##VIDEO ID:9Y_DGrLWjL4## good evening everyone and welcome to the South lck select board meeting for Monday December 16 2024 5:15 pm. held here in the land use hearing room present this evening is myself Jason Peron chair Vice chair Diane Gail clerk Mr Doug mowan CEO Nicole Parker and assistant CEO naen signi um we're going to start off with the Pledge of Allegiance lieutenant tager to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which it stand one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all thank you lieutenant first order of business is item number three is going to be public comments is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak sir could you state your name and address for the record please my name is Tom and I live at C Avenue in come on get you what are we here to talk about um we're going to be talking about paint stewardship this evening and I appreciate this opportunity to share information about this environment m al significant uh legislation that's currently before our legislature um as you are probably aware I'm a retired chemical engineer and a primary care physician who while a member of the Dalton Waste Management recycles committee was dealing with the same waste crisis municipalities across the state are dealing with no landfill calling our waste out of state and dealing with the cost of ever escalating disposal uh paying stewardship was discovered while looking for alternative the concept seemed perfect and after visiting Connecticut uh New York and Vermont to uh make sure that the program was well received by retailers and by consumers I became an advocate for this legislation in Massachusetts uh so what is paint stewardship it is a program that allows residents to discard unwanted liquid latex that don't have to dry it out in oilbased paints and participating paint retail stores any day the stores are open without a disposal cost and without regard for where the paint was purchased participation by retailers is voluntary there's no arm twisting and almost all small retailers do participate the retailers collect the return paint and Tot so when the tote is full they call a non-profit called Paint care organized by the paint manufacturers to pick the paint up and uh follow it through uh a plant where the pl paint is re Blended and sold to entities like restore and Habitat for Humanity the oilbased paints are incinerated uh in cement plants so the ash actually gets integrated into the cement so there's actually a net of nothing going to landfills uh even the containers are recyclable the consumer's part is paying an extra fee of 75 cents to a dollar per gallon at time of purchase um and this program is operating well in all of our neighboring states except for New Hampshire the reason that paint stewardship is needed is that Massachusetts generates 6 million tons of trash annually but only has 3.2 million tons of annual trash incineration cap passing the remaining trash needs to be landfilled with only five active Municipal landfills in Massachusetts and no new landfills plannned therefore the majority of the remaining trash needs to Bea to places as far away as Ohio and Alabama uh the product stewardship approach which paint stewardship is just one entity um Can can be applied across the wav stream to other larger items such as mattresses solar panels rechargeable batteries and so forth which are amenable to this approach and this will all help us decrease the this expensive burden the benefits that uh southw will see from paint sturch will be first it's going to be a service that your residents are going to Value the desire to recycle rather than discard has resulted in between 30 and 60% of the latex returned to the Enfield Connecticut sh Williams store each week coming from Massachusetts residents I think that's amazing also notable 92% of 735 Western Massachusetts residents dropping off items at seven different household hazardous waste days signed petitions encouraging their legislators to become co-sponsors second uh this will present no cost to municipalities and will decrease household hazardous waste day cost by approximately 50% it will also significantly decrease the toxic waste that occurs more often than we'd like when oilbased paint is discarded inappropriately and we'll begin addressing the solid waste issue by decreasing one category of waste going to our landfills and it will be a model because it was was developed through the cooperation of retailers manufacturers consumers and government agencies um for future product stewardship legislation uh and as we noted earlier it will'll address stuff such as mattresses and pack packaging the resolution being considered is consistent with the state's plans the MMA as a supporter and the mass DP and their 2030 Solid Waste master plan calls out product stewardship in general and paint stewardship in particular as solutions to get to its goal of uh zero waste in 2050 so so you might ask well then where do we go from here well fortunately we had an unusually strong support with 29 representatives and 12 Senators sponsoring or co-sponsoring the paint stewardship legislation and this impelled the uh environment natural resource committee to uh get it out early from their committee and put in front of the house way and Means Committee and this was an important step however legislators have commented that demonstrating that addressing solid way is a municipal priority through resolutions is critical to compel the Ways and Means Committee and the legislative leadership uh to seriously consider and favorably review uh the PT um paints to which have been send it to a floor for a vote hence I respectfully request the select board put paint stewardship on an upcoming agenda to make possible adding their valued endorsement of paint stewardship through passing their supportive