##VIDEO ID:u48EhlGtxx4## afternoon I'm now going to call a Wednesday December 11th 2024 meeting of the norfor County Commissioners to order on Wednesday March 29th 2023 Governor Hy 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 open meeting law Mass General Law chapter 38 section 20 that action was effective immediately extending the current option for remote meetings through March 31st 2025 which is fast approaching so this meeting is live and on Zoom welcome everyone and if you could stand and join me theed Al to the flag the United States of America to The Republic stands na indivisible withy and Justice thank call the RO commissioner stady I'm am present be remote commissioner Collins pres commission Shay is present Richard quick question do we have your permission to use your stamp on votes taken today yes permission granted yes oh what's that thank you what was that um Mar has mute herself it's okay okay um I'm going to have to do a little budget not budget Bingo but agenda Bingo because we have executive s for sure we have a couple of folks here with uh Treasurer Bady and who we're gonna have some pinion talk so to speak and of course John Wallace from the school is with us so if we can do the first few do the minutes and then we'll go to the appointments of treasur Bard and Paul conis to talk to us then we'll go into executive session our lawyer is here but he's tied up right now uh motion to accept the minutes as presented of the December 3rd and November 6 meeting don't moved okay motion made and seconded on December 6 all in favor all December 3rd I'm sorry yeah so let's first one is December 3rd let's take them one at a time December 3rd right December 3rd motion made and seconded all in favor I I it is a vote and secondly the executive session minutes of November 6th for approval not to be released at this time all moved second motion made and seconded all in favor I I they are votes okay thank you for taking care of those number five appointments this is a 1M appointment with Paul connis Who is the appointee of the County Commission to NAA County reg NAA County Advisory Board Retirement Board he's also on the r board Retirement Board and that's the purpose for his visit and of course treasur is here also so um Paul why don't you join us and Michael if you'd like to join us here we gotta go ahead Michael good afternoon good afternoon um and by way of opening up we we did start a year or two having Paul in once or twice a year just to do some catchup but recently I mean just for the record as everybody knows but just for zoom and Pa is your representative on the pension board I don't if you I mentioned reaj he Happ to be a member too but that was a slip okay but we we it was time to have him in anyway but recently we've been having some back and forth with a lot of members of the Retirement Board mainly town and cities and towns and uh from your perspective as a unit right plus we are we are a unit right and uh that's the reason for Paul uh essentially uh it's an ongoing issue uh uh as came up with a particular formula uh with a few options that create a lot of discussion about fairness and the ability of different communities for different reasons to handle uh whatever particular amounts were on different methodologies so as a result we took a deep breath and we held the numbers for one year and now we going have to uh begin the whole process and work uh probably more closely intimately with the units specifically the county because some of those formulas were in relative to other units for few folks last f as a treasure I'm wear two hats um and it's it's going to be a bit of a process and is going to [Music] BEP process you about that so uh it's almost like we have to stop and start over and get this thing done uh pretty quick and with with great honestly with greater input it with a greater eye to kind of how to spread out the Pain part you want to a couple things that had an impact on that first of all my last sum here I believe I said to you that we Chang your actual areas which we did and the report came back after that and PRI to that uh we had changed we had Ved to change the methodology of payment and went to a payroll based system as opposed to an natur number uh the payroll base really spikes in most communities not the County so much because of uh and we don't know what the reason is the spike happened in the county uh because it's not like you have your own Police Department your own fire department all your own schools and helping the schools that are on the payroll system that everybody else in the towns and City well C we don't have a city we only have Towns now uh because there are seven communities in the county that are not in the retirement system um so they're not impacted but we are working with the other community we told the other communities we would get together with them we voted two months ago to say to set up a meeting uh within two months which is going to be in January uh to meet with all the town administrators Town managers or executive secretaries whatever they have for titles now um to meet with all of them to find out where the cause of this Spike came from we don't know we don't know where it came from yet either um what the methodology changed it made a big difference uh the actuary made a big difference uh we have committed to looking to go out to bid for a new actuary uh and get somebody on board to have a different set of eyes on this we're not adverse to spending the money to do it because we want to get it done right uh we are working with the communities we held a line for this year on it uh we're just waiting for par approval for what we did uh and as soon as we have that approval we will have a meeting we will meet with all the administrators and put John uh the town managers and uh try to resolve the situation we know it's not fair right now but we still want we don't want to kick the can down the road the town managers want us to go to 2040 for uh being fully funded we do not want to do that we want to paid up in 20 2029 yeah and that's what Crea a lot of the pressure and you also want to leave that space in case there's a uh a drastic change in some situation that affects the whole world or us or the state in terms of revenues so the more you push that out the more you tie your hands in terms of uh the latitude to do things later okay and there's a couple factors uh the mortality table is big and our actuary folks Jason is saying that is really kind of industry standard uh it's kind of above my pay grade in terms of uh how that relates to what other folks are doing these situations including the towns i' have to depend on that for the other calculations so that seems like a concrete issue the uh the two flexible pieces and there are other variables and factors but you know just for the sake of this meeting there's like three or four key ones uh the rate of return on the investment is uh what we at 775 775 and everybody else the vast majority of other Pension funds in the state seven and a quarter seven and a quarter once