##VIDEO ID:a8FFFlt8ZKE## it being 6:30 I call this meeting with the by the SE select the Border um je y Brian yes Kathy yes and John yes um the first uh item is public comments on non agenda items is there anyone here or um who our again who has a comment on our agenda I um the second item is um the Chairman's report uh and there is no Chairman's report then we go to the action items and um we have one um item from the acttion items on our agenda there anything that we want to add to the ACT items now I had one item from last week uh the discussion or last the last meeting with the affordable housing uh trust and author I guess it was affordable housing uh trust was going to um work a little bit more in terms of its RF Etc and take a look at the land acquisition possibilities Etc but there was a followup the that said I can't remember when it was like three months six months they going to come back and say so I think we ought to put that on the list okay three months out unless you tell us differ I I had my notes was that um we were going to do an update in one month oh one month okay I thought that Greg I thought we the town had some action items or some questions I'm not sure they had the action to come back and Report um a second I think there was some question well they had a an action around identifying exactly how much additional land was needed yeah and then and then I thought you had an action something around Newport Park um we're gonna do the survey yeah GNA do the whole survey I talked to John about that John forbeck about that okay um oh I think also just better Clarity on the parking area for for p house Hill so that it would not interfere with potential expansion okay yeah okay well could we put down a date say three months out so kind of know where we are with all of those issues put in November sometime s satisfied with the action items uh first item on the agenda is the change of manager [Music] alcohol commod is present and um the current manager um gr what what do we need to do application seems correct right this is fairly straightforward in for functionary but um you want to make sure that you're comfortable with the information that's um in the in the packet and if you have any questions of the applicant you can ask them but um it's fairly straightforward um we have to open a public hearing on this or yes we it's a public hearing yes okay so do I have a move to open a public hearing moved all Jeff yes yes yes yes John yes okay um I can start by saying that I have known a long time yeah right since 2008 I just anyway um what's his face what's his face I I'm not completely back from vacation I'm not particularly back no for since 2008 very well too I can tell want to be um and he's the very responsible person questions I think I'm good so ready for a motion y well I move that that we want to close the public hearing anybody have any comments in the public hearing I think nothing coming through here okay okay then I move that the select board close the evidentiary portion of the hearing yeah yesy yes and yes Johan yes okay is there a motion yep I move that the SL board open the alcohol oh I moved at the board approve the change of manager for the all alcohol on premise license at 12 PX Point Road Manchester Mass held at the by the Manchester y Club second um I think 15 yes sorry that was my fault Amendment 50 T joh yes answer is yes yes says yes yes Jeff says yes that was hard thank you very much embarrassing but for me okay all set thank okay we have we're close enough y um Joe Bean here and I believe this that Joe has been serving on the committee without having been appointed and his position was not reported as is vacant because he was there and he hadn't been there for two terms so even though we filled the three empty positions this was not one of the empty ones one of the one of the empty ones okay so so there is a vacancy then because it was never officially filled because it was never officially filled I was curious about that right because we did suggest to one candidate that he um come back pay come back again um but okay this is an unusual situation um so Joe is occupying a position that is open but was never voted upon as being filled do we have more people on the committee now than we're supposed to have no no we're we're we're even including Jo right good you officially appoint Joe that will be the full compliment fine so you're looking to me for comments questions I'm I'm just someday somebody might look at this tape and wonder how it is we had candidates that we turn down and now we're and that's the explation okay is it there was a transition that didn't happen it was informally filled without coming before this right right right right so just uh as the leis on from the select board you know um to VI and P Joe's Transportation experience has been quite helpful on the committee he's been a very active member and um look forward to um him to stay on officially not mistake vac that's a career I um does anyone have any questions or shall we just yeah I mean it's been doing it so think we're good and doing a good job an excellent job I I just have a question so I mean you're a unique candidate and that you already know kind of what's going on there anything in particular observations you'd like to share with us with regard to the committee or challenges that um it's a really good commune you know it's one of the better ones that I've had the benefit of serving on you know over my time kind of doing this uh very active um it's a very collegial group it's it's um product oriented trying to get things done you know so I think it's it's been a really good experience I've enjoyed it and the extent that I've been able to help out and you know kind of help people on that it's it's it's been rewarding I think you know it's like any challenges you have there's always more to do I think but I think people have on this group historically have built a great Foundation you know you go back and look at all the things that have kind of led to this point and they got a lot of people over the years who have put in a lot of hard work and produced a lot of good results and I think that's something that's uh you know everyone should feel proud of I just have one question actually um my for Greg or Debbie um what is the term of the appointment because the website says the website has not been updated yet um take that back the website says his term ends in 2025 the motion in front of me says 2026 I'm reading that correct yeah I was trying to keep them so that's three three and two so it's two there was one which which is it 2025 or 2026 I put as 2026 it's going to be 2026 it's going to be2 yes I'll change it on now okay all right thank yeah it's in the um motions yeah there whose motion is this this is mine okay I moved that the board appoint Joe ban to the B and pedestrian committee for a term to expire on June 30th 2026 discussion John yes says yes Kathy yes Brian yes go yes thank you keep doing the good work please thank you for your service thank you for coming for me the chance I appreciate it okay have a good night than said um are are there any comments on the consent agenda just one okay uh no I have I as motion made or no no we're just no I don't have any comments okay okay Jeff's motion so is there a motion to approve the meeting minut of August 19th so moved second Thomas Jeff yes Brian yes Kathy yes answer yes John yes okay um still have 10 minutes let's um are there Le on upat uh just a a couple couple of things DPW related the posos testing or experimental testing or Pilot testing if you will is ongoing at both both locations both at the Lincoln Street well and at the graly pond and different testing activities are going on there because the water that comes out of both of those sources has different contaminants or different things that must be done to it so that'll be ongoing I think the Lincoln Street well stuff will that'll that'll go pretty quickly but graval Pond will take quite a few weeks uh to be completed and um the DPW is going to set out a send out a survey for um uh to to all water uh water users uh concerning their pipes to ask them if they have lead lined pipes now I think that most people have no idea so I'm curious how that survey is going to come back they're going to say what do you mean and the DPW can go on help but I know that I think you can put a magnet on your pipe that comes into your house and if it's you know Le is not magnetic no but that's the key if if it if it's if it doesn't uh stick then you know you're okay they're only so many different mat plastic okay then then you know so anyway he's going to do that survey that's kind of driven by the epad P requiring to know what the story is with lead pipes in town uh he only expects that 1 or two% of the houses in town really have lead pipe issues the pipes coming into town but we'll find out so is it actual lead pipes or is it like cast iron has lead coins these are lead pipes and they're old pipes yeah we say old what's the range like 300 years old like 150 okay so something built 50 years ago probably probably is okay but you go back a 100 years Etc and how's how's homeowners are only responsible from where it enters their property the town is responsible for all the pipes going up and down your street and the branches going to your property line so the line from the town main from the main line going up your street half of that the town owns half of that you own't and the town will deal with its end but U needs to know what the property owner lines are yeah from the curv there's Cur Cur that's the defining line for ownership and there is um State funding to help with replacement if necessary so I'm curious how this will all play out because I I know people you'll send out this information people say right so the survey will provide some instructions as how to help determine yeah what's going on what what kind of pipe you have coming into the house so you look at where comes in through the basement typically before it you know as it goes through the meter and then house the pipe coming into your basement would be what was