resolution thank you for considering this request thank you [Music] Dr anyone else in the audience that would like to speak during public comment is there anyone on Zoom that would like to speak during public comment seeing no move on to the next item business on the agenda which is going to be new business starting with item a you're going to be interviewing three candidates for patrol officer the candidates are Nicholas bochman Christopher green and Tyler Perez um Sager can you go get the first candidate please I need three each oh hi Parker welcome wel sir thank so interested in becoming South police officer sir tell us a little bit about yourself absolutely uh so I currently uh I live uh in Westfield right over the line on Shaker Road um I'm currently employed I'm a police officer with the town of Becket so I work up in Burkshire County right now uh I've been there for about three years um prior to that I uh worked for the hamton county sheriff's office um very part-time time here and there just kind of getting my foot in the door with law enforcement kind of figuring out whether or not I liked it um from there I transitioned to a full-time position or sorry part-time position in Becket uh as well as Otis and I uh was able to acquire a full-time spot with the town of Becket and I've been doing that uh ever since went to Holio Community College uh I have my associates degree in criminal justice I play baseball golf with them I grew up uh like I said I grew up in Westfield I've been a lifelong resident in Westfield my wife and I currently live closer to the southw side PR of that I lived over on uh like the Russell side of town with my parents but now my wife and I uh we got married in September and living life enjoying my job thank you very much I appreciate that so kind of almost answered number one but uh if you've got anything more to add we're going to start with uh number one is describe your interest in becoming a patrol officer absolutely um so I I I like I said I I wasn't sure whether or not uh policing was going to be my thing and I kind of got my foot in the door through some family members and uh family friends and I uh did parttime for a little while to again just kind of see if it was um something I was going to be really interested in find a passion in once I started really doing the job and doing more more in the job I kind of realized that it was something that I loved absolutely loved doing it I found a passion in it I loved the people that I was working with the people that I was working for and uh I'm was able to do a lot of the town of Becket opened up a lot of doors for me uh just with different specialized things uh same thing with the sheriff's office I was able to do a lot of Marine stuff on a boat I was able to do a lot of ATV patrols with the uh the Sheriff's Office through Becket I was able to transition started off with a lot of instructor stuff so I I'm a sexual assault investigator I uh did a lot of firearms training uh taser training and I found that I really really loved teaching and that was in the very beginning of my career where I really found a passion and teaching uh and seeing the stuff that I was putting out there the people that I was teaching was really were really grasping it and really enjoying the things that I was putting out there and teaching and the lessons that I was providing as my career progressed I found I absolutely love investigations I've been to a few specialized investigation classes and I just I absolutely love it I'm currently assigned as the investigator for uh the town of Becket I handle 95% of the investigations up there and that's it's just what I love about my job I truly do truly do love my job and legitimately excited to go to work every single day why do you believe Southwick is a good fit for you absolutely uh I believe while Southwick is a much bigger Town than I am currently in it still holds small town mentality and it's what I love I grew up on the Russell side of town grew up with friends in Russell Huntington that area of Hampton County and slowly transitioned into Berkshire County uh we town of Becket has a population of 200 people the majority of the people all know me on a first name basis I love the community aspect of the job I love just knowing that the town I work for is is very Pro police they have a good relationship with not only me as a police officer but me as a person um and I truly believe that town the town of Southwick still holds that small town mentality um and that's that's what I find is one of the things that drives me to go into work every single day it's just that that small town everybody knows you they know what kind of person you are uh and you're able to build relationships thank you just describe the most important traits of a good police officer so there are many this job um has a lot of twists and turns um I truly believe that your professionalism is one of not only a fantastic tool but an amazing quality that a police officer can have keeping yourself to a high standard every day doesn't matter who you're dealing with who you're dealing with how you're dealing with them if you're keeping yourself treating people with respect treating people as people and having that again back to the last question relationship with people where you're treating them as another person and not just as a police officer to a person you're treating them as I'm a human being you're a human being I'm going to treat you as such so professionalism and respect I believe are two of the biggest things um police officer can have uh in their tool bag as well as a personal trait that I like to carry with myself Nick how would you handle a domestic incident involving another officer absolutely so in the state of Massachusetts um domestics domestic abuse and domestic violence are taken