you shift that down that FC uh we're not the only one as an outl on that in ter we're talking about in terms of the uh the north for count time pension board uh system uh there's a handful of other uh pension retirement public pension retirement boards that uh at that number so we have to push that number uh closer to what is the average I would say or the mean and then the other factor is uh the unfunded uh mandate I mean the unfunded liability that right now 20 29 and by law I think statutorily you can go up to 240 right but but par is not uh love to see you do that so there's there's some fluidity here there's also just uh ask getting a better grasp uh for and through you folks and with you folks on the U how this different methodology like what is the reasoning that the county was impacted in a way uh that other most other units weren't I was also able to put you on in touch with the insurance who was the one who did the previous act two years ago when we changed the methodology and I know John had a lengthy conversation with him to try to get some of the answers and I think he's going to be filling you in on later on or now I'm not sure but yeah D was very helpful um and obviously man a lot of experience um he he couldn't speak to his successor modeling but he did describe the work that he did on your behalf in 2022 um that was a corrective action guided towards fulfilling or or clearing the liability by 2030 um so when he left he left behind some presumptions of risk Michael alluded to those things that drive how the liability should be calculated the his successor um whose name I don't know so I'm I'm afraid I'm not trying to elude the name but Jason um took a different approach and that approach presented as you correctly pointed out Michael as having a a tremendous disproportionate effect on the county for reasons we don't know but one of the one of the more interesting things I learned from Dan was I was imagining that some of the liability might be stemming from the sheriff's department and the liabilities associated with the uh the sheriffs that are still on the county system we were able to conclude it does not the calculations are completely separate in fact the state appears to still be taking his proposed Actuarial Table that he Advanced back in 2009 when the whole thing started so the sheriffs are not driving but his successor increased by 36% um and so I'm looking forward to working through you guys um to the extent we can learn more about what are those what is the actuar what is the Actuarial risk table going to look like why why would we bake in large percent increases that are on the front end on the front end that would treat any system different than another um is what appear to be the case this time so uh I'm Greatful grateful the Retirement Board decided to take a step back settle in on the FY 26 model which is acceptable that's still going up $158,000 but it's a lot better than what was seen so we look forward to seeing some new numbers when they come out and understanding what those risk calculations are um so thank you we'll have more information after next week's meeting okay I'm GNA open this up Commissioners if you have any questions U because I have one I can wait dick yeah thank you commissioner uh through you through you to to the members there so listening carefully to Paul and Mike it sounds like um a person an Actuarial that's the right term used a different methodology and the methodology resulted in part with a higher amount of a liability for us am I hearing that correctly is that but I would say that might be a fair or unfair assessment because he may considering a different timeline than uh Dan did there might be more pressure now as part alluded to there's a sentiment that you know we kind of kicked the can down the street uh because of com Financial situations but at some point that's going to have to be dealt with he and he and he probably baked in that that more compressed timeline that's you know that is uh my there morality table table I me okay that was my fault maybe I'll be clearer Paul said Paul said he considered payroll versus some other method he took a different approach right and I'm thinking why I'm just aren't there aren't there certain benchmarks in the trade that you're supposed to use or to or can each person take a different of view that's I'm try trying to sort out that's that's the question that's kind of what that's why we're at this point because my sense is that uh it's probably not as much an issue as we think it is but we want to make sure the the mortality rate changed too I think Paul in a way that uh how do I say he took a new view at it and came up with a different kind of uh people are living much longer than and there a whole Public Safety piece that is still outside of the county group four and most communities will pay in on the Actuarial basis not pay no pay on payroll not Actuarial and you have the option of doing that with perak but bring back to everybody who's all the same they're trying to get all the systems to be based on the same methodology whether it's payroll or Actuarial okay now I'm not trying to be one more comment if I could uh chairman Shay just real quick just you know from my viewpoint and again as a moderator I deal with different kind of entities all the time the finance people in the different communities unlike the managers don't want this extended out they've said if you're going to be 2032 make it 2032 please don't push it out they look at it as detrimental because again more more po push it out the more the town has to pay so just that that Viewpoint to bring to your point you know they're absolutely correct dick they're absolutely correct because they're trying to plan for themselves right on overrides whether it's be new schools or whether it's their unfunded liability they want to get it over with and they see that light at the end of the tunnel and we're trying to accommodate them I me it's not it's not just pointed out to help help us all not an easy thing is a balanced test you know you got how job to do I appreciate your comments I apologize for not being in there today but being not under the weather I didn't want to come in but thank you thanks for I look forward you just you just said in one word it's a balancing act yeah where you're gonna put the pressure points I got it thank you very much thanks I have a question the same boat so to speak all 107 public entirety systems based on the same rules are they based on the same calendar when this is done does perak say it's got to be done by 29 or it's got to be done by 35 is there General law that governs it I I I cannot per is trying to hold all system to the 2029 which probably is is good management from their perspective right but face with these but so there is a general law that can you add another 10 years that's on the books but I think but per is trying to don't do that because yeah it's management okay yeah especially for blinding because again it gives you leeway later if something okay all right I understand said