just outside your foundation wall it would be the same pip so I wonder I would wonder it seems that we're looking at a small a very small number houses that probably were built before the in the before the 60s I wondered if the assessor could do something to Target houses that are most likely to be they they they can however EPA is requiring that you serve all okay fine fine and and the other usual question is suppose I get my water bill electronically where does my electronic they're working with the vendor to make sure they have that list we still have received no notification of the water working with the vendor to get that list do we have a time frame for I can find out I don't okay I can't imagine it will take too much longer I mean he's planning to start when and um replacing them the rfps went out last week he's gone to several different vendors to say what's your number okay and but start date in the RFP you remember I didn't get into that detail time winter [Music] time sooner rather than later I think would be especially because people are snowbirds they may be more likely to do the electronic and you may not be around get out of [Music] communications that's it yeah I don't really have anything to report this week uh no I missed the bike and ped meeting last week and finance committee is kicking up again I think they're meeting tomorrow yes so um we'll be attending that and they have a very large agenda so I think I'll do that one on Zoom one of the things on on their agenda is might in mp zoning um in preparation for town meeting um we want board wants a financial analysis of what the impact of the of the proposed NBTA zoning would be and that's conflict the finance committee has been asked to do a part of that the there are two parts one is an estimate of how quick the buildout is likely to be um and then based on that how much impact you'd have in five years and 10 years and in in the full B build out um the finance committee did something like this for SLV um but that was relatively simple because with SLV you knew exactly what you were going to get how many units of what size and they all came on at once so um I don't know I I will be online to encourage them to take this on even though it's hard yeah I mean what what they you know typically what you do is a financial model and then when the other piece of the comes in which is the um what's it called the um propensity for change study then you plug those numbers into the model and you get your your study so they can they can be working in parallel to the propensity for Change and um I just think some information is better than nothing yeah and and the consultant who's doing the propensity for change won't have that until the end of September at the earliest so um and the MBK zoning group is planning a number of events in September and early October starting to get word out about what the what the changes actually are um and I don't did not put together a list of the various places that they be talking but any place is willing to listen yes okay anything else that we have to spend about five minutes talk a few points on my really soorry I mentioned in the paper I mentioned the construction activity that is picking up or has picked up um certainly people have noticed to work on on Pleasant Street one there the bypasses being placed put in place and they're getting ready to Reign that so they'll um basically ream it out the existing pipe and then put a new liner and once gets cleaned up on all the deposits that I've collected over do you do you have an idea of how much deposit there is or oh it's thick um so it's a it's a 16inch pipe it has probably lost half of its capacity through over the 100 plus years that it's been in place yeah um and so they reestablish that basically not quite 100% but pretty close to the capacity obviously you have the space of the line or that go goes in but that's not even a half an inch um so that'll be a significant Improvement and that's what happens to the stuff that they dislodge it all comes out at one of the pits and collected and dropped off so that work is underway um soon they'll begin work on Forest and Mill with the new water and sewer line work that'll be done there um uh there will be notification to all the homeowners be putting door hanging flyers on the doors as before this work Begins the same company is doing both so it just depends on their timing what kind of progress they're making unpleasant and then when they can free up a crew they'll they'll put their law enforc in so that both projects will continue through the fall the water portion will finish up before hard hard freezing sets in and then the um the sewer line work will continue on on Forest and Mill into the winter um we also will be getting underway with cooperation from the state um we doing intersection at Harbor Harbor Street and and Bridge Street uh making that those two sip Lanes will disappear to become a standard t intersection with a a safer crosswalk with a pedestrian a activated signage flashing light um so that work will also be taking place um this fall and also Walker Street is getting repaid because it had the new pipe left done last year so that's getting that'll be underway as well um so it'll be um it'll be a busy fa with with construction um hopefully things will go smoothly and not be too disruptive to everyone be open two ways there'll always be one way traffic um then there will be times when it's when there is just one way and have to alternate you be traffic control um occasionally there'll be times when they just block one lane um and Detour people around and and just have it one way so so will be so they'll be signed up so they did that the other day and they they put up a sign at that I do not end her okay as they were doing some work and so there there will be times when that happens so that's that's progressing um on the on the Mason building and working towards um fin in the pns we we able to secure U zoning Board of adjustment approval for the expansion the additions that are proposed um special permits were needed because we're expanding a non-conforming use um so that went smoothly and um we'll be working with the with the Masons and finalizing the pns we hope to have that done by the end of the month um and uh Meanwhile we're working on getting RP out for architectural work to finalize the plans and that'll take place as well as getting a a fundraiser on board to help us with the fundraising so that will all be happening this fall into the winter that's underway question on that um so it's not just a purchase you know it's the ongoing operations and stuff like that correct so condo docks condo docks and and who's going to who's going to run the place who's going to be responsible for it operationally operationally so it'll be the Council on agent Council and agent okay okay yeah and that'll be I guess be introduced into the budget process for however like well we need to do it for this year we will will we be using it as um a resource for the Council on Aging through this next fiscal year or there'll be some impact but not a lot not a lot so most of it for the following for 26 yes yes um we did have an error with our vendor on our excise tax so um about 400 people receiv received a bill in error and they should not have received that bill um the the vendor grabbed the wrong the previous database or the current database for for those who were who hadn't paid yet um so that was an unfortunate error with the vendor we're working with the vendor to make sure that a we don't do that again and be that there's direct communication to those people we have in the meantime put it out on on a website and on social media that the error did occur um and certainly apologizing for for that mistake people got a delinquent bill when they should not have so we're getting that cleaned up and working with um with our vendor on that I gave you some update on marinas and moing um some waiting for some further guidance from Town Council on on that aspect um you'll be having more information on that after we've had a chance to work with the H on a on a revised plan of what they might propose and and ways to to um to make sure we're in full compliance with um currently we are conflicting state regulations there are some the regulations that that the D Department of Environmental Protection has prated has a contradiction in it it says two things that are opposed to each other so um the um the ig's office um has issued some rulings and in some other communities where they have identified the inconsistency have asked the D to to clean up the regulations this goes back a few years and they they have not haven't been addressed them um and so that that causes this ambiguity that's out there but the rulings that the IG has come down on um consistently saying that that Lao must be allocated through the har offer's office by using a the weight list that they're need for that so we give you some more information as we we get some more guidance on this um and as I say the HC they were gonna they meeting tomorrow they'll be talking about this and they're GNA need to go back to the as they propose potential new propos changes to the current regulations so let's just let's stay tuned yeah I wonder if that's something we should put on on the action items should follow up yes did we have that as a followup already I we talked about having that come back and just Marine renting and orangs yes but it's the whole of the regulation I that's one line in in the regulations and there there are yeah we talked about doing that in October okay there yeah I have back beond um the the Fall Festival special um event one day alcohol licenses um do we need to open a hearing for that no thank you um any questions about I have one question which is is it just beer and wine yes okay was it do we have an alcohol license for them last year or no we did not they wanted to they got they got a one day last year for just Saturday for Li license yeah pretty sure they did yeah that was the um I thought that was the um so now that they're looking to do it that's to kick off they get