##VIDEO ID:5QOzKRs48hw## Wednesday October 30th 2024 meeting into 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 suspending certain provisions of the Mass General law chapter 38 section 20 that is the open meeting law that action was effective immediately extending the current option for remote meetings through March 31st 2025 thank you join me in saluting the flag flag the United States of America the for stands nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you take attendance commissioner stady present sir commissioner Collins commissioner sh is present that's number two number three there's no executive session today number four minutes of the open meeting law open session meeting held on October 23rd 2024 for approval they not ready this week we'll see minutes are not ready we'll be ready next week yes okay will we table approval for next week table next week we call in favor number five appointments we have none number six public comment each meeting we have a section on our agenda for public comment if there's anyone out in Zoom land that has any public comment now is the time to address it for you director Cronin do you have a public comment I would like to make an announcement um it's okay with you certainly um on Sunday morning the county offices at 614 High Street were exposed to a Cyber attack uh the county it Information Technology team responded quickly and has been working diligently for the last three days to respond to this matter the IT department working with outside experts as well as state and federal law enforcement agencies are cataloging the damage that may have been caus while leading the recovery efforts while we cannot say for certain what pieces of personal information or any information that U may have been compromised we will have more information in the coming days to share that information will be shared uh promptly After we receive approval to release that information so we thank everybody for their patience as we undergo this uh situation thank Mr chair thank you any other public comment last call just Mr chairman I would note that um we want to commend our director our assistant director and the IT members who put in some extra overtime dealing with this thing uh I know they spent some long on a Sunday especially I think they were up here working hard so um uh just you know our appreciation the get the B absolutely I unfortunately I think we're in the beginning of it not the end so yeah play it by here yeah number seven all business I have none number eight Personnel matters for consideration I believe there are three on this second page I see the third right go ahead commissioner all Mr chairman uh through you I want to move approval the following first at the registry of deeds notice of appointment of Carol Graham of wouth mass as senior clerk at the rid St effective date 11424 on this replacement Jordan Freeman that's my motion so move second Mo made in second all in favor it is a vote uh next commissioner's office I move uh notice of appointment of mein McKinnon of Clinton Mass as the chief procurement officer M I'm sorry mcken I believe is mun I believe she goes by mun mun okay mun I make make a note of that as the chief procurement officer the great stated effective date 111 1824 is replacing uh uh Nancy Rockwell so move second what made in second all in favor it is a vote one more at the a next I in North County Agricultural High School I move approval of notice contingent deployment for Rachel wing of milville mass as a student worker at the rate stated effective date 10 3124 so move second motion made and seconded all in favor is a vote and then I just have to read for the record I believe notice on LOA effective 10 2124 I believe yes code 10-1 yes right code 10-1 vote that not V that voted please okay you make the motion I did motion made in second all in favor I believe that's it for that thank you that concludes Personnel for today next is pay on expense warrants all right Mr chairman we have only three things uh I move the following for approval for the warrant list of 10:30 24 first 25-17 payroll the county move approval of1 48,4 78.92 so moved second M ma second all in favor all second I want to move approval of the payroll of the school uh this is warrant list 25-17 parentheses 9 the sum of $380,500 [Music] one expense of the county of 10- 0525 I move approval of 69 sorry 569 893 what3 so moved excellent that that is it motion made in second I'm sorry motion made in second did all in favor all right that concludes the warning Mr that's my thank you number 10 report on American Rescue plan Act of 2021 director CR thank you Mr chairman uh although you have no arer Awards before you uh for consideration this week I just wanted to briefly update the Commissioners that this past week we had our monthly uh Quad County meeting with the other counties um of note uh Barnstable and excuse me Bristol and Plymouth um had provided uh broad extensions to the grant deadline to the end of October I me I believe that resulted in numerous applications being flooded into their portal by the end of October by the communities looking to close out their their grants as you know norfor County approached it differently we had individualized customized plans if you will per Community um and based on each closeout plan those dates are sort of applicable to the individual communities uh efforts to close out uh we still have I believe six communities that have funding remaining and we have an idea of where they're heading before the end of December 2024 so different approach to the same endgame um but uh just wanted to alert you that uh our peers and the other communities are dealing with I believe over 30 applications per per County to close out their respective grants um we are all in very similar positions um uh relative to the amount of money um on hand at this date with two months to go um there was one County I believe it was Bristol um that indicated that they do expect to claw back unspent or unallocated monies um and use it for County purposes I told them that we were hoping to award all our funds to each of our communities as designed and planned and then any such uh use or reuse by the community by the uh County would result in redistribution to other eligible County communities so we're a little different in that space other than that um we're all on the same footing we all understand the monitoring phase which is coming up starting in um well not the