people plan out budgets and they're already anticipating that money being and we're all overseen by par that's my point I mean I I all right second half of the question when I looked at that list of all your member talents not everyone is facing some little got less less of a a jump right so that's a product of the actual oil study yes so not every town has been calling us so to speak but a number has the number the number have been calling and there they want to see the 2029 date held the numbers the ones that are really affected are the ones that are calling those those are the ones that impacted the county uh Randol yeah huh yeah there's a handful of town that just it just appears about eight heavily by the change um a lot of them are not affected and I don't know I don't know to what extent the payroll the switch over the payrow system is baked into this in terms of these numbers the next four or five years I think it is yeah yeah so that I think that's part of it is that well because we kind of uh made that more gradual over two or three years so that folks didn't have to adapt one year to that going to payroll mhm and that was a compromise and that again that's that was balancing act so that is part of it too but I think we I think when we get hopefully whatever thisp process uh develops we're not honestly sometimes I feel like we're not getting all the information looking for and and that maybe we're missing something in terms of the communication with this existing actuary I mean uh John you have another question I an Ask okay through you Mr chairman if I could go um I noticed that on the schedule of cost um some of the communities have to pay you know nominal increases between you know certain years when you're trying to achieve closure on the liability is it possible that a community or an entity can make a single payment a one-time pay it to clear that liability rather than advertising it out according to this schedule I okay that's that's a good question that's kind of a par question too it may affects how how I I hear what you're saying so they well for example the city of quiny paid off their retirement debt they it's a bond so they took the whole thing and right bonding package one payment it's done but they're making payments on the bond you want to do the same thing for some small town or if they have a rainy day fund a SL fun correct they save on the interest because conceivably these values once once the liability is paid off the county is paying currently around 3.8 3.9 million out of operating costs per year towards this and if this liability can be swept aside with a single payment that operating impact goes down dramatically and frees up our operating budget for things so to your point we would use one time resources conceivably if it's allowable okay interest we'll find out I'll find I believe a County south of us did that a County south of usth Island the thing you have to take advantage taking advantage of it is the onetime payment or yearly cost County never takes advantage of that's a cash flow yeah yeah yeah we yeah but we've been trying to work with the county treas on that I have too but well I'm get static at the meeting like hey what about okay on the pension on the question about our pension board while we have two members here anything else commissioner anything else Richard I'm upet thank you thank you okay thank you very much happy holidays Merry Christmas thank you very much see you next week Paul we'll see you next week before Michael payment thank you yes good to see and I'll let you know what we do with the act after the meeting on Wednesday oh that's thanks Paul see you okay number we're going to go back to number three please executive session uh as I said attorney Lopez is here and I'd like to go into executive session now you want me to make we have a motion go ahead Peter please motion made no no I'm making it no yes to make it I'm making a motion to go on Executive session pursu M chapter 38 section 21 subsection a subsection 3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position in the public body and the chair soge clar I'll second that motion motion made and second to Executive session roll call vote is necessary commissioner stady yes sir commissioner Collins yes commissioner Sher says yes we are an executive session if you could the chair so declares declares yes and I am saying that we will be returning for regular business after the executive session right go away too far Richard do you want to drink I'm sorry you I'm loaded here believe me I got water coffee everything going here I'm all set not Bill how we how do you do Bill you're all set sir okay thank you we're back on our regularly scheduled commission meeting of December 11 2024 we're on item number six public comment thank you does anyone have any public comment each week we allow public comment both in person and on the zoom director Cronin do we you have any requests for public comment no sir last call for public comment seeing none i'mgoing to Old business we have no old business number eight Personnel matters for consideration Richard do you have those you want to read them I do I have one I have just one is that FMLA yeah Mr chairman I thought I thought we acted on this before he couldn't um the start date we gave him has been pushed had been pushed back dat right okay sounds good all right so I'll be very pleased to move uh for the motion the notice of appointment of Clifford love lace of matap pan mass as Foreman plumber at the rate stated this time the effective date for this gentleman is 12624 and he'll be replaced in James rean so moved second motion made in second all in favor all it is a vote also I think I got the note for the record move approval on FMLA effective 11264 code 11-02 motion made and seconded on the FMLA request all in favor I is thank you don't have the payroll you'll have to do that we have the payroll expense warrants commissioner Colin where go I had it uh oh on oh wait a minute we're not going to go for I've seen it myself I have it's here somewhere I usually do it I don't have it wasn't sent to me somebody wants to send it I'll be glad toar okay yeah I got it Sor that I got it okay number nine payroll and expense warrants all right I make a motion we approve um uh warrant 25-13 payroll for the county in amount of $47,375 second motion made in second all in favor I it is a vote next um I make a motion we approve warrant 25-23 subsection 12 uh payroll of the school in the amount the amount of 385 , 28651 second motion made second it all in favor it is a vote next uh I make a motion to approve warrant uh 12225 expense of the county in the amount of $677,000 2134 second motion made and seconded all in favor a vote next I make a motion we approve uh warrant uh 12- 9-24 uh Wallace and recreational facility credit card payment in the amount of $7,595 d23 I think there's like seven for planville if you just want to make the one motion and then read the amount might make it easier yeah great okay I look through them you want singulars if you could