##VIDEO ID:ni1-dG7Ml6k## hi good afternoon everyone uh we're here for the noo County Commissioners uh meeting of Monday December 30th 2024 uh we started a little bit late we had a little of um little complications with our technology and uh sorry about starting late but this is kind of a a meeting in between last Wednesday and this Wednesday because we had the two holidays so we're having the meeting today it's also possible that we may have a meeting tomorrow as there are some additional applications that may come in that's already scheduled uh that may or may not take place it kind of depends on um whether those additional applications are done in time for tomorrow so um welcome to the meeting I have to read the following pursuant to executive order on remote participation on Wednesday March 29th 2023 Governor Healey signed into law chapter 2 of the acts of 2023 and act making Appropriations for fiscal year 2023 which includes a 2-year extension of the option for public parties to hold remote meetings by suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law master and Law chapter 30A section 20 that action was effective immediately extending the current option for remote meetings through March 31st 2025 um votes may be taken on any of the content listed here in and uh I'm going to say the Pledge of Allegiance right now and when we're done with the Pledge of Allegiance I'm going to ask you stand for one more second and we're going to see a quick moment of uh silence for uh uh President Carter passed away I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands na indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you everyone okay uh call to order uh we've done that roll call um uh Richard stady here by remote Mr okay and uh Joseph Shay our chairman okay and the reason I'm chearing the meeting is uh we do have remote participation and sometimes it's hard to share the meeting remotely and that's why I'm sharing it but um only uh at the urging ofman Shay and uh if he wants to take over the meeting at any time he may do so okay item number um three is executive session there is no EX session today item four is minutes and we don't have the minutes uh yet so we're going to do that for uh the next meeting next week number five is appointments we don't have any appointments and the next item is number six public comment do we have executive session minutes also no we don't have any minutes Richard a motion I'll make a motion table action on both open executive sessions for approval uh oh yeah okay that's fine there's no nothing to table we don't have a product um they'll be ready next week yeah we we can just put it off without a without a motion Richard if you want because we don't have anything to table that they're not available yet okay okay okay so number five there no appointments item six public comment um every week we ask uh anyone in uh as our chairman says in Zoom land to comment on uh County Business and um if anyone wishes to speak up now about uh their public please do so okay hearing no one I know that um I talked to the uh director that no one had phoned in seeking public comment in advance so we're going to move on to item seven old business there is no old business so we're moving on to item eight Personnel matters you fellows may not have this uh so I'm going to read it there's only one uh Personnel uh paper for our consideration today and this is the resignation for George Sullivan of Milton as assistant superintendent um effective 12274 uh George found an opportunity that was um very favorable to him and uh he will be missed at the county but we do need a motion to approve uh the blue paper mov okay and um Joe do you want to second that okay all right uh and um chairman Shay seconded all in favor say I I okay it's unanimous terrific and do we oh I apologize gentlemen do we have your permission to use your stamps today okay so they both said affirmative terrific yes sir thank you all right next um the next item is payroll and expense warrants for approval um I know I'm going to have to read it so these are the arpas that we're doing today and then we have the other arpas that that are different right okay can I have a quick second to look make those one second all right we're just checking the numbers County too yeah I'm going to do that I'll read it all that is good okay yeah okay okay warrant list so what I'll do is I'll make a I'll I'll read it Richard if you just want to um say I'll make that motion and then Joe can second it if if appropriate and then it'll come back to me and I'll I'll just I'll just run it through so the first item on the list is 25-25 payroll of the county in the amount of $148,700 I'll move that and Joe said second all in favor say I I okay it's approved the next item is 25-25 subsection 13 payroll of the school in the amount of $4,100 18 I'll move that and second Joe okay uh all in favor say I I I it's un nameus terrific next item is payroll of the county 25-26 and the of $48,990 6474 uh for Warrant 12425 okay uh Joe second I think Joe froze but I did get a second out them I saw that all in favor say I I I okay terrific okay now I'm going to read a whole bunch of uh arpas these are the arpas which are going to be acted upon these are not the backup arpas all right close out these are not the these are Theo are these the close out yep okay these are the close out arpas the the the final Awards of the program uh these are the final official Awards of the program later we're going to talk about other Awards in case for whatever reason there's excess money but that's going to be separate from this so the first item is warrant 25-27 Opera Franklin in the amount of $834 Richard oh we're gonna vot no I I had to vote each one of these because they're all different okay so okay Joe second okay all in favor say I I I that's unanimous okay the next one is warrant 25-27 Opa Welsley in the amount of 6664 1889 Joe second second all in favor say I I I I it is unanimous next is 25-27 Opa Medfield in the amount of $20,000 Richard Joe seconded all in favor say I