monitoring starting is starting in January of 25 we've been doing quarterly monitoring since the beginning of the grant but this monitoring will take on a different dimension after December 31st 2024 when we're going to be actively looking at how they're actually spending their money against the uh the award um following the meeting on Tuesday I had a phone call with the treasurer from Plymouth County and Clifton Larson around some nuanced rules within the treasury's guidance on how to handle funds that are awarded to these communities after December 31st there seems to be some uh flexibility within the rules that would would enable communities that have approved obligated funds to transfer those to um other eligible obligated grants um it's an area that still needs some uh fortified um structure around it so that we can help our communities optimize the money but as we discussed it um what it does is it presents us another tool to ensure that the monies that have been allocated To Us by the federal government are spent so briefly Commissioners as you understand we had the sum of money $137 million that came in and we allocated it based on population to the 28 cities and towns our hope is that those cities and towns would then put in applications that would consume that money and then for each application spend the money up to the limits that have been provided to them you've approved over 200 grants applications there's a pretty good reasonable understanding that several of those estimates of cost um may have been more more than what they actually spent so when we see that some communities or some grants have some flexibility uh for example if a community was given a million dollars to do a project and they spent $900,000 is a $100,000 Delta so what we're going to try to do is put together a plan that would use that that that Surplus on that Grant which is officially closed and done but it has a surplus transfer to another elal category um this is an area that's very vague and um gray right now and we're going to hopefully Define it more clearly by January so the communities can optimize that money against their allocation um so it's a it's a positive development it's a positive interpretation of the final rule I want to compliment click de marrison for bringing this forward to us um our friends at Markham um agree with this interpretation so it gives us the space to operate in the final two years to make sure no money just back to the more on that later questions commission St Mr shair who you try to ask so if I've got this clear in the case of a community that has some extra or excess money you're saying that money would then be reallocated within that town into a project they would need or does it go into a pool and then we could maybe use it in other areas either one okay as long as the destination of those funds is to a an approved obligated project so what what what does that mean so right now we're all moving towards um fully obligating the grant projects before the end of December right we have to have a plan lined up approved by the Commissioners and obligated as a Grant application so as you know we've asked all our communities to submit excess capacity Grant applications AC so um there's a there's there's a landing spot for some of those funds into those approved allocated projects and furthermore um if you want to give me an example that may include a community with multiple Grant Awards um and they had a surplus in one and they want to move it to another one that's already been approved they may do that okay I gotta so it there's some structures around it but we to be clear commissioner stady the December 31st deadline is hard and fast you cannot create new obligations or new applications or new projects after that I'm assuming that you have probably in your conversations with the managers and so On You' told them to put applications in we have I've made that clear we we put that forward in our January guidance every community's close out plan we notify them if you have an interest in exess capacity put them in believe I've reported to the Commissioners that we have somewhere around 18 EXs capacity Grant applications in the portal okay uh norfor County will also be adding excess capacity Grant applications so that we can also use the same J good for you okay that answer that right good thank you thank you thank you chairman have an anything also any any other questions okay 10 and 11 are all sday after related 12 report from the procurement department for bid openings in contract Awards we have none to today correct correct and number 13 is the procurement unit update basically the same we have none for that no I do number 13 I do have an update on the unit all right we have no update on contracts or bids okay procurement unit update thank you mrman thank you Mr chairman um this afternoon the Commissioners appointed Mari mun as the new CPO we're delighted to uhing bring forth her uh credentials for your approval today Morin comes to us with several years of experience in this space most recently is the CPO for the town of hackington Massachusetts over the last several months as I've reported um internally we've interviewed a number of candidates um with varying degrees of experience and qualifications Moren surface is the top candidate um of choice she uh as I mentioned bring some um experience not just in hoofington but additional Municipal space including um the town of firmingham Stow Massachusetts Worcester and of course hington Morin will begin on uh November 18th um we will be sending out more updates on the procurement unit transition as many of you know since Nancy left we've been using Capital strategies in their services to bridge um our procurement activities um Amy Putney has been our CPO uh since Nancy left Amy will be leaving us this Friday um she's moving into a personal space getting out of the business um her role will be replaced by Jennifer Thompson who is one of the principles of capital strategies so Jen will start taking overall CPO duties until September excuse me November 18th when Moren arrives Trish Bernard will remain with us um through um November 21st um that will allow for a one week transition period between the work that Trish has done assessing the workflow analysis and the purchasing policies and procedures um which she has drafted a a report for uh during her onboarding um last week I indicated to Moren that when she starts the the work plan will be