uh go ahead John's requesting singular votes I don't mind all okay so I make a motion we approve warrant 25-23 Opera Brook line in the amount of$ 386,000 two do we have a second Oh I thought it said you're gonna read the whole list s right I I'm confused second go ahead on the brook line okay go and the reason I didn't do that Richard is um I was asked to do the individually so I'm doing them individually I think it's like 15 you realize that all right I'm up to the task go ahead all right so the next one is warrant 25-23 Opa Brook line in the amount of $ 434,881 second motion made in seconded all in favor I it is a vote next and the next one is uh warrant 25-23 ARA Medfield in the amount of 20 of $12,100 second motion made in second all in favor I I it is a vote next okay the next item is uh warrant 25-23 ARA Medfield in the amount of $646 second motion made and seconded all in favor I it is a vote next the next item is um warrant 25-23 ARA Medfield in amount of 56,3 56.90 second motion made in second all in favor the next is warrant 25-23 arac Cohasset in the amount of $924,900 some more second motion made in second on plan Bill all in favor go ahead the next is 25-23 are for planville in the amount of $ 43,7 some second on that all in favor all it is a vote the next is 25-23 ARA planville in the amount of $3 33,6 4763 so moved second motion made and seconded on planville again all in favor next is 25-23 Opa planville in the amount of 25659 367 so mov second that motion made in seconded all in favor I it is a vote next next is 25-23 ARA planville in the amount of 6 sorry say sorry again $ 65,7 so Mo second motion made in second is all in favor I it is a vote next is uh 25 23 ARA planville in the amount of $ 22536 70 so moved second that and and second it all in favor he it is a vote and last is 25-23 Opa planville in the amount of 521 646 so move second good second all in favor I here goes the town of Blainville well set do they have any more money coming good they're done okay um next is oper War approval we did next is report on American Rescue plan act you pretty much given that or do you want to have anything else to say I'll brief I I will spare the Commissioners uh reading the justifications for each of the um ARP awards that were just provided but I will state that this um batch of 13 ARP Awards totaling $2.97 million is pretty much the uh the the final end or near end of the arpa award funding um the reg excuse me the um um the perspective we have right now is to close out about three to four more applications that have been in the portal uh they total close to $2 million those will likely be in place by next week and that will be the end of um the award phase for this grant um the reason you're seeing a lot of these come together at the last minute um was because we had to intensify the oversight and direct action um with some of the these applications Brookline for example as the Commissioners know have had some um issues associated with um getting responses back to clipton Larson on requests for information planville was done as a batch um all at once the consultant working with the town did a great job wrapping all those up Medfield has a couple of other items beyond the ones you see today and Cohasset um unfortunately was a death in the family and that particular Grant award had to wait a couple of weeks uh they have a little bit of money after that so um we have a meeting tomorrow to look at the final pieces and there literally are about six more pieces or applications that we'll be looking at to bring to the Commissioners to wrap up the community's um access to the program um over the next two weeks um the Commissioners will hear more about closing the AR period U of award um I'm in the process currently of preparing the last few County applications associated with the arpa program including a couple of excess capacity Awards um so we are very busy with ARA we expect to have some activity all the way up until December 31st 2024 thank you commissioner J great job so much for Opa today number 12 report from the procurement Department nothing today nothing today so we don't need Maran to come in okay corre nothing from the procurement department number 13 September 2024 trial balance for exception in your packet is your trial balance aners for September any questions have the number there commissioner um does Peter want to make a move you want me to do it Peter you can make the Motions okay it's always so tricky to see yeah I think they Delight making it small is it 18 million 543 God 933 3.61 no it's 43 where am I it keeps jumping around um the trial balance is $3,490 and2 wa3 million 43 m492 95 you got it that's I had the wrong one thank you so I'll make that motion all right it's not it's not a motion to approve it's to to accept right yes I'll second the motion motion to accept right to accept okay acceptance of September 2024 trial balance as presented all in favor number 14 fiscal year 25 second second supplemental budget and transfer request director Cronin thank you Mr chairman Bill if you could pull up the spreadsheet that I prepared missions are customarily that are accustomed to seeing well Bill's pulling that file up I'll alert the Commissioners that when you left the um September Advisory board meeting the county had a balance of approximately $484,000 $700 uh remaining for the rest of the fiscal year for various supplemental needs as we move into this particular request uh before you is a total supplemental request of $74,200 and I'll offer those details momentarily in addition to the supplemental uh request against that balance we have various transfer requests from the IT department the wallon golf course and the norfor County Agricultural High School briefly I'll start with the supplemental um items uh the walliston recreational facility has uh what's known as a green master um piece of equipment they are ending a lease agreement and opening a new agreement what's not shown here as the supplemental request is the transfer of over $9,000 into the County's uh funds from the old Le and a request to fund the new lease at1 10,300 the register of deeds has requested a total of $105,000 to be funded from fy2 dedicated Deeds excise Revenue 75 5,000 from printing for printing excuse me 15,000 for miscellane miscellaneous contractual Services 3,000 from stationary and office supplies excuse me and $122,000 from miscellaneous supplies and materials that fund is separate from the supplemental that I just referenced earlier this year we were notified um our group Insurance costs had shifted upward we um have request to modify our funding upward to tune of $1,578 to offset these cost increases for medx Plus in the freedom PPO within the commissioner's account we are looking to fund $172,000 from arpa interest to fund the architectural services of the dam Superior Court um project Commissioners may recall that $2 million was authorized for that project back in September from our Capital Improvement fund uh we are poised to work with a B Associates use them and their services