##VIDEO ID:2SHjIXbJ3v8## January I'm good afternoon I'm now going to call the Wednesday January 15 2025 meeting of the Nel County Commission to order on Wednesday March 29th 2023 Governor Healey signed into law chapter 2 of the acts of 2023 an act making Appropriations for fiscal year 2023 which included a two-year extension of the option for public bodies to hold remote meetings by by suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law Mass General Law chapter 30A section 20 that action was effective immediately extending the current option for remote meetings through March 31st 2025 welcome everyone and thank you join me in saluting the class United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under the with liy and justice for all thank you meeing to order I'm going to call the r commissioner stady I am present sir commissioner Collins pres and commissioner Shay is present number three is executive session we have no uh plans for executive session today number four minutes I'm looking for a motion to approve the Open Session minutes January 8th 2025 Mr chairman I'll move approval of the meeting minutes of January 8th as presented second motion made and seconded all in favor I it is a vote number five appointments we have none number six public comment every week the n county commission's agenda includes an issue a SE subject section a public comment from anyone in the public who wants to have any comment at all either in person or on the zoom so now is the time if there's anyone on the zoom that has any public comment director Cronin have you had anybody notified you for public no sir no sir good last call for public comment seeing none we have no public number seven old business I have none number eight Personnel mans Personnel matters for consideration we I believe we have one at the agricultural school yes sir Mr chairman yes sir uh for youth TOA County Agricultural High School I move the notice of contention employment of Jane Ingo of island is a long-term substitute at the rate stated and effective date is 11625 so move second Mo made in second all in favor it is a vote number nine pay and expense warrants Mr chairman warrant list for 115 you just have two items first I'll move approval of item 25-28 payroll of the county the amount of $1,272 6 so move second motion made in second all in favor it is a vote next any other item is uh item 01 0325 uh the expense of the county approval of $879,900 February 19th be moved um as it collides with some planned meetings uh the Commissioners will have with the trustees the schools would like the trustees to have a vote on what comes before the Commissioners first so if it's okay with you I just want to confirm I will move the agricultural High School from February 19th to March 1st excuse me March 5th which is your third meeting and I'll move um the information technology up to February 19th swapp okay no problem with that any questions you're all John that's okay John yes um quick question is the final date when's the final vote was that March 26 that was the final vote that we vote Yes yeah we're good on that okay good good okay right good excellent okay um let me see we need to make a motion to amend guideline no okay I'll just update so much for the uh right budget 26 production update item number 11 discussion of use of Disaster Recovery Room at 614 High Street data Mass Commissioners you'll see a memorandum dated today in your file y relative to repurposing a room on the first floor which is presently used for disaster recovery for registered Deeds uh I reviewed this document it goes back be I think we first uh notified all parties on October 25th of our need for some additional space I'm going to turn this meeting over to director cron for a brief explanation there's a lot of backup here there's been a lot of back and forth and some work done but uh I think we ready to go I want you know this is a fluid operation so we can probably work this out we are in charge of space we need a lot of space I'm going to have Jo briefly explain director thank you mrman uh briefly then uh Commissioners um requesting your approval to repurpose the first floor Disaster Recovery Room located here in Dam uh the proposal would be to relocate this space to the agricultural High School um the our CIO Sam Evans has worked with um not just the registry but also the agricultural High School to identify a location that is suitable in terms of size location access for ADA compliance and so forth and I'm happy to report that he has um found room on the second level of the cafeteria building that is uh virtually the same size as the existing Disaster Recovery space um so with your approval we will relocate the uh infrastructure which is basically tables chairs and PC infrastructure down to the AE work with Horizon to activate the lines and um move the disaster space there once that relocation is completed we'll repurpose the room on the first floor to a highd density file storage location um the packet shows the current of at least one of the locations uh it's not desirable it's not Terri accessible um the fact that our critical records are spread around various locations which are not monitored poorly secured uh gives me great concern um moving them here to 614 High Street is a priority it's critical priority um it'll be placed in a room that will have much better hbac controls and access and speaking of access both our procurement and our HR professionals will have better access into the space to retrieve and manage files as we um do throughout the year speaking of file um storage this space um on the second floor of 614 is ADD capacity in terms of record storage for both these units you've been in Michelle's office you can see it's wall toall secure cabinets her doors locked at night and our procurement Department doesn't have sufficient files to keep anything other than one fiscal year documents on site so this will dramatically increase uh the efficiency and access to these files um and we believe it's the right need to do at this time so today I'm asking for your approval to repurpose this area and um we will then turn it over to our CIO to activate the space of the Agricultural high school thank you question commission right uh thank you Mr chair uh as always you mentioned in the memo and I understand the idea of moving it off site for safety in terms of disaster that does make sense in a way not to have it so close have an alternate site does make sense sure but there was also a mention of the utilization of the so-called blue house which shamefully it's something I just realized I would love to get a tour on and get a look at there one of our buildings I know that the maintenance people use I know that you know anybody but I'd love to get a look inside and there was some discussion that possibly right that could perhaps be an alternate use for the registry