if I close the other 12 Windows it'll help all right good evening it is 700 p.m. on Thursday April 25th 2024 I'm calling the lunenberg finance committee meeting to order in accordance with the requirements of the open meeting law please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and broadcast over the lunenberg public access Channel and on Facebook live on the public access Facebook page and will be uploaded to the lunenberg access YouTube channel after the meeting this meeting will be held in person at the location provided on this notice members of the public are welcome to attend this in-person meeting please note that while an option for remote attendance and or participation is being provided as a courtesy to the public the meeting will not be suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the virtual broadcast unless otherwise required by law members of the public with particular interest in any specific item of this on this agenda should make plans for inperson versus virtual attendance accordingly the following information is provided for members of the public that would like to participate to the meeting remotely to participate remotely from a computer please use the link attached to the agenda which can be found on the town website from a telephone dial the toll-free number 88847591 and enter webinar ID 8141 1681 8974 this agenda lists all the topics which may which may be discussed at the meeting and are those reasonably anticipated by the chair votes may be taken as a result of these discussions not all items listed May in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by open meeting law would you please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag the United States of America and to the repblic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right are there any announcements from the committee this evening all right any public comment from the public oh guess what I forgot to do recording in progress at least we didn't miss anything too important okay uh I'll ask again is there any public comment from the public seeing none any public comment from the committee this evening excellent we're back to our 1our meetings all right uh Town manager is believe she's still in her office we not here yet so we'll skip that over for now uh she's going remote tonight last I heard oh there she is is the m do we have a town manager report for the evening if I can give that a little later absolutely more than welcome too move on let's move on to the finance director um I'm happy to pull up the to go right over it with the uh financial report if you want to combine them together or if there's anything separate that you have for the director report please let me know we can go forward with that uh thank you it's just a financial report this evening okay uh if you'd like I can share that and we can go through that [Music] [Applause] now all right um so what you have um presented for tonight is the quarterly financial report going through the first two uh quarters uh ending December 31st 2023 uh tonight we'll go over the revenues uh total fiscal year comparison tax levy local receipts State a um and also the expenditure piece which is totals FAL year by comparison and the obus budget comparison so uh excuse me I have to move you to a different screen so I can see it so total for fiscal year our estimated revenues were at 49.2% um total revenue connect collected uh through quarter 2 23,4 199,50 70 um we're right about at Target as far as revenue is concerned um there's uh looks like it's 6.09% less they collected last year but there are various reasons for example uh 4S funds will not be received uh this year so that's uh you know 342,000 but due to conservative budgeting uh we have enough local receipts to offset next Slide m um let's see so total estimated tax L for FY 24 that of overlay is uh $ 31,49 and88 31,49 3,890 uh we're at 46.0 4% of that collected and uh we're pretty close to Target again those are estimated um numbers um the actual tax billing um just went out to quarter 4 so this is all estim numbers as of this time next slide uh total total local receipts collected were 44.4% of annual estimate or1 uh mil 4765 um and you'll notice um we're pretty much on target um some of this is um due to timing as well um depending on when the revenue is collected and received but I'm not seeing any um areas of concern next slide um here on this slide you'll see some comparative numbers um compared to last year again um for example you'll see uh motor vehicle excise tax uh this is $62,000 uh difference compared the same time last year however most of the excise tax revenue is collected at the end of uh through quarter four of the fiscal year um the miscellaneous not recurring um category makes up with several different items that's supplemental tax new construction medical records mass rehab sale of New Town equipment net meter and credits and other miscellaneous fr ex uh State a collected for 48.28% of annual estimate or 5,139 1824 um you'll see below the summary categories and down at the bottom you'll see the 40s funds um estimated Revenue was 342,000 that's not going to be collected this year are we just uh that lber just doesn't qualify total expenditures through the first two quarters worth 21, 74368 or 4.55% of the budget we have 54. 45% remaining pretty much on target again I don't see any areas concerned over spending there's you know we concern conservative um budget process so uh I don't anticipate any gaps uh or overages for this curring fisc year so on here in the detail you'll see there's been a drop off in maturing debt as a debt gets paid off um it's uh 14% less than last year and um and then total um General government unclassified um these categories are 56. 31% I guess again um we're essentially basically on target for being U Midway through the year sorry uh total General government um total percent use 4168 per and Central purchasing 34 56% uh again um no areas of concern um from me going through these numbers uh here you see the categories of of the protection of police fire video watch and other categories so the total um spent through the first half is 48.3 % again pretty much on target I don't see any areas of concern here either to the health and sanitation um 79 75. 94% used uh this year um and also total DPW is 3864 per. um we did not receive a lot of snowstorms that um a big uh impact there so um you'll see the snow is um big decrease from last year but again there's no highlighted targets area concern here either uh total facilities I 33.0 6% solvid waste 35.81 spent and and uh CLE of aging 43.5% and Veterans 35.8% of which total assistance through the first half of the year was 4.76% uh again I say it again there's no areas of concern pretty much on target town is in a good good position at this point uh total schools uh it's 40.54% um in total Library 39.97 so there's a a trend and you'll see excuse me down at the bottom um total omnius budget uh used for the first half was 4.99% so uh we're still at a good uh at a good Pace going through the second half of the Year going into the second half of the year we have um flee away in the budget um yeah we're at a good place and here you'll see the state assessments the tax title The Bu Regional retirement any prior adjustments that transfer to trust uh special Revenue funds which there were not any in the transfer to Capital uh there were a lot less capital projects this year compared to last year so adding those to the previous OB total U overall we're at 45. 55% of the budget so little under half but uh again under no areas of concern we're at a good good place for being halfway through the year that was pretty much it thank you very much I I have a question on I guess line 46 radio watch is 83% spent it's the only thing in that area do you have to do some kind of transfer or how how do we deal with that I can answer that go ahead hether okay that's um the nooba valley dispatch assessment so that's why that line gets mostly fully expended um for those payments for the assessment oh okay so it's not 25% on average per quarter we just pay it all up more up front yeah also if you look at last year's was at 250,000 same time period so it's it's only about 10,000 more this year uh which is pretty much on track okay thank you I'll open up to the committee for other questions comments yeah the only other thing that is concerning and it was brought up at the select board meeting Tuesday night um is that the incoming Revenue uh comparison 24 to 23 is showing is trending downward and especially excise tax bothers me because that's always run way ahead of uh estimates so we are seeing some softening I believe in revenues and uh just because excise taxes the bills uh don't get paid till quarter four three or four I can't remember which so they're not captured here they weren't captured in this report last year either so if we're comparing quarter 2 to quarter 2 we are behind on a number of categories on incoming Revenue uh smart growth has nothing to do with this smart growth uh hits the uh balance sheet later in the year so uh there is some indication there that revenues anyway are on the downside uh the only thing really offsetting is the fact that we haven't spent quite as much money in the first two quarters of this year I don't know how to explain that at this point um yeah so um I will say the motor vehicle tax revenue um the beginning when I was doing the comparisons um some of that revenue is um we received in July is actually um FY 23 Revenue so this some of the numbers are skewed I can get the committee the detail on that yeah I understand that some of our revenues have been skewed severely with all the issues that we've had over the past year so you got to qualify the offsets uh you know one way or another line by line but um you know especially like I said the excise tax that that's a raw number with nothing out of the ordinary should be affecting it that I'm aware of and uh that's been a um you know a source of free cash and availability of money to