##VIDEO ID:hdOqOWo2aq8## welcome to the December 16th meet meeting of the longm select board this is Select board chair V I'll be confirming that all members and persons anticipate on the agenda are present and can hear me Members when I call your name please respond in the affirmative Dan Zoro Here Andrew lamb here Mark gold here Josh LaVine here staff when I call your name please respond in the affirmative Lynn Simmons here Mike barbier here this open meeting of the Long Meadow select board is convened in person and Via Zoom webinar as posted on the agenda and Town's it identifying how the public may join there's no chat or Q&A function all the materials for this meeting are available on the agenda posted on Long meow ma.gov the public is encouraged to follow along using the post agenda unless I note otherwise this meeting will feature resident comment for residents attending the meeting in person please raise your hand when we get to the comment section of the meeting and I will call on you to approach the microphone for residents participating in the meeting via Zoom webinar format please use the raise hand icon at the bottom of the screen the meeting moderator will promote you to panelists unmute you and give you permission to speak if you join the webinar by phone dial Star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to mute unmute residents who wish to speak will identify their names and addresses only each individual is afforded 3 minutes for comments please note that this meeting is being recorded and that some attendees are participating by video conference please remember to mute your phone or computer when you are not speaking if anyone in attendance is recording this meeting please announce yourself now s thank you um and no one else I assume and we will begin with the pledge forance I pledge 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 for s board meeting announcements the town of Long Meadow fil the requests with the Department of Public Utilities for approval of a municipal aggregation plan pursuant to general laws chapter 164 section 134 the department will hold a virtual public hearing on Wednesday January 15th 2025 beginning at 2 p.m. for additional information please visit long meow ma.gov Civic alerts the annual town meeting has been set for Tuesday May 13th 2025 at 7:00 p.m. in the long medow high school gymnasium and petition articles with certification by the town clerk are due in the select board's office no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday January 27th 2025 for additional information please visit longm ma.gov toown meeting on Friday December 20th 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. the municipal offices at Greenwood Center will hold an open house the open house will offer the community a chance to see the upgrades that were done to the spaces to convert the former Adult Center into the new Consolidated town offices and finally the town of Long Meadow municipal offices will be closed on Wednesday December 25th for Christmas and on Wednesday January 1st for New Year's Day we wish everyone happy holidays and a Happy New Year and with that we will now move into resident comments do we have anyone here goe th [Music] all right you know the drill yes I do it's been a while actually so that's good hold on just one second okay so Tom Shay 81 Green Meadow Drive as you heard me say I am for fiber done properly and Ethan Lyn we kind enough to speak with me last Monday which haven't been delayed I got a Subs correspondence and I'm still a little unclear on two issues and maybe a third I believe they consulted with Council but I've not seen the response and sometimes responses are limited to specific inquiries fiber is a huge undertaking and I encourage you to consider the following before you discuss and potentially sign the IGA I'm going to look looking at this as valid due diligence questions and Commercial contract and funding for a project financing in fact you may want to flip your discussion about an MLP and the IGA have the MLP first first question who or what entities authorized to sign the IGA Town manager is authorized to sign an IGA however fiber is governed by mgl 164 is to be carried out by an MLP which has an MLP board the MLP board should like be signing the IGA as other towns have done note in article 8 a town meeting the select board was authorized take appropriate action to establish an MLP for the operation of a telecom system this did not authorize the town manager and the select board is specifically not allowed to carry out fiber responsibilities except as an MLP Board second question What entity has the funding and Authority for expenditures article 9 at the town meeting approve the transfer of 491 th000 from free cash for the initial phase of the fiber project and the MLP board to carry out the task note the town manager can sign an MGA but has no control over the 491 th000 fund funding in the MLP I would not sign a contract if I was unsure if I was able to disperse funds the MLP is being funded and is to be governed by an MLP board third thing is how could a well-intentioned municipal fiber task force have chosen a fiber provider and negotiated a $491,000 contract both without a formal RFP task force charge was to explore Municipal Broadband optate excuse me options and report back to the select board with recommendations long meow took a hybrid approach not an MLP and not a citizen board and a subsequent MLP board and then a formal RFP I mentioned vath the design contracts might not have to go out to a public bid and he got back to me and said that is indeed the case however is missable fiber task force a government def body as defined and what Authority did they have I'm less conversent on this matter but do know that when Phase 2 for the equipment starts mgl chapter 164 section 56d requires an RFP for any equipment purchase of 50,000 or more in summary my questions are who can sign the Fiber contract probably should be an MLP under mgl 164 who can spend the money it appears to be the funding was for the MLP board and then like I said I'm less conversent on this did the municipal fiber task force have the authority to choose a vendor and negotiate a contract without an RFP thank you great thank you Tom any thank you for the extra 20 seconds it's the uh you know holiday spirit um anyone else resident comments anyone online Mike no no okay great uh okay we will move into interviews uh we've got one interview scheduled for tonight and that is a vacancy for the Dei committee we have Rebecca Lindsay with us if you could uh Rebecca if you could step up to the sit up here and um front of a mic the same yep that'd be great and if you could if you could call me Becky please okay all right Becky um and not even my mom called me Rebeca um if you could start with your name address and just tell us a little bit about why you're seeking appointment to the Dei committee okay uh my name is Becky Lindsay I live at 121 wilin Drive in Long Meadow moved here in late 2022 so I've been here on almost 2 years um and I'm already part of first church and the social justice team I belong to Lark um equality of for everyone is real important to me um I'm not sure if you I I do still work I have a company um mind slash and do exhibits for Children's Museums and science museums um I'm working less now so that's why I want to do more volunteering on issues that are important to me great thank you so much anyone have any questions for Becky Josh yes uh so when we first were putting together the Dei committee I Lark was already had a lot of members in town and there were some concerns about whether things would overlap if there would be open meeting uh issues say that one more time if there would be meeting if things would be discussed at Lark that should be discussed at Dei have any I committee topics come up in Lark meetings um I think that's in part true but lar appears to be specifically focused on um sort of um African-Americans rights um not not necessarily um all inclusive um focus I would say the social justice team and at at First Church is is pretty inclusive in terms of what they're concerned about but they're certainly not connected to the town in any way they're just connected to the church okay so um that would not be my I don't think there's a conflict as far as that's concerned great uh and follow question the Dei committee one of the things I I think that they have tried to come up with ideas for was Outreach and how to get out into town would your work do you think that could help inform things on uh displays or intera something interactive to uh um well actually yes everyone in Long M's almost already gotten my number in terms of I can do graphics and all of that I also my BM work starts with strategic analysis so I'm actually pretty familiar with working with demographics and and surveys and those kinds of things because I've helped seven Museums open and if you don't make sure Museum Community is going to be sustainable it doesn't matter that you can make it look great so there's a lot of that involved in the work that I've done um and but certainly I think anybody been involved would say I just do whatever needs to be done to get the message out and to figure out what the message needs to be and how it needs to be delivered and Etc right thank you great thank you um anything else I would just add that just for those viewing at home maybe if