given to her as a draft proposal of how things ought to work within this unit similarly it'll include recommendations for changes to our existing purchasing policy that Morin can assess and add to or accept as a future consideration of a policy adoption by the commissioner so uh we're underway our plan is kind of coming into Focus we're delighted to have Morin come on board there's just some people coming and going I know it's a little confusing for the department heads U please bear with us over the next several weeks as we land this fulltime employee but I'll try to send out an email before Friday letting people know about Jen's contact Amy Sunset and we look forward to seeing Martin nov thank you Mr chairman and and the new hire Marine yes sir is State trained and been to the course oh yes she's mcpo certified what is that Massachusetts Chief procurement U per uh public purchasing officer certified okay that's important I mean either way we we keep we keep rest of the courses and right they must do updates I know that Nancy used to go with there that's right okay um Jen Thompson who is replacing am is also correct yeah we keep the stream going okay that's all for procurement today look forward to meeting our new purchasing director number 14 report of the county director just a few items Mr chairman um time this week the um Human Resources Division will be uh interviewing candidates for our plumbing vacancy we interviewed a candidate yesterday who did pretty well um I believe we have another one scheduled for Thursday I believe um following the interviews will make a judgment on who is best uh suited through qualifications of and experience of that role and make a recommendation to hire to backfill Mr Regan's vacancy um I received a notice from the norfor County District Attorney's office last week that they approve of the cover letter for the opioid um opening Grant um opportunity award letter if you will you may recall a year ago when we started the program at the DA's office that the Commissioners co-sign offer letters to each of the communi Coalition members um along with the da introducing the opportunity for them to apply for funding um against our opioid balance last year the County Commissioners and the da awarded uh 15 grants uh to 15 organizations of $1,000 each um there someing a lot of money but it was to these smaller organizations that really could use the cash influence influx we intend to increase that award to $1,500 this year um and um as I mentioned letter has been approved for distribution um I will get the notice out to the Coalition so that they can apply for these funds without delay and we'll release the money based on your votes in an upcoming meeting so we're keeping the oo money going into the local coalitions in an effective way and I just want to footnote commissioner State you and I have talked about um use of those funds in other areas beyond the Coalition I stand ready to assist you and some of the community um partners that you've been talking about towards um towards hope getting access some of those funds happy to do so look the words right out my mouth did I really you read my M fair enough but we keep getting in that particular one Mr chairman if I me yes it has to do with that sobriety house um Gilly's house and the problem is that she keeps setting his invites to attend and we keep can't can't agree on a date and I think it's you get into a tricky situation trying to have all three of us go to one place try a public meeting or so I wish we could just have a person come in and speak speak to us and just make a presentation and then we can try to assist her but I'll I'll Circle back on that see what I can do we'll do the uh and finally Commissioners um earlier this week uh we observed some um email traffic between um several norfor County communities in the norfor County Retirement Board I spoke to uh your representative Paul Connor yesterday about these developments I think we all did accordingly yes um the Retirement Board as I understand it was uh proposing some changes to the uh contribution of retirement costs U by each Community the actuary for the um norfor County Retirement Board had proposed I believe three different options to help U fall in line with guidelines State guidelines for closing liabilities and mitigating risks um each of these proposals resulted in um alarming changes to what these communities expected to be paying for next fisal year um I spoke to pa um I he was kind enough to drop off the documentation to me yesterday but due to posting guidelines um he could not be here today I encouraged him to reach out to each of you to discuss uh the status of the retirement board's actions um I understand the Retirement Board had a meeting this morning I'm not aware that they to vote they may have they may not have on these changes um we will find out what the impact is on noral County once the board uh vote is made public um I will tell you each of the models um had varying degrees of impact on norfor County government that is us um two of them had extraordinarily High um cost increases which would frankly blow us out of the financial water and I think that's kind of a noise that they were hearing to the communities um so believing that the Retirement Board will um assess that impact uh it's likely that the the lower amount or the less impactful figure um may be the outcome it remains to be seen but it would result in pushing out the years uh currently expected to be 2030 for viability or full funding of viability I think they were thinking of moving it out to 2035 if I'm not mistaken uh to flatten out the impact among other things so I will report back as soon as I learned more but um suffice to say the communities were loud as they hopefully should be and the voices were heard for the Retirement Board to make a vote or take a vote when they are able to um um adjust these schedules according to their actuaries recommendations so just an alert we'll let you know as soon as we hear what that impact might be um any other comment on that I I have one um just a remark this is not on your agenda for deliberation but of course I but be will be in the future however um I believe they had a meeting Monday morning with voices being heard I know they did not the regularly scheduled meeting today is the monthly meeting okay they meet it the last Wednesday of every month and then other times I haven't heard what's the result of today's meeting they Pro they