close out the end of the year so it'll be interesting to see what quarter 3 looks like any other questions or comments no I actually don't have any either this is this is fantastic so I I look forward to having these on a quarterly basis hopefully it's it's a or at least a b anular basis it's a really good snapshot as to where we are I have a question oh go right ahead yeah when do we see um quarter three because that only 10 months into the fiscal year um quarter 3 ended um March 31st so we're actually in the process of closing quarter 3 it's been a lot of issues with Unice as a fleet so that's been delaying so when do you think we'll see quarter three uh within the next couple weeks yeah this is the end of December where the end of April fiscal year ands the end of June on a slightly off subject question and I don't need an answer now but Ezekiel if you could if two two questions number one we have a lot of money in different Reserve accounts uh special or res special purpose stabilization account um stabilization account and and a number of other accounts with you know I I don't know what the total is all of them but I'm assuming that most of those are invested um at some point could we see what there and and I know we got a rundown from I don't even know what those dates were but they were I think was the close out of last year uh but I'd like to know what they're earning and where does that interest go does it stay in those uh individual accounts or does it go into a revenue account of interest income or something um absolutely I can prepare something for the committee to present those special Revenue items and uh go into detail what happens with the with the income the interest stays within those accounts to be used depending on um the account themselves the specific Master law depending on the item yeah the the reason I bring up the question and I'm not saying well I might propose it but um the state is pulling the interest income from their multi-billion dollar Reserve 8 to to fund housing and and some other things this year which they've never done before for so I'm just wondering you know for a future reference how much we're accumulating and number one can we move it out of those accounts or do we already move it out of those accounts a presentation would be great is for to answer my questions can can we include absolutely absolutely can we include in this report the balance of all those various accounts yeah cuz what the you talking about the one we had before Chris that was end of last year's yeah I'd I'd like that too just to see where we've gone since then yeah sure I can include those in the quarter three thank you yep great thank you all right thank you very much for the presentation I we appreciate it thank you all right moving on to the revenue turnover policy draft so I'll admit I hadn't seen this at all I have not watched the select board meeting I took a break from them yeah so I saw it when the town manager sent it out to us I've had a chance to review it two or three times the only question I have um is Heather still on or did we lose her I think she's back on now or in the process of getting back on yeah there she is here hi Heather um hi this is just a question a rhetorical question more than anything but wouldn't it be more appropriate to call this a revenue and expense uh turnover policy because within the policies that I've seen reviewed over the past week or so there's incoming money and outgo money that's been addressed so this is just about collection of Revenue it's not about expenditure of those funds so it's how we handle incoming receipts either through fees um checks cash credit card payments okay it's not about the expenditure of those funds it's how those funds are brought are handled by staff when they receive them and how they're turned over to the treasury collector okay now what are refunds considered in this set of policies are they part of the revenue flow yeah that would not be covered under this policy so where that would be an expenditure yeah um excuse me um the expenditures would be more cost payable process okay and if we got that process all documented too or we in the process of doing that also we're in the process of doing that we're working with division of local services to update um our existing policies and add new Financial policies written policies yeah in regards to that Heather did we invite them to come help us with this overall process because I was told at a meeting a few weeks ago by Sean Cronin that my understanding was that the only way an audit from his Department was initiated was with a vote from the board of Selectmen requesting it uh this was Noe this was done through Community Compact and um so we were awarded through the community compact program as one of the best practices to update the policies and divisional local Services is doing that okay now now that you mentioned Community compact now I remember you T talking about that in the past thank you welcome so would you like to at least give kind of an overview of of the document at all Mr mu sure um so like I said it basically is the purpose is to safeguard the town's assets um as incoming revenue and how the the monies and checks and those are handled by staff as we're receiving them and how uh the timeliness of them being turned over how they're secured um in in between being turned over to the treasur collector and the checks and balances thank you you're welcome and this is something that divisional local service um will definitely be included including in their um suggested policies something we should have in place it's also something that um we identified as a high priority with a change over and a lot of Staff because this you know process um is somewhat known between uh amongst departments but having something in right is um safeguards the town far as process okay the other question I had is I know there's just a general list in there of departments and boards and commissions and so on that are affected by it but something that caught my eye was that the schools are only mentioned for lunch money and there was one other item and I forget what it was um what about all the money coming in from field use uh sales for athletic events all that kind of stuff we've had trouble in the past with misappropriation of funds uh in years past in those areas are they Bound by this policy also if the list isn't comprehensive of all the types of um Revenue that we receive um it's just it identifies some to give an example for departments but it's not comprehensive right so it does cover all revenue that's turned over okay but that doesn't answer my specific question and that is that other than the two items mentioned for schools are the other sources of revenue coming through their hands also affected by this policy are they bound to it they would be okay that's all I needed thank you and all of those um Student Activity accounts that's part of our audit as well right are there any other questions on this you all I can say is the more we can document our procedures and and have everybody on understanding what those are are uh about the only protection we have against fraudulent handling of revenues coming in I know you thoroughly understand that uh the town of lunar has been burnt a couple of times pretty severely over the past few decades and the more policy we have in place and the more oversight and checks and balances we have the less chance of that ever happening again I fully agree does the so take the library for example does the library when they get book finds or they take in there's no more I know fees um I think you can voluntarily do it can you yeah no um activity fees and all that kind of stuff so whatever the the different do you do you delineate that so that you have an understanding of how much we actually take in associated with all these kinds of fees as you may know that answer and that's really a treasure collector question of how they're coded when um they're turned over as far as account but I believe they are because um it might go into the general category for um a fines and fees um there's a backup record Heather you're correct no sorry I didn't mean to interrupt oh Heather you're correct there's a fees and fines category that I go to within the department so that would be tagged to the library or that' be fees and fines for everything like connection fees or programming fees for the Del activity it would be well it be part it goes into the general fund but it's documented in the library so it's not a library use it's for General but it's where it's documented okay so in theory we could get a report of how much we get associated with all these various Revenue types yes that might be interesting to see is there anything other than just kind of having an essentially an earmark when it comes in to say that it is directed to the department or program if it is something that's you know to go one step further once the money comes in if if it's tagged as it's for fines and fees or from the library does that still make it to the library at some point or is it no I'm most um revenues unless there's a dedicated pathway say so say it's part of a associated with a revolving fund where a percentage of um a permit fee for instance goes into that particular revolving fund and is um associated with a direct cost um that's allowable cost for expenditure out of that account um all the remaining ones go into the general fund so there's definitely particular ones that have particular are able to be spent for a particular purpose but majority go into the general fund okay so for example like a chapter a chapter 90 or Chapter 70 is going to come in and that's still going to go into the general fund but then it's going to be distributed specifically to the DPW or to the school at that point or is that still also I'm talking um local receipts right but this is only local receipts this is nothing okay yeah chapter 90 is a reimbursement that's a whole different process okay from the state okay any other questions oh good is this going to be