as well as an alternate use so I'd be excited to hear a little bit of that discussion as well that's possible in this discussion here we have he's losing an area we're not really losing it we're putting it over the aie corre right but R odonnell who just joined our meeting had mentioned in his memo something to you said uh as an alternate area to meet with people is it blue house maybe we could get up a room to allow the registry to have a small area there do that make sense well I think it's a good question I I'm not opposed to it I mean we don't have that in front of us okay I thought we did sorry okay you know are we talking about locating the satellite office there or locating or Disaster Recovery office no I well my my feeling was on registry feedback I got he can speak but I thought it makes sense to get it far away on the registry I think that does make sense the disaster like they say you don't want to have two things so close with one another you want to put in Far Away area so putting the disaster recovery at the Aggie makes sense but I thought you ization of the blue house maybe as a corollary is that something that could be used maybe to look at maybe to look at yes for I don't the word is not what did you say not repurposing and respace I'm not opposed to it but okay that's what I was saying it's it's in much better shape than it was three or four years ago just because yeah we've gotten our arms around around this we operate under a uh disposition schedule published by Secretary of State everyone all public entities are supposed to uh it's it's revealing it'd be surprised what's a permanent record and what isn't and uh you know I don't want to open that door but if I do you'll notice that since just this last summer we had a terrific young capable inter who got into that office into that space and and and went through all of that space and we cleaned it out we destroyed some stuff only that the state allowed us to to get permission right a letter of the secretary the rest has to be you know it's permanent record and we got records everywhere we try you know I've spoken of 've taken all of the uh minutes for a number of years maybe an excessive 15 years that are in loose Lea books we're going to bind them their permanent records except if someone walks away with one of those books or rips a page out of it it's gone so all of this is prompted us to need more space I don't think it's a you know I don't think it's a hard to understand it's just change comes hard and no one likes to any changes um I think it's fine I mean the space of the school is fine maybe we can do something additional but I don't have that in front of us we don't have that in front of us yeah I'm lacking the word that you had you nailed it it's not disaster but the use of the blue house or the blue building the blue house could be utilized by several entities in the county and perhaps a portion could be given to the registry I don't know what the word Al uses it now in I know Joe the carpenter has some stuff in there right John go ahead John through to you chairman to the question from commissioner stady if the register of deeds has a desire to expand space and uh utilize deim based space for operational purposes that's beyond the scope of this particular article first of all I mean item on the agenda we're here to talk about a disaster recovery room if the register has ex ex um additional um operational SLS satellite office space needs I would recommend that you direct him to to detail what the purpose and use would be the frequency the access needs and so forth and then we could possibly make a make space available through the blue house or some other space but I think it would behoove the commission is to request in writing what the intended use would be rather than imagining thank you all right I thought he had done that in the registry feedback out of the memo to I may have Mis I can read it pretty quickly all right that's fine at least we open to the idea so yeah the so as far as going to move it I kind of think it makes sense for safety it does make sense for safety to do that and then we're open for the idea utilization blue house or blue building okay there's a bunch of pictures in here there all the correspond that we received register's letter of December third and then some other issues that are relative to it I noticed some articles in the the Franklin Town Hall report the Franklin Pride um a couple of other local access uh groups have picked up the registers comments dated Saturday November 30th in one and another opinion written here in December 13 medium this it's a second okay next did you want to have any comments by that sure I was also going to request this okay that that's that's our our purpose thing register you have any comment well certainly on the agenda it said discussion I came over here people looking for solutions to have discussion sounds like the vote's already going to be made it has not been made I know it hasn't been made I hope not uh but it sounds like once again come director Row's opinions please don't are you going to talk about the subject matter well I came over here to to kind of present Solutions because I thought it was supposed to be discussion I was wonder if I could get a copy of that memo that you have in front of that'll be made available to you following meeting thank you be nice to have it before meeting so could be I'm presenting it to the Commissioners thank you sir sure well you don't present to the registry I do not I don't work for the registry for the county commissioner well I'm just asking it be Poss your question you you you know once again there's a reason there was a disaster recovery office in denim you know denim is the sh town there state laws that require the registry to be in the sh town and again it was a good policy decision Peter when you made the decision over 15 years ago to put it down there Joe you were around it's been there since uh you know you've been around since 2015 for 10 years and commissioner stady you know since 2021 so it's been there and actually you know with all due respect the county director Cronin who likes to you know do things that affect the registry he wasn't around during Co when that office was used and kept us open and operational every workday um during Co and we were one of the few Registries out of the 21 that can say that that we would open and operational every workday because we had a disaster recovery we could send employees we have the union shop um they were agreeable it's close by and it was there it's accessible it's INB and I'm not averse again we were never involved in any of these discussions and I would think if you were registered commissioner state or you commissioner call us well even you commissioner Shay that you'd want to have discussions and this this was in the works for 19 months without one discussion