to um Marshall through the RFP excuse me the rfr for this project and ultimately once the contract is awarded to work with the vendors and our facility supervisor to manage the project These funds would be eligible for reimbursement from the state the next item is $4,000 to offset gam District Court architectural services associated with the recent bid for building Management Services all right emergency Reserve was um expended um we look to replenish $1,336 these reserves were expended U through a combination of Contract Services as well as unexpected expenses associated with the County's recent Cyber attack furthermore we're looking to fund a separate line of $30,000 to represent the total amount of expenses according to our deductible in our insurance plan for that particular event U please note that the County's full obligation associated with the vent will not exceed $30,000 so in total as you can see we're looking to fund $74,200 from the supplemental balance $172,000 from arpa interest and the request from the register of $105,000 from the dedicated Deeds excise Revenue projected in FY 25 with regard to the uh transfers um I will yield to um John Wallace he is here to explain any of the costs associated with the transfers for the schools I will state within it samim Evans who is out today um is offering internal transfers to help offset costs associated with the Cyber attack including a $20,000 cost for new PCS and $8,000 cost for new software associated associated with that as well so he's using existing resources to offset those expenses um see there was one other one I believe that concludes the transfers and again I defer to John Wallace who's with us today for any questions relative to um the agies transfer requests and there are quite a few other the list in total um the county is looking for approximately $1.2 million in supplemental and transfer costs uh for this particular um supplemental exercise thank you okay Commissioners any questions John Wallace regarding a anything in the agricultural School side anything at all TR big budget coures fine we all set on the agie request yeah I'm fine okay no questions commissioner call a I have chairman when it's appropriate I'd like to address the Registries yeah we're going to get there absolutely okay no questions Sean yeah y sorry next is registry um margarit if you want to come first thank you app we have some correspondents here we have your request yes and you know what I'm I'm not going to read sentence upon sentence because I think the reg or you're hopeful the register addressed everything in detail um the requests today 105,000 really represent a minor Delta from last May's approved budget and the difference is $35,000 from the approved budget the rest of the money um is intended to backfill the cuts from September um 12 items were cut in September um we're asking for money um to go into to only four line items so we're trying to be somewhat um surgical in this and replace funds that we know are necessary and only those funds that are necessary um and with without the laboring the point printing 295 you know we have a statutory and contractual obligation right now to print books right now as it stands we are unable to print through December of this year we're down to nothing so we cannot print we cannot go forward with this um main group to subgroup 299 this is um a catchall group it's a misscellaneous contracts it covers things like portable water um Iron Services of Iron Mountain and that's to uh back up our data and deliver it off site to a secure facility and uh again given what has happened we cannot overemphasize the importance of this service um group three subgroup 362 this is office stationary we um are currently within the departments at the registry moving some items such as pens into other items um imprint ribbons from One recording station to another um these this is a budget item that needs to be filled um and the following group the last group is um group 399 also a catch all group for materials and office supplies um there's currently I think about $15 left in this group this funds all of our toners for the registry um some companies run on Duncan we run on ink and paper and this group pays for that um again we've stated it is the director noted we're asking for 105,000 again 70,000 of which is really backfilling Cuts in September um this is all from the dedicated Deeds excise collected since July um we've collected over 770,000 of registry dedicated funds so that amount is seven times the request um again I know Phil was looking for some predictions for the coming year um for the remainder of the year of how we would do with collections right now we are exceeding um the director's estimates for the budget of fiscal 25 um um and and that's really all I think you know if I could leave you with one message it's the registry is now currently on the precipice um and we really need the money to get through the winter um we are the second R second busiest registry in the Commonwealth and we do not have the funds currently to continue operation which so any questions misss any questions of margarit no thank you margarit for the explanation um I I think we're sensitive to the request we're just concerned about the the perhaps speculative nature of the Surplus at this point in the year you can understand we're we're forecasting and it does seem the registry receipts seem to be trending up they do um I see it myself in my unlimited practice but again we don't have a crystal ball so I think our decision uh is going to be based upon what's physically sound but with also uh a caveat to get you some money and try to get you going and uh I think that's the best we can do today you'll see soon okay I want to emphasize it's it's not speculative with we've collected a sum certain of Deeds excis from July through the end of November I deliver the money yesterday to the treasur so it is you know according to the statute is supposed to be set aside side for the registry operation so I just want to you know well I don't know how many books should be printed in December I don't how know how many toners we'll use the collections to date are a sum certain so I hear you uh margarite okay any other comments or questions um just to Joe so um M I just want to um be clear because this so the request that you're making today that's on top of the 2 and a half% from last year right well that would be 35 $35,000 above the approved budget okay yeah but right so it's so it's on top of of the statutory two and a half increase from last year from from what was spent last year correct I assume those were John's numbers I don't know that I haven't seen the close out numbers so I assume okay they're in there okay I I you know we requested the numbers but have not receive them so regardless I think it endur to everyone's benefit that the registry remains operational Mr chairman go ahead John the registers budget was amended in FY 25 back in September the actual spending based on FY 24 was announced publicly in the calcul of that number plus 2 