posted on the website anytime soon soon does I assume it has to be approved by the select board and yes it would have to be approved by the select board and then it would be um posted okay I guess my I do have one comment that you know the department the table of the department and the Reven Revenue types I know it says it's not comprehensive but we should probably try to make it as comprehensive as possible and I know um because I've seen draft while from the local divisional local Services they don't include a chart at all um as far as list of types of revenues um this is something that um in my previous job we used a chart like this just as a demonstration it would be hard to capture um every single um single type of Revenue would be yeah probably more of an appendix I would say at that point and then we might have to keep updating it uh with different types of revenues that happen th programming expands or things happen within departments I just think it would be it would be maybe it's not in this policy but I would to have that comprehensive list of fees um for the town would would be a good thing to have written down um kind of remind you that you not only do you pay taxes but we get feed feed to death as well on top of state taxes and federal taxes and state fees and federal fees um and if we're charging a fee shouldn't be too hard to put in a table that says we have the ability to do that fee it almost seems like there should be a catchall paragraph in there after the uh after the list and maybe a little further down I'd have to read the whole thing again that states basically like a lot of um Mass General law and our bylaws and even our Charter State usually in the last sentence and any other revenues coming to the town in any way then somebody can't go into this policy and say oh it's not listed here so I don't have to follow these policies um you know it it's that catchall statement that always Burns you when you think you youve found a way to do something and then you get that one sentence at the end that pulls everything in kind of says it seconds before but all departments boards commissions are and commissions are involved in the collection and receipt of town funds again to me it's just if the town is going to fee you on something you we should at least have it written down somewhere that it's a fee that they can [Music] charge and you know this is just feedback that's what we've been asked for so we're giving it thank you thank you for putting this together I agree it's it's good to have the additional at least documented overs for it so we can reference back to it if we need to welcome that uh it was a joint effort with Zeke wheel and myen and um it's good to get that input as well and they'll be more to come excellent thank you uh do you want to stay on for the um Town manager report real quick before we get to the consent calendar sure let me pull up I'm just going to review my Tuesday report that I gave to the board I know there were a couple Revenue related things so we received additional funding for the flath hill Culvert project that was one of the updates we spoke with mass do about possible additional funding submitted a letter requesting additional 100,000 and we're notified that we would be receiving that additional 100,000 so we currently have 500,000 in from a small Bridge Grant and remaining $375,900 the fla Hill Culver project that project was put out to bid in March and our lowest uh responsive responsible bidder came in at $830,000 so um this additional 100,000 will pay for the higher than estimated construction cost including contingency funding project oversight from our engineering firm utility relocation and eminent domain expenses so that was good news is yeah Heather there's still a $350,000 offset there in the numbers correct do you have a a a hope that we are going to come up with the money to complete this project at the quoted price we have sufficient funding so we have the 500,000 small Bridge Grant we have $375 781 in town funds yep and then we just got the additional 100,000 okay I'm sorry for some reason I missed the 500 in your uh original no we to yeah we definitely wouldn't have been able to award the the bed so do we have a timeline for when this is starting now is it ideally this summer so the CT s will have to be ordered and that is the longest sleep time and that um will likely be early Fall by the time that is received so it's going to um but the whole project probably will go throughout fiscal 25 okay is is that a two-piece covert so they're going to be able to do one side and leave a lane open or is it going to be a total shutdown um that the bridge will be shut down yeah okay during that time yep and so the DPW director um has been communicating um for a while now with police and fire everyone so making sure that we have plans in place and the utility companies um that everybody knows that and alternative roots does schools know that so that the busing can be properly planned out uh I believe so yes and um I know Bill talks to the superintendent on a regular basis good reason for consolidation and for good I'm sorry receive sorry uh notification that we received what's called rural roads funding and this is a program um that was part of a fiscal 24 Transportation Bond bill for Municipal Road and Bridge repair construction this program was created for communities through a formula that was for Rural communities particularly with the portion and space 20% on Road M 20% on population and 60% on whether Community is considered Rural and our allotment for that is $2,979 and that gets added to our chapter 90 amount so again that would be a reimbursable um amount so not not a large sum but it adds to our partially because we've grown to too much what was the population limit 10,000 I think was the uh yeswe and population density of fewer than 500 people per square mile right aren't we still under that I thought we were like in the very high 400s by the last by the population density if I remember the last census was like 494 or something then we just made the cut off okay so it's dead St a fewer than 500 okay that's probably why our portion is so small we have two bids that are being put out the landscaping for Town facilities and parks and that will be due June 11th and we're rebidding the removal of the solid waste at the Woodruff property which is 104 Fair View Road those bids would be June June 12th just a um this is eventually um and is does impact the budget significantly uh TCP we had another major leak on April 12th that impacted the public access studio and so since we've had ongoing leaks in that area and um concern about potential damage to the Public Access Equipment the facilities director and I agreed we would move the studio to the back wing of the building where there haven't been any leaks so he is working on getting all the necessary electricity cabling sealing the floors um before that they move the studio to that location so this will occur after town meeting Heather don't we have money appropriated to put that roof in that section are we not doing that we do um have um from the last town meeting um there was money appropriated for that purpose where not at a point not at a point where it could be um put out to bed and thought that was put on hold I thought that was put on hold what was put on hold do on the roof not officially yeah I think those were just comments made at a couple of committee meetings not not necessarily here that's what that's what Chris Ruth told us during the budget presentation oh okay I missed that yeah I I I just you know we're spending money to move back now where we've got money tied up and appropriated to to deal with the issue that was identified as a critical need uh November was it special town meeting okay and I and I agree it's you know that's a relatively short period of time but when we have an emergency what I consider an emergency repair needed to stabilize entities operating in a section of a building it just seems like that would be expedited if we're going to do it if we're not going to do it it takes significant time to put a bit of that caliber together um the all the specifications on how that work is done need to be fully vetted before it goes out to bed but I do think it is the opinion of the facilities director there's no official help on that but I think um it's of his opinion that um as we're seeing more things fail at that building that it's um parts of that building are are not able to be um recovered well if we wait long enough it'll demolish itself and uh then we're going to have caught in a real pickle and and you made light of it uh select board meeting that uh you know we got to start thinking about what we're going to do with the entities that are in that building I mean and and the fact that we have I believe critical records stored in that building we have real no real plan to sort through those and and relocate them other than putting them into storage trailers or whatever there's an awful lot of work to abandon that building if that roof does continue to deteriorate one room at a time or One Wing at a time um yeah it's it's a challenge it's just too bad we haven't taken it down and and almost complet almost complete could be within the next 6 to 12 months a build brand new building could have been there and I'll never let go I think we all have been part of discussions and years worth of um meetings on the what the plan is for our town buildings yeah well we're two two years down the road from the committee I was on and we still have no answers but um and and I'm not saying that's your fault it's it's the town's fault in general so we are at um we're definitely at Crossroads of what we need to do and it's um becoming more and more critical and we're at obviously um say busting at the seams with staff already and where to um put people right um with programs and um our only space available is buildings like TCP so does this move them into the back wi or just further down the same Wing the back wi backwing okay I I had the impression