extremely seriously and there are things that police officers can use discretion on which I discretion is a a great tool when it comes to domestic violence uh there are certain things that this that laws say we must do um doesn't matter if it's a police officer or not if that police officer is the dominant aggressor in this situation they're going to be arrested for domestic violence and they're going to be treated as anybody else that was getting arrested for domestic violence um they just because of their status just because of who they are doesn't make it any different I Dom violence is a huge thing that I deal with up in Becket just because we have a lot of full-time residents those full-time residents um can have issues just like everybody else does um and like I truly believe that you have to keep it the same across the board just because of who they are doesn't make them deserve any special treatment thank you you are transporting an aresty to a booking when you encounter a serious motor vehicle accident what steps do you take in this situation so my job at that time is the um the person in the back of the cruiser their well-being and them as a person is my sole priority obviously a terrible motor vehicle accident comes out I still have to make sure that the person in the back of the cruiser is taken care of they are in no harm to themselves or others I would transition from obviously I can't just ignore it uh it's something that's going to be called into dispatch Fire EMS and the uh other police Personnel that are working on the same shift will be called as well it becomes a very Dynamic scenario because obviously you have to take care of the person that you are already prioritizing in the back of that Cruiser is that's your job that's your priority you also need to make sure that the people that are involved in the accident are okay as well It's tricky because the person like I said in the in the cruiser is your priority can't take your eyes off of them uh I would stay at the scene until other First Responders arrived and do everything that I possibly could to ensure the safety of both the person that I'm transporting as well as the other people involved in the accident thank you yes ma'am Nick can you please describe the role of technology in law enforcement technology from the time that I started um which I'm only I'm very new in my career I've been on the job for about three years technology has been changing drastically I I truly believe that in order to do the job that we're doing now uh technology needs to be up to date needs to be working and the officers using this technology have to to be up to dat and they also have to know how to use the technology uh it's completely pointless if the officers are given all of this technology these the Fantastic gear they're not trained well on it and they don't know how to use it it becomes just a pointless paper weight I believe that officers need to know how to use it because like I said the job is very Dynamic it's always changing the world is also changing around us so things aren't going to wait for people to catch up technolog is the same way we're going to have to adapt and overcome issues whether it's the way the world is the way the people are or technology going to have to know how to use it thank you it's all six questions we have for you okay you have anything you'd like to say I don't just I just thank you all for just taking the time meeting with me I really do appreciate it so thank you thank you thank you for your interest here absolutely if you could Nick could you send in Christopher green absolutely standard now that you know the questions my best friend's name is Chris Green Christine so this is not going to be her coming around the corner okay this is not ni Parker I don't yes so Chris we'd like to be a police house here in South so why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself um currently I'm a senior at Westfield State finishing up I got my last semester I had two classes left to finish um I'm now working uh full-time hours a part-time consideration for the anire county jail as a correctional officer um I've been doing that for part-time and full-time hours kind of depending on the season for the last three years um I uh try to be as active as I can you of in that role do what I can in the community what a little bit they let me do done some kind of recruiting stuff at Westfield a job fair there I've gone into a few classes and spoke last year I got to be a part of like bber some presents and whatnot which was really fun during Christmas time um but um just finished up my uh last year college football um I've done that for last few years started that in about third grade and on so always kind of like to be active and moving and outside and what not all right you gave us a little bit in there in this first question but describe your interest in becoming a patrol officer um kind of uh I've had some role models in my life that have been officers and like kind of always looked up to them um I've also really enjoyed the little bit of gotten at the jail like being out in the community and that kind of aspects and you know kind of showing face in a sense if that makes sense um I also like being active and moving um like I don't like being inside which is kind of the tough spot I have right now with the jail it's like I don't love being inside a building for eight hours a day I like to be out I like to be moving be a part of things I like being a part of a team and to football for the last 12 years um so like all those things I see and being an officer and things I like and what kind of drive me towards that line of profession thank you why do you believe the Southwick Police Department is the best fit for you um I really enjoy the way the town's kind of set up and like the feeling of