too complex they want to get their feet under the uh on the ground and this go plan was always come back for the second year yes we're there right now there will be police detail yes detail and fire and ambulance there as well both of those they'll have the same details they have but they'll add extra detail for the uh for the beer for the beer garden okay oh yeah they really need it for all three days night I don't know I'm uh I'm very comfortable with it during the day get night I mean this is supposed to be a family event right um I'm just wondering if we started with no alcohol last year could take one step and maybe say daytime alcohol you know have the Beer Garden open during the day um is it necessary to go Whole Hog complete hours for all three days we've had uh obviously the festival by the sea has always been day drinking it's day right but there's never been there's not a lot of people sitting around all right this isn't the Fourth of July right okay uh it's I I just I think they they'll make sure that it's well monitored and uh again I see your concerns but I don't I don't think it's it's throwing it out there um would you like can this be put off to the 24th this decision we could have somebody from the organization that's a good idea are they on are they on how's on I'm also wondering if you know I'm thinking um of events like this that were held and you know other places where I lived um and if there are any lessons learned from other towns that do this sort of thing I mean this is you know it's rides for the kids right if I'm remembering family oriented event uming back to other events that I took my children to and they didn't have be a garden you know I'm just I'm just throwing it out there I'm not saying don't do it the concept here is more of a rather than just it's no longer accountable 20 30 years ago right they are trying to make it a family but uh with the vendors they have and U some of the vendors that maybe I know I don't I don't have a v list here but I'm just trying to remember back to last year it certainly had a fall festival kind of uh atmosphere there there was a good police presence for as far as the uh walking around police and fire and uh I frankly don't I think it's uh I think we're good um I don't know yeah I don't know um I don't have a problem with it I guess it's something that we'll have to see how it works out you know maybe we should have them come in and talk to us do have people AR feeling it's not going to hurt anything right maybe just limit the hours you know I just I just I want to know what the impact would be on them if we the hours even not daytime you mean you know six o'clock 7 o'clock that's dinner time you have a beer with your dinner whatever so I mean I'm just wondering why we have to go all the way to 10 o'clock that's kind of m i I think if we've got this question we should probably let the people who were casting for it represent Y and I I would love to hear from Chief Gerald as well yes okay so I think would be helpful if you did give official approval for the event itself separately yes um and just continue the discussion perhaps on I move that the board approve the Harvest Festival minus minus the licenses the alcohol licenses second second yes says yes yes yes yes oh I'm sorry I should have let you speak that's okay this hopei so we did the nor PR Festival every year with 40,000 people we have it's during the day we have an alcohol beer tent um and what we do is a double barricade required by the city of Sal so that people cannot alcohol so someone who's not of age or wouldn't be able to go through the identification process they part of the entrance so it's a over two wide double barricade all the way around that's great thank you so motion would be in order to continue the public hearing oh it's not a public hear I'm sorry I'm sorry you're continue the discussion no formal motion that's fine Gerald and the organizers talk about the hour and and when you're letting them know I don't think there's any objection to having an alcoholic for 3 days it's just how far into the evening y okay stop selling alcohol um exactly 7 for the FL continu discussion and here I am going to interject myself because um I have what was me new information um from reading the um Supreme Court decision of chir versus Boston um and part of that decision um the Court held that the messages of permanent monuments in a public park constituted government speech even when The Monuments were privately funded and donated so um the ownership of the poll is not an issue according to the Supreme Court um this is what goes on that poll is um government speech um regardless of who paid for the cre um and to my mind that we've been arguing back and forth for couple years about who owns it and what does it mean um and who controls it and I didn't realize that the Supreme Court had made a decision on that particular aspect of the C um and that um we we had um communication from someone who said well if you put anything on the pole it means that you have to put everything we have a policy that is quite complete about what goes on the poll and to my mind this declaration that a that was um privately funded we still have to I think approve everything that goes on it that is not the US flag including the P Mia flag otherwise we are letting we are at risk of allowing anyone to put um app flag on that Ro um under the decisions so government speech is at our discretion speech is at the discretion of the select board in the town yes it's various for for various kinds of communities but yes and what I would like to do um I suggest that we think about this for another couple of weeks and prepare a proclamation for Veterans Day saying that the P Mia flag can fly on that pole um year round so that it complies with um requirements of of our Poli where are we going from there I think what we go from there is we decide what goes on that pole it's government speech I I see that as a separate issue and I understand the interpretation that perhaps other flags other than the American flag must you know should go must be approved by this body to go on that and you want to put po flag in that category along with everything else that's fine I think that the separate flag po issue that we're talking about here on the town common I think that's a separate issue and I I still think we can move along with that particular issue separate of deciding that we have to vote whether a p flag is going to go on the uh on the town honoral um flag pole but I do think that um we need a separate flag pole that is outside of the monument or the town honor roll or whatever want to call the uh that commemoration um and we have a map before us for that suggestions for that poll which would become the primary in my in my mind the primary Town flag pole I just um this is the Vietnam veterans uh Plaza in Bev okay two two flag Poes there this is right on the cabin and I believe it's Essex all right uh that okay okay so it's not unprecedented uh and I I I I agree with John that we kicking this around basically final location for it as opposed to take this any further and I think that's where we're at yeah those PS are very close together what one is yeah okay all part of that Vietnam Plaza yeah is one of F I did not notice I don't think soing depends on my angle when I was driving yeah I could yeah oh okay what which location do people see here I prefer the one out by the fountain which is in front of the church and not in front of the T well it's it's kind of centered and you know it's all in the in the common there I don't necessarily identify it with being with the church in fact I would say it's to the side of the church if you want to bring the church into that picture per se but uh question question yes um so in order to do this if if the town had a second flag pole to do this right wouldn't that require some type of expense you know digging up I mean we're talking about a substantial yeah flag wouldn't that go before town meeting as a budget line item unless we take it out of our our building's account because personally I would rather people decide what what they want to do and what whether or not they want to spend taxpayer dollars on this um I guess this is more substantial than what we talked about you know previously um so is there any reason why you would want to just let it be a vote at town meeting you know do you want to in the spring either I mean either spring or fall I know we kind of want to keep the fall meeting separate for the NBTA zoning but um this decision if we made it in the spring um then that would be in plenty of time to fly the pride flag the progress flag wherever the town decides I just feel that um the select board we've been going back and forth on this for three years and the best way to end the discussion is to let the town have their say that's that's just my well they're going to have their say about a poll or not but it's still up to us to decide if they say no right then we still have one poll we got to make a decision on every year absolutely but I'm just saying we're spending this is you know we don't want to the town common looks lovely the the you know in front of town hall it looks lovely a lot of money was spent on it I personally don't see the need for a second call but a lot of other people do and before we go ripping up you know everything and I just we have a a lot of things we need to buy around here and I would just why wouldn't we want to have let the town have their say I would like to throw Mas NOA back in the the mix okay okay think that uh it's there's a flag pole that's surely lacking at at that location okay I think that as far as visibility goes it's going to be every boater coming into town is going to see it okay every commuter on their commuter rail is going to see it uh thousands of beach goers every year are going to see it uh and again uh as far as the progress flag depending on the calendar one and possibly two Con in the par okay so we're not talking about hiding it there's a lot of visibility there I think it becomes uh I think it it'll I think it would uh just look great there