you're new to town what Lark is because nobody's really explained it's the Long Meadow anti-racism Coalition and anyone who's interested can just look it up and get involved I'm sorry I didn't I was just explaining what Lark was essentially for those who might not nobody really find conversation what everyone says at the meetings is we're really black lives matter but we don't want to be affiliated with that but that's sort of our mission so it doesn't I in fact think they should become more diverse in their interests but I don't think that that what they're doing is the same in fact I know that the Dei committee is now going to begin doing some programming at the adult center which is not affiliated with lar at all right perfect okay um anyone else okay great uh thank you so much for joining us tonight and then we'll vote on your appointment at our next meeting okay so I just take off now you can just take off thank you so much all right and we also have board and committee appointments so we've got one appointment for tonight Dan uh yes I'd like to make a motion uh to appoint Mike mlan for uh Board of assessors seeking uh the one vacant three-year term which expires on 6:30 27 I'll second okay any further discussion Mark yeah I I I'd like to put in an argument for why we should reappoint Richard Foster and I think there there are two reasons one is that a couple years ago I think it was two years ago town was in a real bind looking for people on a on the board of assessors in fact we couldn't set the tax rate and we put out a request for people to be on the board of cessors and Mr Foster stepped up and it was a big time step up because there wasn't a whole lot of other people doing it and he did that at considerable amount of uh personal sacrifice he went to the classes he took the courses he did what needed to be done to learn the process and got pretty involved in it I think that it would be a shame for us to say we don't really recognize and thank and appreciate the uh the people who who step up and and work for the town and and step in when in this case we really really needed somebody the second reason is because I think we all I I know I did got a letter from the chair of the board of assessors saying that he thought Mr Foster was doing a a really good and thorough and conscientious job and I think there's a lot to be said for that we don't always get those endorsements and I think it's important that we pay attention when we get those endorsements uh you know I'm not saying Mr mlan is not a a good candidate I don't know him that well I assume he'd do a fine job but I think the fact that we had somebody who stepped up uh stepped in when the town really needed somebody somebody who's done the homework the board of assessors is uh tough position because they meet primarily during the day it's not an evening job I think somebody you know and that was one of the problems we had we couldn't really work with you know get people who were working all day long and and couldn't take time out for the board of assessors meetings and and appeals and things like that uh and and the fact that we got a a pretty Sterling endorsement would say to me that I think we ought to reappoint Mr Foster to the board of assessors okay thank you anyone else Andrew uh I also would like to thank Mr Foster and Mr mlan foring will willing to volunteer for this I um I did also feel that Richard Foster has um not only dedicated himself to our town but also this this I didn't know who else got this email from Mr Zeller who is the chairman of the board of assessors but he I I'll just quote from it for the in case someone didn't get it he just basically said Richard Foster is a great asset as a board member Richard would dig into the minutia of an analyzing the values of homes fairly in my eyes more than most since I've been on the board I think he is a great asset as a board member um I honestly think it's only a three-person board I think experience uh is something that's probably very important and we'll all benefit from as a town so um I would Echo Mark's assessment on that but I do appreciate both um individuals volunteering to consider serving the town okay thank you uh Josh go I was just going to say um I Echo much of what Mark is saying as well as um Andrew uh I think Mr Foster has uh done a good job serving our community for several years I think over a decade actually um and I had supported him right after I got elected two years ago um I supported him for Board of assessors I I personally believe that this committee should have new eyes when we're talking about assessments um it's a very important committee as our all of our committees in town but I just think that we have somebody a veteran in Mike mlan who has served our town well on the task force already I think Richard would do a good job as well but I think it's time that we have other people who are stepping up to serve to give other people the opportunity uh to serve our community and and um Mr mlan did an excellent job on the task force for municipal um task force that we just had recently and I think he make a good fit for uh this committee and again nothing against Mr Foster I appreciate everything that he's done for our community and um I I just think Mr mlan would also be a good fit and um I would like to see Mr mlan appointed thank you Josh yeah I'm I'm glad we're all speaking I I feel like uh often times when we have uh these votes um it's kind of done in in in a vacuum at least or we don't talk through and explain our our reasoning so I'm glad that we're all speaking I think it's really important um and I ially don't like to vote on appointments where we have a choice without an explanation uh so Mr Foster has given years of service to the town and I'm especially thankful that he did step in when we needed it uh as as Mark mentioned um but I think at this point I'm going to vote for Mr mlan because I think at this point we have a new assessor in place and and I think we should get some new eyes on uh these these issues that have been um playing us for the years that we talked about with our assessor recently um and I I think a fresh start would be good Mr PL can hit the ground running with that with the training um so I I think that the fact that he affirmatively volunteered to be a on the board I think that really speaks to his interest and his and so I appreciate apprciate that to me it's very uh Mr Foster was on the board I think for 9 or 12 years uh on the select board um and it was I appreciate him stepping up when it reached out to but Mr mlan did it on his own initiative and I think that's great um so we I as always I'm glad we have two candidates who are interested and I think we do a good job but uh I'm going to vote for Mr mlan on this one good thanks yeah and I'll just add that I Echo much of what was said about uh Mr Foster uh to speak a little bit about uh Mr mlan I did have a chance to get to know him and work with him as part of the task force um he is a veteran who served his country he um is currently also getting his MBA and I think that maybe part of the reason why he applied for this position too is that he is entering that you know kind of entering that field that that world and I know that in working with the task force and a couple of the task force folks are here too uh would probably agree with me and saying that he is just very reasonable very thoughtful and really had a knack during our meetings of being able to find common ground and articulate that really well to move our discussion forward in you know times when it felt like maybe it was stuck or uh we couldn't we couldn't get that common ground to move forward so um having worked with him over the past year I think that he would be excellent in in this position so um I I wanted to want to add that because I know that Mark had a chance to talk talk about Mr Foster because of his experience working with Mr Foster so I wanted to talk about my experience working with Mr mlan um any else okay no further discussion uh so the motion is to appoint uh Mike mlan to this position we've had a second and um so we'll go to vote all those in favor okay all those opposed all right uh congratulations Mr mclan all right next up we have select board comments um anybody have any comments they'd like to make Mark yeah I I was at a I guess it's called a permanent building building committee meeting this past week and I wanted to pass along to the select board their concerns about uh and this is nothing new to us but they're particularly concerned about about building maintenance and the ability of the town to continue to do build Building Maintenance when they see that as one of the things they're looking at frankly I it's it's true I think we need we owe it to the building committee and a few other people to take a look at the responsibilities of all the Committees the building committee Capital planning committee uh Etc but I I think it's worth noting that they see a whole lot of deferred maintenance that just isn't coming up and they're not sure how to how to move that that needle given the issues that the town's facing I mean it's not anybody's fault it's the issues the town's facing and they they spent quite a bit of time concern expressing their concern over it I wanted to pass that along anything else um I excuse me I had attended the uh veterans holiday party at the adult center just wanted to say thank you for the