it it's like it's a big enough town but it's also kind of got a small town feel to it kind of how I grew up in vure town um it's I kind of like the mix of like having that somewhat urban areas but also a little bit of the countryside as well um I think you guys have a just a pretty nice pretty overall like good town as it is you said reminds me a lot of belr town so it's kind of one of the key things that I was looking for and that I liked and so um judging from the people I've met here so far um I think it'd be a think it'd be a great place to work okay thank you so what do you think are the most important traits of a good police officer um I feel like you got to be able to be you got to be kind you also got to be a diplomat you have to be have the ability to kind of be up at the same time but without overbearing in any one of the uh categories um being able to be a part of community and being getting to know your community and showing yourself I think is very important as well as like I said being kind of diplomatic and being able to deescalate situations rather than building them up or you know trying to use Force when you don't always need to a lot of times might take longer and be more strenuous and tedious for you but talking to a situation can be most beneficial for most people than everybody involved right next question for you we have is how would you handle a domestic incident involving another officer you handle the same way you would any other domestic um separate both parties um you get statements from both parties and you end up taking the whoever the aggressors but it deemed to be you end up taking them often times take them in you can talk to the victim and offer a 209a and try and help get that in process for them if they'd like the protective custody or not protective custody um protective order um because that's like an emergency one so they're able to get that pretty quickly um but you treat it the same way as anybody else you don't give them any kind of special treatment it's the same situation matter who it is thank you Chris you're transporting an arsd to a booking when you encounter a serious motor vehicle accident what steps do you take in this situation um often times you kind of have to call it in but at least in I don't Know full guidelines here but with us if we have and a person we're not technically supposed to stop you're supposed to continue to carry on um you can't even though you're in a March Cruiser and you're wearing the uniform that that's your job to help you have to conduct the other part of your job which is transporting that individual um and so you call for help you call for backup and get somebody else there on scen to take care of it but you have to take care of the person that you're with currently Chris can you describe the role of technology and law enforcement yeah it's uh it's definitely played a much larger role now um anything from surve balance to just the upgrade with radar detection for speeding um you get you obviously now you have more less than least La options which are huge um it can help again with the deescalation of the situation um which is nice you don't have to only have lethal for you have the other options which can help um like I said with surveillance you have anything from drones now to just CCTV which can help in an investigation or help if you got a barricaded suspect or something help be able to get a better view on without rushing in and over you know gives you more time to think and plan ahead so how are you with Technologies um say pretty good i' most everything in college now is all computer based which isn't always my favorite sometimes I do like doing the hand of hand of paper but um it's I'm pretty good I've managed through I've gotten through all the Excel classes I've had to do with the environmental science stuff I've done um I've gotten everything submitted the way it's supposed to be in the right format whether it be word PDF or Excel or anything like that same thing kind of at the jail now like everything all our logs are electronic on the computer so you got to update them put them through the system or all the checks all the reports everything like that great thank you all right Chris that's all the six questions we have for you would you have anything you'd like to say to closing um I don't think so then just thank you for your time and your effort your ability to let me be here thank you for your interest here thank you e have a seat have a seat please welcome thank you appreciate good evening Tyler how are you good how are you sir not too bad thank you um thank you for coming in so you'd like to be a South police offer so tell us a little bit about yourself so first of all thank you guys for having me I appreciate it my name is Tyler Perez um so I grew up in grany Connecticut just said town over uh there I spent most of my my teenage years my my Early Childhood went to uh Wells Ro Elementary School uh went to high school where I got involved in uh team sports as well as uh wrestling football um there I learned a lot of things about team work leadership uh discipline a lot of attributes that may translate to this profession um from then uh went to the Collegian level um went to uh Central Connecticut State University uh where I ultimately uh majored in criminology and minored in Psychology um along the way I got involved in a lot of extracurricular activities uh CCSU criminal justice Club um there my responsibility was recruitment a lot of what's Happening Here is uh I had a little bit of experience with I'm trying to get more uh people a part of the the club um there we were able to communicate with a lot of different agencies that opened up a lot of opportunities for myself and others and the community of Central Connecticut I did a lot of volunteer work with the uh police