I it is unanimous next item 25-27 Opa Bellingham the amount of $53,000 $339.99 seconded second say I um that's approved next item is 25-27 arpac Cohasset in the amount of $1 167,168 don't move second second all in favor say I I I it is unanimous item uh 25-27 arpa Norwood in the amount of $661 seconded second all in favor say I I I it's approved unanimous next item is 25-27 arpa Norfork County in the amount of $100,000 25-27 is that nor or nor County norol County seconded all in favor say I okay that's approved so thank you for um taking care of the warrant list gentlemen okay next let's see all right uh report on American Rescue plan Act of 2021 director Cronin please thank you commissioner Collins uh and commissioner Shay commissioner estadi uh congratulations on awarding the final Grant Awards associated with this program um you have officially completed the the phase regarding obligation of eligible funds against allotment um we are over 277 applications that have been approved and distributed across the county over the last two years three years actually um and what I wanted to do it Bill Buckley has access to the um spreadsheet that uh is tracking how things ended up I'll show you the Clean Slate that we are currently operating on the bill if you'd be so kind to pull it up if you have difficulty doing that let me know okay this is a favorable thing so you'll have to make that a little bit bill but I just wanted to uh bring to the commissioner's attention um the activity associated with the granted date couple of things thank you Bill so I'll call your attention to column F on that spreadsheet it shows every town in norfor County um receiving their allotment um the amount that was distributed to each community based on population um um you can see there Canton had some funds left over they told us to put it back in the pool that's fine and many other communities had several dollars or cents left over um so at the end of the day $1,858 was sort of the leakage that will be placed into the administration of the grant program along with the $747 7.94 you see at the bottom of column H so those funds will be absorbed into our administrative costs which are shown under column B at the bottom um we placed 1.5820 336 but absent that every other community has now been awarded funds um and I'm happy to report that um we continue to receive interest in what's called excess allotment applications and through you Mr uh Collins if you don't mind I'll talk about that briefly because there's some actions required today on on those as well okay sure so Commissioners you may recall that earlier this year the county began its closeout process we alerted every Community about our intentions to extend the grant agreements and to also get approved closeout plans from each community and how they plan to use those funds uh by and large that process was very successful we were able to manage most grants well into um the end of fiscal year 24 um but through the summer and fall of fy2 as you know we had a few uh communities that really needed some intensive um assistance getting their grants approved and to the end end game which as I mentioned we have achieved during that same closeout process we alerted communities that the way the final rule um is is works is there's a possibility that funds that um are are declared Surplus from previously awarded grants um might be become available you're allowed to transfer within obligated Grant applications so through your actions today you'll be voting on um 11 additional Grant applications that we have received and have approved to date these applications basically function as relief vales they'll sit out on the portal as unfunded obligated applications as of January 1st and through the end of 2026 will use these applications as well as existing applications as possible platforms to move any surplus dollars so I want to emphasize the excess applications are not funded there is no dollar value associated with them commissioner Collins will read a motion that is associated with this that does not include spending any money we're simply obligating them as eligible applications that may receive funding in the next two years so um after advertising this wildely across the county um several communities have taken advantage of putting in excess capacity applications not all of them are eligible several of them have frankly been rejected because they're not eligible um today I wanted to report we have 11 that are ready for a vote today there are four more currently at pen one status that are being reviewed by the uh Auditors who are working overtime and they may they may be ready by tomorrow which is the absolute drop dead date we through you commissioner colins commissioner stady and commissioner Shay we'd like you to consider giving these um few communities the opportunity to get a last minute excess capacity Grant application in tomorrow I will alert you individually if the meeting is indeed necessary we're working hard to get them to the end zone I don't know if they'll be ready by the close of business or certainly by the time your meeting is tomorrow but today I have 11 excess capacity or excess allotment applications ready and I just wanted to bring into full Focus how the grant program is closing I think you folks have done a wonderful job um preparing the counties to receive every penny that they are eligible for as well as getting ourselves positioned for the next two years under monitoring to fully realize a place for Surplus dollars to land if they do develop so commissioner Collins if you'd like to uh I'll turn it over to you to deal with the um 11 excess um applications from those communities okay so um unless you want any questions on where we stand yeah uh do you fellas have any questions Richard what do you got question and for you at sh uh so my understanding then is after tomorrow no one can apply for anything correct that's it for the excess amount that's it 10 tomorrow that's correct that's right okay can can you tell me uh who to Jo if the to of Westwood did get an