with the registry so if we're talking about space that the alternative space down there uh and again you're saying close by let's let's go talk to the Denham fire department you know with all due respect I know what's happening in California but I think the dam fire department who has put down fires in in in and around this would would say that it's highly unlikely that a fire that's say down at the registry is going to come here and uh again the reason you're moving it or supposedly moving it is it's on two different grids the registry's electrical grid goes out uh you know on Bridge Street out that way and this is on the downtown grid so we're on separate electrical grids and I think the chances of if there was something happening in Superior Court uh or or you know the registry that a fire there is going to affect down there so when this when I had a talk with Sam um when he came and it was all in in the works here uh I said is there anything that prevents us from having two if you want to put another I'm not averse to you know if you want to put another disaster recovery office but this affects registry operations I'm not averse to having one in Walpole if that's what you want but I I don't like the fact that you know uh you walk in you know it says registry of deeds it's being scraped off the door as we speak down there today that's a lie go ahead Rich well the point is that it just seems like this decision is already made and and and and I I want to uh I just think if we're going to be collaborative and I hear that word a lot then here's some solutions there's a room over at the uh over in the registry it's your it room it's actually bigger than the computer it's bigger than than the disaster recovery office you could you could use that room to to store as I understand it you could store your high level of um you know cabinets and things I just can't believe that um and again you have needs and I I'm willing to discuss them I'm not trying to tell you where to put your paperwork but at the same time I hope you respect I I'd like to keep the disaster recovery office here in denam and if you want to do one in Walpole that's great too I'm not saying no to that um there are file cabinets in the plan room that that can be used for storage um again you mentioned this blue house there's a room in the blue house so you know I I just heard the county director say I you know look at we have our operations at the registry I'm not going to go through this bureaucratic why I need something at the blue house if you want put the storage of Records over in the blue house of of your records but the disaster recovery office uh here in the you know the county seat is important but also since 1793 the registry's been in DEA people come to DEA we are intertwined with the cour houses many times two of you are attorneys there are rits of attachment there are releases of executions where people walk it from the superior court or the district court over to the registry and again that's why we need to you know I I think there's a a link between what we do we're a quasi legal agency with the court system and that's another reason to keep us close by uh the court system again hopefully we never need it when when we we started this I mean as I said commissioner Collins was around it's over 15 years ago we never thought there'd be a pandemic and it gets used and we have used it and the turnaround time to get this up is a lot quicker than what's being what what was quoted before so our turnaround time getting the disaster recovery office up and denner open and operational certainly the quicker it gets done the better it is um you know for operations so to me um it's important to have a disaster office in Dam there's two fault lines um we've addressed that so um yes is it ideal to have them that close probably not but the fact is many Registries didn't even have a disaster recovery office we've had people from other registries come you people have been in it's been in cooperation with the County Commissioners we've been at the Forefront of disaster recovery and it's for the registry so this is directly affecting in in my judgment uh registry uh operations so um and again I don't know when Walpole would would get up and running I I maybe we could all go out look at the space and and see what it is I'm not averse to it and and I don't like being painted in a position of having to come over and argue all time but if I have to because you know County director Cronin just take steps that interfere with well Peter go you know I every time I come over here a vote's being taken it said on the agenda discussion you know we just you know County director cron I mean doesn't even notify Sam said it was being up for discussion so I'm coming over to discuss but when you listen out back there it didn't sound like discussion you know and and again um I'm not averse to what you're saying and I'm not averse to you know it I get it if you have storage issues but to to prioritize storage issues over keeping the registry open and operational whatever disaster and again as I said we didn't know a pandemic was taking place and this this is one of the reasons we would open an operational I you know I don't I'll help facilitate Solutions I've given you some examples of where there's alternate places to store your documents um you know and and there's nothing wrong with storing your documents off site in case this place burns down so you know commissioner yes to the register could you explained you mentioned during the pandemic that that place was utilized and it helped keep your registry open no one's doubting the efficiency of your work as I know for stand the registry was kept open during the pandemic and everybody did a great job here are you trying to say that that room was also utilized to serve people during the pandemic I'm not quite following you it was part of it to St open and operational how well how was it work because we had people over here in that room take yes um some of the some and again again you know I'm I guess we'll assume that the union people will just go to Walpole that that's not a change of work conditions but yes they were employees and it was part of the strategy of keeping people separate we didn't know what we didn't know back then so the people that that worked in that office did not did not come to our to the site you know remember when the whole idea of someone got infected or exposed they would have to quarantine for a couple of weeks so yes there were there were people that office was open and operational and uh again um if there was another type of uh you know business continuity planning it is close by gets up and running operationally would you characterize it then it served maybe as an alterate service location service loation well that's what of disaster you know the disaster recovery site is and believe me it