explorers of Vernon Vernon Connecticut my main responsibility there was PT um have some extensive experience with physical fitness uh amateur bodybuilding so on and so forth um just one of my hobbies that I do so I got involved with that my sister who is actually a big part of why I wanted to become a police officer she's been a police officer Vernon for approximately two actually no more than that now almost four years now and I did a ride along with her and instantly was hooked to uh police work just saw how she had an impact on the community saw the way she was sogging people um saw her day-to-day activities um and realized that this not your typical desk job and something that I found very very attrative for myself um ultimately leading me down this path you know graduated with my degree on criminology um minoring psychology um that was approximately one year ago ever since then I've been very eager to uh be part of law enforcement see what I can do um I understand that these are almost unprecedented times for law enforcement I understand it's not easy to be an officer these days um however I don't see that as something to be discouraged I actually am more motivated and encouraged to be a law enforcement officer because of this because I get to show my skills show to the community that you know law enforcement officers are exceptional people they do exceptional work it's a huge responsibility and I'm welcoming that responsibility I'm ready for that um I think my skills and experience have prepared me for that um from going back a little bit I jumped a little bit ahead but I did work part-time in a psychiatric hospital as a psychiatric technician um there I was trained in deescalation restraints uh so on and so forth things that I can translate well into this field um I learned a lot about verbal deescalation um I found a lot of times nine or nine out of 10 times pretty much you know situations that are escalating or people may become violent um can actually be completely avoided uh by just talking to the person like oneon-one or uh so on and so forth Just treating them with respect and most of the time that's what will get you out of those situations um right now I am a service adviser um actually every now and then I do have those situations where things are a little tense with the customer or there might not be a complete understanding there and I'm able to get get a resolution uh relatively easily and quickly due to my prior experience um also did an internship as part of my criminology degree with the subfield Police Department got to experience a lot of things on day-to-day activities ride alongs um writeups um writing up tickets so on and so forth pretty much your day-to-day police activities um there so my my interest in law enforcement is growing to this day with these with this application I'm really hoping that really be I'm able to make a difference in this community so that's what I'm looking forward to that concludes my answer I think you answered question I don't need to ask go right to question two and we'll go from there that was Tyler why do you believe the southi police department is the best fit for you I think it's the best fit for me because I did grow up in a small town um I understands the the Dynamics of a small town community very tight-knit Community I know people know each other very well here same thing with my town I you know I still have very close relationships from people from high school can't believe high school was five years ago that's kind of [Laughter] crazy but you know still have those relationships and I just think um I can make those relationships as a law enforcement officer I don't really want to make myself out to be I want to be like when I'm seeing someone or interacting with someone of this community I don't want to say I'm officer this I just want to let know hey I'm Tyler I'm Tyler PR how can I help you kind of put that guard down put that shield down for a little bit and have them realize that I'm not just a law enforcement officer I'm I'm a person just like you and I'm part of this community at the end of the day I am also a citizen I'm not above the law I'm not not any different than you um so um going back to the question I want to be part of this community with 9,000 people I want to get involved in the um the the events that happen here with the school uh I think school resource officer would be a good fit for me I think the Marine unit as well I believe it's been a decent swimmer but I think that's something I can get involved with as well and really just understanding this community on a deeper level I've always Crossing through here for things as small as going to the gym here in Southwick taking a going to a haircut in West Westfield um and every interaction I've had with everyone here has been very very pleasant and I just want to be part of this community not just law enforcement officer but just be part of this community that concludes my answer thank you Tyler okay can you describe the most important traits of a good police officer so there's a lot of traits that go into being a good police officer I think number one is honesty that's where it begins with being transparent with people before this whole body cam thing whatever it was I you know I think it's imperative that all law enforcement officers body cam are not be honest at all times through and through um I think uh you know telling a person if you know if you can tell a person why you're pulling them over just tell them why um and same thing goes for court if you have to go to court and you're being asked questions you are sworn to Serve and Protect and you are also sworn to tell the truth and I know police officers are held to a higher standard for that they help a standard to always tell the truth um I think having Integrity as well is another