application in they were look at for some help um I don't know off the top of my head I can talk to you off I can call you later on and let you know their status I don't off the top of my head I they're not in the list that you are being asked to uh act upon today I notic that that's why I asked they spoke I spoke to someone in the town they were looking for help I'm surprised see it but again you know you never know so I was just wondering about that but tomorrow is the drop dead absolute deadline right that's it yes sir for obligating yep last question if I could real quick um is the county looking to apply have these funds maybe for some of these as well maybe at our school in some way or something like that yeah um so the county has uh two applications in the excess um allotment space commissioner stady um one is for weights and measures program and the other and I'm glad you mentioned this I I was going to um give credit later I wanted to pass along my personal thanks to Phil Ian tosa who did hours and hours of work pulling old records what we did is we looked back over the last three years since March of 2021 at any County funded Capital project and he pulled together all the invoices and and uh related expense records for each project and we're able to pull together a total list um I believe of 16 packets or 16 projects during that time period that total over $1.4 million so in the event that the county sees any surplus funds that the Commissioners deemed should come back to the county we would reimburse ourselves through those various projects uh uh as effectively reimbursement for cash that you'd already spent so yes is the answered your question um I want to again thank Phil it was a lot of work over an intensive period of time he did most of it during the work week of Christmas but um we're in good position to optimize any surplus funds that fall our way that the Commissioners think should go to the county excellent thank you very much no further questions Peter thank you okay Joe do you have any questions you're all set okay great he's all set so uh Richard because I know you don't have this and I do I'm going to read it as a proposed motion and if you agreed to say I'll make the motion okay so um again just to clarify this is a motion for um for applications which are not funded um but they will be uh obligated if the funding becomes available at a later date no they're obligated through your vote today they're well they're yeah they're let me say it again they're obligated through our vote today but at at present they're unfunded that's correct okay all right so the prop proposed motion is to approve approve for obligation purposes uh the following excess capacity applications now you want to read the whole sheet or just the tally um actually each one would be great you don't need to do the tally all right so I'm going to read this whole thing as one big item so uh this is part of that motion the first is arpa 1323 quiny in the amount of $1 million item two is arpa 1365 in Dam uh for $124,800 3 item three is arpa 1369 Dover in the amount of $49,000 item four is arpa 1372 R them in the amount of $ 33,41 156 item five is arpa 1373 Medway in the amount of $115,000 item six is arpa 1374 Medway in the amount of 99,8 7820 item s is Opa 1375 Milton and the amount of 500 7661 1542 item8 is arpa 1376 Milton in the amount of $85,100 75,000 item 10 is arpa 1381 County of Norfork in the amount of 98,3 and item 11 the last one is arpa 1382 County of Nork in the amount of 1,493 6739 and the total excess capacity act application is for 5,15 5 million sorry start again 5 million1 5,575 58 again these are unfunded but obligated applications Richard do you so move Mo those as presented and read by you seconded I just thank you commissioner stating Mr does not have anything in the P right now okay so motions been made in seconded all in favor say I hi hi that's unanimous thank you gentlemen that's that was a lot all right next um report from the procur procurement Department bid openings and contract Awards good afternoon good afternoon all good morning hello so I have a few contracts in front of you ready to be signed and if we do them in order one would you like me to review briefly um sure okay um the first one is the replacement of three hbac units in various cour houses uh the second one is hbac and uh uh automated Building Services for the dam District Court the third one is the tennis court reconstruction project at walliston wreck and the fourth is the extension of the arpa coordinator contract okay all right so um Mr chairman real quick um first thank you to Mar team these grants uh the first three are funded primarily through arpa um during our transition from Nancy Rockwell uh ultimately to Morin uh the team did an enormous amount of work preparing the bids putting them out to bid in some cases twice uh and getting them ready for your consideration today um so I just wanted to highlight that the first one for The agback Replacements at three cour houses that had $228,000 from arpa the deam district court that one was an $800,000 Opera project and then finally the tennis court reconstruction was a $300,000 um arpa project in areas where for example the um HVAC replacement at the three cour houses the available arpa money required additional funds from the county in this case I believe that's coming from the facilities maintenance main budget morine um that's a good thing they're covering the Delta um regarding the denam district court you'll see see that the distance between the arper ward of 800,000 and then 750 that presents itself as a potential Surplus right so mark this because in a few months when the Project's done and and if in fact we do see a $50,000 Surplus on that grant that will be eligible for a transfer back to an eligible Grant okay so bear that in mind that's at least one that we know of and then in additionally as you can see the the tennis court is right up against it with just a couple hundred excuse me a couple thousand dollars between the $300,000 reward and that which