it poses challenges so I'm not averse to exploring Walpole you know um it'd be nice to kind of in the loop but let's go down and take take a look at it and all that but notwithstanding Walpole and again when had the meeting with Sam Sam said there was no you know technological reason why you couldn't have two sites um I I'll leave that you know to you I just I just place a value on the de side and and again to come over here and here there's going to be a vote on it I mean you know you know I mean all respect commissioner KS it just sound like the vote was taken no matter what I say which is probably you know it it's disheartening um you know but if Solutions are looked for I'm trying to offer a solution to be reasonable in my Approach but yeah I mean the disaster recovery office I mean why you have it is disasters take place um you know and uh one time we you know had a fire and you know we got up running you came by commissioner sty then we were up and operational on a Monday because it happened on a Saturday you know but that's what it's there for I mean the registry collects documents it's a quasi legal agency and and it does collect revenues I know uh it collects and I I I know that's why it's been supported in the past so there's a a business and operational reason reason why that should stay open um and and I I don't see why it has to be one or the other the way it's being portrayed uh by County director um go ahead John very briefly apologies to uh rro Donald that I stated it was a lie the instructions to the painting staff who were renovating the front lobby were not to touch that door I was just informed that a member of facilities began to remove the lettering and was told not to as you can see in the image the first name of William po' Donnell was REM the rest of it was not it'll be restored it's not about the name it's about the the place and it's about no you made a statement that actions were taken in anticipation of the meeting I'm explaining it was inadvertent it'll be restored apologies than if this was truly discussion oriented this shouldn't add be the need for destructions instructions on the name of the door which is minor my point of view it it's just proven a point if if the thing was on for discussion then let's have a discussion but it just seems like it was a d DEA register I'm looking at some memos including our original notification of to you when this came up and then there's a long there's some pictures then there's a long letter I'm sorry is a Sam U CIO director has on October Friday October 25th a memo to you from him very uh lengthy uh about this whole process and about uh the proposed move to Walpole which is on our own property at the agricultural School along with some other pictures of the current satellite office uh schematic says this the Lizard Lounge that's the proposed place at at the at the school correct that's the term the lizard loue that's AAL okay I understand what it's not illegal but it's is a draw up of that space and it says lizard one then there's a couple other pictures of I think this is the blue house I've been to the blue house and then uh a letter from you dated to Sam DED to copies to us I mean I think this is a fair amount of discussion and some back and forth uh this is no surprise that we've been trying to identify some areas to make some changes if you want to throw the blue house in there to take a look at it I'm not a poster but as of now it's not in front of us you're closing the disaster recovery office here in Denim and you saying put the disaster recovery office in the blue room I I the blue house no not necessarily but what what how does the blue house come up if it's not I didn't bring it up you know the blue house that I brought up was there's room in the blue house to store your records there's a there's a room I believe on the second floor uh in that house that could be stored there's a room next to the uh in the annex next to the break room at the registry an old it room that's actually bigger than the room downstairs you gave us that picture today right yes um you know so who's in there now or what's in there now uh it looks like like bombhead it but you know is it someone's office was was it Mark McDonald's office and that was no longer there it's the it it work office where they store computers that have being deployed repair repair equipment that is under repair position things that are being disposed of tonight it's an active it work space okay but it could be used for storage of documents um also there are this space uh there's there file cabinets that are the count counties that like 13 or 14 that are empty in the plan room so that's where the Blue Room came up Mr chair that's why I was asking um as far as plenty of discussion I think I think what happened um that you mentioned October 25th um I had sent a not you know Sam had dropped something off saying that you know that this was going to be discussed the following Wednesday and it was you know somewhat you know disconcerting uh the statement that it had been worked on for 19 months um and and that there was going to be a vote the following Wednesday on October uh 30th so we it got dropped off on a Friday I sent uh an email that Saturday to Sam just you know like how do you know there's going to be a vote and things like that and then then there was the breach on October 27th your it breach which I'm sure put this thing off as well so so when you say a lot of discussion I you know uh we I did have an opportunity to meet with Sam since October um and and again my takeaway is you could have there's no reason not to have two satellite offices but I I I do think having one in Dam meets the operational and functional needs of the reg District but when you say October I I guess my argument is leading up to October there was no discussion and we got a notice on a Friday evening at 4:00 that this was going to be put on for a vote uh on October 30th and uh you know and at least I had hoped today when I saw the agenda it said discussion I was hoping there'd be discussion isn't that what we're having I hope so yeah okay we have discussion I don't I got I got a question as all thing where in any of these docu from this office does it say that the theed dter recovery office will be permanently closed I noticed you highlight that in your letter the disaster recovery office in Dam permanently closed where does it say that why are we having a disc I'll if you give me a copy of your memo I'll take no it's your no no we want to get a copy it's yours but Mr chair that's what you're doing not from us quote there's no reason to close the dam disaster recovery office first of all uh there are laws in place the registry has always been in Dam since 1793 there is a reason for that and uh so if you're you know moving it to there's no need to close it that's my point you could keep it open and