important attribute I think being disciplined I think never deviating from your training or your processes is also paramounts being a great police officer uh because if there are deviations if there are Corners that are cut you know in this profession that can be life-threatening and I understand that so um I think following your training through and through no matter what it is you can have a thousand traffic stops all it takes is one to change your whole life um so I think being disciplined following the process I think understand the chain of commands understanding that there's people in this profession that have more experience than you that can understand things a little bit better than you being able to listen to people having good communication skills deescalation that all all these things Encompass a a good police officer not just good police good police officer but a great police officer um the officers that are seeing on the news you know time and time again not for the bad things but for the great things they did um so that's something that I think actually 99% officers do on a daily basis just not talked about other attributes I think it's kind of something that people don't really talk about too much but have a personality you don't have to uh know be super serious all the time there's definitely time and place for it but um I think being relatable to people is something that's kind of overlooked um and police work so I think that that comes together a lot with all the other attributes that we talked about thank you Tyler how would you handle a domestic incident involving another officer so I would handle the domestic incident the same exact way I'd handle any other incident like I said before my previous questions police officers are citizens they're not above the law so whatever process I'm trained to do for a citizen I'm going do the exact same thing and I think if it's another officer I think they would understand that as well um and I would relay that message to them be like hey you know you understand that if you know you're the main perpetrator if you're the one um who attacked this individual then I do have to put hand cffs on and you know despare than anyone you will have time to explain everything um but I have to follow the process just like anybody else so I will not deviate from that process by any means because of that person's profession thank you Tyler you are transporting an arreste to booking when you encounter a serious motor vehicle accident what steps do you take in this situation can you repeat that question sir you're going to be transporting an arrestee to booking when you encounter a serious motor vehicle accident what stes excuse me what step do you take in this situation okay so I'm transporting an arreste at that time and I see a motor vehicle accident correct okay on my way to book it okay all right so little bit of difficult question so if I am on my way to book this individual and I see a vehicle crash is this a serious crash is a yep say serious not no specific just serious okay so knowing that my arreste is under arrest knowing that they're in good health knowing that there is you know AC in the car what what have you that they are secure in that vehicle um I would uh Park my cruiser in a safe position um and a spot where a collision is is not not likely um I would radio in to my uh my fellow officers on the radio get emergency uh Personnel to the scene as soon as possible and if need to be um render first aid depending on the circumstances I'm not sure if the the car is on fire or whatever it is depending on what's going on at that time I'm going to assist in the best way can um however I will always keep in the back of my head there is a prisoner in the back of my cruiser once I do get enough people once there are enough people that can take over I will when appropriate dismiss myself and continue on to the booking process knowing that there's a potential injury in that accident um as a public safety officer I can't just not address that so I think it's important to weigh out what's requires my immediate attention and what may not and I think that accident would require my immediate attention over a prisoner who is handcuffed who is safe who is not in danger to himself or others at that time and assist someone who someone else who may be in danger and that concludes my answer thank you Tyler can you please describe the role of technology in law enforcement so the role in technology is changing all the time I mean me looking the news now there's drones everywhere right we use drones we use drones um as Law Enforcement Officers um use a bunch of other Technologies um as well and I think it's actually a good thing um it's double edge sword because sometimes you know other criminals can use that same exact technology against you um but I think it's for the benefit of law enforcements who to use their body cams to use the uh lesson lethal options they they may have different equipment is becoming available to not have to use your service pistol and end of life potentially um to go to a different method of resolving a problem rather than um someone's life unnecessarily ending um so I think technology is ultimately the future of law enforcement I think it's something that law enforcement should definitely invest in because it can save lives at the end of the day and that's what this profession is all about and they saving lives protecting lives um Safeguard safeguarding life and property and however means you want to do that with technology and funding with that technology I think that's beneficial for everybody not just for the officers but for the community who at the end of the day are the most important people in this in this field of work thank you and you're comfortable with using technology every day yes sir in your