and again I haven't walked that building for a very long time I thought the school programs had that entire Wing tied up no the back wi um on adjacent to the dirt parking lot that part of the way okay so do we so if we're getting sort of conflicting reports between facilities director and from the town itself are we making any progress on getting those critical Fe values that we need to have before we can put a request out for bid or are we just sort of fully stalled out at this point as far as um the appropriated funds from special town meeting I don't I can't answer that you know I'd have to talk to the facilities director where he is specifically with that I know we're dealing with a number of other projects um capital projects that we're trying to get off the the books as well I think we should take a hard look at not spending that $600,000 on that building putting it to the schools that are being used 300,000 whatever it is 300,000 putting it to the schools that are at use and start to put a plan together to demolish that building as well as Brooks house and let's just get moving on moving forward on this building plan the schools have already said they can house the extend a day in the schools um and that was one of the big drivers for why we needed such a significant amount of space there so you know I this this is a huge financial impact on the town and these nearly abandoned buildings are are kind of just wasting money in my opinion yeah just to add on I mean it that hasn't always been the um the case made about you know the town um sorry the school utilizing space in that building that that was their preferred location so um if that you know as that changes therefore the space needs change for that building I know but I mean I've been pushing on this for four years that those were desirs not requirements and we're not having the luxury of having desired locations we need to have required locations and the size of that building at this point is is a huge burden both to to maintain to to heat to to put electricity into to throw a $300,000 roof on where we don't even know the um long-term plan for it it's time to make that plan I I mean I'm not preaching to you because it's not your decision but um should be one of our top priorities right now is to is to deal with it and and we have new facts now and I think the facilities director's opinions and and recommendations based on being in his job for over a year now um should should be of uh High importance to the to the decision making so Chris and the and what's going to really drive your comments home is if we get into a situation where piece by piece as it already has that building becomes more and more unusable and then we're going to be paying for temporary locations for everything housed in there and I understand the school can move their programs for the most part out but we're also going to be trying to construct something at the same time this I agree this is the time because we're as the town manager said we're at a Crossroads where we're about to fall into that trap where we got to get people out of the building and we got no place to go with them yeah and I think we heard from the school facility director that he's starting to put his real plans together on what's required to maintain the existing schools including the new middle high school so right a lot of a lot of expenses coming up all part of this you know 10-year plan that really needs to get put together there's also the issue of the food pantry and the gym that we vote in I mean we could probably move it over to I'm sure we can do it at the high school but where you going to move the food pantry to there I mean it's I agree that they should I I think it's wise to send the kids over to the primary school in Turkey Hill the school the superintendent had talked about how that could potentially reduce a bus Which D said no to but so that kind of killed that conversation but it doesn't mean it can't still happen right the Ace Program is in there and then you have the superintendent's office is in there there there are it it's I agree it's just I don't think it's as simple as get the kids out knock it down get pack out knock it down I think it's I still I like the idea of knock the back two Wings down and at least use the front for now that was the original plan or at least thought of and one of the things was that um phase one was going to be to uh renovate and um and expand Ritter and the people who are in Ritter would be moving into into that building and the roof being repaired would be um make sure that those areas stay um usable and then um this building here Town Hall would be renovated and then finally we H the no no decision was made but most likely knocking down the the wings and using the uh remaining uh part of as a um for the town as a community center whatever it was going to be but it's there's a lot of moving Parts there's a lot of things that have changed since we've last met at mpal building so um I'm not sure where that stands but it's still a um it was still the plan at least the discussion of a plan when's the next Municipal Building commun um nobody knows no we well obviously uh our chairman is chair is is selectman Jeff and I think he's been so busy with everything else and these things so he he hasn't had one but um uh I think um I can send an email to him and ask him when he when he wants to have another meeting not to get too deep into the subject but I don't see sense in moving people from one dilapitated building to another dilapitated building so we can renovate a dilap dilapitated building then move them into that renovated one and then build a new space right next to it that makes no sense you build a new space first and you move people into that then that opens up the space for the other ships I'll leave at that cuz I don't want to argue this thing for three hours tonight yeah but I don't know why we can't just lease building there's there's open office and uh space you know chapal Lane and a you know across from Walmart is all open why they have doctor's offices at one point in there why couldn't we have temporary um Town Offices there I just think we got to think outside the box on how to move forward with this and and do it CU I think we're wasting a lot of operating funds in a in a year where we're proposing a two and a half override that those operation funds could have gone towards um deficits elsewhere so Now's the Time to make to make a decision on this and the last update I had was the uh get off that topic yep the means tested uh senior citiz home rule petition is on the governor's desk so it's um not signed yet but um it made it through both the House and Senate excellent Heather did that have a cost estimate attached to it when it was created not necessarily when it was submitted but do we have a a a breakdown of approximately what's that cost and I'm assuming that just redisperses through the rest of the taxpayers if I remember correctly it does I know an analysis was done um lman Alonzo and slman Franco um were part of that so I don't know those numbers off the top of my head but it would shift those taxes to the rest of the taxpayers that's all I had thank you can we go back to the um the wood dri wood drift property mhm what exactly um is that town property yes and what's the situation up there and what is the expected cost to remove what is whatever it is we're removing that property when the town acquired it and um can't recall what year it was acquired had was a Old Farm so it has a lot of Old Farm Equipment and debris um would be considered hazardous waste so it would be the removal of everything like that um it is a very steep embankment of where the debris is located so it's going to take a a unique contractor that has the equipment to be able to remove it and the appropriation for that was 100,000 that was through town meeting Heather my understanding that cleanup that was initiated up there was to remove new trash contamination on the property not the Old Farm Equipment because I mean we have farm equipment spread out in the woods and wet ones all over New England um am I incorrect In in saying that or uh no it's all old um surface level stuff but not new what is considered hazardous um so be like um tires and um barrels nothing no um there was no um liquid type of contamination found but all the the metals and everything considered hazardous why isn't this something that the DPW could do I mean I the need to break because of the um steepness of this area they don't have the equipment or um yeah you'd have to see the location to understand how um are the terrain is yeah but yeah who's got care in custody of that property the select board select board okay other questions all right let's move on to the consent calendar so this is an attempt to shorten as best as possible town meeting yes and for those that don't know we take the least contentious articles and combine them into a single calendar article basically and we vote on them as a group as a whole um and for annual town meeting it doesn't require is it just a 910 is it 910 still it's um no it's special 4ths four fths for for annual and 910 for special well it's four only four fths because it has the payment on prior year expense in there that's right okay otherwise it would be um majority vote okay uh so I have them up on the screen here the articles that we are that the town manager is recommending goes into the consent calendar are article one uh which the town is voting to recommending or the select board is voting to recommending to pass over article one as we've already accepted the regular written reports of town officers and committees procedural question on that how can you pass over a particular article yet you're putting it in the consent calendar you have to bring it on the floor to pass over it no it can be part of the Motions it's just so this is the motion for that article as well we did it we've done it in Prior years as well so so it'll be read as the motion is to pass over article one and then after that the