if you want to explore Walpole do the Walpole one we're talking about relocation we're never talking about closure and you're closing the dam disaster recovery office I mean I don't want to get into semantics but it seems like you want to it says permanent well the dam does that is it Disaster Recovery office and it's been there for over 15 years long before County director Cronin came to town and uh it's worked well all right maybe that's true but you know something in those 15 years I don't think uh anybody in this office and I'm responsible too most recently Richard even less than I but do we look at our space needs do you have any indication when you were chairman of the support did you look at the space needs did you consult the Secretary of State's uh permanent records law and how and what has to be kept I think we always uh looked at the laws I know commissioner Collins was on and commissioner Gillis we we always you didn't notice any that we got to stop taking better care of our records St you know time change I get that that's right time CH change but you know you make it like that we're averse to change the reason we have a disaster recovery office is we were one of the first Registries in Massachusetts to talking about our records I realize but but you try to portray that anytime I come over here I'm resistant to change I'm not resistant to change in fact you know the commission has embraced change that's why we have a disaster recovery office in Dum that's needed that's and there's further change too because we got a shortage of proper space to store our records that's what drives this bus not your Disaster Recovery because we're not going to close it we're going to relocate and we want to work with you and making it stronger but we don't want to and we're all here actually was very very well wasn't we were all here for Co and I'm aware of what was going on at the time I'm also aware that you know the registry stay open do a certain way not to the public but you know transac everything was being taken care it was credit it should be that's great it was people but you remember they had to come to the door but people it was but I don't think to move the disaster recovery office from this building to another building whether it be in wpo or somewhere else is um a major deal and that's what this is all about and I me point if I me um and I've always always commended you your lawy skills and advocating for positions is is very strong and your editorial which is your right to WR in the newspaper basically does say permanent closure it doesn't say a solution or an alternate location or relocation which we would always we were discussing or at least envisioning okay so to Mr chairman Shay's point it's a little bit of a misle we could put articles in the paper and say we're closing it you can say what you want but it's not misleading so respectfully just take take your vote and once again it's another another interference I thought there was a vote today perhaps there's no vote today we're to having a discussion I know director director Cronin presented something and what I said on the same idea since it was in the memo was some utilization of the blue house like but I guess that can't be talked about today and maybe that will be something we'll look at later but um oh I I mean I'm not I'm not adverse to looking at the blue but some portion of this but I still think we need to downstairs in and that's my position and we're not going to permanently close disaster recovery and we not going to remove anything that's presently being kept if it takes an hour or two or day to move it maybe that's the only closure you going to see but nothing else never been Our intention not to have it but the intent should be for us as Commissioners I would think to frame it is just number one if we are going to vote to uh relocate that is that fundamentally the right move for a variety of reasons number two is there a substitute that's suitable number three is there also some alternative areas we can both investigate for additional space and I think we' got that I think we have that you know I mean I think this there's room for compromise but I think we had the blue house used in some part under registry if there was anything where people couldn't be in his building they go to that building and serve as people it's not that distance is almost the same idea you're across the street or you're in the back of the pocket lot if you need something I am open to letting the registry of deeds utilize some of that building I think that's I think almost almost Fair based on what you saying with Co you don't know what our next pandemic can be but they may need a space outside of the building I don't know but as far as safety I do believe an off-site location does make sense I think the location of the Aggie or someplace else does make sense so well I let me ask a million dollar question and I I can't I I looked at Sam's mem how did we end up with thegi Sam we identify Sam approached the superintendent and the CIO for the schools to identify any potential space that was available generally the same sizes have purpose okay they had extension meetings and discussions and onsite looks just from a technological standpoint to see U how a right size solution could be found down and I have to compliment superintendent Martin highly Cooperative okay now I know the space because it's night near the library and I you know you've been to the lizard loue huh you've been to the Lizard Lounge yes I have I didn't know it was a Lizard Lounge I mean I uh speak well it doesn't matter speak four school meetings I've been up there a couple times did a little snooping around on Ma it looks fine to me I one last go ahead if I could um Commissioners the the notion of a disaster recovery space emerged after the fact events of SE September 11 2001 uh former Governor Romney commissioned uh team of individuals to come up with what was known as continued operation plans coup plans in continuation of government plans Cog plant I happen to know this because I worked on these when I was with the Department of State Police um Governor Romney's executive Bo was updated by governor Patrick um it is now executive order 490 for your notes register that particular executive order describes um how Disaster Recovery plans ought to be conceived and U from a state perspective so it's binding to executive branch not us but we take guidance from it and the notion that a disaster recovery space should be operated a distance from your primary location so let me give you an example as you probably travel down Route 9 you'll see the Department of State Police Headquarters right next to the Mima headquarters in the State Police Coupe plan they are to relocate to mayard in the event that there's a problem in that space and they can no longer use that location they don't they're not