I think we that we can discuss does it down by the uh Band Stand or is it further out at The Point ah okay okay I was I was I was I had it next to the World War I sold because I think that you know in talking with uh Heather at home at uh Pon W they can't have there's no place to you know there's if there's an event where they want us uh the national anthem or the uh Pledge of Allegiance is very difficult to find a flag there so you saying out at the point I think the point would be gorgeous I think become as you know now now when people coming in you want to go to re spot just go to left of the flag pole that you see okay uh and I think to your point it maintains uh the quaintness as it were of of uh the town the town common well I mean I just want to be clear I have absolutely no objection to other flags being flown hold it's there I what I respect is the fact that the design of what's there is visually confusing to the average person I've asked a lot of folks even you know just you know people in my hairdresser you know I pointed to it like you know that that Monument there what do you think that is everybody said it was a memorial okay and they thought the flag was tied to the honor rooll it's just visually confusing um people don't understand the concept of an honor role they had no idea that there were live people whose names are on that that display so it's visually confusing and um I think that's a source of a lot of our angst here um what so what I'm suggesting is we not make another mistake um around something that's visually confusing let's think about what we want um you know all to represent um I personally think if you do a second you know if the town wants a second poll we're talking about government speech and having it in the you know in front of town hall is important because this is what we stand for we are inclusive you know I think that's an important statement for the town to make it's one flag pole or two you know um but like I said I just feel if we want to go digging up that area I I think that's it's up to the town's people whether or not that's how they want to spend their money that's fine with me yeah I I I don't know how much this costs this is not a big line item but is your is your concern I'm not sure your concern is the money so much as it is the issue I want to get a vote from the town it's both it's both because I'm a little concerned about up something you know I I think we we spent a lot of time at town meeting debating $2,000 $5,000 line items Department budget right this is in this category right and and so it's not it's not a $100,000 it's not a but I'm just saying we we debate those line items you know I distinctly remember you know was it tasers or you know something we debate a lot of small dollar items um at town meeting I think this deserves the same level of discussion I I I don't understand why it has to be just making that decision uh you know I mean I've just read the copy that has come down the pipe in the media from all of the various towns of which there are about 30 that have got various policies not one has dealt with the town meeting but of course none of them had to put up a flag pole it was it was really just a policy sort of issue but it never went to a town vote it was just um really decided either by the town manager or by uh by a select board but I I can appreciate your comments on that the question is and what is what is something like this going to cost a couple thousand or something I I don't know I was you're probably five five to 8,000 okay Bruce you can probably answer what the existing poll cost yeah already around $5,000 yeah okay and this one if it if it were for example at at Masano it would be a lot bigger I would think I would I would hope so it could go between five and 10 you know time by the time you dig it up you Rel lanscape the place I mean you know not as expensive as a new septic system but it's m i I'm of the opinion that uh we've been kicking this around and I think we decided last last time we were here or last time we discussed this was now we had to just select a location for as opposed to kicking this further down the road that's why we're here is to decide on the location well my my position is I I I prefer the the spot out by the uh uh by the by the street up by the fountain um for that that flag pole and I understand the money issue understand the townwide issue that Kathy is bringing up but we have spent a lot of time on this and I I will I think locationally join speaking I'm fine with that yeah I like that's I mean if we're going to put it out there for the reason we're putting it out there should be out front yeah I do like the idea of a poll it I'm asking them but that's another day for if we're putting a line item for polls we can put a line item for poll I just think that no saying you can't have two flags in two polls you know you know we if we have government speech that we sanction and we have progress flag or some other flag here in front of town hall it can also be on the I mean for me it's not it's not the progress flag it's it's what's going to come you know I support the progress flag and I support that Community um but but it's what's going to come down the road and you know what is acceptable flying over an honor role I guess you know not a memorial but an honor Ro and what isn't you know someday there's going to come a time when somebody wants to fly we would never put up a flag we never vote as a select board to put up a flag that get on I know but we're not going to be here forever but yeah I mean I take this pretty seriously so um I would just like to add that um the Genesis of this okay was the uh the veterans and their feelings I I didn't Ser them okay the only way I know how to SP those who did respect their uh wishes and I totally understand why there the the veterans are looking for that poll American flag and that's it uh and I respect that and I support that you know we uh and the last time we were together discussing this uh there was discussion from think emanated from the Veterans as far the second which just speaks again to why they just want to keep the flag that one particular flag pole at that particular location you know as as an honor to All Veterans not necessarily just the the ones that are mentioned in the honor role okay and I respect that and I'm I'm going to support that so um I'll also add that I did not serve but I did support the military for 32 years and worked with a lot of veterans side by side and we all stood out in front of our company headquarters every June along with our CEO and everybody else a leadership team and raised the progress flag I I appreciate the fact that the Genesis of this discussion was in part due to Veterans concerns there was at one of the initial meetings in very disrespectful language that came in the comments that you know Jeff you probably didn't have an opportunity to hear because you were not on the board at the time so while I think the veterans comments are honorable and and and certainly certainly worthy of respect um there were other comments that were quite uncomfortable and disrespectful and I think we can all agree that we ignored those well they were pretty bad okay so um I guess I will take um comments from others um GRS yes i49 Street Manchester Mass um three things the P Mia can I go can I go this group sure so those veterans that are under here from World War I World War II were missing in action one of them is actually in France very there so he was an Mia and they were prisoner War so the P flag is important to have on that on Ro which I thank you for that um the the the third flag flying on that FL pole because the ropes got moved and and the be P the flags when the flag is not flying and the third flag is not flying the flags Get Low it on a half staff the flags have beaten the lights up so the pole has not been lit since February so because the the beads have beaten the lights now I asked for the lights to be repaired um and it has been looked at they actually repaired one of the walkway lights that was but the other lights have not been addressed um so there's a problem with the lights and technically flying a flag at night with all the white money so but that's an issue of another story and I want to go on records to say that if you are looking at a flight poll I have a group of people that are interested in purchasing that flight pole okay so just to let you know thank you and that's all I thank you oh um huchi of T putam cour thank you so much through you thank you to the board um first of all um I'd like to ask um uh the board just uh to pull the board as to why you do not wish to have the progress flag fly on the flag pole I I I've heard about why you want it to move but I haven't heard why you don't flying on the flag pole so I'd like to pull the board for that um secondly um we've been flying this flag now for four years and um and we've heard nothing about lights nothing about um the flag being flown too low as the um our um Town manager has indicated when it's a shop staff um the the lgbtq community has no issues with that um so uh I find that to be an interesting fact that as we go on each year we find more and more reason I not def fly the flag the progress flag on the town Town Flag Pole located where it is coming from um thirdly masconomo um all you're doing is hiding the progress flag from the public and um to uh Kathy's uh Point thank you so much you're letting uh the lgbtq plus community and its allies know that it is not a reflection of Tam government that they progress flag being flown in a park away from town government uh indicates that that is not a reflection of town government opinion or support or welcoming um so I would I would really be interested in knowing uh a poll and um thank you so much Brian for the private invitation to speak privately with you but as I indicated with your invitation um I would not be willing to do that since this is a public for and I believe that all the public should be informed of any discussion about this and and I finally just like to know if there have been any private meetings