uh for Lena the veterans um agent in town V vuro I'm Excuse me um great event really a lot of people had showed up to the event uh and then also um I had another note oh the uh the stuffa cruiser event as well that was a i attended with representative Ash that was a great event I saw um Mr Shay there as well who's here tonight um another great event and then finally I just wanted to say thank you to the the fire um and First Responders I know over the past couple weeks we've had some house fires in town unfortunately most recently um on Tennison uh just around the corner so um I guess Chief rigny has been um you know kind of thrown right into the the fire so to speak and and he's done an excellent job in terms of um Gathering everybody getting everyone to uh to put these fires out and make sure that everyone's safe so um I just want to thank the First Responders for for all that they've uh done to uh to help our community great thank you and Josh um I just this is normally way at the end of the meetings but we have there's a email on posted to the agenda um for accommodation for outstanding service for Val ablin at the long meow Adult Center I just I hope Val has been uh pass this passed on to her uh and it's it's a nice thing you know in in our line of work you don't see a lot of compliments and it's really nice to see this and and uh if if other people have uh nice things to say about town employees especially I think that that would be uh do things like this because it's really nice great thanks anyone else um so uh for my selectboard comments I'll just uh uh respond to uh the resident comment made by Mr Shay and a couple of the questions that he brought up uh we did meet last Monday and I think um after ly and I met with Town Council I sent an email back to you on Friday and that you may have responded at Friday Friday night or Saturday night just have a chance to to respond further but um some of the some of the items that you brought up I think that we discussed at our meeting the last item um about the task force having the authority I think as we discussed it wasn't the task force that had the authority the task force made the recommendation to the select board and then the select board had the authority to uh move forward um the IGA the signing of it that was something thing that we talked to the Town Council about Town Council did say that the town of Long Meadow did have the authority to enter into the IG they their opinion and they read it differently and I understand how you can see it how you can read it your way um I totally understand and that's why we go to Town Council uh but Town Council said that the portion in there about the Municipal Light plant board taking actions is basically subsequent to the signing of the IGA and that the town can sign the IGA the MLP board can take other actions um after that so they they felt comfortable with that um and and did not see a problem and that the uh I actually don't think at our meeting we ever talked about the dispersement of the money but um that was also something that Town Council said that um you know the town disperses that money now they can have the um you know they have the authority to do that and and right now the MLP is not even funed um and so this this initial two items of the PO applications and the design and Engineering the town has the authority to enter the IGA and disperse those funds so um I think that that should should cover those questions but if you have any you know further questions feel free to email um over thank you yeah will we be talking about the IG more in this meeting because there are some questions I have about it I just didn't know if this is oh yeah it's it's agenda yeah to discuss today okay and um okay and so that's all I had so we'll move on to the town manager's report Lyn thank you now this was uploaded late today um it's email address change effective tomorrow December 17th all town of Long Meadow employee email addresses will change from longmeadow.org to Longmeadow ma.gov email sent to Long .org accounts will be forwarded to the new email address for at least a year the new email extension unifies with the town website and better reflects us as a municipal government entity um a Westcom update the executive director of Westcom has submitted her resignation her last day will be February 2nd the Westcom board of directors is going to be meeting to discuss the next steps Greenwood Center um as we know the U open house is Friday and in advance of that the town clerk's office has moved to Greenwood Center they moved on December 10th a new mail drop boox is going to be installed at Greenwood Center outside and the one that's currently used at Town Hall is going to be discontinued we expect that um in the next week an RFQ request for qualifications was released to study Town Hall Old Town Hall and Community House we talked about this um in a lot of detail at uh previous meetings bid qualification packages are due December 20th we'll then review the bids that were received score them interview and then select airm to begin by February Converse Street L project this is the tip project um on Thursday December 12 72 letters were sent to Property Owners with compensation value for their easements residents who receive a letter and have questions should call the DPW and speak with the engineering staff and a bit of good news uh they're on Thursday December 5th a resident called Long Meadow fire department for help she um inappropriately had been pushing leaves in Twigs into a storm drain on Long Meadow Street and lost her wedding ring the fire department was able to see the ring in the drain but were unable to access it they called the DPW who because of winter storms that week were unable to assist but committed to assisting when the weather cleared DPW went out and was ultimately able to locate and access the ring using a ladder vacuum and metal detector the ring owner and family were very grateful to the DPW and fire department for their help the ring has belonged to the owner for 69 years a big thank you to DPW employees Bill drainville Frank Gentile and Eric fish for going above and beyond that concludes my report great thank you um any comments questions about the town manager's report or the department monthly reports Andrew then quick question um regarding the RFQ for the buildings if we awarded it in February about how long how long do you think it would take for this study to occur like how many months would you guess um it's I think we put a time frame in there uh that we want this wrapped up by the end of May okay thank you um Josh did I see you with a question I so I I got two questions today from people who got the letters uh for the DP for the L project and there it's a fiveyear temporary easement and one of my friends said is that are they going to be on my lawn for 5 years and iag I imagine not because they're moving on right but it gives them the right for 5 years do we do should they talk to Tim directly for questions like that okay yes but I would not anticipate they would be on someone down for five years okay can I ask a followup question actually just I'm curious and maybe others are is the amount that people are offered for these easements kind of a formula that's standard yes and is that um based on like a state thing or a Municipal standard that we based on the value of the parcel and then whatever the equation is that the appraiser works out got it anything else uh just one comment for me on the building monthly report our one of our Code Enforcement Officers mentioned that the number of complaints both online complaints written complaints and phone calls have decreased dramatically and they U attribute that to the ongoing education work that the code enforcement folks have been doing um and so I see that as a positive and working the way that we intended it to work so um I just wanted to highlight that um ven if I could just add um to Andrew's question um it's also based on the size of the easement needed so not every parcel is going to be impacted to the same degree so it's based on square footage as well are any of them permanent easements do you know there are two permanent easements I believe okay I could be wrong on that number but it's single digits okay a permanent easement is they taking the land for the road for example or is it that they have the right to come on to the land at any time for work probably both or either yeah most of them are temporary easements so it provides like that they can go on the tree belt and up and Stage there or get access on but a permanent easement would be they can access it forever it's essentially access for whenever necessary yeah or go over it anything else all right we can move into Old business we've got uh approval of our draft meeting minutes from November 18th which are attached any comments discussion about those there were some changes the typos edits whatever I sent them to Mike so you know I don't know if anybody else caught them but I saw them so I sent them along I'll make a motion that we approve the minutes as revised it was not second it was not a substantial change there was one vote that didn't have who made the motion but you pointed that out it was just accidentally left off so I saw some type you'd handle it thank you uh I second it okay second it okay great any further discussion all right all those in favor all right great and then next up for