going to the bunker next door they're all going to remote areas mimo goes to Westboro so the intention as you correctly pointed out commissioner state is to also always look at Disaster Recovery as an area where your government and your operations can reassemble and function so in addition to using this space for Disaster Recovery as as we've discussed today our intentions from a technology perspective is to allow the continuation of County government to also function so if there were an event that took out this block which I think is more likely than not rather than just one or two buildings we would locate government to that space so there would be a place for the Commissioners to meet to register to carry out his duties and so forth so it's a it's it's it's in the spirit of executive order 490 that the this this concept is is is being developed at the location in the Aggie so I just wanted to breathe some life into where it emanated from what the concept is and that's Sam's job he's he's in charge of the entire Count's Information Technology not just just the register and that's why I commend the Commissioners and the directors at the time because while you were writing things we were putting things in place to at least have a place to stay open and operational and that's we did have no problems looking at w I still think you need one INB based on the law and based on accessibility that since 1793 people have been into Dam and it's here for a reason there are laws relative to where registry operations take place but off it's been okay no yeah commissioner yeah so um the history of what had happened here in this building and U Bill knows as well is that the um the office space downstairs used to be for the uh individual who ran the Advisory Board and that was The Advisory Board office for a good long time and then um that person actually U became the county director um at some point and that office was not used and so I remember when bill came to us and said how about using that space uh for the registry it seemed like a good idea but we were always concerned it was it was close we everyone was concerned the registry was closed was concerned we were concerned you know what if um you know it's it's a good long way to for a fire over there to hit over here but you watch what happened in California get some big winds and you know whole neighborhoods are being wiped out so um that helps us to better understand our concern because it could happen right so um as for the background for the county we never acted upon it but we but we did talk with the school um well before your time John at the school but we talked to other uh past superintendents about continuity of government uh at the school because it's really the county doesn't have that many buildings we have uh the building in um in quinsey U for the golf course and then we have the the AI which has many different buildings but that was the only place that really had room so we had talked about that being the next step for continuity of government which would be which would be the county commissioner's office and all the county functions but that would also include the registry we kind of like banged it around but we never really took it to fruition and um this isn't this from my understanding of what I've read and what we've talked about with with HR too um just over time is that we need space in this building just as the register has need needed quite a bit of space in the registry building it keeps on expanding because he has to print the books so um it makes sense that we would need additional space for these records and we would need space that was um highly protected for security reasons and this building is already very secure because you have a secure passcode to get in um that office can be locked the downstair office can be locked and it makes sense that the person records in this building would make sense um in a safe environment I know the blue blue house is also safe but not um probably as safe as this building is so uh seeing all these these different issues I understand the register's concerns he wants to keep it close by it makes it easy I get that but um for disaster relief it would appear to be a better spot in wall pole which you acknowledge which is great but to have two Satellite places I'm not sure if there's a need for that that that's my opinion and um with the space crunch needs right now I mean we need we need that space down we need space somewhere now and if that space is downst that's great um if um if at some point the blue house uh is of interest to the register as uh a second U backup that makes sense too but that's actually closer to the registry the blue house isn't it I think it's yeah so probably closer than this is yeah it's closer than this I mean that that's that's also vulnerable to to um if the registry for whatever reason can't work that house is closer to being not working um because it's closer so um I I really understand your concerns and I get it um but it makes sense that it goes to the to the school and I I understand change is hard and um and nobody likes change and it makes it more interesting but uh it does make much more sense to have it the backup in wpol and then if you look at other uh counties um uh Bristol has um two register is it two or three register they have register ofs three three yeah so they three so so they they spread it around it's not just in one spot so so yes we have one in Dam but we could have a backup in Walpole so that seems to make sense so um I don't have a problem with uh utilizing the the space down C for HR it makes sense and uh at the same time if the registry wants um another backup I'm happy to work with the register on another backup I agree that's well put that's what I was trying to say but I mean you know everyone here cares about the county and and and they really do and I appreciate the passion behind all of it but we just want to do the best that we can for our constituents I get that So the plan the proposed plan by director Cronin is to utilize that room there for storage of records of HR HR procurement administrative files y right this is part of again the total review using the uh the disposition schedule of secretary G I mean you know I say cleaning that out but you remember remember what was in there yeah we just opened it and stuff jumped out a lot of it was permanent record I don't know other than Phil who gave some assistance had anyone had any idea what was in there so we're slowly getting to it because it takes time it takes money and it's part of an overall review of everything and I think it's better utilization of our space and thank God we have the school and it's you know far enough away so there's a difference I mean you always hear at campaign time what a sell office in quiny always comes up but you know it's this is I think this is different