rest will be to P to pass articles we're doing two different things within a consent calendar and I don't think that's proper we're passing over article 25 as well on a consent calendar the last one yes so each motion is red and um there's the ability for anyone to hold and pull an article off of the consent calendar right but it's voted as a group so every motion is read and then entirely it's voted on um by whatever the the percentage vote needed by the um according to the article that needs the highest percentage so you could always just put a hold on on when the town when they read through it on the floor please don't yeah don't you know and Mr Alonzo brought up the same point that you know forcing the four fifths for the consent calendar when we could pull that one article and spend three minutes on it and pass it or or do whatever we want with that and still pass the consent calendar in the same amount of time with a a majority vote wait see what happens on town meeting four I'm not going to pull it tonight I mean given it's going to be interesting to see I do wonder if we're going to pull four fifths if we do have a large turnout at town meeting right voters I just or just sort of unsure of the pro I mean it kind of it's the first thing that we get into for people that haven't been to a town meeting before it can be sort of over you know deer and headlights kind of a reaction just all of a sudden you're jumping into all this stuff and you're just dumping 12 articles up there right away and reading through them just like that it it it can be a lot yeah I think that's part of the thought process with the one or two that make it a little bit more dicey and u a process where you could pull those vote them separately and then have a better usually a better result and it's only majority vote I think it's how the Moder Ator presents it it's you know if it is presented as why we're doing it that is normal that these are these are non uh to save time so we have more time and energy for the other articles I think would be if it's done properly I think it people would understand and if they don't you know and there's enough of them then we'll have to go through them individually but I think it's a good it's a good thing to have a consent to agender item just to save time and and to push through these things oh I agree completely I would love it if we can get 24 of them into a consent calendar all right we're done exactly just3 we could do a a handout as well that um explains consent calendar I also always have a slide up as people are filtering in um that explains what the consent calendar is um and uh I think the 10 moderator does a good job with um explaining that to the to the voters which is the article that is that's causing us to go up to 4 fths rather than a majority article four okay the free C so $1,900 the the payment of the prior year expense I mean at this point is it impossible to pull that article out or does that something that has to be done on the town floor we can pull it out tonight if we choose to yeah it's not impossible I'm inclined to pull it to tell you the truth yeah I mean for $2,000 and potentially having to go through all of the Articles and a four to five minute discussion and vote for one to get past that article right I'll former formally request that it be pulled off the consent so just so I understand so if we don't have article four in the consent then it's it's simple majority simple majority so okay Heather four will still have to be a four fth standing on its own though correct correct okay yeah well it makes sense if we if we're concerned about that that that would make sense yeah are you making that into a formal motion yes excuse me I'm sorry about that you want to make an actual motion I I move that we ask that article 4 be removed move from this consent calendar second all right discussion are we voting on all the are we voting on all the consent I think all we have to vote on are the ones we want pulled from the list unless the chair wants to do it differently correct I don't think we need we've already gone through on the individuals and given our recommendation for them none of the none of the ones that we the two that we've deferred on no no no I know but we haven't voted to form this consent calendar do we usually do that I can't remember we usually vote to we agree on the on the so maybe after we do this we could if we don't have any more we can just say we we agree on the remaining ones to be on the consent agenda to make it clean yeah we could vote on them it traditionally it's the select board sets the consent calendar and then we have the next shot at modifying it and then everybody at town meeting has the next shot to modify it it's essentially trying to get a consensus between the select board and finance right that you agree they're not controversial articles that they belong on the consent calendar yeah I don't go ahead Jay is prary expenses always been a four four fths vote Yes Yes annual town meeting it's 45ths at a special it's 910 yeah true traditionally the uh consent calendar is a unanimous vote right but well not anymore I'm not I'm not betting on anything this year yeah there's almost no unanimous now that we have the the clickers it's no longer nothing's unanimous it's is great yeah people aren't worried to be that one person holding their card up I think it's they shouldn't be worried but still great um is the MU is there other than obviously for Simplicity and trying to condense everything down as quickly as possible and as and get as much done in the single vote as possible is there any other reason that we would not given that we're trying to get it to pass as quickly and as easily as possible with just a simple majority is there any other reason you can think of to keep Article 4 in um no if that's a concern that's not a problem to remove it okay so how would that be funded if it doesn't pass it will just be so all the consent calendar articles will be voted on and then then we'll vote on uh the next article that would be voted would be article three then article four and so on right no I mean article four specifically oh if it doesn't doesn't pass how is it going to be funded um that's the funding source yeah it it has to be approved at town meeting right so we'd have outstanding bills until the next town meeting or special town meeting special to well yeah Special Town Mee could have a fundraiser you're probably and conversely too if the consent calendar fails then we just go back to each individual right article article right so there there's a fail safe built in there that it doesn't automatically defeat them all or pass them all unless we pass it I mean I I'm good with either way so I'm inclined if there's people that don't want it in there to pull it and I'm inclined to vote on the rest of them for I'm I'm kind of torn because I could see I'm I'm all for just getting a simple majority and again I'm with Dave I have no idea what's going to happen at town meeting it's it's we could have 150 people we could have 1,500 people I don't know yeah um at the same time I think the more that we can check off all as one big group the better it's going to be but with this one I agree I see it as a three to four minute discussion or if there is even a question that's asked maybe one or two questions and it's voted on so I'm ready to vote yeah any other discussions about it all right so motion is made and seconded to to to recommend removal of article 4 from the consent calendar uh those in favor say I I opposed all right we recommend removing Article 4 and dropping it down to a simple majority I make a motion to recommend approval of the remainder of the consent Cal do we have all the numbers cuz I didn't I was marking them as you gave them I did I missed something my brain might have gone somewhere else but I only have I have nothing marked past article four oh oh we have a bunch we have article one yep which was which is recommended to be passed over article two which is a revolving funds one article 12 now uh which is transferring from free cash to the stabilization fund Article 13 transferring from free cash to the special purpose stabilization fund article 14 the sewer Enterprise retained earnings and the OPB trust fund uh transfers from free cash article 16 the sewer Enterprise retained earnings uh to into the sewer capital reserve stabilization fund article 17 the solid waste disposal Enterprise revenues going into the solid waste disposal enter uh Solid Waste Disposal or yeah transfer between sorry uh for the solid waste disposal program article 18 the water department revenues uh 45 45,000 to go to the water department Article 19 is the public access cable related revenues going to their uh Enterprise fund article 20 the cemetery lots um going to the moving the $10,000 from the sale of Cemetary Lots as usual and then article 25 is being recommended to pass over okay the only question and and I'm okay with the list a motion though so go ahead then I'll I'll just ask a question about uh 18 that's all oh we can have all discussion you want I did make a motion was it seconded I don't know it was not no it was interrup I interrupted do you want to finalize your motion since you were interrupted I did finalize you did yeah second all right motions made you wh the Articles because I stopped you because I didn't have them I didn't know what the article numbers were he said just remainder of the Articles we have a document from articles I said I you talking consent calendar or the other AR the consent consent but the folks at home are not seeing a are they yeah I have them up on the screen okay I'm sorry I just scrolled through the mall okay we don't need to drag this out anymore second all right discussion on the remaining articles yeah the only question I have and it it's for the town manager through you Mr chair um number 18 um and and I'll probably be corrected but I have a $225,000 number in that wine item in my memory for as long as I can remember when did we jump to 45,000 and what's the