old business we've got our Municipal fiber discussion so two items the IGA and then the Municipal Light plant board discussion a continuation that from our last meeting so uh the IGA is the same as it was at our last meeting except for number 19 and all number 19 does is say that once the municipal life plant board is created then it will step into the shoes of the select board in this IGA um and that's just pretty pretty standard language that our attorneys put in there um and then at our last meeting two one of the outstanding issues were just the insurance coverage numbers we wanted to run it by our insurance carrier to make sure that um it worked for the town they said yes so they cleared that and our attorneys took another look at it and um and okayed everything so um Mark I think you said that you you had some more questions yeah I guess I guess my my concern has to do with the reading of the war article that says the MLP will be authorized to enter into contracts and I understand Ben that you commented that you know Council or somebody looked at it but I'd like to see that in writing because I think it's going to get appealed to the attorney general because the warn article is very very clear that it says the MLP shall it doesn't say the select board acting as the MLP or the M or the select board until there's an ml P it says we're appropriating $400,000 and the select board and the MLP shall be a authorized to act on behalf of that so if we're going to act as a select board counter to the vote of town meeting we better have something in writing from Our Town Council and not you know you saying he's he's opined on it if he's opined not put it in writing because we're going to have to it's going to end up going to the AG's office I suspect and I just want to make sure that we're all in this together yeah I mean we we had our Town Council look at this before it was on the agenda again now um that's what they they put writing tell them to put it in writing yeah yeah yeah that's fine Mark um and so we can we can have them put it in writing um you know I think a couple of things that you said about it says that only the MLP board can enter contracts I mean that language is not specifically in the article um and so you know that that's a misreading but no no I didn't say that what I said is that it authorizes the MLP to spend the money it does do that I'll read it to that's not what you said just two seconds ago fine it authorizes the M want make clear for everyone listening to it authorizes the MLP to spend the money says to take all steps necessary to carry out this task right but it doesn't say this select board I mean I'd like to be able to do it we ought to be able to but that wasn't the vote well the T I'm looking at it now the town will vote to transfer from funds the treasury the sum of 491 grand for the purpose of firw network design so I I see what you're saying but it the vote is to spend the money the contct read next sentence Josh uh and to authorize MLB board to take all the steps necessary to carry out this task I I see what you're saying right yeah I mean yeah and I think just you know in my response to Mr shade too I I understand how you can read that and think that and you know that's why we asked Town Council about it and Town Council said it was fine and I I I'm on the select board I want it in writing because I think we're going to get challenges beneath if I could um so we do have it in writing it was an email we posed that exact question um I'm reading their response it's not a response um that it's in a whole email thread so it's not one we would attach to an agenda if a desire to um receive an actual formal opinion that's on letterhead from Town Council is something that this board wants to do we can proceed that way it would likely make this happen at our next um meeting in January but I can read you the response if you want yeah sure um so we pose that exact question with an excerpt of the um town meeting warrant article language and then we asked can the town of Long Meadow enter the IGA or do we need to wait for the MLP board to be populated to do so obviously we want the work to get started as soon as possible Town council's response in our view the town can enter the IGA acting through the select board which has the authority to enter into 's we don't need to wait for a town meeting vote authorizing the MLP board it would just be necessary for the MLP board to act that said we would recommend some language in the IGA to the effect that the parties acknowledge SL agree that any MLP established by the town will step into the select board shoes as the successor at such time that the MLP is established so if I could I I'm not arguing that we can sign a an IGA you can sign it an IGA is a [Music] intergovernmental meeting not signing an IGA isn't my my concern we've signed all kinds of igas we do it all the time select board's authorized to do it and I think that's what it said and I think the first part of that answer responded to that but then the rest of it responded to the your question only other thing I would add to that too is I think the the issue is if we were if the funds were going to be spent in a different way that's where I think we would run a foul but if the funds are being expended the exact way the article said they're to be expended I don't I think I don't think that's the issue so I think we have to think about this in two ways so we we are voting to enter into the IGA not spend the money and then the town has already authorized to spend the money which is in furtherance of the IG but we have the authority to enter into the IGA so I if that's what I I think Town Council is saying the same thing a little differently but I so I I I feel like I am I'm comfortable with this um so we just have to think of it as two different things we're doing because the IG itself isn't spending the money it's uh because it says long meta will pay shell it doesn't say the MLP will if that makes sense yeah I I'm not arguing with that Josh and I want to make clear on that I we have the authority I believe from what I've heard to to sign to enter into an intergovernmental agreement and I a ga that that's that's absolutely I I absolutely agree with that you know the question is you know when you say the town authorized the money to be spent the town authorized the MLP to spend the money they didn't authorize anybody else well it's and to authorize I there are two Clauses in there I I guess it depends on how you uh pull them together or or read them separately yeah and Mark if you want something formal from Our Town Council we can ask them for that can we send Mark the email I me damn getting no I I don't the email to me doesn't answer the part about spending money I I didn't read I don't hear that in the email what I hear in the email is the town is authorized to enter into an inter governmental agreement and I believe that I understand it and I see why we do it all the time and we can do that you know we're as authorized as anybody else yeah I think that was just the first sentence of that answer I think the rest of the answer addresses it Marcus your question can only the MLP spend money correct only the that that's it it says that it's not that only the MLP can spend money but that town meeting authorized the money to be spent by the MLP so the first sentence of the article says the town will vote to transfer from available funds and treasury the money right so we did that's right that's we transferred it that's legit I mean we can we can break this down sentence by sentence phrase by phrase what's the sentence second sentence I'm trying to find what article was that that's nine n so Mark what is it that you want tonight do you want us to not sign the IG no no I want to sign the IG I think we're authorized to sign we just can't spend any money so so we can move forward here and we'll have Town Council write something up formally so that you can see that I'm fine with that pH I I I'm not arguing that we can't or should not sign the IG G but the intent of this is to start moving forward I assume Y and the question is can the town not the MLP spend the money right and so Town Council has said yes but you still have a question about whether that's true so we can have our Town Council if you want them to write up something formally for you to have then we can do that if I if I may I I don't think it's Mark's not asking an unreasonable question I guess the we can vote to sign this which I we will I think before we send out any money just to cover our butts yeah let's get that question answered it's not just for Mark it's for everybody so we don't get that's my point Josh that's it's not signing yeah and so if they if Town Council already agrees with this then you know they can whip up a memo um you know in the next couple days before we send out any money right and so I'm just trying to move this discussion along because I think that's where we're at and I don't know you know we're kind of repeating ourselves no but my concern is I'm being characterized as being unreasonable when it clearly says and to authorize the MLP board to take all steps necessary to carry out the task yeah I don't think it authorizes the MLP board it does not authorize Mark no one's calling you unreasonable no one has said unreasonable I said even when Mr Shay brought this up I said this to you too I understand how this can be read this