between uh the veterans and and the board and um secondly just to to the final Point um that you uh Brian talk about veterans that veterans want to flag moved I'm a veteran um I don't wish to have the flag moved there are many veterans who do not wish to have at the flag move so I just want uh for on public record uh for people to know them so I thank you for your time uh if we could do that whole placee through you that would be great thank you for the public record for the public record I'm going to start um I would I have seen the damage the PO is not tall is not tall it's not as follows the PO that it replaced and it has more elaborate lighting and um if we were to continue I think we would be with it there we would be in power pole I that's about the ex yeah okay um this is with regard to the pole SLE poll that we now have and I look at that particular poll as a commemorative flag Poll for veterans okay commemorative whether they served and they or they died or they they they've just served it's an honor role and that's what it is to Kathy's point if you survey people and say what's going on here I think they understand it's some sort of a military commemoration but that's about as far as it goes and I think it kind of confounds things when you're putting other flags up generally when you've got a a military uh commemoration it's the American flag the P flag and that's it and my my position is that another flag pole would become the official Town flag pole I would add to that that I would say that the American Legion should take over the responsibility of the flag pole that's in that in that uh in that Monument we would love to and the town would no longer have responsibility that was not possible that that you you mentioned that it's Town property so therefore so but that can always be delegated so but that's that's my position I think that we should have a an official Town flag pole that is the primary Town flag pole that's outside of the uh the honoral and put that I I told you which position I think is in fact more perhaps more public than y the uh the one in the trees yeah so is the flag poll that's currently there is that flag a town FL in your you have not been thank you we're not doing back and forth that threw me yes yeah we're we're we're treating that as a town flag pole I think we went over that a year or so ago and that it kind of became that when we took out the other took down the other Town flag pole and put this one up we didn't realize although I think I I don't know maybe um Becky at the time said there was some discussion it be it got put in in inside the uh honor rooll and therefore it really had other meanings than purely a town Town flag pole that is to commemorate all of the Town activities and events that the select board deems appropriate um I'm sorry I should not have put people on the spot um I was willing to respond to the poll um to to hes request for poll you don't have to I'm fine repeating what I already said I'm fine with one blackag pole um the way it is however I do see the um benefit for a taller flag pole I mean by default it's the town flag pole there's only one there I'm a little bit concerned about cluttering up town common which is why I suggested we want to go forward with a second flag pole let's get a landscape designer so we don't R up our beautiful um front line here but I'm fine with it the way it is oh I've already made my okay I guess the other question I have there's a comment question is why are we why can't we have why are you against having a second FL I'm sorry the question I have for hope would be why is there an objection to a second flag PLL um again the the second prominent on okay the my suggestion for uh despite what has been uh said I'm not looking to marginalize a marginalized group I think it's just a great location for the flag po okay uh and a lot of people I've spoken to in town agree so the uh that you know I I want to honor the requests of a group of citizens and and that's that's where I'm at and I'm more than willing to compromise and have a second flag pole in front of town hall so I don't know to me when I look at what we have it's part of the memorial it's not really a town flag pole I mean I know that's what we have that you know we've been that's where it was we've been band-aiding this thing along kind of in my mind because you know I want the LBGTQ plus Community to be able to fly flag and support them I don't think we by doing it the way we're doing it I don't think we're doing any justice to anybody it looks like it's just thrown together when it's there you know you drive by like I drive by there and I don't even see that flag pole some days you know if it was out front out out front and center it would it would do everybody Justice you know um I know yeah I I just I think that we need a municipal flag pole and I think the poll that's there doesn't represent that that's what I feel hope I just want to answer Brian's question if I could um the reason um that I want why I don't want another flag pole is because I'm really uh seriously concerned and have great concerns about the reason why this was brought the reason why an lgbtq plus progress flag should not fly on Temp and um and every year that we've flown it every year if you look back in the records in the minutes there's a different reason every year and multiple reasons every year why we shouldn't F part and um our community uh is exponentially more at risk now more than we have ever been in the p and um our town government in my opinion should be reflective of this of our community and so this ongoing Push by some veterans uh to rid themselves of Association of uh the queer Community uh with and separate them from veterans we are part of the veteran Community we are a large part of the veteran community and I think there's been way too much effort to try and remove move the progress way and that in and of itself sends a message and that's my concern thank you thank you um if I question to you um what would the legion think about replacing the the pole that's there with one that is T so that there would not be a problem um that's going to cost the town $110,000 plus okay we're already talking I'm sorry I'm going to interrupt you we're already talking about asking the account to pay $10,000 Plus for a second po you're going to have to because that's embedded in concrete uh so you're going to have to Jackhammer that concrete up you're going to have to pull the benches out and do all that work around there to create a taller FL I um so my my question and is not to anybody but you the selectman has gotten or asked me for a report of all the stuff that happened with the veterans AR and I was sent that in a couple months ago three months ago the dates and everything else that section of town common green was fenced off and was given to the veterans honor role for the sole purpose of a veteran's honor role that's separate flag poll the P flag n and American flag the section was approved by the historic district concom and all of the other select wordss that previous to you guys all approved unanimously to give it to this section was for the veterans honor rooll for the sole purpose of a veterans honor rooll and it it Incorporated the flag pole in it and everyone approved this flag pole in this veterans honorable plans so to to through you to Hope is it got proved three years ago four years ago um one of the Selectmen said it's a it's a count all flag pole he never did his homework to make sure that it was approved 10 years ago prior to that as a veteran's honorable so it it isn't just that the and the the petition that I put out did not um segregate anybody especially the lpq we wanted them to fly a flag on the town col I like they used to have it up between the pillars so a town hall flag pole representing them or representing anybody that the selectman want is is all in favor of it um it just this section of land was donated for PA let me just interrupt slightly it may have been offered to you to use but only the town meeting can transfer to property and it did it was all approved and when you got fenced off when you redid the town meeting not the S okay Town property land requires an affirmative vote and annual or yeah I'm not sure that it had that did not okay okay so anyways that's okay I understand your position um I don't think the arguments who owns the poll I think we're already the ownership of the poll is moved right the so um can we move this can can we agree to position two that that is the preferred position from the board yes what is position position two is um on the east side of of the uh Fountain um between the fountain and um the pr tree the street more visible so I'm just asking to for point of clarification through you I so are we are you voting tonight in favor what what we are leading to is the I would like the select board to to to adopt a position for a second po then I think we would I would like to encourage the select board to put that um into the town budget proposed for the annual town meeting in the spring and if the town votes to put that pole put up a second poll then that would happen and that would become the town flag pole so the suggestion for um possibly just putting in a new flag pole in the current location a taller flag no so so an is what you're saying then that what you'd like us to vote on tonight is um the requirements that we put into a warrant um an article on the warrant for the springtime meeting it's probably going to be probably would be a part of the budget line budget line item do it as a capital line item do it as AAL capital budget and and and we might you know as long as we're doing flag balls we could as we get to to that point suggest that it might be nice to have something at masca Park that um would be visible to pass by water Trin so your suggestion of a second pole of a of a new pole that's taller that's that's not on the second pole the taller no a new pole go in the place of the current Pole I okay why not no you don't get to do that why not because it it defeats the purpose the primary concern is that the flag pole is in the middle