Marin read um this project and Marin will point that out is Slim if not n not nil on any contingency so we're going to keep an eye on this as it goes forward this will be a spring project so I just want to underline again these were ARA funds that the that the county leveraged in L of capital money obviously to get things done in a in a most efficient way but I wanted to thank the procurement people because they did Y and work over the last three months getting us to this position thank you Mr chairman so starting with the contract for do you you want a motion on each of those yes okay so um just read it as it is make it me right right you know all right so the first one is a contract reward for HVAC replacement at three cour houses Brookline stoen and rthm and what's that dollar amount does it say yes 800,000 247,000 ,12 okay Richard do you want to make that motion stand by please you need the vendor's name okay and the vendor's name is industrial burner Systems Inc and we've worked with them in the past okay so motions are made and seconded all in favor say I I okay so that's item one the next is a contract award for Dam District Court uh bms8 vac project Mor that is with automated building Building Systems Inc at $ 75,200 Richard 750,000 what was here 250 250 thank you y I'll make that motion Mr chair thank you okay Joe second seconded okay all in favor say I I I that's unanimous next is a contract for award for tennis court reconstruction project at the wall Recreational facility that is with Belco landcaping Inc at $297,400 Rec Engineers after review we don't have Richard sorry I I have to say I didn't hear it some else was talking okay we'll try it again okay um the contract has been awarded to Belco Landscaping LLC in the amount of $297,400 27400 so Joe it's a second second okay all in favor say I I I that's unanimous okay the next is back to the county director contract extension for the OPA coordinator uh will okay great okay Morin thanks we hadn't built in enough time for his contract it was only offered for two years and we'll need his Services longer so we're going to extend for 60 days and put it out to bid he has already agreed to serve Us in at minimum the 60 days that we'll need and potentially longer and how much is that for 60 days do you know I didn't do the math have March 3rd 30 okay through March 3rd okay so this this just extends out uh the contract for um Bill gal Galvin as our coordinator for a few more months to wrap up the project uh well we'll be we'll bringing forward an additional bid for these services I don't know if it'll be Bild once we put it out the bid so we'll be back hopefully within another month or so with a a new bid but this extends the current one through March 3rd okay so this just extends the current contract with uh Bill Galvin for a few months until the next contract is bid up and that I mean it's might well ask it do we have to do anything relative to our our ad Ministry or and also our assistant or is that a separate thing because this is all Opera related do we need to extend them and make a vote or something like that or how is that to the program man I know to keep it on I know we're going look at for another two years I think I think this I think this is this is different because this is a separate uh contract a SE a separate contract for the timeline and um our our individual people working on this within the county on on timeline you previously approved that I'm only asking is there a reason why we couldn't do it 90 days rather than like window got room for us we could we have not put the bid out yet so that's a possibility um I was trying to act expediently have a little comfort zone we amend that motion for 90 days to get things out I believe it has to be 60 because it's a current contract that we're hoping to put out to bid in 60 days is our we we we'll get we'll get well I've done it right away though Richard there won't be um there won't be any problems it'll get done within 60 days okay all right that's fine do you make do you make that motion yeah okay Joe second all in favor say I I it's unanimous okay moving on thank you Mar R thank you all right so item 13 is a November trial balance for acceptance I have that number is 38 million 373,000 okay that's unanimous item 14 gby statements number 74 and 75 report for fiscal year 2024 for acceptance John thank you commissioner um Commissioners uh earlier this year you uh and The Advisory Board funded um contractual Services of Joan Maro and stone Consulting to have a closer look at the County's OPB liability and our overall uh position according to gby 74 and 7 I just wanted to before you take any action on accepting this report I wanted to lay out a couple of important items the current total liability for the county regarding OPB which is um other public employee benefits is 35 m7355 um this is after um a plan fiduciary payment of 2,612 521 is made regarding the plan overall Commissioners may be curious to know that the plan currently funds 436 individuals that is 232 retired disabled survivors and beneficiary beneficiaries who are receiving benefits from the county as well as 201 active plan members as the County Commissioners probably understand um opab is a large unfunded liability on the books of almost every community in Massachusetts we are no different the county has made Regular and recurring payments associated with this liability including as reported on page two of the report up to on average $140,000 a year from our operating budget and then in years when our revenues are more favorable we make additional contributions um this particular liability is something that we will tend to manage over the next several years but this report is critical for our bond rating agencies as well as our Auditors who require this information to complete in this case when it comes around the FY 24 audit thank you Mr chairman okay do we need a a vote for acceptance on that please thank you uh Richard do you want to make a note to a motion to accept the gasby statements number uh 74 and 75 report for