way but I also don't know you know I don't want our discussion to just keep repeating itself I said it seemed I had a question about whether you want to delay signing IG you said no what you want is something formally written by our attorneys so that's what we before the select board where the town spends money counter to what I read in this warn article yep so I think that's the next step right and if I could I'd also like to see us move forward pretty expeditiously to whatever it may take to form that MLP board so they can go ahead and spend that money as as they're intended to and and frankly I'm not sure how we even do that at this point yeah that's that's our next discussion well I love repeating uh discussions personally but um I I would move that we approve we um direct the town manager to enter into the inter governmental agreement for professional service fiber Network and design and project management Services between town of Long Meadow and South Headley electric light department second okay any further discussion all right all those in favor all right so next our Municipal life plant board discussion so we had a few questions come up at our last meeting so we talked to Town Council got some um some of those answers so I'm going to try to walk through this as best as I can it's it's a little bit complicated um the there was a question posed at our last meeting about whether we would need a charter change because the charter specifically lists the boards and committees and town that must be elected uh we brought this to Town Council Town Council said we did not need to change the charter for this because um although it lists the boards of committees that need to be elected is not exclusive or limited to those so they said best practice would be to eventually change it to reflect um that the municipal life plant board would be elected if we'd go that route but that's not something that should hinder um us at this point um now the something that we didn't discuss at our last me that came up was that to elect the municipal life plant board we would need an article at town meeting that uh basically creates the makeup of the board and how many seats there will be and how uh what the term lengths are so this is not something that we could get on the ballot for our annual Town election in June uh we would have to have a vote at town meeting on this article and then we would have to elect the board at our annual town meeting or annual Town election sorry in you know June of 2026 uh um so there would be you know a a delay in electing the MLP board or in our special meeting middle school so I so so next September there will most likely be a vote to fund the middle school and so we did ask Our Town Council about whether we could elect the MLP board at that September meeting and they said no uh because then that would change the length of the terms and you know make make that much too complicated so they recommended that we stick with our annual Town elections um if the select board were to serve as the municipal life plant board there was a question about whether we could start that way and then change to an elected board later the answer is yes but we would have to wait three years to do so so the select board would have to serve as the MLP board for three years and then after that point if we want to switch to an elected board we could um switch at that time the process for the select board serving as the MLP board we would need an article at our annual town meeting and then for and then a ballot question um that would go out to the town for the approving the select board to serve as the MLP board that could be on our September ballot um with um with the Middle School boat so if the select board were sered as the MLP board um you know that could basically be formed next September if it passes both of those votes um a member of our fiber task force Peter Worley reached out to me and and came and had an idea that if the select board were to serve as the MLP board whether the task force should like be maintained as an Advisory Board to the select board as someone that we could you know rely on for their expertise or you know ask them to carry out certain TX tasks or research which I thought was a good idea if the select board were to choose to serve as MLP board um I also know that on the task force I think at this point it would make sense for me to step down from the task force and I think there are probably maybe a couple of other folks that um you know because of other commitments would be stepping off as well so we could also get some new ideas new people in the task force as well um and and then Henry went who's here um sent a memo around that was attached to the correspondence kind of going through um what he saw were pros and cons for either route and um one of them was interesting talking about if the select board were were to serve as MLP board how it would not be exempt from 30b procurement rules where an MLP board would be and that is and so we we asked Town Council about that town coun Council said that this is actually a gray area there's no guidance on this from the Attorney General's office um or anywhere else really um and so they they believe that the select board would be um exempt as well from 30b procurement but again it's not something that's there's any guidance on so we don't know that for sure but that's their reading of it um so that was a lot um but any yeah Andrew thanks for the summary I know this is a lot went into that there's a lot to unpack here but just to close the loop we we had also discussed the possibility of someday having a board but then reverting it back to the select board when kind of the hard work is done it's just a matter of race setting did we ever find out if that was possible in the reverse I don't think the converse yeah I don't think we found that out but I don't know if that's possible I don't think so because I think I think what Town Council said was that this it was kind of intentionally done this way for the select board to serve as MLP board at the outset and they have that kind of restriction of it having to be three years is kind of like the heaviest lift that sounds which is what we were kind of averse to ironically last time like oh we can do it after the hard work is done and now it seems like the easiest thing is for us to do the hard work and then what at that point fine like you know okay yeah Josh uh I just I want to thank hang Henry for the uh memo he sent us I thought that the most interesting part was and this uh I thought it was interesting to put it this way there's a conflict of interest because the select board is for accountable to taxpayers and the MLP is for rate payers and so the select board you don't want them looking at that rate and saying we jack that up then we can uh fund this project and people might start leaving or you know and in the ml in theory would be independent and people would vote for somebody who says I'm going to lower the rates cut costs here and there uh I I thought that that was a really good point and that is kind of uh something I've been circling around but I hadn't really put it that way and that's a a great point and I think that that is to me one of the biggest problems and you could also somebody who may be very interested and would be a good select board member not give a rip about this and have no interest in in governing it and which I think is reasonable because it's a different ball game yeah thank you yeah Mark yeah a couple of responses one is Josh I I don't think that conflict of interest is any different than us being Water and Sewer Commissioners jack up the water rate and that way we can pay for you know we're especially the storm water business as we're moving things over so I I would really discount that the the I I like the idea of having the task force be advisers to the select board I think that makes a whole lot of sense the issue of 30b frankly my personal opinion is great we ought to abide by 30b I mean it makes sense you know even for example trash hauling is exempt from 30b and we go out for bidding I think you know there's far more benefits to abiding by 30b than using the alternate way to to get get around it and not abide by 30b and yeah sometimes it takes you know a couple more months to do it but it's it's it's a better way to do business when you're when you're municipality so you know I I I think that given those issues and the better pathway that says let the select board start out and if you can't do it we can't do it three years we're done move on I you know with with an Advisory Group I think that's a a great alternative thank you uh yeah could you just comment on South Hadley in terms of what how you know what was their transition so it's it's there kind of a it's a different situation because they already had a Municipal Light plant um and so they've got their Municipal Light plant they have a Municipal Light plant board um so yeah so it's not that's not really a good analogy I think to the other then what Mark was saying and maybe Josh but just having the task force I think think that's a great idea I mean they've been looking at this for two plus years now and um I just think it'd be very valuable uh you know in the next couple years to have them by our side so yeah I I didn't say that but I I agree um no I only pointed out a downside but um I I think given what benon told us we can't