping or going to help attract new talents as well as retain our current talents absolutely um you know as I said a a candidate can has boundless opportunities in law enforcement um we need to be competitive and I'm grateful that that the the board of the time stepped up and fixed some of the inequities that actually existed officers of the same rank working the same shift were making 10 20 25% less than a peer officer so if you're doing your Market Basket of communities to go to it would you you you wouldn't come here but we've resolved that and um the uh the so the issue of competitive pay is set aside um and it definitely it definitely helps we we we recruited a lot of lateral transfers in 2022 um so it definitely worked glad you heard that thank you as far as lateral transfers now um they're hard to come by they genuinely are towns there are towns that um can't find them there's many many towns now are sending more and more people to the policey the the uh the M police training academy is adding classes as well as we know that our our state partners are are taking police officers from from the communities because even their recruitment is is struggling in uh uh secretary Reed last week in an article typically they would get 14,000 over 14,000 people to take the State Police test and that's down to over 4,000 that's significant I mean I mean think about what your what your career options are as a Massachusetts state trooper I mean they have helicopters horses TVs specialty units you know um and you only have 4,000 people taking the test compared to 14,000 so for us locally um we're competing for we're competing with each other we're competing with the state federal agencies who are all struggling what that that that officer that I hired would have t Ty Al been in a one-year background process and they took him in it 5 months and before you could even long before he even went to his training he was working in a field office um just to get him on the books it's it's a completely different environment totally understood and um sub followup question on that I think um for the future if not already and I would like to hear how it's done today is there a employee feedback mechanism that you have Anonymous feedback mechanism I asked the same to our town manager and town Administration which could help also you know look at the pulse of the um police officers in your case and see what the trend is and you can get good feedback and help address those those are very critical in any Organization for employee return sure um one of the things that uh Chief Moore suggested was stay interviews you know you can look at an exit view it's almost an autopsy like that employee's gone right but if we do stay interviews it gives us insight into kind of the pulse and temperature of the organization at different levels and uh I think that needs to be a tool that we all should be using it um at every level why wait till employees made a decision to leave to interact with them um and uh I was very pleased it was done anonymously uh he submitted us a a um a brief summary they were confidential um and a brief summary of the buckets of of comments made by the employees thank you and I could provide that to you that would be great yes thanks app any questions Mar Joe no I don't no I covered it uh I do have a few um I'll I'll stick with the employee satisfaction survey the the um the Chief Moore stay interview um I can't stress highly enough that the next time we do something like that we take notes and we maintain the data um a brief summary isn't isn't very concrete unfortunately this is new to me I don't know best practices I would absolutely welcome to make it the best possible product that we can build okay um so I'm going to um I first of I'm going to start with with a strength I think that um the town and the police department and you have worked very well together to fix um some of the hiring struggles that we had in the and the in using the contract mechanism um and then your recruitment process um your officers leaning in and supporting that to build their own team um from the bottom up is uh really uh wonderful to see um um I do want to ask um I know that we are going to appoint a lieutenant um that position has been open in since October 2021 and December of 2022 you told us it was your priority to fill that and I wonder if you can explain um the two-year Gap sure um now we tread into the difficulties of public meeting where we we are the verge of talking about a lot about personnel and sensitive matters I can share with you that um as we know uh August 24th of 20 22 was when I learned about um our employees involvement uh and and ultimately that led to his indictment for um what is it the the allegation is child rape child rape child rape so um that's tragic um if true um it's horrible it's it make makes our department look bad it makes it it's we began trying to dig ourselves out of a hole in January I learned that a sergeant was implicated in some way in it so uh I think in December 2022 we we did not know how quickly that would wrap up we knew that was on leave but right but we didn't know well Porter was no longer a candidate for the lieutenant spot anyway so we're just talking about the lieutenant spot he was the deputy I'm talking about it being kind of in a limbo situation could have been resolved soon or not so the lieutenant spot was never in limbo actually it's been open since since J Porter was promoted in October of 2021 so that position has been open okay and it's it's now now posted it was a priority two years ago for you okay and and what what was what was the lag what was the Gap so as a department head you have to make thousands of decisions there are things that I can't tell there are things I can't tell you right now that are going on and I had to make those decisions based on the Staffing level the idea of stripping a uniform Patrol member out of out of Patrol when we were facing uh tight tight um shift guidelines uh we took great efforts to keep the shifts the uniform shifts staffed we removed school resource officers and detectives to feed the uniform Patrol and um kept moving forward like there things I can't talk about so candidly that doesn't explain the Gap I'm just being candid um you you needed to either promote