may still be meeting however we have been aware for a while not a long time about parx's involvement in forcing every member every public pension in the con by the way there's 105 various pension dos that come under the parak umbrella mostly cities and towns and they're all under the same rules and they have been back and forth and back and forth is par about the dates of of getting this accomplished I remember me going to meetings in the 90s and they were talking about 2040 for being the date for the unfunded liability well it's 2024 and they're trying to avoid the date of 2040 the state is and it makes it difficult there are some communities that were already fully funded I Wellsley stands out in our county is some that's fully funded there may be one other which I'm not positive but I looking at the list it's pretty difficult and it's nobody likes to face up to paying more we're we're we're involved in the same entity for our employees and of course the pension here to stay and uh they new actuary had had I believe convinced them the of which the best way to go and I think we'll hear the the result very soon and I think it's time I know Paul was here last December and I mean we see Paul because he's a member of our Advisory Board also and he keeps us informed so yep I'd like to uh warm up a date to have him in here and um December's only a very short time away but let's do it in November we'll have getting the results by then because they're I think other I don't care what other pension boards done but I've been told how the pension boards have already taken this vote and it's pretty much not well received Statewide but you know I don't I don't want to say our hands are tied but um when your actuary comes in and tells you and by the way they have a new actuary only in the fact that there there actuary that we've met with on occasion I believe his name was Dan Sherman had retired and uh we have a new we the County Retirement Board has a new act um replaced in but I do know because they discussed it with both members fall and my wife and they even sent the new actuaries findings to their old and he he he agreed and he's had 40 years of experience but we'll deal with it and and and I understand that Don's reaction I really do simp monitoring just a quick question it's not on the agenda it's not on the agenda so we'll put it on AG what what to kind understand what Paul was telling me with some information we read what's going on here so there's three different options and we'll talk about that in depth but is that like if is it the vote that we take as Commissioners or nalk County or is that the retirement board controls I saw County of Nar like is listed among this Canon and all this all gonna get the same so right so there three options I know but I'm just trying to say is do we vote that or is the Retirement Board vote Retirement Board votes it okay so we already don't have I believe the only difference in the option is extending it up saw the last paragraph is one is 30 one is 32 one is 35 I got that that makes sense so the longer you push it off down less impact I see it and again you you you're glaring in the face of perck looking down and saying you know I guess we'd like to do a show say say we go let's take I'm just making this up say we vote for 2035 but another town says uh no we want to do it for 2032 what happens then I believe they can express themselves to the board but the board takes the final the board has the final that's correct and Paul is that delegate to that that's correct right okay there's two elected by the members okay the County treasures chairman ex official and one appointed by all of the towns get together and appoint one of their financial people I believe the town treasur of Walpole is the present member it was till recently someone from where uh no Ram Karen was you know Karen Jello yeah and now it's someone new from W so those respective towns Mr chairman would be talking to their people as well delegate whatever it is you know saying keep an in okay the uh the financial impact will be measured you'll take a vote within the FY 26 budget cycle 26 budget CLE so whatever they vote on that's where you take over and that into our buet either way something going happen that's right so we'll um I'll report back if the space to bring Paul in I will certainly do that Mr chairman and bring forth whatever number is voted upon when it is thank you that's all I have Mr chairman thank you okay number 15 emergency items of topics that chair did not recently anticipate um I have none I did except I did talk to John mcowan our maintenance supervisor and he mentioned that that the signs have been repainted they look great I didn't notice it point I'll notice it now and all the other new signs are in every District Court everything is uniform looks fantastic that's when I pulled up I saw the one District Court he me he did take care of the Mr bot's signature he on there now it wasn't the black sign and the regular sign you know you said repainted them one indry he repainted all those and he completed this the work that he began last year uniforming every district court has not quiny we didn't do for quiny it looks great yeah I think Rook line was the last one they put up I had I had the occasion to go down and see the rental one and of course we see but they're all done too right and they look great and you know it just cleans it up a little and terf uh we want to put our best foot forward so we thank John Y and uh it does look good if we have to adjust for the sign at the superior court because there's going to be a new clerk in the superior court of course we'll do it immediately however there won't be much of an adjustment their name is very similar if not exactly check John's gonna check them right yeah ex if I mention also that uh well it's an open session the P of stoen again is anxious to come in and talk to us about the visiting nurse and I let's let's put them we could put them on maybe when appropriate I mentioned not next week because I thought agenda might be crowded but perhaps the following week let that work we got perion and then we convey to themy gets you missed the ribbon cutting it was really good we got something to show you too oh okay over in Page Street Page Street yeah wonderful okay I have nothing else I'll take a motion to adjourn please I move we adjourn at 1:35 second gracious motion made and seconded all in favor I we are ajour thank you very much right