let this sit for that long and uh so people are excited we have momentum uh uh I really think it is I wish we didn't have to do it but I I don't really see an alternative so yeah I mean the the timing of just if we elect a board that can't be seated until June of 2026 is yeah I just have a quick question isn't an ml an MLP an independent governmental agency and and not part of the town of long mow I mean so why does the charter of the town of Long Meadow impact the MLP the MLP needs to have its own governance and it does have its own governance so when we you know we're we're sitting here saying the you know the town of Long Meadow Charter says and whatever that has nothing to do with the MLP I believe I mean I'm not an attorney but but it's you know South sheld is separate from the town of South they're separate organ organizations sheld can enter into contracts they can deal with other separate from the so similarly our MLP isn't part of the town and I think we need to keep that in mind when we look at what this is now can they have pardon the expression interlocking or overlapping or duplicative boards yes but as as governmental agencies it's as different as Long Meadow and East Long meow I believe yeah and I think I think our last we question whether we needed a charter change and we don't we don't need we don't need to change anything in the charter they just said it be best practice but but the MLP doesn't fall under long medals Charter yeah right and I and so that's what we discovered after talking dur councils that we don't need to that the charter change doesn't impact the MLP fine yeah but we still have to elect them and that that's an issue no I'm not saying that it wouldn't take 18 months or two years I get it but but the MLP is is going to be an independent organization yeah and and the last thing vit is you know what happened to the discussion or the option which I know people didn't like of hiring a manager you know I know nobody wants to spend money but that's the cleanest I think Josh you're the one said that was so but he that's the cleanest it it it puts some some professionalism into it and maybe somebody like East Longman wants to split a manager with us or something well I think with any of these options there does need to be a manager but it just depends on how expansive those Duties are going to be for the manager so if there's a mpal P Board um or you know select board serving the manager would be doing the daytoday but they would receive a stipend um as opposed to you know a larger salary well so in E long meow it's my friend I've known my entire life is the IT director he's been the IT director for 25 years and he's it's just it's an additional job on top of it it's probably a lot of things he would be doing anyway um but it's a stiping yeah um I don't know if uh Our IT director has his hands full already um if there is something like that uh and and I when we're thinking of the MLP as a separate entity that just happens to have all the same members as a select board uh it is a little bizarre in that way um but yeah an MLP or a manager I think would also be it's an interesting idea to me I just don't know who it would be and I don't know if Ryan is somebody that is already Works an incredible amount of time already uh from another town I that would be tough but if there's somebody who could do that on top of other things maybe somebody in lctv they're they're listening right now I understand that but but but you know if if you're looking for somebody who wants to get involved we get you know something like that I don't know there's there's skills yeah and I think with uh you know selecting who the municipal life PL manager would be that's going to be discussion of the MLP right but but it's clear that Lynn and Mike and all that shouldn't be it and it's going to fall to somebody who's going to get phone calls yeah they're definitely not going to be it I I understand that but but unless the unless the phone number rings in South adley yeah it's typically the IT director the town's IT director that serves in that role and so you know our IT director has been involved um with these discussions and um but anyways um okay any anything else on this um so should we be taking a vote tonight or to move forward on this or I don't feel like we've at least in my mind I I don't think we've come to a conclusion yeah so maybe we'll I I guess before we we thought that we would need the MLP if we're going to have it elected we would need the MLP board on the ballot uh for June we know that that's not even a possibility so there is no rush to take any action on this tonight um yeah um okay so we will continue this discussion I think we I would it's probably a good idea to explore the manager idea at least I really you know I our last meeting I talk to my until I was bleue in the face I I really think that it is not something that we want to take on as a board if timing wise if we have to sure but it's a big lift and it it will having maybe having I don't even know what we'll have to do but we may be learning about things that none of us have any Dan in the tech world at least but um we're we're in we're in a lot of trouble Yeah well yeah I mean that's the only V diagram overlap I yeah um no that sounds good I mean the task force had kind of gotten the edict that we were not to kind of EXP for any options that would add Personnel to the town uh but you know at this point if there people are open to it then we we can take a look at that and there's no rush to we're not adding Personnel to the town we're adding Personnel to an MLP entity a different entity that would have to decide does this person have benefits and what are the benefits and what whose retirement are they on and all they're they they're not likely a town employee I mean it's got be set up in strange ways but you know I heard a I maybe not noise from and maybe not but to be looked at like I said typically the the town's IT director also serves as the MLP and that's fine so maybe we should do that until it doesn't if it's unless it doesn't work or something but I mean we can we can explore this option this is the MLP and theory is a money-making Venture so if they have to pay somebody to do a good a better job than we would do then maybe that's maybe that's it yeah okay so we can uh look into that further and and come back with more information about having just an MLP manager and then you know of course if anyone else has any questions about this discussion or anything else just send them along and we'll we'll continue this discussion have we looked at other I imagine we we've looked at other communities right that are they've just adopted this and and the next steps and the roll out and yeah and our town I think our Town Council they currently represent I think what 20 or 30 towns that have this setup so you know they've been you know obviously very helpful in talking through these scenarios and everything because you know they've done a lot of this um so yeah we can also speak with them speak with other towns this should be a topic at MMA yeah yeah and I will say you know through this process other towns have been so generous with their time and giving the task force advice giving us um you know ideas you know we reached out to our counterparts in East Long Meadow West Springfield chicke um so you know we there's a wealth of knowledge around here with all the with all the towns doing this so um okay we so I think we have some next steps we'll we'll look into that and come back um next meeting with some more information okay uh anything else all right then we will move next to our uh 2025 annual liquor license renewals and Mike did you have um um well so we just left one um kind of hanging fruit at the last meeting we um had some questions about the um Bottle Shop renewal and liquor license and the board had uh taken a vote to request that they submit a letter of intent for their next steps um I haven't got a chance to get anything back or I didn't receive anything so really it's the board's decision to um you know either approve the license you can approve I think the some uh conversation on approving for a certain period of time until you did figure out more information but ultimately it's up to the to the board to decide yeah I think someone proposed at the last meeting to maybe give them like a thre Monon extension right to get back to us um and so I think our options are either that or approving them for full year or not approving it at all great okay we've got the expert here yeah just before it falls out of my head the there was two that had outstanding tax payments yes that's all said did we vote on them contingent on them paying yes correct okay great thought it was a water bill sorry yes water water something um yeah so I I've never had a a client in this position so Mark brought up the short renewal which I didn't know was possible uh thankfully I've never had been in that position but I think that might be the idea here so I I talked to Mike and Lynn about this today um because I I heard from somebody who was interested in the life but hasn't had contact with the owner and I just I don't know what is going on with the licens and we've we had the same conversation last year during renewal and asked for an update and as I said the last meeting I do not this is not uh bottle Shop's fault uh it was sprinkler issue whatever it was there was a fire it