your officers that that were and by the way still are doing an excellent job you got you got sergeants that have been holding the Rope for two and a half years so much so that they sent you a letter asking for Relief um in this situation so this isn't just me wondering about this this isn't just your sergeants who've been struggling and holding the Rope um it's the community wondering what why there's this Gap and and um so I I didn't get an answer to why there's a gap right I'll just acknowledge that um who's been doing the job since October 2021 primarily mhm for the most part it was largely me and and I will like to give credit to the sergeants because they did send a letter um they expressed their desire for promotion and rightfully so I met with them and I talked to them about it I explained that there were things I couldn't tell they didn't know to the extent of where we were going to end up going with the employee who ended up getting terminated they did not know that at the time once they became aware of it they have stepped up they put the pedal to the metal this was a work to contract letter which people receive we see them all the time in gut town government and they did exactly the opposite and they stepped up exactly the opposite your sergeants have stepped up huge this this community needs to be very um very appreciative of the ways that the sergeants at the hopkington police department have been doing many jobs not just their jobs but the Lieutenant's job and the deputy Chief's job since at least may we understand that that um that couldn't be filled what's the what explains the Gap in the deputy chief position from May when we know that that position is open Mrs Kramer you know we've spent a lot of time talking about this you know in May you began a maximum campaign of pressure against me against the department in support of your friend and it's becoming extremely uncomfortable um to the chair can I yeah add um so two things I'm thinking one is that um again you've been Leo for some time and we heard things and you know your um complaints that we did not hear in other meetings or other forms and you mentioned there were some limitations but I think this kind of um creates a vacuum in some communication and the the lieutenant spot has been talked about public I'm coming to it so but in terms of the lieutenant SP I think these are good questions however I don't think anyone would disagree that the last 18 months was a normal Police Department operations in hopkington for various reasons that we all know and we cannot deny that uh and not only the police department I felt it distracted us the silic board in many ways too than more than we wanted to because it wasn't a normal situation and we all stepped up to manage the situation to do what we think is best for Hopkinton and how best we can move forward so I would also want to put that into consideration and I don't you know mind also sharing and I have shared it in the past that I think the review we are focused on is good it's always good to bring the context and bring last two years 3 years context even 10 years when it's applicable uh however if we are talking about media from a particular time zone the targeted evaluation would be more for that time zone and if we are saying from June towards June we want the lieutenant position to be filled out and moved up uh do we feel comfortable with the current path that we are looking at in terms of hiring and feeling and feeling that commitment that's one and then second is if we don't um a that would reflect of course in the review and B how can we also help I think our role is not only to oversight and be a Critic which is a the role we have as trusted by the town but also to see how we can best help our Police Department our chief our police officers to move forward given the various crisis various challenges that we have had so I I just want to also consider that that these 18 months where in no means a normal state of things in uh police department and things piled up one after another there was um the alleged child rape issue there was um um Tim brenan's involvement issue there was uh da various investigations there were investigations from crawl uh and we ourselves also know by the way just for every once we are not allowed to say anything and everything because of the uh confidentiality ongoing investigation and all that goes in so I want to put that context because I think it's only fair to also put that in the backdrop when we are um you know considering the some of the issues that you're bringing up and absolutely I think I just want to make sure that I get my question answered what is the what accounts for The Gap without speciously suggesting that I have been on a personal campaign I'm just going to put it out for the record that that is not true stick to the question please well we here to also talk about my feelings right I am your employee the deputy Chief's job employee can I speak sure I expect to be treated professionally yes I expect to not be retaliated against because I took action against your friend you've said this publicly repeatedly you've refused to recuse yourself you've twice investigated me against the dist the District Attorney's recommendation and it's a very hostile work environment how about this how about this it's your job to build your team tell us why you didn't didn't post for a deputy chief job or a lieutenant job it has nothing to do with anything else tell us why you didn't do your job I've explained it no you haven't I have you absolutely have not explained it haven't explained it so in the absence satisfactory I I'll repeat myself you we we're under intense pressure we had Staffing shortages we had Personnel issues and I made a management decision to absorb those positions in workload into my own work at the same time I had the sergeants saying they wanted to learn more skills and I've done it since July 1st I met and moved all my goals forward we stand poised for a deputy a lieutenant we're hiring and um to focus on two years ago I look at the last six months look at the last six months may end if I may end we um did not have a review at the end of last year this mid midterm review has never happened before and um it has okay well I'm sorry then I will explain it