driving force there with only I believe it's a half a dozen customers that um we talked about that this fiscal year increasing that and that's based on historical um bills and revenues for that for six water users it's I believe 11 different properties including like the TR toown apartment buildings okay that's fine I'm done any other discussion that's just so everybody knows that's essentially a pass through we get we get builds from Fitchburg for those water users and we in turn build our residents for those that expense yeah how how did that come to be and I know it's been there forever but we have lunenberg people residents and businesses on lemonster water and we don't have to do that why why do we have to do this with Fitchburg uh that's a good question I um that's just been in place it has something to do with when Dry Town was built and they went to fitzburg to get water instead of the B water district okay I I just think it's something that you know really the town shouldn't have to be administering uh granted it supposedly pays for itself because this is the cost to Fitchburg and we supposedly Rec recoup it all from the users um I've never seen that line item actually balanced out but I I'll make that assumption for now thank you all right any further discussion all right motion is to recommend the uh or to recommend the recommendation of the consent calendar recommendation for the remaining articles removing Article 4 so those in favor of recommendation of the consent calendar as it is now say I I those opposed all right we are unanimous again It Go like that on town meeting for we're going to be there for an extra three hours yes that's why the town moderator does the talking and I don't I'll get the numbers wrong too and yeah all right thank you for putting that together miss mu that's very helpful all right moving down to town meeting discussion so um this is just a very broad topic I wanted to throw on there just for any general conversation people want to have about the meeting um we just scheduled the town manager just scheduled the pre- meeting for next Wednesday I believe um what we do have yeah the the chair of the select board the chair of the school committee the the people that are going to be presenting usually the land use directors there as well um Town moderator no the attorney Our Town attorney uh but she's now inviting the uh superintendent there's some it people coming it's getting much larger um in preparation so uh I just wanted to get a chance to to offer to the to the committee any questions or concerns or anything that we want to bring to that meeting in advance of it or just general conversation about how we are anticipating it to go we will not have a meeting in between that meeting and town meeting okay I'm happy to send out kind of an update of of this is what the town decided to put together I'm sure it's going to be but from what I understand there's an overflow plan and all of that and the is it tell you a little bit where we're at as well um so we've been working on over planning for a higher than normal attendance and so working with the town clerk it public access the school um our voting equipment vendor we're borrowing the Water District's 200 clickers we have 600 So the plan is um the auditorium has capacity about 600 people a little over so those 600 clickers would be dedicated to the auditorium first the Overflow um rooms of the gym and cafeteria will be set up and the 200 uh voting clickers will be um distributed to those two spaces to keep them separated there'll be video and audio in both the Overflow rooms so that will be part of the discussion on Wednesday is um baring that we don't have more than 800 people at our meeting that how those rooms will be set up with whoever needs to be Staffing them whether a deputy moderator would be in each of those overflow rooms if they um so that would be something the moderator would have to appoint and moderator the beginning of the meeting or two and um so that will be the front part of the meeting to to review the logistics of that I talked to our it admin today asked her to put out kind of an informal survey on social media so nothing that's anyone's mandated to fill out but maybe it will give us some kind of inclination of how many people will will show up so we can know um for Staffing purposes what we'll need do we go ahead sorry uh just there will be baged lunches being sold as well so that will be new addition this year and um I think that's all I have what's the plan if we get over 800 voters for to discussed on Wednesday cuz that would be a town clerk uh call because those would then I think we revert back to um voice votes or card votes um so counting those in the Overflow rooms okay and do we have a make or braak it number for what we can hold in the Overflow rooms and the auditorium uh we we have capacity numbers for each of those rooms believe the cafeteria was over 300 itself so the gym was higher than that I do have those those figures from the superintendent okay so we won't in all likelihood unless we have 80% of the Town showing up we will not have to postpone correct okay and um we've tested out all the equipment already um everything seems to be uh functioning well and including because our initial concern was the clickers have a range um but we've worked with the vendor on setting up um I want to say like a repeater but a um module that will making sure that all those votes are tallied there just a a slight delay that the moderator will have to take in consideration when calling for the vote and um waiting for those numbers to come up okay there's a need for all these contingencies but I'll tell you what out on the street I'm hearing that there are an awful lot of people that have commitments that are not going to allow them to be at town meeting although they would really like to be but their commitments are stronger than their feeling that they need to be at town meeting yeah so we'd rather be prepared obviously oh yeah yeah no I agree don't want to postpone town meeting y um so but uh yeah I hopefully it's not a 80 degree day and lose a whole bunch of people what what do we have for registered voters Heather do you have a rough number 7 or 8,000 I thought it was less than that thought so too it might be less than that it's a sad number compared to the 12,000 that we have in town it is how much parking do we have in thata question too that's a good question it's usually answered by not enough but they lined up well they when I when they had the uh last year they had in the auditorium they had the uh assessor meeting and I got there late and um there was no parking I had to go park at uh Turkey Hill yeah and um there was I was I was lucky to get a spot and that place wasn't even full I mean I mean it was pretty it was a lot of people there at at that meeting but it wasn't full so if we have a th people it's going to be people parking on the streets and it'll be a it'll be a do are we are the police going to be hanging around uh they're always in attendance right we always have at least um two officers there and uh I can speak to the chief about you know making sure there's at least a contingency plan for traffic yep any other questions or anything else you want to bring forward parking is a good one it' be nice if we could get D to shuttle people in if we need to we're giving if we're doing school lunches we might as well put them on the yellow school bus too no I think there should be VIP parking but I don't know ballet parking ballet oh there we go that's an idea we made we could raise that $2,000 real quick um typically we have the uh if you're facing the stage the Lower leftand Side on the audience is usually for Out of Towners M are we not letting them sit there or visitors yeah thank you um cuz we do have uh department heads as well that don't live in town right so yeah we'd have to either um ask them for standing approval ler but have them sit in the hallway and wait yeah okay good subject for your meeting yeah I'm sure the moderator will have a uh an opinion at least I know where I'm sitting just got to get there first all right any other discussion on the town meeting before we have the town meeting I might show up with a red flag so Tim can see me he always looks Over Me Is it a white flag all right moving on to Old business uh review the report for the warrant so everyone has a copy of the report at this point and rather than go through and painstakingly read it again um I'm fine taking a few minutes for everyone just to read through it on their own really quickly and just see if there's anything glaring that stands out or that needs to be changed I try not to change anything sub substantive um oh I need to recalculate something real quick while we're doing that for the only feel I got and and I didn't have time to even think about what a closing paragraph might be is that I felt like it just stopped like we ran out of time to write it and that's it um if we want to leave it that way that's fine but that was the feel when I got to the end of the last page yeah oh [Music] no oh yeah I was reworking that one moving things around that makes [Applause] sense good with it for miss the two periods in the same paragraph the very end no I got you got the two periods too oh good just making sure when does the 2 and 1 12% increase play into this in 26 no it would start in 25 it would start in in July 1st except for the fact that our valuations are our valuations and the estimated rates are what on this thing so the two and a half really only affects the I don't know I haven't been able to sort that out clearly in my head I've been busy with other stuff spinning in my head No it should still work cuz this goes off the most recent valuations right I'm sorry this goes off of the most recent valuations and projected tax rate correct yeah and that's what I've been trying to make clear to uh citizens that have been asking questions on Facebook I haven't posted much recently regards to the actual numbers but that they need to be sure that they're looking