fiscal year 2024 that yes sir y Joe second second he all in favor say I please I okay that's approved next is report of the county director uh thank you Mr chairman just a few items um the budget schedule for FY 26 budget development will be going out very shortly uh from Phil and TSA in this case the budget schedule will indicate that a memo from the county director two department heads giving guidance on um FY 26 developments including planned colas will U be for coming next week um and the schedule from Phil will give you the additional information relative to when they are due what time your meetings and dates are with the Commissioners and so on and so forth taking us all the way into April um I just wanted to again alert the Commissioners there's a possibility of a meeting tomorrow you are posted at 1:00 I will alert you before then if the meeting is needed um I'm hoping that we can optimize um the remaining applications in the portable portal up to the last minute thank you for your on that by the way um there will be no meeting on Wednesday it's obviously a Federal holiday and a County holiday uh the next scheduled meeting for the Commissioners will be Wednesday January 88th um following tomorrow's meeting um there will be a swearing in for eligible electeds on Wednesday I believe the time set is approximately 10:30 a.m. those activities will take place virtually um associated with um the County Commission the register and so forth so just an announcement on that level uh commissioner stady you just a few minutes ago alluded to a very busy time coming up um in your spot on uh January presents as a relatively busy time period with holidays but I wanted to alert the Commissioners that we'll be discussing opioid grants obviously the FY 26 budget schedule on the 28th you have a Commissioners association meeting earlier today I had a meeting with uh commissioner Mark Forest and the Barnes County director Michael Dutton to discuss that agenda I can assure you it's a very robust agenda that will include legislative arpa and other updates that are important to the commissioner's um uh business um and I also want to remind the Commissioners that an upcoming meeting you going to be required to reorganize I believe we'll place that um through the chairman on the January 8th meeting uh so that is all I have at this time did you have a date for that meeting with for are you still working on that January 20 January 28th thank you sir thank you so much thank you okay J 28 yeah um the reorganization is that done in in our first official meeting in January is that what you're saying that's correct okay we have our swearing in on January 1 right correct but that isn't a meeting date yes that provided my Internet working it's been an incredible time down here but uh we're getting there I had no internet I had no cable I had no heat it's been unbelievable it's a very it's a very remote area it's nice upside and the downside but when when there a a blizzard or a snowstorm or wind it's uh it's kind of like roughing it but uh we're getting there we're getting there so all right okay so that was that was item 15 and um you just discussed item 16 the discussion about early January meeting schedule and um item 17 is emergency emergency items topics that the chair did not reasonably anticipate would be discussed uh I know that there's one more item uh do you want to talk about it you want me to talk about it go right ahead sir okay so um the County Commissioners uh have to authorize uh the election for the register of deeds and so um we have to have a motion to approve the election results for the register deeds and um I have that that information here I have the the actual language of that so I'll read it Richard and if you want to make that motion that' be great does that sound okay okay um um um uh we are by it appears William PE Donal of Norwood Mass having received the highest number of votes is elected Register of Deeds for the term of six years from the first Wednesday of Wednesday of January next and until his successor is chosen and qualified and certificate of el ction was duly issued to the said William P O'Donnell and notice also given to the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth in Conformity with the requirements of the laws of the Comm witnessed our hands and seal of the county of norol at Dam um this says this 13th day of December 2024 but our motion will be today the de 30 it says thir it says 30th on this piece of paper but yes it's December um um 30th that's correct yes correct sorry thank you Richard so is that your motion okay Joe Joe you want to second that I'll second it yes second it all in favor say I I and again we have your permission to stamp uh the document for the board of examiners correct sure correct all right um yes may I sure speak um with the potential Federal day of morning looming on January 9th do we have to do anything as a county to decide how that affects us I can't hear um John wanted to know that if uh January 9th is declared a a federal day of morning uh he wanted to know how that affected the county and affected the school and I I don't have an answer to that but we can look into that and get back to you on that okay yeah because I'm I'm sure it'll come up on Thursday when teachers come back they'll be wondering is school going to be open on that day will we count that as a work day for the county or is everyone going to be off that day I think that's what happened last time there was a federal get back so uh so thank you John and um and and our chairman just said we take that under advisement and we'll have an answer for you before then all right um anything else gentlemen happy New Year good happy New Year um Richard do I have do I have a motion to adjourn if we do a Mee at 1 o00 if we havee yeah tomorrow is at one o' yes if if we have a meeting I don't know okay Richard motion to adjourn okay motions been made to adjourn a second all in favor I and happy New Year to you all if we don't make it for tomorrow's meeting so thank you all thank you bye- bye