job yes sir Tyler um that's it for the questions do you have anything you'd like to say to the board or um yes I'd like to say thank you again and I actually have a couple of questions um one of my questions would be uh for a new upcoming officer what are the most maybe the top one or two things you want to see in their first 90 days of of being certified as an officer what are the things that you guys look for me personally well it's I don't know if they told you what I do so I want you a you know you answered the most important thing to me is communication you were the only one I want to say this that got that and that is the most important thing to me is someone that can communicate and you hit every other aspect Integrity honesty transparency discipline you follow your own Mantra you're good with me I tend to agree with communication I like that you talked about um relationships in the community people knowing who you are that's that's a really important thing to me excellent um and then one other question um thank you you guys as actually already answered it um the most important things um you want out of your your officers what are the things you prioritize the most I think kind of answered everybody but pretty much honesty Integrity I understand that so exactly um I like involvement in the community I told you my number one so Mr mowan I I think it's I you know your traits we're we're very on point and I think you know you've got to stick to that obviously um you need to get through the mptc academy obviously that's a big one and then you've got to complete our very rigorous uh fto program right so yes sir and completing that and you know with high marks so that you can be trusted to be on patrol in the town of Southwick and the citizens can count on you and your other officers also importantly can count on you um is hugely important what are the top uh things in this community that that everyone wants to see get better here in this specific Community what are the what are the most uh what problems do you want addressed um the most in terms of Public Safety well traffic's an issue everywhere um you know everybody is usually driving 10 or 15 Mile and is over the speed limit so I would like to see addressing that um what else do we really see I'm just trying to think run through what I see in police I think we have a if I may I think we have a good reputation and I mentioned this at a meeting I was at recently um there's not a lot of crime written about in Southwick and that's because we have a pretty good police force presence they're seen they're personable the community knows them I hope we maintain that for a very long time that we don't have to report serious crime excellent yeah I would agree I think you know in in in talking to our officers and I think we're blessed right we have a fairly small Department um with a very involved select board that has a keen interest in public safety overall um and as a community there's a ton of support for our Public Safety units um which you don't find everywhere as you can probably attest um and so as it puts a weight or a burden on our Public Safety officials to uphold that and uphold that trust and respect that's been earned by people that came before you for decades sir yes sir I think all of our police force it's hard to look at them and say this without like puffing them up but they're phenomenal they are all they have so much heart into it and you feel that I feel that in this position at least and I'm thankful for that I feel it too feel it too that's why I'm here today so I appreciate everyone time thank you very much thank you appreciate it thanks for coming in thank you thank thank you thank you good luck Mr chairman yes Mr M what's the right answer to number five to what number five the first two gentlemen got pretty much got that spot on he actually based on his experience or black their H in law enforcement hit the points I wanted to see I answer for no experience I said the same thing he would be trained and not deviate from it when he was instructed correct I got it it just was interesting it was a tough question yep yep he thought about it a lot too it was yep because it's you know the way you think is exactly um actually I'd like to get some input from the chief and Lieutenant terer but have him stay for a second got train with hand signals are chief this is probably the toughest one I've seen yet these are the probably the three and I'm not denigrating or downplaying any of the other candidates we have those are the three most well spoken candidates some of which I've ever seen in my entire career so um I I I want to hear your [Laughter] input speak really well you're one a few did you Chief some input please so obviously you know lieutenant and I the had a chance to put these three candidates forward you know we thought very highly of all three even going back to the previous interviews with the sergeants we pretty much got the same feedback for them for interviewing we didn't look at their notes we basically came to the same conclusions that the first round interviews did as far as ranking those three candidates you just had all right like it uh Lieutenant tager would everybody pretty much hit the same point as what I was I was told so kind of right on point with when you guys did your second round I agree with the chief um there they're very well spoken for being as young as they are not that I didn't notice that years now I feel been a lot longer than that um years really what we want here in this field where we're not getting a lot of quality candidates I can't believe we've got three that's that stood out to me we're lucky to get one that makes it all the way through I think that speaks volume to our department too right we a we've done a good job of recruiting B people want to work here especially