this isn't serving the public so to speak other than it would Keep Us Alive in an emergency and I guess that's serving the public the public would not report to this place uh except during an emergency and I you know God forbid we you don't know what an emergency is until you have one um the thought of you know looking at even in the basement of that building as it exists now it's kind of sometimes it's pretty scary look at the wiring and stuff and these pictures are very cage uh you know spools of wire rolled up I don't know if the register maybe you took this picture today over in the corner you see all this you know I don't like to to bear I laand even I know how old that building is uh and this you know stuff pil on top of everything else Human Nature uh what this what is this room here can you see what that room is I never got that report so you want me get it today good I don't take that one my notes on but you'll get then I know I'll if I take it I know I'll get one um yeah that's well that's not the it room that's the yeah the plan room or the storage in the plan so those records are and some of them are yours too no yeah on the on the other side well I think the county has the on the wall and then we have one near the microfilm area and then uh there's some we have some storage as you come in the plan thing I mean my my hope is that all this will be attacked at one time and and and try to put it put it in order as best we can and uh it's long overdue and I think the identification of the space downstairs is is is is is primary to our argument and uh how big is the uh oh sorry how big is the lizard the so-called lizard LS that were're proposing to be the new spot you0 square fet and what's the pressing capacity of the other one down 25 Square fet so it's about trade off yes okay okay and this has a a bathroom and a kitchen and a conference room downstairs the Agy space I've never been in I mean I've looked in but I greeted some the people call I never I never went in there you dedicated for the UE I mean for for the count the registry for the county the county including the registry of DS okay anything else nothing okay commissions I'd like to take a look at the blue house and the room downstairs if we could before we vote this next week if we want to put on the agenda for a vote next week you mean just want look at the blue house for the disaster recovery room or for just general record keep keeping just for like either General records or again alternate service location unless he's unless the register has no interest in at all I mean I'm looking that's a always have interest I just I always have interest working with just I just want to explore that option if we could uh yes I I I'm not opposed to it but I want to be specific I want to come back in next week and said well that's not really no no so I want I want to firsthand look at what that room looks like downstairs I mean we go byy it we've seen it I like to take a look at it I want to look at the blue house just to get an idea of conceptually what what are some things we could do there maybe maybe not Disaster Recovery maybe as again an alternate place to put people for service in the public for our registry I mean we are a service industry we want to satisfy our customers if that's the part that he could utilize to help out if something came about maybe that might be something we could you know take a look at not as a disaster recovery I think this I think I stand by what I said disaster recovery and another location makes sense really does register has even said that the aie the W WP location makes sense trying to look at something else so think we can have a accurate assessment of the blue house by next week oh absolutely we can walk over there after this meeting if you'd like to um It's Perfectly accessible but I'm opening qu my open question is the blue house presents a future option um I I would respectfully ask for a vote today to address the disaster recovery repurposing which is the point of the memo with respect to what is potentially available for registry uh use uh of County space I think we should look at the blue house in every other corner of County owned space for whatever purpose the register then turns to you in request and writing um for use of so if that's the blue house or the basement of the rry and other spaces I think overall you should have a thorough view of what's going on but I want to be clear the repurposing of the space downstairs to move it to Walpole is before you today and it's seems separate from the interested of the interest of the register to explore a second piece of property piece of location they are separate okay do you want to put anything in do you want to put that in the form of a motion I will in a second I will I'm trying to be argumentative Mr chairman trying to think of how best to proceed um if we make the the egy becomes the disaster relief location the room downstairs becomes what what do we call that room the wreckage room record retention record room yeah all right if God forbid there ever was a disaster of some sort our records well no we're all in big trouble is the way that room was going to be configured could there be some sharing if needed by the registry if something came up if in event of a disaster it's it's not it's not that big a room it's about this big well that's why I wanted to see it I mean it's hard for me to visualize you like this room here yeah it's about this about this big here the intention is to install registry hous high density stor shelving same length right that consume pretty much all full of shelving and yes it it be high density shelving so there so couldn't be used in case of emergency no no it's storage okay that's why I go back to again it maybe it's a backup Backup backup it should be some other location and if we have to have something maybe this you can car out a spot in the blue house or Blue Room whatever it's the blue lounge and C out something for the register as well to have as a backup that's all I'm saying it's um right and I and I agree with you in terms of your concept but those are two different ideas you've got disaster recovery right and as the register is suggesting then there's the uh operational need of keeping a secondary deim space I don't see those things as they are mutually exclusive so if you desire to provide additional space for the registry wherever that is yeah first I think the registry needs to Define what is the what is that space going to be used for how many FTE what kind of infrastructure technology so forth and then we can figure out where's the best solution to find that space if we have it could can I just mention one thing if yes thanks um originally when Sam brought this to our attention it seemed like a dedicated space at the Aggie it seems like during this discussion it is morphed into something else I mean the