at the correct valuation for their individual properties because it's very easy to accidentally pick the 2024 valuation but this is all going to be based on the 2025 valuation with the new valuations calculated not what they were before the 5year reval went in place but everyone should have just received those valuations right most bills are out now right right the most recent painful bills both of those numbers are there so you got to just make sure you're looking at the correct year right right yeah the yeah the only other thing that I was concerned with was whether or not the table was somewhat confusing and then it gives an estimated tax bill without the override it gives an estimated tax tax bill with the override or tax increase and decrease I guess or increases I just I want to make sure it's Crystal Clear that it's one or the other it's not additive well you you want to color them yes sorry I just had to add that I I I assume it reads that way but I I figured mine out to 990 cups of coffee by the way what say the the following tables illustrate the effects of proposition to to an two and a half increase with or without the override so it it kind of explains it the only thing I had was it says 42m maybe put million instead of M where at um bottom of page to just the 42 million that we could borrow somebody chose to shorten that didn't we talk about that the lastek that was Jay I had all I had all the numbers no no just the word million right oh oh take out the capital M and actually right because I just think someone's going to go what's m 40 you know I don't know but I just people would get it but since shouldn't vote on the budget I mean the only other thing that I had thought of that could be added right below the chart would be a calculation line without the numbers plugged in because you know you you get a $50,000 no you get a $100,000 jump from category to category to category there's an awful lot of different valuations within those within those areas or within those values I mean mine's mine's $312,000 going into round 2 you round it up or round it down I can give a master course in Excel plotting because it's a linear it's a linear fit the difference between each step is the same value yeah it's $100,000 no no no no between the estimated impact it's $62.50 between or something to that effect I think for each one each step so you divide that by 100 and that's how much it is per dollar or per $1,000 more but yeah I would recommend we stay with what we have yeah I agree 481 417 valuation is that the average that was the a yeah that was what um yeah was listed as the as the average I wanted to throw that one in there specifically so we at least have with the average I mean I don't there's not going to be many that are 1.55 million I oh I know I considered taking off half of those highlight that one what stated that could you put an aster next to that and put a explanation of under the chart sure cuz that that's the only I agree that's the only deviation from what you just said two minutes ago yeah I can do that I'll have to do it offline because I posted it as a picture um I didn't like how it posted otherwise we going to print it double-sided to save paper yeah this was I printed it on my way out the door and my printer doesn't like to automatically go to one page double-sided should be a standard default setting that's what I said four kids it gets changed on a daily basis also have massive margins Heather very quickly did you get any more clarification on the uh Elementary and high school heating EX exion Exempted borrowing I I thought about it I actually woke up at 2:00 in the morning about a week ago and I think I know what that was I just wondering if you got any clarification on it and don't we usually sign these um I think I had brought that up as far as what it's titled right I understand what it's titled but it's very unclear really in this day and age what that really was would you agree that it was the project that upgraded the heating system in TCP and had something to do with the conversion of the system or disconnection of the system in the old high school name put our or there was an upgrade at both locations I think that's what that money was for you can bring one yeah at both locations in for the formal and it wasn't super descriptive in the town meeting vote yeah sign it off and all that stuff basically what it boiled down to is for years we pump steam downhill to the high school and then we condensed it and we heated water uh and I think that project uh put a separate hot water heating system into the high school and upgraded the boilers or something to that effect in in the uh P TCP building that's my recollection I think that was the project it's interesting that we're just paying that off now that's that's why I have an issue with the state suggesting we amor building projects for 40 years did we already vote on this or no we haven't voted on this i' like to make a motion we approve the annual report with the minor edits that were made during the meeting second any other discussion all those in favor I opposed all right I will make that change to the table and add a little asterisk for it um I've already verified the 16.39% decrease so that's correct I'll add our names to it give it a more formal heading um and I did make the other changes already in the document that I have on my computer so I will get that submitted to the town tomorrow thank you you thank you to thank you and Tiffany for 99% of it was Tiffany so thank you Tiffany um so miss lemu just kind of backtracking a little bit I I thought of another question for the for the town meeting discussion um the override article have we received I know that the town attorney was was with met with the select board and they discussed it a little bit but I don't know if there was ever res resolution um if someone makes an amendment to the override article and changes more than just a decrease in the dollar value or something is that even allowed at this point it would be it has to be similar to the ballot question so right you know it may be allowed to be amended but then you'd have to have a special election right if it doesn't you know match the the ballot question okay so it's still within the scope and the spirit of this this is kind of what I'm getting at the did Mr cost to say that it's remains in the scope or the spirit if someone wants to change the value increasing it or changing it to or just the department or anything like that is that all still within the Spirit as it is an override in general the department as well that now because I definitely think that would be outside the scope okay because it's specific it says lunenberg Public Schools right okay so just for general knowledge as there has been some discussion on Facebook I've seen you know the really good place to get your information I'm sure a lot of people going to try and do something with it but I just then that's exactly why I want to make sure that there is it is known that it is not allowed to change the department or to broaden it to the town or anything like that because that's without of the that's outside of the scope of the amendment of the article right but also your comments def sorry I was just going to ask for verification also in your comments a minute ago was the ability to raise or W with a number right you can go both directions you can go down I know you can go down I don't know if you can go up yeah that's what I'm questioning is is increasing I don't think you can but I don't know I don't think so as well I and obviously that's a town moderator decision yeah but that's not giving voters notice um if it were higher than that amount right or changing the the manner in which the override takes place as well whether it be like a one-time debt exclusion or something like that moving it to a exclusion or an something to that effect yeah okay none of that would be allowed I just wanted to adust what you just said that's all yep I get it because I I do expect there to be some amendments thrown at this thing um and and a move to pass over it's worth a shot it's all typed and I move move the question I've already I've already promised that if it gets too if it gets to be more than like 30 minutes I will move the question myself I don't well that's up to the moderator he can he can shoot you down no he still has to do it just has to be second and it gets voted on to move to I don't think so no he's got some leeway oh he does that's right Line times gives him some power to uh not agree to that fair enough I'm still going to try all right thank you I just I wasn't sure I couldn't remember what Mr C's final decision was I know there was some back and forth with the select board about what was and what wasn't allowed can there be any limits to like discussion like one person can't like talk for 25 minutes is there is that moderator the moderator has that authority to yeah he'll cut them off like three minutes or you know yeah I think some people when they get revved up they can go on and on and on and on and I'm there was a discuss some of those people are on the finance committee now I heard there was a discussion that I was part and I don't remember if it was after a meeting here or or during or whatever that one of the local towns had two colored cards that they handed out to the people that wanted to speak so as they were in line depending on what color card they had in their hand it was for or against and it helped the moderator kind of balance out the the discussion but that might be something that could be mentioned in your meeting okay I we bring that up especially if you've got 30 more people in line with the same color card that are going to say the same thing as the first 30 people then it it's time to End discussion I would think my usually says it unless you have something new to add yeah right right right but he's still good about I mean he'll let people come back up to the microphone and talk a second third fourth fifth time it becomes a keeps it fair yeah and I agree Mr Mard we