hasn't for me it hasn't this forum has never been done before for me okay I've turned in my documents um it's it's this is an extremely uncomfortable form it is it's very awkward um it's awkward for us and it's awkward for you and I appreciate that I would have appreciated the opportunity to answer these questions last year well the deputy chief job came open in May so speak to that one the deputy chief job yes it's posted it is posted because we posted it and which is what you the the board did last time it was open and the Lieutenant's job it's been open let's just go back to May you've had full full support of this board why hasn't that been move forward around that time I knew that there was a sergeant that was significantly involved in a in an incident you had already put him on leave so he's on leave he's under investigation pendent so if I may had done a promotion prior to that I likely would have promoted a person who ended up getting terminated and if I had promoted and if I he wasn't eligible afterwards after he went on leave so hold off the promotion to see the outcome and then if he's eligible and he he goes for it and he gets it he gets it why it seemed counter counterproductive to do it to do it during that period it took us from the report till February to resolve that so you also said here tonight that in the absence of the Lieutenant's slot being filled and the deputy Chief's slot being filled you have taken on all those roles not all I'm taking on many of them and I would suggest to you that the evidence suggests that it's it's the opposite your sergeants have been leaning in heavily and doing an excellent job for this town but they need relief they even put it in writing I agree they they the promotions are important that was your job and I'm done you have now you have now made progress I'm going to call for a point of order um I think we're getting very personal here and this is the stuff for executive session this isn't the stuff this is performance ma'am it's m of performance and I think you know if you want to make we are all all have spent the past year or months not being able to tell anybody why we've done what we've done and what decisions we've made why is this man any different than we are because it's his job to do these These are his job these are it's our job and we hav't a to defend ourselves at all we in the middle of you know two active investigations and I mean I think the answer you just heard is is his the answer that there was an active investigation going on there was another person that probably would have been promoted and it turns out he was terminated because of his involvement in it I'm sorry we all mean well and on the same note we need to be I think you made your point I I have defin very careful about confidentiality and ongoing so there matters zero confidential about to your point about building your team and filling your structure and being a leader so my question is in procedurally are you suggesting doing the review for 2021 2022 and half year I'll I'll start in may um so listen in may we all know we were talking about the supports that the police department needed and we put supports in and things started happening if I remember since May and we've all been impacted by this and we Cann IGN if we just look at the lieutenants and the deputy chief job there's been no action on those until I spoke up for weeks ago whatever it was I'm not I don't know the time no action until we made it happen and we made it happen I made it happen with a very uncomfortable presentation that is not the way this Police Department should be running it's not being led right now effectively that's your opinion it is op opinion it is but I think the time that expired during this time the turbulent and tumultuous time and because of the confidentiality and the explanation that we heard all these connecting together it wasn't a normal situation where someone just sat on a position to hire for May through now 8 months um that's one and another thing I want to point out now it kind of came to me is we did talk about or hear about organizational development from the chief and um the path that if I remember to correct me was to start it borrow map for the situation we were in and of course because of many confidentiality we cannot go into too much detail but given that plan the first step on the three phase was to promote the surgeons and the Chief came to us for the surgeon promotion on in September sometime I think early September M and you had a surprise some surprise questions and some surprise U information which I appreciate we all appreciate it and we all supported to get those explanations as well if you remember so the promotions were on hold and it was on hold for 5 months or 6 months and the only reason for that hold was technically the board because we wanted uh on on some of those and honestly we've been asking to put that on on on the agenda as well and for various reasons it it took 5 6 months to get it back on the agenda but the point I'm making is if that was the approach that it would be three phase and the first phase was stuck for 5 6 months that also is kind of puts the whole process little bit behind based on the information we were given and the logic we were given I don't know the detail context that you have as a leanon if you can share it that's great uh but it does sound little bit um getting to the personal relationship level I I don't know what that is and we don't need to dive too much deep but if you feel um strongly I think you may want to share so I I'm sharing that there are gaps in the leadership and they've been there mawing gaps in the leadership and they've been there for a long time somebody is doing the job and I would suggest to you that it is the sergeants and we are not paying them extra to do this extra work and that means we are all complicit in wage theft what is that that's a new information it's not new information it's not someone has to someone is doing that job and it's the sergeants and we're listening and nodding along knowing that we appreciate the surgeons but I you just some some other stuff I I have to say I mean they need to be compensated if they are doing extra work that's the bottom line so let's talk about that could beain fully fully supportive