of a commemorative structure and so therefore the thinking is is that that poll is dedicated to the activities associated with that structure which is really veterans and that's it but that's not what I've heard from everyone well that's what you're hearing from me you okay so as a result and and that in part is supported by Kathy when she says hey what do you think's going on here and you know they really so so so it it really asks for having a second flag pole which becomes the primary Town flag pole which would probably have an American flag on it and other flags such as the pride flag at the appropriate time and if there other flags fine um at at appropriate times of the year and that would become the primary Town flag is saying that the current flag is really just a vet flag yes realize that when the Town Administrator said it's the town flag okay that it got the message I would have flag pole dedicated to the yeah well let's that's it's been very difficult because of the shifting of the PO I understand you understand so it's been very great is I understand there's a motion yes I move to select Bo designate location number two the location the official Town flag PO for the town of manchest B and instruct the dep public works well change that I think it would be nice if we let the taxpayers have their say okay so uh let's change this I move that the selectwood designate location number two is the location the official Town Town flag pole for the town of manes by the Sea and included as a capital line incline annual Tom meeting second further discussion Jeff yes Brian yes Kathy yes I say yes and John says yes John says yes okay thank you okay can I go on record and say that the company that you high 49 pleasure Street the company you have doing the water lines is awesome um and they're doing a great job they're I'm watching them working on front row seat going up and down the road and the police are doing a great job trying to fin angle all that too so thank you we like to hear good new yeah so great job thank you thank you that should be off upload for a day or two okay the next item is um notification and office followup and Greg I sure let me um very much the the first the first discussion concerning U retirement classification it would appear that our hands are pretty tie state law um and though we can pursue we can always pursue a special act um council's opinion is that we are not likely to be successful in that in pursuit of that special act to put to move the harbard master from group one which has a minimum age of 60 for retirement to group four which is a public safety grouping that has a minimum retirement age of 55 um she feels that the both the state retirement agency and the regional retirement would would resist that move um is this an act that applies to all towns is at the state level yes okay so the the the the conclusion is is that this doesn't apply to any Harbor Master anywhere in Massachusetts right now they're all category they're all group one all right I is is there anything I don't know for fact if anyone has gotten a special permission that's something that's some information we're trying to find out oh okay all right but in general that's the approach is there um anything besides retirement age inside of that or no just that's the only that's that's the factor that's the factor that's it yeah it's it's a retirement issue about when you become eligible yeah for for taking full retirement is is Bion eligible under one or the other the um yes he's he's eligible under group one wow he's he's he's old enough he's old enough and he has enough years he's not he won't max out he doesn't have the 32 years okay it takes 32 years to to obtain the maximum benefit so if if if it were changed he would get another five years effectively or not no no it just he could have retired earlier if if he had had the 10 years you need 10 years minimum I'm I'm I'm trying to assess how much damage how much Bion would benefit from and it sounds like not much this this is for this is for the next for the next person okay does uh you mentioned Police Academy training is that a factor in any of this at all well that that's a I was making the assumption that it would but being advised no I mean it's a nice to have but it's really not that's a separate issue from the uh so the state is requiring that training in order for the harbard Bastion to have full arrest Authority on the water if the town so desires to to have that happen yes okay yes understood so in the Past harbard Masters have had authority to arrest without that full but with the with the new police reform law that was passed a few years ago they changed that and said that only those with full Academy training have the authority to to issue restro tickets that seems counterintuitive now he becomes a public safety officer if he can arrest all right I I agree with that so this is something that could be taken up the designation of the Harbor Master and call him something else I'm sorry instead of calling him a Harbor Master call him a onw waterer police officer uh I mean if we're going to start splitting hears over something like that let's let's see how far we can push it right I mean the point is you know you raised the issue it seems contradictory so maybe it's something that the legislature has to take up and we can certainly pursue that through our our representative incentive it seems like if you're if you're requiring Harbor Masters to to be trained officers in order to have the authority to arrest then you should also allow them into group four that seems logical to me yeah well there you go lies the problem our representative of the senator might have an interest in that giving the other towns that they represent right is there any other town or city along the coast that is having the same discussion about Harbor Master classification I don't know about the classification they're certainly having the conversation about the training do do any currently have training bler Beverly Essex any of those folks any of those Harbor Masters also uh on police I don't know that's a passing for sure no yeah know say um I don't believe Rockport [Music] or gler Beverly or Marblehead yeah I just don't curious on that I think that would be a good piece yeah we can certainly gather more information but it sounds as if all we should gather more information and probably direct it to our Representatives rather than trying to have a special act and I believe that'd be more fruitful yeah I don't think this is something we should take on ourselves we're too small right saf some else pay away yeah well or does safety and numbers or get more done you got Bruce how many coastal towns does he represent exactly yeah let's all get together and do something that's consistent so when we go out and have to hire another Harbor Master we're not you know we're already competing with each other we don't want to be at a disadvantage so by consensus the action here is is to get information about haror masters of police certification and and what and address this through our good um and the second was the office followup and I think that's met office right right so um you know it was preco that we pursued um the option of readed um with when C hit that effort fizzled for a technical term but anyways at the same time that the uh MBTA has put in they've made it clear more clear where their boundary was yes and it a new office would have to come further into the park than I had imagined they took down they took down the bushes that I yeah they down the bushes and saw that yeah um the um was very preliminary but the preliminary that was done um indicated that you would have to elevate the building could not be at ground level that be part because of of flooding potential there was a new structure it would have to be elevated up wouldn't we have that same issue at Masco though yeah yeah yes and about the same level too yeah and there will be a sewer line Connection in re Park assuming that the the dockage stuff gets passed permitted eventually whereas I think yes for the pump out but there' be Water and Sewer already there whereas in masconomo you'd have to run it up Beach yeah but if you're talking about bathrooms there it's well who knows that's going to happen the the other the other change is is that if there is a connector from Morris Pier that goes to where the harm boat is then the argument for Reed Park is much weaker well you can easily get from one yeah to the other quickly yeah um my what do we have any hint about whether there might be an opportunity in the former Community Center building the uh I have had preliminary discussions again but so try and nail Jo to the wall uh building's available I host a couple of uh groups from the old Community Center um but at this point keep missing so I'm you know it's a possibility yeah the potential exists I think it's what would it take to close the deal I think is what I is asking yeah I mean that's sit them down I just can't I can't s them down that's I I think in the next couple of months we should be able to this is the quick answer to that eventually I think we're going they're going to be bathrooms somewhere in that area preferably serving the masomo waiting to see until what there is in fact a passageway and so yeah all the pieces going to come together all the pieces got to come together and then figure out from there what which way you're going to go with it but but having something where it's at least downtown and you know it checks the box as being on the other side of the tracks yeah that's about it uh my understanding is there are federal funds available St aser of showers in public restrooms uh M's office could be fully funded as long as what there are showers showers you're providing some amenities to the boting public oh the boting public so does that have to be in a building that we build on our property or can that be like if we're renting the community or it was the community we won't own it so it would be very difficult right so we have to build something at that point and if the money is there I mean I've I've I've spoken with