do technically already have a deputy moderator an it's an elected it's an appointed position by the moderator right so I don't know does he have the authority to deputize more give me give him Little Star Wars badges is that Rob or is it somebody else Rob I think it's Rob Rob Rob Bowen right yeah I believe so that's I was just it's been Rob Bowen for ever years and years only a few years has it only yeah only a few figured out he could do that a few years ago oh okay it's just been Mr Murphy for a while yeah okay just in case the stor tropers get him all right um on here just to keep them on here any uh fy2 budget discussions before we close out budget season um um not specifically for 25 but um and Heather you don't have to weigh in on this right now but i' I'd just like it's actually uh an item for future discussion between more than just this commission uh committee and that is to figure out what the Avenues are going to be to get to a point where we have borrowing capacity for shortterm borrowing you know what can we do thinking outside the box to get in a position where we're able to take on short-term debt that we can actually pay for mhm uh I think that's going to be a really important piece over the next couple years and and longer okay all right override discussion anyone who want to talk about the override anymore no nope before we talk about it a lot just vote no or yes or yes or yes or0 or fact by the way I've I've been very clear on Facebook I'm looking for signs from Gren peil and Townsen if you want to recycle your signs I'm willing to come get them I'll take the yes signs if anybody wants to opportunity pass them on down the road um all right we have two articles that we have deferred to town meeting I don't see any reason to rehash them today no so I'm happy to continue continue to pass those [Music] over minutes I have not looked at any of the minutes I know Danielle has put a couple in there I read through both of them the only issue I have again is I believe in the second one uh it says gr grant writer rather than grant writer Services okay that's the only change I saw in the two yeah I would say the only problem is we have six sets of minutes that we have to approve currently in there or just on in general Yeah March 14th 2021 28 4 and 11 well we're doing better than the select board they just approved their October ones doesn't that violate yes it's it's how long is it two months a month is it 30 days or 60 days 30 days is okay and then we have um it looks like February 8th too but what what dates do we not have fantastic we don't have February 8th you have three months to approve just get a note yeah thank you Karen and we have a couple from 2023 I think that need to be written okay so maybe we can get those one there should all be taped um maybe Danielle can do those as well yeah once we get through these these six and out of town meeting I think we can make that one of our first priorities too well I would say that those ones are very important because we are out of the 3month window right do we have the dates for them I mean we could send an email now yeah I mean you can look online where we're missing them and I verified that I hadn't seen any of them okay yeah I think well it looks like this this might have been one that has anybody else read the March 21st and uh 20th and 21st if we've got at least three members that have I'd like to vote those tonight I had yeah I've I read them before I don't think I remember them but I did read them well that was the two nights in a row with four and a half hours each night was it yep four and then four and a half hard to forget those are the record Breakers except for trying to remember what was said by the third hour has anyone else read those two or if we take two I read them I thought she had a question on something about the audio went out on one of them for like 12 minutes March 21st the audio cut out yeah was that she just didn't know who seconded no it's that there was there was minutes of audio that wer weren't there yeah she doesn't have any are we still allowed to approve them with that as is yeah even with us with a chunk of time missing well the only other thing she talked about was not having the presentations to add but can those be added later I don't see any why see any reason why they can't and if it doesn't exist in the recording there how are we going to recover it unless we sit and close our eyes and try to replay the whole meeting yeah I I wouldn't worry about that you don't have to have a transcription of the meeting right okay and it's actually it's actually a month or three meetings so I I would recommend that we try to approve those two I'm happy to I'll make a motion to approve the minutes of March 20th and 21st second any discussion do we have a majority of people that have read them okay before we take a vote that fails all right so motions made and seconded to approve appr the March 20th and March 21st minutes all in favor I I opposed and I will abstain so we have pass those ones five Z to one all right so now we just have five sets of of of minutes to get through and I'll go back through and take a look at um what we're supposed to have what we have missing and I'll send a note off to Danielle and see if we can get those pulled okay all right 9 minutes left before 9:00 uh any committee reports if you do speak with Danielle can can you ask her to place him in the folder in the in review one yeah CU I think if we workflow it that way better it's we were better at getting on top of them when I don't don't have to search through emails for I honestly like them coming through the email cuz I'm pick them up for my phone and I can be out in the woods cutting trees and I can read them out there well I mean she can email them as well but if we can put them in there at least you work FL mhm I think she has access to it I'll double check to make sure she has access to the share point if not we can give it oh it's yeah it's very easy all right any committee reports the only thing I had with with Parks is that they reorganized last night um so Anita sheepers I might have got her name wrong the pronunciation um is now chair and coling chapero is vice chair so Karen is Clerk and Chris and Anna are along for the ride I guess taking some breaths taking some breaths so Chris there was a reference made at that meeting of the new plan I didn't question it last night but could you not NE don't fill us in tonight but I'd be interested to know what the quote end quote new plan is okay now maybe I don't know if that was a a misspoke definition or or not okay any other committee reports any topics for future meetings that we'd like to discuss can add it to the list uh yeah I would like to get the uh chapter 90 um briefing that select Bo gut oh okay um you know and the ability to kind of question anything related to it was that given by the town manager or was that given by tpww director s last night okay well Tuesday night yeah yeah and I heard it and it sounded good that we're putting a plan together that we can assess um there's probably a few other plans that need to be put together um both within the DPW but facilities school facilities Etc mhm um it's definitely going to pull a couple of items off the capital plan list which is too bad it hasn't done it before this but it really doesn't affect anything because the they were below items that were covered were too low on the list anyway any other topics all right our next meeting is officially Town town meeting so uh thank you everyone for a very diligent and very hardworking hardwork budget season has been a different this is one foring at all one to remember unfortunately up again um so yes May 4th at the middle high school starting at 9 a.m. I suggest strongly people arrive a little bit early wine starts at the door at 7 yep yeah I wonder if we'll be able to get in if CU if we get there a little bit late and there's a [Laughter] line um probably over be over capacity and we won't be able to sit at the table darn I'll give up my chair there will be a point I leave the meeting if it goes long cuz I have a flight that night as long as you make it through the eighth article it's all that really matters right no hopefully it doesn't last too long um other important dates after that are the 18th of May which is the annual Town election that is taking place at TCP at the gym and I believe it is normal election hours on a Saturday which is 7 a.m. I don't want to say for sure I don't know for sure it's posted at the end of the the public safety building driveway yeah exactly I don't I don't want to say for sure be if something yeah it's it's much longer than starting at 9:00 a.m. I take that back the water department uh has their signs running right now but I'm sure it'll be up soon yep so annual Town me election is at least on the 18th of May yeah and a reminder that I believe you can still vote over the counter at the count town quirk's office but I don't have that schedule not sure um with that is there any public comment from the committee this evening to close it out I just one thing um I was watching on Facebook and there was a bunch of uh questions from people about the water um issue District issues and uh if anybody's listening my suggestion is there are they just probably I don't know if they're still doing it but they they did a presentation uh at the uh at the Middle High School auditorium and there was another one done uh that I saw online by the Water District where they all sorts of questions were answered get your answers there rather than from Facebook cuz sometimes they are not accurate really I know it's a it's a it's it's a I'm the first one to ever say it but I I just when people are asking questions and I'm like just go watch the thing all right are there any public comments from the public this evening all right seeing none I will happily entertain a motion for adjournment so moved second second any discussion all those in favor I I I all right it is 8:58 p.m. we are journ good night everyone see you on the 4th of May