of our surgeons our department and our chief to be successful I think that's also part of our job now one thing I have to mention is that the reason it sounds personal is sometimes things burst out and you may not realize it but we are all kind of in a dark on some of the information you mentioned the letter certainly in the last meeting we didn't hear no I didn't mention the letter that was that was that was news you did that was news I I heard it from your the news came out after your statement if I remember I think that that was opposite but it doesn't matter any you know I think this is getting way out of hand way out of this is way out of hand you've made your point I have made my point okay so I think we're done but but we can't ignore the fact that there are gaps and if we sit quietly by while the gaps continue that's on us no understood and I I just want to take another moment sorry um to to make a point in the last meeting you also mentioned you were doing your own investigation which none of us were aware of and I want to know let me finish please and with that statement you insinuated that there should be administrative leave there should be disciplinary action and then you put it on the executive agenda the next meeting now my question is why did you do an investigation without anyone's knowledge and did you find anything that actually LED you to put it in the disciplinary action and administrative mode if so can you share it with us and if not then was it actually fact-based or was it personal so two things I'm going to say first we have been asked by the da not to do an investigation or speak to an investigation so we it was before that we really have to be careful of that we are very careful and fact you mention I'm sorry you're interrupting me okay sorry go ahead okay just pointing that out um so I did use the word investigation what I had really done is what all of us must have done is asked a lot of questions and I have developed a timeline and I am that is due to the DA in western Mass that executive session was called after we were all notified by the da that doesn't add up well that's that's the timeline sh whether it adds up for you or not that's the timeline in the last to rep play that your insinuation was you were doing an investigation and in the insation was that is leading to believe there needs to be administrative leave and no I didn't say anything about administ and disciplinary action I didn't say anything about that at the time time out time out time out time out I agree I agree so I have one more point we've talked a little bit about the social media and communication team um and we can't let that conversation go without asking the question about what we are doing in terms of adjusting our processes so we don't make mistakes like we did make ever again and I I just want to know what process improvements have taken place to make sure that when we um are putting information out or whatever how about this I want to know how we tackle process Corrections when we make a mistake or we find out that whatever it is we're doing is not quite right well I I think in order to do that and get the process we have to talk to councel because they're involved in this too so staying out of the specifics of that blunder and that mistake all right um what how do we course correct how do we make sure our processes are improved you asking us or you asking yeah no the CH well so take take that pick a less volatile situation but how or or pick that one what have we done since January to to April to make sure our processes are corrected and we never make a mistake like that again that's a fair question can you clarify which mistake we'll talk about the disclosure of the the inappropriate disclosure of information what have we done to address and correct our processes in the police department to make sure that never happens again so and what have we done well we can't we can't we've been we've been asking da not to yeah the da is asked us not to look at and we are expecting the results soon I think a point of hard as well is that one we cannot share the you know or talk about it the details because of the DA's request and the letter however uh I checked with the lawyer and we can share facts uh that are Universal and prevalent so one fact that is out there and we learned is that the red action process is not singlehandedly done by the police chief it is done by a number of experts and stakeholders and it is it has been the process all along so it's fact and there are involvement from the town there are involvement from the lawyer the investigations and eventually the lawyer um police chief Town manager correct if I anything wrong PR team everyone is involved FM uh PR FM actually who we pay for it the law the the town lawyer who we pay for it everyone is involved in doing that so the investigation will tell us was there any ill intention behind it or was it a simple mistake or was it a process flaw we are eager to find out and once we find that out I think that would be the best time to see okay okay what we learn and how can we do process improvements now in the meantime if we have any more reduction to do I agree we need to have like 500 times more um vigilance and effort in doing it right that's my my thought on that but I don't want to want everyone to leave thinking that just because your opinion insinuates to the police chief the process is not only police chief it is multiple experts legal law enforcement and town Administration working on it together do you disagree or have other information that you want to share on this I have never insinuated that so to be clear okay I'm happy and and um I don't really like to insinuate uh I like to be really direct um so clearly uh I am not happy with your achievement towards your performance goals um I'm going to say one other thing one other inconvenient piece of information out loud it has been reported by Active Duty Officers to me that you are not regularly available during working hours and we need to know if that is true or not and I'm just going to say that I think it's fine that you say that but you know you're always talking about you want to s to a process we have a process and it's outlined in our our thing you're going way outside the four corners of talk