and a half% was voted upon to your point commissioner um Colin so um we refer the first assistant register to the meeting minutes if she's looking for the actual numbers okay thank you all right thank you thank you John they're waiting for something from Scott correct yes okay um okay well let me ask a question okay margar I'm looking at some of the background here and the original request talked about totals fiscal 24 and then uh except at the beginning fiscal 25 we're talking about fiscal 25 yes there's no sense of talking about fiscal well we can use it as a sure in this that was confusing to okay the other thing is when you talk about books and and and and and print and eagle and pens I mean how many if I if I asked how many books did you print last December you have that figure right I would have I don't have them with no okay or how much you spent on with Tona Etc um I have what we spent on printing for last fiscal year if you'd like that well I yeah I'm not going to hold this up to ask of those specifically you have to base them on something printing is a cast a broad stroke well most of this is for printing of the books registry books which the records are okay in um last year we spent over 167,000 on books on books well all Printing and all Printing and again I I also I I think it was noted in the register's letter there's been changes to certain laws for instance the homestead law our pamphlets our informational material that's dropped off at every city and town hall is out of date MH um you know we haven't updated that we didn't need to for 11 years or over 11 years the last change to the homestead law was 2011 um so you know I think the the taxpayers deserve upto-date modern information that can inform their decisions okay now we have an ongoing relationship of course with our uh advis board and they meet two or three times a year for these supplemental requests correct yes so uh if you if we get we were to give the registry 100 approve your supplemental request to go to the the The Advisory Board of 105,000 do you anticipate uh in May you would need more money we may just as the school may need more but I I think that our de I'm not asking the school I asked them that I'm wonder I can speak on that I don't we don't rest please we we don't anticipate we very rarely go to The Advisory board for supplementals this is the County's second this is our first the registry's first request I hope chairman that this will cover us to the end of the year I think we've done a good job staying within our budget okay I just want to allude to the fact that that you know we we can have another bite of the Apple if it's necessary and I don't think we've ever tried to restrict you on running the registry in a proper manner I even questioned it and uh I'm going to support some something here but I don't think I'm going to support $105,000 because we can always come back in April or May if you need more money and do it and uh would appreciate whatever you find fit to give us um but we do think it's supported in that's what we're going going to do today we are going to do margar we are and again the the the the message we're trying to deliver is that if additional money is found not found needed needed you can come back again and we we will have I know we have another Advisory board meeting you know in a few months so as the chair has said okay I appreciate that thank you okay you're welcome okay Commissioners what what what about 5,000 for the registry for the supplemental request what was the figure uh I'm sorry what the um appropriate number based on um oh God was it what's the number Mr chairman 65,000 60 a half I don't have I'm waiting for the Wai for that paperwork dollars and cents at the end yeah wait I don't want to give you a broad figure I want to give you exact right I know so I don't have that in front of me now right yes okay okay would you like to take a brief brief resell so we can come back with the figures they see him rustling around out there yeah it's not F though oh well um okay while we're waiting for a figure I will be in a five minute recess thank you thanks five minutes five minutes five minutes go ahead back on the record great all right so as a part of item 14 the fiscal year 252 supplemental budget and transfer request I like a like to make a motion um to approve in part the registered supplemental budget request dated December 5th 2024 requesting the transfer of funds received and previously deposited in fiscal year 2025 into the Deeds excise fund account as follows uh main group number two subgroup 295 Printing and the amount of of $37,500 main group number two subgroup 2 299 miscellaneous contractual services in the amount of $7500 main group number three subgroup 362 stationary and office supplies in the amount of $1,500 and main group number three subgroup 399 miscellaneous supplies and materials in the amount of $6,000 for total transfer amount of $52,500 which amount exceeds the amount previously budgeted under masteral Law chapter um $64 D and that's uh half the number that's been requested and it's with the understanding that um as the fiscal year moves forward this can be um there can be another supplemental can be voted that's right that's the understanding as we said if the uh need arises and it may and if it continues to Trend up we could uh move forward in order later date so I'll second that motion as presented okay on the motion any further discussion okay I'm going vote on the motion all in favor three to zero the motion passes okay now I have a further motion for uh the entire um second supplemental budget and transfer request and the total amount of 1,697 7692 which includes the motion with regard to the registered supplemental budget request found the motion with the total supplemental budget request of 1,169 7769250 and second all in favor thank you yes yes so margar you need more money and everything's still trending right just come on back okay all right thanks guys okay number 15 General scheduling discussions I mentioned last week that the end of the year is here that's a good thing but we have a lot of ceremonial duties at the end of the year as well as budgetary etc etc so I wanted to leave here today yeah with the calendar starting next Wednesday oh okay yes yes all freeway yes that to include year Ender meetings meetings regarding any subject as well as Opera applications we're looking for a meeting for the next County Commission association meeting yeah and we're looking for meetings regarding the swearing in and we have made some phone calls for the state relative to when we should be sworn in and we may need uh assistant director Buckley is here to help us and uh I'd like to come up with a a calendar as best we can and I need a reminder about what we do we leave a meeting open is the end of the year or is that it yeah yes you do we do okay so let's let's let's go with the easy one how about next week let's start with that are we going to start the meeting have our meeting first and then um yes I'd like to I'd like to start at 10:30 or 11: I know we'd be done then by 1 1:30 and then we have a little holiday celebration here at the Commissioner's Office sure how's 11 folks to and department heads um that's the first thing is anyone have any question about next week that's the8 by the way yeah 11:00 a.m that okay we should be let t on the agenda but I mean can't take more than two hours would it next week you never know but I doubt it I think 11 is fine Peter what do you think the 11 is fine okay that's next week okay now the following week wait are we taking votes on this are we just We're Not Gonna Take a motion we're just okay fine uh next week is the week the week after that is uh Christmas Day right won't be meeting on Christmas Day how however okay Scrooge John do you the opinion we need to meet on the 24th I believe the Commissioners can um skip a week a holiday week there um there are two holidays that week the Christmas Eve holiday and of course Christmas itself I would ask the Commissioners to consider however the week of New Year's that would be December 30th and 31st uh allow us to post for both days we don't know yet what your business cycle will look like from an arpa perspective but it is the end of the arpa cycle these this is the hard deadline set by the federal uh government US Treasury so we'd like to leave some room for any kind of last minute adjustments as well as near in business that um awaits you so if it's permissible we'd like to take Liberty with posting two um two different meetings one on the 30th at 1:00 and one on the 31st at 1:00 in the afternoon New Year's Eve would it likely be one of those two days it may be both I don't know a lot of it depends on how the closure and the applications the next you have more data of course yep y I mean by the 30th we may be completely in sync and understand how opera is closing and uh you'll achieve a closure of all your other agenda items on the 30th we won't need to meet on the 31st and that's that's your choice but this gives us the flexibility of having that last day just ni okay um Mr chairman yes Richard through you through you of course uh does John know how much Opera money we have left over now after all these awards today about two million commissioner okay so probably the activity would be pretty light could I ask a suggestion as a way of compromise again I'll I'll put my Solomon hat on Peter I I got no problem one o'clock on the 30th New Year's Eve is a busy day and a lot of things happening can we make that 11 o' make it a morning meeting no problem if needed yes no hopefully it's no we're not going to do it but if needed sure okay I mean I'll probably be zooming it but still 11 getting out of the way in the morning is better than the afternoon things happen all right so 11 o'clock on that one if we need it and 1 o'clock on the 30th yep okay how about how about the mul County meeting um you ready to move on to that Mr yes sure um I reached out to the new County director in Barnstable Michael Dutton um he's offering as a host a meeting in barn County the week of January 13th 20th or 27th um so you can pick a date within any of those three weeks and I'll or dates and I'll be happy to suggest any of them back to him for planning purposes so it's your choice I can do all three any any of the three I can't careful careful no no careful the week of the 20th is Martin Luther King week holiday and also MMA some of us might be going to that so that's week um I would go I I would lean towards the last week of January because we don't have Aggie board there wouldn't be any Aggie stuff we'd only have our one meeting so we could do maybe the Thursday the 30th or the 28th Tuesday or Thursday you know maybe or Friday I don't know but that to me that's a better week I think Peter I can for that I I I'm going to attend MMA that's a FR that's the Friday though yeah I think that Mark Forest is an MMA participant too yeah so probably you know with the holiday and MMA I'm saying I think the last week of January is good there's not much you know okay want to try it the last week Peter I assume you're fine I I just want to double check my schedule okay I just got okay before I make a call I'll wait to hear from you okay fair next wearing in yeah um we do have to do it h they first uh three Mr chair if I may uh we did just gonna call you Bill Buckley go ahead we did do a little research I don't know why it's just my head a little research on this um so both you and commissioner uh stad must be sworn in on J January 1st per statute of the first Wednesday in 2025 we did have an extensive discussion with the Secretary of State's office and you are able to do that swearing and Via Zoom with just two Commissioners to qualify so I'm happy to do that we can see if anybody else in the office can hop on a zoom uh at a time that is convenient to both you and commissioner stady and swear you in uh via Zoom because of the changes to the open meeting law because due to co online swearing inss can occur the only other piece to flag is that the register of deeds must be sworn in according to statute before the commission as well so I think we could probably effectuate all of that wow via Zoom very quickly but we can send some emails around about scheduling so it um it just requires maybe a 10 or 15 minute commitment at some point during that day well there's a lot of football games on New Year there are a lot of football games a lot of good games so if we can get it in the morning it' be great if we can if we maybe a little later in the morning perhaps yeah not like not at 8 o'clock I don't want like 8 o'clock in the morning but of course not maybe uh I mean what we're just there's no speeches it's just we're getting sworn I'm gonna have you raise your hand on a zoom and all right I'll you want to do all of us you want to do us all the same time uh I I think it we have to um I'll see what you know the other party schedules are like but yeah it I think I need to qu with the commission that' be nice all right chair what's what's your pleasure I don't care what 10 11 o'clock that's what we can do I believe we're going to be invited to the swearing in of the county clerk if he says it's 10:00 on January 1st oh we may have to modify our plans and dub tail after that or before that other than that I think we're fine and if we have to you know that's ask get involved with other department as we will wait I'm sorry I could he's gonna have his own ceremony too I haven't been told I was told that December 1st yes but I will make a call this week and get specific but can we still do it by Zoom I mean I'm just either way I think we can do our thing by Zoom but if he's going to do his I mean he you may want to go or something that's all I want I'm sure you're going to be invited yeah I can't speak for him at all and I'm not you know oh okay okay the option is there if you if you do not wish to here we can swear you win quickly understanding that it's a Federal holiday and people have other things to do no it's funny I ran to a rep a newly elected rep and um they said the same thing they have to