was an act of God it wasn't something I want to punish somebody for but I that building is going to be ready to open soon and if the bottle Shop's going to go in or the license is going to go in there or there's a few other places in town maybe it should be used um it's tax Reven for the town it is uh service to people of the Town um and we can't let it sit forever and I but I I don't want to take it out of somebody's pocket but we got to put some pressure on and I think a short renewal is a good idea because is we had this conversation a year ago didn't put any teeth on it I think we got to put put some teeth on it yeah were you thinking three Monon renewal that was kind of mentioned at our last meeting three months to have a contract in hand uh that is a perfectly reasonable amount of time that would be very quick to have the transfer ready to go um but if and if anybody's watching this want to take they can get a hint you can have a contract contingent on getting a lease so you can have the contract to purchase the license contingent on finding a home for it um I have a I just had one where it took me nine months to negotiate a lease with the landlord but I had a contract for my client to buy the the store um so if I I would feel comfortable with that in hand maybe not an indefinite contingency on the lease but if in 3 months they say I we're going to buy the this license and we have another three months to find a home for it something like that I would feel comfortable with that so I think a 90-day renewal contingent on there being a uh a purchase and and Mike last year when we asked the B shop to provide us with an update did we ever receive anything um no okay no and so now we haven't received anything I haven't received anything no I sent I sent two emails um and obviously they don't have a you know mailing address because of the business but um you know I could also try to find a different contact for them as well um maybe that email is out of service but um they did get the email to bring the renewals in because you know they would have had to get the renewal paper from me via email so okay all right um did you have a conversation on the renewal is there a phone number on the renewal it's a it was a business phone for that um address did you have a conversation when they brought the renewal in I can't yes and they at at that point they said that there was something verbally in place um but as I mentioned to them it's something that the board would need to in writing which I think you would agree with um so um verbally yes there may be something in place but at this point I just need to have that you know R statement yeah okay um that I mean that sounds reasonable to me I think look this is kind of just the last opportunity one more 90day extension and you know with just I I think we can kind of be explicit to say we don't hear anything in 90 days then you know we'll we won't uh offer the renewal it it reverts to the town at that point yeah Y how many uh licenses do we have remaining for all alcohol Package Store licenses there is none there's only beer and wine yes this is why they're very valuable you every town every 5,000 residents gets you get one all alcohol license and that's it so it would be it's a hot ticket Josh how would you word you know what are we looking for in 90 days I guess you know it's the motion needs to I mean I can understand we're renewing it for 90 days you know one quarter of the annual cost whatever it is but contingent upon what uh yeah so I I can make a motion I moved that we renew uh what is the is it the Bottle Shop what is theot license name bottle Sho Bott shopping I I move that we renewed the license for uh bottle shop ink for 90 days uh contingent uh to expire without the uh providing the select board a signed purchase and sale agreement for the license to be transferred to a purchaser and I think we just leave at that I I'll second the motion just for the purpose of discussion if you want but I just have a question what if they decide they're going to move back in they could do that well but that doesn't meet your requir well because you made a contingent on a signed purchase and sale agreement I mean or sure so it should be or a modified or a a lease right uh yeah a lease to re use it or sell it yeah right okay okay got thank you okay 90 days though from from what date from would be from January 1st so and uh end of March end of March okay um any further discussion yeah just I have another deal that I'm working on another town and the the town has been very generous in renewing it and I I feel like we're also being very generous and I I just abcc we do not have to do this abcc would let us take it away even without the fire um or even with the fire years ago um so I I really we are trying to do the right thing here and uh we're trying to find a a middle ground a middle ground so everyone could be happy I agree I think last year for us to give them the one-year renewal was the right thing to do I think now we're being generous with giving them an extra 90 days here so I really hope that they they do respond um no any else years Okay so we've got motion we've got a second if no further discussion um all those in favor all right great next on our agenda is the select board Town manager FY 2025 goals so we discussed this at our meeting in November and then decided that we want to include additional goals so at the bottom of this document um we we go through some of the goals that we talked about that we want to include so these you know these are items like the review of policies for potential updates the Glen Brook Middle School repurpose plan long-term budgeting and managing debt services and then DPW related items such as the public Shade Tree Management the pavement management and water sewer and storm water infrastructure um and then you know we did talk about this both at our meeting with the facilitator and at our November 18th meeting but I you know obviously want to see if anyone has anything else they want to add um otherwise you know I think it's good practice for us to vote to formally adopt these goals um and so before we take that vote does anybody have anything they want to speak to just yeah Josh just one thing I um I wonder if we want to be more specific on the water sewer and storm water infrastructure and rate analysis just I I think there's kind of sub goals within there because like that we we want the storm water to be self-funding uh eventually and um maybe when it gets implemented this will be flushed out a bit more yeah so what I just put the notes at the bottom ideally what would happen when I bring it back when we bring it back quarterly is that it would be incorporated into a a category similar to how it's all laid out above so we'll have an opportunity to talk about that um when we bring it back when it's fully broken down okay when is when's the presentation isn't that presentation coming soon yeah this the report's not done yet but yes Mark see yeah Josh just as a comment the there's there's there's a policy in place by the select board that will make the storm water so it's not going to be for a while but it's being phased in so I think that's already been it's in place if you will it's just a matter of how if if there there should be any modifications to it well yeah I I didn't mean that that's a new idea just uh yeah that how that's going to be implemented versus our rates and how that will affect it but yes I you're right anything else uh one thing I'm just thinking of the uh the town fac or Glenbrook Middle School repurpose plan I think Andrew brought that up maybe last time um great idea I did see the the CPC right now uh committee they're looking I think there is someone who submitted a proposal for the I think the fields so I I'm just bringing that up because it's something that we might want to try to pay attention to with that whole Space because we're talking about the the actual building itself repurposing that piece but also funding potentially the fields as well so just want to bring that up to the board just to keep an eye on that for you know some of the discussions that we're probably going to be having yeah yeah Mark just a comment Dan you're right I you know I'm I'm a little concerned also about I don't know if you're concerned but I'm concerned about about funding the fields and a building that's going to disappear or how we're going to do that and I I think the the issue is it's I believe that funding is before the community preservation committee and not before an organization if you will that that the town or the town DPW or whatever has has control over so that basically gets independently decided by the community preservation Comm committee I believe and then goes before town meeting we've been concerned about this yeah weed about for two years ago when we were doing that the Glen Brook uh softball fields and this has been something mind the same thing it's a really good question because you know it's goinging CPC is doing it on Wednesday I believe they're talking about it and I've spoken with Lynn about it as well and it's a fair question because um in an Ideal World of course there's a lot of benefits of preserving these fields but you don't know exact we don't know exactly what's going to happen and to put $2.5 million into it you either do it because you want to fix them up in the years between now and when this thing is decided