tightly within the Four Corners no but no we we have we gave him specific goals and we're talking about how he how he accomplished those goals all right I'm done all right next agenda item is the town manager's report thank you thank you Chief thank you tell Mone to support Main Street this happens my computer gets tired the Transformers have not arrived the Transformers yeah Main cor project the Transformers have not arrived I was actually on the phone with Dave um I was on the phone with Dave uh this this morning just to understand if there's new information that has come from from EV Source um there's no new information from urce however I I am now pursuing a a different approach um I I have been given information contact information on uh um at state level um with the idea of perhaps having the Commonwealth work alongside to better understand where are we in this process as a community in the pipeline for receiving Transformers yeah because we've been waiting for 2 years so where where are we where are exactly 40 Transformers yes so two years is a long time to wait for anything yeah so years project we thought was long enough but yeah so so we we we're going to use um state level resources to to ask that question okay good yeah um good progress regarding the installation of the pias filtration system uh as reported by Nicole Bruce um the contractor has installed the two Avant Tech filter vessels as well as set up the rap building system frame supported membrane structure so the structure is in place vessels are in on course to complete this in time um for um hopefully a certification ceremony in in May and then uh the m w we we are finalizing a letter to the Water Resources Commission um as well as a letter to DCR in in the town manager's report I felt it was necessary to really outline the components of the DCR process at this stage were investigating whether it's possible to locate the booster Pump Station on DC Island what that will take is one the town submitting this formal letter to d as reported previously DCR land is article 97 land permanently protected any transfer of article 9 7 land must meet the following one ensure no net loss of lands protected two only occurs under exceptional circumstances three there needs to be an explanation of the Alternatives in other words there must be determination that no feasible alternative land is available next it must ensure that a minimum amount of land or interest owned under article 97 is disposed if there's agreement to do so next the process must receive mea approval and legislative approval by the general court so again many steps to go many steps to go we're investigating um in the process it it's still the best alternative even though there's so much burden to to doing that the way I approach these issues is it's a partnership if we a willing partner will get to the end yes yes but I but something tell just it just messages to me that that's like for whatever reason is the best possible alternative and it's difficult and I don't know if there's there's movement in a plan B Spot it's the best alternative we would like to say when we explain the Alternatives we'll identify what the plan B is um the hopkington has done this before successfully uh I believe remember trying to remember it was the it's the location of Wales 2 and 3 or 3 and 4 but we've we've done this before successfully um and also we've we've estimated that the booster pump station would require about5 acres and therefore we're looking at about 1.5 Acres of replacement land we did take a look at um possible um locations of such passels that we could swap with DCR uh in the amount specified um and this is purely purely for discussion purposes we identified zero May U Street it's parel u 11-1 d0 in total this is about 27 Acres um it doesn't mean the town gives up the 27 Acres the town only has to if this moves forward it only has to uh give up up 1.5 acres to subdivide the land yes to satisfy that um so again for discussion purposes Zer May Street we wanted to make sure we share that with the board and we also share it with the public great um we need to continue our discussions with ever source with regard to the whether the location of the pump station is within the exclusion zones um and also I continue to urge staff to formalize the communications with the state permitting agencies as well as our legislative teams and also to Contin continue with our regular staff level project meetings and then in terms of the budget update FY 25 budget update we are continuing our meetings with the Appropriations Committee um the next meetings are tomorrow the town manager finance department Human Resources and then April 8th will be CPC uh at the meeting yesterday uh Kayla indicated that has begun the process of drafting the report uh our goal is to have the Appropriations Committee schedule its public hearing and then finalize the report 14 days before town meeting any questions um just quick on the BD on the budget what else is um pending it's pretty much all um said and done or is it the CPC numbers or can you elate no um the budget is set um the CPC recommendations are within the the available resources uh and so I I don't foresee any any issues at at at Appropriations Committee in those discussions we just have to go through the process exactly answer the questions yes and then on the participatory budget um we we did receive an interesting list of applications and I will let uh Elaine report on the applications we received and the four applications that we believe meet the requirements set for the proach program and we are recommending those four to move forward so 10 applications were received um as you know we solicited capital projects unfortunately not all of them were capital projects um so what we did receive was Ada and safety improvements at the HCA which is replacing a couple of um automatic doors and installing a fence um we received a request for a book and document scanner for the hopkington Historical Society uh bridge at the brain Farm Conservation Area which is owned by the hopkington area land trust uh composting kits for residents from Black Earth um uh and curbside services from the zero waste subcommittee uh sustainable green committee um we received a similar uh request from a resident