because the statute talks about the first Wednesday of the month right this year the wedn they didn't put any they didn't put any leeway in there they could have said except for New Year but they didn't do that you know but okay we got it doesn't yeah you'll take care of getting the regist uh the commission just where us went Bill yes Michelle where you went okay okay thank you report of the county director thank you Mr chairman just a few items uh the commissioner may recall several months ago the county um made an application um through our um through the state run program for electric vehicle station electric vehicle charging station grant program over the last several months I've been attempting to get some information from our carrier on how that application is proceeding I know this particular program was important to commissioner stavy who I've kept involved on those email strings we were recently informed that funding from the state to support the program as applied for has been uh withdrawn and closed so the application for that purpose is no longer active um the individual did indicate that on street parking charging station programs were still viable and if the county is interested in those we should reach out to him I wanted to just briefly let the Commissioners know today what the status of that application was and get their consensus on next steps if any uh you wish to do you can always Circle back later if you'd like to and have a conversation essentially they've run out of stuff they've run out of equipment that I believe it's the funding the funding from the state so we're he wanted I saw that join excuse me Mr chairman if I may I saw that your you shared with me his discussion with you about Street and I'm thinking how does that serve our purposes in the county I don't understand it I I have a hard time envisioning that commissioner yeah we're not a municipality with uh uh we do own roads and so forth but we don't have extensive curb access where cars would ordinarily charge I I think that might not be the place for us but no I mean I don't think we can if there streets or public ways or towns control them we don't have unless it's a county way and then you got you know I don't know I just I think the poet Lots would have been so much better that's too bad are there any other Alternatives we can explore on this I'm not aware of any at this time um the vendor seemed seem to indicate that a lot of the funding um that was supporting the program has gone away and I believe it was um both federal and state funding so we can certainly monitor the systems to find out if something pops up in the future if that's what you wish who was the fellow he was the former Town Administrator of Milton and he then left to go into this whole field Michael Den Michael Den yes I can reach out to Michael I Know M I know he went to to work for one of the companies yeah he did he was doing quite well would it make sense to reach out to him see if it can help us out I will be happy to do that and give you a report that'd be great he's still around he's still in Milton yeah okay I'll set on that one um the next item I just want to let the Commissioners know that as you probably understand we have begun our conversations with asme for our upcoming collective bargaining negotiations the contracts and June 30th 20 25 we recently held uh an introductory meeting to set ground rules and I sent out a a letter to each of the affected department heads the registry engineering and Facilities to find out from them respectively if there's anything within the existing contracts that they would like to uh weigh in and contribute some thoughts on I expect to hear their thoughts by I think it's December 16th prior to our next collective bargaining meeting um I just wanted to alert the Commissioners that the registry of deeds the register had come in a couple of weeks ago asking for or announcing his intention to post for a head Clerk and a principal Kirk position um with respect to following the handbook the commiss the uh commission has guided the register to follow the handbook following that meeting um our Human Resources Director U Michelle leini reached out directly to the register and um his staff and she report reports that as of December 5th has been some progress working with the register on each of these postings uh very briefly the register presented his intention to post for a principal Clerk and a head clerk uh he handed the requisition for the positions that day to us but the positions had already been posted furthermore the posting had not been previously approved or reviewed by HR some of that work is now starting to catch up Michelle continues to try to work directly with the register and we see some positive progress on that matter and I just wanted to reflect that in the public comment uh of my remarks today so the Commissioners know we're trying to work with them and it seems to be favorable as of December 5th and then finally um another matter involving Michelle uh I want to give her a lot of credit and certainly Michelle you can join us on the call if you'd like several months ago uh Michelle made an application to um our lost control leader at Mega who we get our um um best education and Grant Association uh work from she made an application for I think it was oosha training is that correct Michelle that's correct but I give the Commissioners a little bit of insight on what happened next yeah so just to give a little background on this all current Mega Mega members are eligible to apply for up to 5,000 of financial support to implement loss control and safety initiatives so the grant included training that would lead to increase safety health and well-being of our employees so um HR partnered with the super intendent of buildings regarding the Grant application and northfalk County submitted the Grant application for oser 10 training for the maintenance staff and we were awarded $3,999 excuse me $3,990 of the $5,000 on December 6th for that training and process so we'll go through the training expend on our fund and get reimbursed we'll take it nice work but I wanted to thank Michelle was very nice work these are the the small things that really have an impact on our personnel and certainly as a safety training component I think it's well placed so thank you Michelle nice job that is all I have this afternoon Mr chairman okay last call any items not anticipated I do not have any quick question I is just real quick but through you of course to John opioid task force checks are those going out yet no sir um while we're in the space thank you for bringing that up commissioner while we're in this face of closing out ARA we're pretty much consumed with that exercise I was pulse the opioids awards after the New Year if you don't mind okay that's all I wanted to know okay sounds great please motion to adjourn second motion to adjourn to seconded comment that we are on our way through a 600 PM meeting at the northal County Agricultural school yes motion withj all in favor thank you very much early