Bion on a couple occasions and even to the point of a double float putting a building on top of a float not like I see in Salem Harbor there okay uh that at some point maybe be able to lift it up and put it on land the future but if the if the money is there and uh we then I I think as we try to improve and expand the Inner Harbor then I think a uh a harbor Master's office in the in Harbor oh yeah is is ideal the the community center certainly a uh a stop Gap a stop Gap but if there are funds available and If the current H master and his assistant feel that they can get by on something else but you know the float where the uh where the tent is right now what he's saying that goes away and then a double float put office there in public restrooms I don't know just I I think it makes a lot of sense in something for as we improve on the Harbor that it's certainly is a Lim especially bring more and more TR so we need to look towards something temporary before we do something else oh I think well I mean you know um if you had the money you could have something ready for next summer you use a prefab or you know everything doesn't have to be built up from scratch right right you get a prefab there's plenty of those themselves right have something ready for next season yeah anyway that's yeah I you know uh the short term I'll still try to get a hold of uh harb's Point uh I met with him ran to him he said absolutely let's get together and crickets when I when he wants something for me is really f I think the only other consideration is um when we're talking about the public B public restrooms those are needed even in the offseason right and so we have talked about um perhaps a lot you know sub um subcontracting to a local business to allow them to use uh to have public restrooms did we ever do anything with that um so it was something that the DP was pursuing and I I don't think they Oh I thought we needed you to pursue that I well they were going to test the waters to see who might be interested and then think we that was bra yes she just wanted to B her she just you know didn't want her water bill going crazy so no that I think they had done their Ro and I I think Rec that um we're ready for the town to get in there and see if we can make something happen the other thing the other thing is um I don't know if this has gone anywhere but at one point I heard which meeting I heard it in that the mum might be interested in being a um a u center welcome CER a Welcome Center um I don't remember what meeting I heard that in if it was it was discussion I remember last year chamber may I remember last year uh Festival by the the uh Fall Festival is that they have talked to um the museum about moving one of the cabins that sits out back of the Museum oh Bath House bath yeah one of the original B over to masomo uh as part of their uh out yeah and then become a visitors you know and for the uh but my understanding is the building is not movable it's not Street worthy know it was a jigsaw puzzle getting a and getting it back there to go yeah it was hard to fit in between houss my only point is we need public bathrooms year round and so the hover solution would be great for summer but you know if you're doing that um but we can Holiday by the Sea and you need public bathrooms that's I mean I will I will continue to try to get harb's point to sit down and I think once I get that it's just a matter you need help from GRE no I think that I'd get a better shot at of think GRE does at this point with all due respect okay so if the dip the dip has decided that they would that Bravo would the dip and Bravo are prepared to make Bravo restrooms available if Bravo can get a reduction in their water bill they wanted some kind of um some assistance something assistance yeah we didn't get specifics we did want to get in the middle of that conversation but let's put Greg in the middle of that conversation now and that was an offseason sort of thing right now it's until we get something better yeah well right now I guess it's year round yeah I mean it could I mean eventually it'd be off season because we would have bathrooms that would be open six months of the year right they would to pick up that slack most of the pressure is in the on seas and then Brian is going to try and see if we can get something um on the WR side of Beach Street and um Bion and Company are looking at possible grants the planning board is looking at site plan approval for the floats and when the pieces get together we did possible to design a building that would meet the sound right so so who's looking at the grants who's looking at the grants the um Bon tends to do a lot of that because it's it's all water related stuff help help okay all right so long as somebody's active there to see what the requirements so we know what the requirements of the grants are so when we don't design something that doesn't work okay good have we beaten this one yes good okay I'm sorry before you move on I say that Lisa Bonville is is online oh um and I know that she had hoped to get um materials to us some St food the materials in come to us in time to be officially on the meeting tonight there is a a um longevity bench that she would like to relocate okay um you can't officially approve it tonight but I think if I can speak for Lisa she would probably like at least a an indication that that is likely to be approved so she could continue to put the pieces in place so there's a bench um near the corner of Mill and Forest and it's underneath a bunch of pine trees the sappy bench and it's it's getting inundated with pine sap which is difficult to clean off and um so they would like to relocate it a bit down the street with the old I guess there used to be a bus PO on on Forest just a little further closer to town on Forest um and and so that the request would be that you would approve that new location um and and she has she's working with the votch school and trying to have them help with it it would be helpful to get at least a nting ahead that this is likely to happen sooner rather than later and you can officially approve it at your next meeting yeah I was on one of those longevity bench walks when we went by the sappy bench so it's got a nice thing am in yeah have the name of it as a sappy bench yes well then why move it it's got a great name because it's going to come up with somebody's pants yeah it needs to be moved on that okay um sense of the meeting that seems like a good idea don't say it when you don't write it when you can say it don't say it when you can when you wink so Lea assuming you can hear us here I think um we will officially approve it next meeting but I think you have a green light to keep proceeding um to make happen and and just to be clear the next meeting is the 24th I'm not right yeah yes does that make sense to you Lisa yes I appreciate your bringing it up and I apologize if I had thought I sent this uh pack it along to you last week and I did not uh I found I discovered when I got back from being in Maine all weekend and um yes I'm glad that uh Kathy is is U witness to the sappy B bench and um it uh it would just be moved a little bit up before M Street rather than after M Street on Forest Street and the reason I wanted to uh expedite it um was because we're working with uh with Essex tech technical uh high school and one of their classes is uh their students themselves are going to be putting the new pad in for us um and we just pay for the materials so they have to obviously get that in order and get materials ordered it will not be going in until the work on Forest Street is complete past that point however um I think uh just to stay safe Chuck Dam recommended we wait until the uh the Water went through on Forest Street up near Mill so it may it sounds like the reports you made earlier tonight it sounds like that's going to be um past the end of September which is what we were hoping for but uh we can put a bench we can put a pad in later and I will I can now actually notify them that um it probably will be a little past the end of September um before they'll be having their students work on that but I appreciate you're bringing it up Greg very much thank you's not here so it's okay um is there anything else before um the C appointment no I'm sorry I don't want your note taken that's Qui causes things to actually happen um um Mr round do you have motion yes I guess I must um so we have no discussion on Christine is I think all we do is ratify is that that that's correct okay so yeah I'm pleased to present to you my recommendation that you ratify Christine Dixon as our new town clerk she comes to us very highly recommended she currently serves as the assistant City Clerk in Beverly has worked as a city clerk in Asbury prior to Beverly so we were very much impressed with her credentials and her her demeanor the search committee and I um fully embrace for was coming on board and we appreciate your ratification select board has read all of the material that was provided she sounds great so I move that the board ratify and appoint ratify the appointment of Christine Dixon as town clerk sir is there auss John yes and says yes yes yes yes yes says yes okay she would have been here tonight but they're busy I propose understand understand okay well I hope she will be able to join to join us what what what is her expected start the 10th yeah next week um contined discussion of the Town Administrator transition so couple of couple of items here couple of three or so um just again continuing discussion on how the the process that you want to follow um Kathy is the assigned Champion for this effort we were talking the other day um one of the ideas was would would you like to be involved with selecting the recruiting firm proceed with the recuit so there are a handful of firms out there that do this work regularly um we would get proposals from from some of them um and you could you could certainly be involved in their selection obiously you're going to be working working with them so if you'd like or you could have a couple of you work with me in that selection process a couple of options [Music] asked Greg to bring this to the board because I didn't want to speak on behalf of the board so I'm certainly happy to work with Greg and you know one other person uh or if you all want to be involved that's totally fine with me I just didn't want to speak for you guys well I I think we definitely need to have a firm we owe that to the taxpayers here to oh yeah survey the landscape and make sure we've got the right person the best person position so and I'm happy to join in I think I think we should all review the people who are available not all of us small group come with a couple of recommendations to the whole board this is this is a critical decision for the town whole board is and and I don't think we have to all be involved in every step of the way but if you and one of person would be willing to yeah John and I can screen maybe and bring yeah then the other um item was yeah so you know one of the first steps in the process when you hire a firm is they're going to say what are your requirements right what are the requirements of the position and it came to my attention um that at one point um Manchester had a town manager not a Town Administrator so never okay I'm misunderstood um but it it still begs the point is you know you want to make sure that you're uh we're validating the requirements as they are today Greg's current role um if you see any need to change that or um you know it's have a different model this is the time to discuss it before you hire somebody so just wanted to be transparent and open the process do we have a rough model like the special Act is is the model that's the model yes so Greg explain the main differences between the two so so um there is no statutory definition of the Town Administrator or town manager um but each each Community tends to define the role of that position historically Town managers have slightly more Authority than a Town Administrator and typically that Authority lies with higher and fire decisions for example some Town managers would not have you ratify um have the board ratify Department appointment to the town clerk discussion we just had correct Happ some some towns would not have that step um uh similar with appointing committees some some towns have the town manager do all of those appointments that again is out of your room um the the Town Administrator special act that that Manchester has it's a fairly strong Town Administrator role because I do have higher fire ability you have to ratify it but my undoing all of that recruiting and and selecting and presenting to you whereas we don't ratify your dismiss no you don't whereas some towns Town administrators where they're weaker the select board has more role in in Personnel MERS for example just as for example um some Town administrators aren't aren't signing off on U on payroll in on accounts payable the chair of the board does that um so that's why I say our the special act that Manchester has is a fairly strong Town Administrator but it's not as strong as a full Town manager and some other town so the other thing would be contracts too so we we you ratify conty the contracts but a town manager um might be empowered to to do that that's those are the main differences if you hadn't to do all over again okay where there's certain things that you would want to more power in some areas and relinquish power elsewhere uh we think that the role is you defined it that's those space that you define how many so it it has from my perspective it has worked um I haven't felt overly constrained um there certainly decisions that I would do differently but that's you know that's always going to be the case um but but that's not an authority issue so much um so I I came from from another town where I was the town manager and RADS were very very similar the duties and and authorities are very similar um um if you want to do some more just if you want if you're interested in streamlining some of your meetings and your role then yes you could delegate more authority to the Town Administrator toown manager you you can actually do that through the special through the current special act because there's a catchall in there that allows you to delegate some of your work to me curent I guess what I'm looking at you play pretty full you know and uh yeah I mean the short answer to that is is defin yes to uh you know I think that our role is to support administrator some that responsibility off your shoulders obviously uh you know you listen to what you have to say but um I'm just curious as to I like the model I don't know another I guess the point is I don't know a different model yeah I mean I lived somewhere else where there was a town manager and and and like I said I'm not advocating one or another it just it came to my attention that you know if before you do a search it's prudent to just look at the model and make sure you're okay with it and don't want to change anything I I tend to look at these things as is there any time when we're really rubber stamping Greg that's that's kind of an indication well you know if you're rubber stamping that he he probably should be authorized to just do it you know that's that's one way of looking at those those items um I kind of like the fact that we appoint the boards you know the the people to the Committees I think that's I think we actually know the residents better because we live here um so that's not something I personally would want to give up but when you you know let's think about some of the minutia that we do um is there any of the you know the signing of the Deeds or the signing of certain things is there anything that we are um that you feel might that we might not need to do it's just an extra step and and that isn't necessary well if you want the trees you have the trees well so you know I'm I'm getting and stuff like that you know it's it's not something that we have to decide tonight I just wanted to make sure that you because we'll all review the requirements for the position before we post anything and it's just prudent to think about the model and maybe talk to some folks and feel see how they feel about it but it's just a prudent step to take it wonder is there like as candidates come forward is it that we look at so the next guy is not a woman's not going to be Greg it's going to be somebody else right so do we maybe then tune it to their skill set I don't know well you gotta be careful with that though you um I don't want to make the job fit somebody no that that's the point the role has to be the role so your governance model can work regardless of who sits on this board right right and and then you hire someone to fit the way you want the town to operate um and and a town manager typically I'm just trying to think of you know we went through this exercise was it a year or two ago what are some of the things that we should be delegating to either the department heads and we did some we let go of some things but there's probably some more stuff in there I mean why do I have to sign the Cemetary Deeds I'm you don't we don't need to do that right that's a rubber stamp that is a that is something that should just not happen so that's that's not in well but um but you can delegate we can delegate that but I I think we should we can make a list of things again make a list let's do this holistically and actually as part of the operations audit exactly yes yes begin can help right exactly with this discussion yes because they they will they will have experience with multiple different towns different structures that's a great point I'm I'm wondering this my second Massachusetts house I don't have wide experience in Massachusetts house I'm wondering if the job description whether there as manager administrator are we limiting ourselves by having one description or another in terms of the people that say I'm interested in right um just if I can um I don't think so maybe not um people will read the the special act to see what Authority the person has if they're doing their homework the people that we see would probably already have op they would have one of these roles or maybe both of them another town so they already know this is if you look at Hamilton and winham winham has a Town Administrator who has much has less Authority than you do yes Hamilton has a town manager who has almost the same almost exactly the same Authority you so the distinguish the distinction between the two is I mean it's really usually and contracts I'm me at a high level and the other stuff we can the name of the position is semantics it's there's no there's no I totally agree with however titles are important to some people I will just say that and to answer John's question could it dissuade some people sure and to think otherwise is a bit na right but I'm like once again I'm not promoting it I just wanted to it's part of the process for hiring you evaluate the current state and make any desired changes and we're doing that with the audit we will come back after the audit just see whether there's anything that's needs to be changed in the in the um in the ACT rather than just in the corners where we're allowed to delegate right okay um is there anything more in the administrator transition done uh just just my schedule is chopy the next week here and then I'll be gone extended period 11 we did talk about needing to help with the prep for the next next meeting right um is there anything that we know is going to be on the agenda that we need to so we we'll get a draft agenda by by next Wednesday okay what day are you leaving then yeah the 11th 11 you're here through the 10th 11 I'm here on the 10th will be here in the morning on the 11th how are you coming back what I'm asking is shall we give you a big pile of stuff to read on the airplane coming home uh sure why not you got the time I got the time spare you some movies yes I'm not watch that's how I that's how I figure out how long to fight this is movie two or three movie Flight oh God Seven movie Flight is a no no can only handle two and a half movies good is there another motion a final motion to adjourn yes second all in favor 8:30 [Music] Del