involving start a kits an incentive for curbside composting for residents uh we received a request to do some past removal um we received a request for pollinator Gardens at twon properties that's Pratt farm and Hughes Farm um and a request for rent and workshops for the herd LLC which is a local organization string music reading lessons for high school students by the Metro West Symphony Orchestra and turtle crossing signs um at various locations around town so four of those were um actually capital projects that for Town facilities and those were the Ada uh and safety improvements at the HCA the composting kits for residents for Black Earth um through the sustainable green committee uh the pollinator Gardens and the turtle crossing signs what kind of gardens did you say pollinator gor pollinator Gardens oh nice so the total is about about $52,400 sorry Gardens and Bridge was the last one uh the last one was Turtle Crossing s turt Crossings okay so the open space commission has ordered those in the past and so be more of those how many can we how do we remove p you said you got a request it was a request but there was no there was no dollar amount associated with that is removal of past at pumping station number two so that would been more than the particip budgeting that's more than 60,000 possibly more yeah so so again I I think the interest is strong um the other lesson learned I think from this process is our focus is on capital projects there's now an interest to go beyond capital projects but we can't change the rules after everybody is submitted yeah but maybe next year maybe next year and then and then the the the other point of consideration has to do with capital projects that are uh proposed on nonp public non Town land um for example the application came from the bridge on for halt on halt property that's not Town property any historical society one I guess yeah yeah that one is not really Capital project yeah yeah yeah I mean they wonderful ideas and great projects um with another mechanism of funding they would be great to have yeah well I hope the participatory budget uh process uh stays in place I think it's a really wonderful mechanism for people to uh be creative and and uh yeah move us forward on can you give an example I'm just curious the other ones that are not CeX oriented are those more repetitive operational expense that's why can disqualify our guideline is propose a capital project that can benefit the community for Beyond five years and also it's a project that can be accessed by all Town residents not limited in any in any way um the the the request for a scanner to digitize by a ntown entity does not meet any of those the request to install a bridge on a non toown owned property does not does not that understood yeah yeah but again they're both open to the public though they're not town on but but it opens up it opens up the future conversations setting the parameters differently now that we understand how people might be thinking right it's great we have so much enthusiasm and creative ideas yeah yeah but I do appreciate that we don't change the rules while the game is in play right and just but learn from it and next year maybe we can't do that stay within the scope yeah yeah yeah awesome well congratulations to everybody who put some an idea forward and keep them coming okay last one on this are we able to planning to put it on uh various communication Medias I think it's good to Yes We Fresh Off The um press we will make the necessary announcements we've not I don't we've even consulted the proponents to let them know who yeah was was moving forward so but yeah your point is well taken we'll advertise this widely and this time around round we will work much more closely with the town departments that will be implementing this to ensure timely implementation nice nice job thank you so our next meeting is 16th 16 16th 16th is there um um anything we want to say about the 16th no wait hold on hold on I believe at that meeting um we will with the board's support be announcing that Elaine will be assuming the interim Town manager role after going forward after the 16 yes um my my intention is to again as I've indicated to the board um transition out of the day-to-day role and uh I'll be utilizing my paid time off okay after that I'll be available to consult with the L I said I'll be I've committed there are certain meetings I said I will attend just to make sure we we transition smoothly but after the mid Monon I think then we be the inter Town manager amazing contract is in place already yeah and thank you for stepping up and sorry to see you leave thank you Norman for everything you do and we'll keep thanking you until and even after I'm sure we still see you at the marathon on the 15th oh May Marathon Marathon maybe not um The Pride Parade you'll come for the pride period I know you will oh every subsequent Year yes I believe the pride period is something I always think about um yes so uh so yes we should all sort of um uh we just all want to be able to think about how we want to make sure we say thank you for your years of service um I have very much appreciated in a somewhat tumultous time especially um that this town is so well served um by you and by the the staff that you have built around you your team um and we're in really good position to transition and the hiring in process is already underway and the next board will be um taking that piece of work on and it's it's a good thing for the town that it was handled so well we appreciate your um Fidelity to this job and the board and the town while we have made that transition should party celebrating there should be a party yeah all of this will not have been possible without the board's leadership the support from the town hall team and the wonderful work by the town residents dayto day I'm not too far have your number yeah well he's going to change his phone number oh thank you um thanks El foring up yeah we're very thank you for the confidence in me yeah we're very excited um and uh and lucky we're just simp lucky so not a lot of towns would necessarily have that situation so thank you madam Sher give me the hour yes amen um I move to a journ yes second second all those in favor I any opposed any extensions thank [Music] you do we