way we have it set up downstairs is we can on a moment's notice flip a Swit and start operating um and the discussions with Sam were more involved he said well we could move the equipment out on carts in the Lizard Lounge I mean is this ready for us to operate we the only registry in the state that tests Disaster Recovery we do a full disaster and a simulation and switch servers I mean is this ready to go we can OCC we can buy furniture for it ready for its intended purpose or is it just in the event we can pull things out of closets I mean it's two different ISS um the the space of the ague will be activated once Verizon provides a line separate line for the county to use with the exact same equipment that is downstairs ready to go ready to go okay and the room downstairs will not be decommissioned until that new room is available okay I'm running that's correct okay that's important okay I make a motion uh you looking for something Mr chairman uh to uh to approve the uh the repurposes of the uh first floor registry Disaster Recovery Room current located 614 High Street Dam uh to the fagy School in wo at the location described for better or worse as the the lounge was on the second floor of the Cap building um and in in in consistent with the diagram provided to us in terms of dimensions and uh access and in terms of uh other things that go with it uh with the stipulation that the uh the current room does not get switched off until the proposed room is fully operational condition second I would also though incorporate that we also examine I'm just going beyond the mo motion but we also will keep in mind or examine the blue house for utilization by the registry and other departments and it's an underutilized building maybe there's something we can do there as well that's my motion on the motion do I have a second I'm I'm okay I'm okay with the motion except for the blue house because that that's not on the agenda right and I don't think that I don't think the blue house can be part of the motion I I'm fine with that I'm fine with that sentiment we can make the motion next week on the blue house but I think the motion excluding the blue house is accurate all right we don't want to have any Val I agree with him but I you can bring anything in you want next week next week that's fine that's fine so I'll ad made my motion to leave leave out the P about the blue house it's just that we we will move to purpose the current registry of DED disaster recovery room where it's current location to the Aggie school at the location described what the address might be God help me I should know it but uh in the lizard area 100 Main Street thank you so much Mr chairman and then but the stipulation is nothing happens no transfer done is done until that room becomes fully operational and all equipment and so forth is up to uh you know up to what it's supposed to be switch to switch that's that okay I'm fine with that I'll second that motion made in second all in favor all right it is a vote that concludes today for repurposing the disaster recover thank you I'm going to send him Bill a copy of this on our agenda Marine number 11 disc um sorry number 12 report from the procurement department for bid openings and contract Awards good afternoon Mari nothing to report this week nothing to report excellent report come 13 report of the county director uh thank you Mr chairman uh just a reminder the commission has have been meeting uh the norfor county excuse me County Commissioners Association on January 28th in barille Massachusetts uh I want to remind the Commissioners our RSVP director position will be vacating at the end of February uh the position is currently publicly posted we begun to receive reive resumés interviews start tomorrow uh the Commissioners are meeting this evening as trustees at the agricultural High School um we did follow up um with um the legislature regarding their intended plans to carry over or address the pending uh expiration of the executive order and remote participation we were told it will be uh addressed quote in an upcoming supplemental Bill end quote so there is activity we don't know what it is is um if the commission is recall I believe this particular update was the second iteration of the remote participation through covid they waited until the last minute to do something I expect the same thing to happen again so we'll see how that goes um the Commissioners I think I updated you last week but for your benefit and for any union members that are listening on our on our Zoom um ask me has reached out to the registry and uh County Administration to discuss um the ongoing hiring uh issues associated with union members from the registry um they wanted to have a round table to kind of hash out what the differences are um I spoke with the Union president uh this past week his um intentions were to avoid any such meeting until we get past uh the next week or so of uh contract negotiations he didn't want to conflate the two so we're looking at an early February uh dialogue uh date to be determined I'll I'll reach out to the union president uh in early February to see what works been um and then lastly commissioner I I I presume you you you recall but we uh I think wanted to not the passing of a former County uh official we can do that at the end so thank you thank you any questions for director croner number 14 emergency items or topics a chair did not reason we anticipate oh wait if I could go ahead commission yes so uh I I guess it maybe not well you did mention it you mentioned the fact a meeting with the county other County officials and in there in preparation for that there's a pretty long discussion about the formation of a a County Board yes so I didn't know if it's appropriate to talk about it now or a later date but we should at least talk about it we can bring it up at next week's meeting if you want to put on the agenda just talk about a little bit absolutely that's all be good okay that's all thank you thank you very interesting concept A lot of dialogue yeah well you know it's sorry Mr I'll set thank you I have no other items as I said but previously mentioned uh I want to note in today's meeting in closing that we close this me meeting in memory of Walter McDonna of need of mass who passed away late in December Walter was 66 years old graduate of won Latin School Columbia University and suff law school he worked for a number of years in the Secretary of State's office and then at the termination of his career before he retired he worked for the for the county uh in the office of the then Treasurer uh Jim timoy as an a treasur Timothy he left he worked here in 2018 in 2019 so if you can remember Walter uh in your thoughts uh I'd appreciate it and uh I have nothing else except I'll take a motion to adjourn I'll move here at 2:10 second M made second did all in favor you we're heading to