is it worth investing $25 million for like 3 years or four years or you're really banking on it as many of us think would be positive uh a positive result that it is going to continue to be fields and then it's absolutely worth investing in potentially although you don't we don't know exactly what's going to happen you know so it's a it's a tough call and the CPC is the first one to vote on it so it's still school committee property isn't it even the fields yes yeah and I think that that was another aspect of this that we discussed too was just uh beginning that process to explore that transfer from the school committee to the town uh of these properties um so yeah it says Glen Brook Middle School repurpose plan but I think there's a lot of different parts of that um anything else all right so um I will move that the select board adopt the 2025 fy22 select for Town manager goals as listed in the attached document to the agenda second any further discussion all those in favor all right great and then our next item um also from our last meeting adopting the FY 2025 select board meeting calendar the meeting calendar reflects discussion about adjusting our meetings in February March and April and and in May to accommodate February vacation as well as April vacation uh spring break and then one additional item is that we are going to cancel our January 6th meeting uh this is something that we also did last year the first meeting after winter break um it's typically a very light agenda and it's also difficult to get folks that we need to come in because folks are just getting back from from their vacation and are usually usually playing catch-up so we decided to cancel that meeting as well um any discussion on this me I don't know what the discussion needs to be I mean I there's a couple of dates in here that I thought I would I would have I I will not be able to make these meetings because of of travel that I would have been able to make the other meetings and I'm personally concerned about it because I made plans based on on a meeting calendar that we had already adopted um I mean we could talk about switching it or if you you're comfortable joining us virtually or well at least one of them I can't join virtually but okay but um I'm I'm that's my only point is you know if we create a calendar I know it's hardships for people but there are other people who work make their plans around their calendar yeah no I understand that's a fair point had we and I I totally if there's something in particular we want to talk about I'm fine but had did we set the 2025 calendar we that was in the summer in the summer we set all of fy2 did yeah and on the flip side of it I would Mark I was because of these changes I'm able to go to some of them and I think that that you make a great point I get it so you know if if you're going to change you know I'm I'm not going to stand between you know wouldn't make sense for a lot of people I'm just making the comment that's all yeah and I think in my first I think meeting as chair I brought up that we should make these changes to accommodate um winter break and um or you know February vacation and Spring Break um because you know it's not just the select board it's just also the folks that we have that come and present and all that too that um it affects them and I think at that meeting we had discussed you know let's wait a little while and we can talk about change those dates later um but I think that at some point we we have to um hopefully set a precedent with setting our meetings um to to accommodate those two breaks and um you know I think that there's going to be some some some gr pains with that unfortunately and I think for we're not doing it now but the summer breaks as well um or summer meetings if we we have in the past at least two or three years have canel a couple but I think we should think about that earlier for I I know that we we do that after the reorganization but uh if we have a a general practice that we do I think that'd be very helpful yeah that's a great point I think last years we went down to one meeting in July and one meeting in August um which is you know depart but they didn't necessarily follow a pattern like it was just so yeah Mark is there a specific date uh the which date is the one that you can't make yeah but it was March 10th no no I I'll look at them but I it was in April was the April meeting April 28th I could have made April 2 21st whatever what the only other question I have is yeah do we know this room is available or do we kick out whoever might have been here um no one's no one's in those meeting uh no one was in those meeting rooms on Mondays uh it's every other Tuesday and then it's the opposite one yeah that's fine just stick with me that's well I mean the there is a a fix we could make of switching April 28th to May 5th because we we did cancel that meeting date because it would have been back toback weeks so we could switch that to May 5th so you can make it that would be very helpful yeah I mean that's totally fine the rest of us will be here because of kids in school and such so go to May that would be helpful thank so wait say it again so it's just switching April 28th um to May 5th instead which was a regular meeting night anyway yeah on the original calendar what else do we have in so in May that just makes it so May 5th we would have a meeting May 13th is our annual town meeting and then we have another meeting May 19th okay so does that make is there any complication just Devil's Advocate is there anything at that period right you know before budget season or the town meeting that we April 7th is the last date to set the warrant so aut as long we don't move that one should in in general don't we we have at times scheduled additional meetings for Budget time too so on the budget calendar we put some additional meetings I think between March 10th and April 7 or March 24th and April 7th changing April 28th to the 5th of May would be very helpful okay great so I will uh move to ad op the FY 2025 calendar um amending the April 20 canceling the April 28th meeting and adding the May 5th meeting second second um any further discussion okay all those in favor sorry just one I didn't mean to interject between your vote um this I think that what Josh brought up about the summer schedule will continue to be a problem if we set this calendar on a fiscal year basis I don't I have not come across anything that requires that so you could do a calendar year basis to set the C the your calendar um just something to think about yeah okay and for the January if you do want to do that for the January for the January 21st meeting I could propose for the rest of the year summer yeah that'd be great if you can do that yeah thank you okay uh moving along now to new business business we have a memo from the chair of the audit committee about a recommendation extending the external auditor contract into FY 2025 and 26 uh the memo also speaks to our finance director Ian cottington um being in in favor of this recommendation and um and I I know hopefully folks have had a chance to review this um I don't know ly if you have anything additional to add or if folks have anything to speak to on this Memo's pretty clear I'm always impressed by Markham LLP now when they come in um and so I I agree with this yeah perfect okay um you need to vote to extend how move with that we extend the audit contract with I think there's still more for for another what for two years for 25 and fiscal years 25 and 26 I'll second okay any further discussion right all those in favor great and then next we've got our uh common Vic um renewals there is a memo everyone got them in Mike um we just did received one today from Alexis Bagels so kindly if you can also add that to your vote all the paperwork checks out and they have submitted payment we are still waiting on two um sometimes that happens and they'll come forward in January um so if there are any you know stragglers hanging around then I'll move them forward to the board for approval in January but okay um You probably recall last year we um I sent the memo out saying how it hasn't been done a certain way in the past and we reverted to this way where um now all the businesses are properly um applying for them um besides the ones that just have liquor licenses so seems to be working out pretty well perfect great anything on this yeah if you could just add Alex's Bagels to the vote that would be helpful too all their paperwork is in okay so um I move to approve the 2025 common uh vicer uh licenses um of the establishments listed in the agenda um attachment and also adding faes second okay any further discussion all right all those in favor all right great and then we are going to set our annual Town election for 2025 um as is standard it's the second Tuesday of June so this year it is June 10th uh polls open from 7:00 a.m. to 800 p.m. um anything on this one okay um so I will move that we set the annual Town election for Tuesday June 10th 2025 and I think this will with polls open from 7: a.m. to 8: p.m. and uh the location being the long meow Community House at 7:35 long meow Street second okay any further discussion all those in favor all right and any comments about correspondence okay all right I move to adjourn so move seconds second I'll give that any further discussion all right all those a favor all right thank you everyone thank you everybody