once they meet Sergeant kooka and um not the chief well them too but they got to go through crooker first right so um not an easy job as I said no um and I think I also I think we should recognize naine here too because she was integral to this process and I'm interested to hear her thoughts I also want to know that or or just get on the the record and this Probably sounds like the political answer but it's not in that you've got three applicants for two spots today but I think that that number is going to change as we all know in the not too distant future so I'm glad that all three of them got the hand signal to stick around so we can message that properly no matter how this goes um to to not be discouraged and not lose hope because there's you know forthcoming opportunity in the space so how did you see it same way everybody else thought they were all fabulous candidates and them all the same and we'd be lucky to have any one two or three of them Chief your recommendation my recommendation would be you to offer employment to in time well looking for a motion Mr chairman I would be looking for a motion uh I would make a motion to uh offer the positions subject to the yada yada to uh Nicholas how do you say that bman and Tyler forz TR that was the same order I ranked them I'm happy to say we were all in that together so I second that I will say number two it's skin of the teeth No Doubt yeah no doubt it just these three blew me away uh like I said I've never and I've seen a lot of them seen three candidates so lack of a better term perfect for what they're looking to do and enthusiast you know and I mean not to continue to go on that's usually Mr mogan's deal but uh you want to roll call you know to have the psychiatric background that Mr Perez do that that might be helpful dealing with us yes there you go um I would um so that was seconded you the seconded Y roll call vote Jason Peron I dang I Doug mland yes thank you thank you Chief thank you nen Nicole great Jobing thank you yeah good job everybody thank you Sergeant thank you [Music] Chief yes yeah Mr M if you could give your rundown what you'd like to talk about said oh sure gentlemen said it so eloquently well the chairman said that that was the three best interviews he's ever seen I don't know if I'd go that far they but they were really really good and I was just mentioning T Dean that it reminded me a lot of the interviews that we did for two officers that are still on our department today um and um if I may Mr Perez I I may have to check your driver's license that you're old enough to actually drive from this meeting cuz I said the same thing to uh now Sergeant Bridges when he interviewed with us uh seven or so years ago now I believe um did you hear how the result of our vote went I didn't hear anything sir okay so go ahead Mr go ahead so we did make a motion that was seconded and voted unanimously um to offer employment to uh you Nicholas and you Tyler however I just want to be um Chris don't be discouraged we are kind of aware that there are going to be additional vacancies in the southw police department in the very very near future and I would I would strongly uh Su stay in touch stay in touch don't go anywhere and um you know strongly suggest to the Command Staff here and naen that should another role open up on the department that I don't know that we necessarily need to go back and reinw and re you know rolic candidates this was a a very very tough decision um so please don't be discouraged and you know keep in contact with us and we'll keep in contact with you in the very near future okay thank you all three thank you thank you really and congratulations Cong and we hope we'll see you soon sir thank you very much thank you welcome thank you much congratulations thank you will be congratulations great interview thank you three down here oh yeah and she wants the I'm assuming she wants the as well probably okay those next is going to be Item B the annual renewal of class one two and three licenses so we have no class ones neck no class ones Mr M was nice enough to inform that earlier and so we have the we're going to be looking to renew um I'm going to do this in an Omnibus we're going to be looking to renew the um class two licenses for a andz auto Country Auto Allen's Affordable Auto brist Mill Motor Motors JD's autoare Walt's garage KK QB claim and Grant best auto sales sa Zella Incorporated Saunders Auto Sheridan's Protek Auto Silk Road Motorcars and salic Motors those would be for the class two licenses would would be looking for a motion to approve those licenses motion before before the motion I just want to get on the record I always have to waltz Auto is controlled by an entity there may be an officer of that entity that may be involved with my employer if anyone objects or if you object I will abstain from voting on onbust motion or we can call that one out specifically and I'll abstain from the vote you've made the notification we're good with so did you make I believe I'll act fairly then I will second her motion all right roll call vote Jason Peron Doug mlin yes all right next is going to be the class three licenses this is pretty easy and easy solutions is the first one and mass used AO is the second so i' motion to approve those licenses second roll call vote Jason Peron High dang Doug mowan yes next so we're going to go with common VI vict um non-alcohol we're gonna be big we're for Big Y number eight blossoming Acres conoman Pizza delera d& J's Hash House bris Mill Cafe kettlebread Deli King yen two lpj Donuts Lori Donuts McDonald's Mrs Murphy's Donuts new Main Moon I never noticer pastaeria Italia bride Stores Incorporated souck food Mark Southwick nutrition summerhouse the cottages at Southwick and the notch i' would be looking for a motion Omnibus motion to approve all of the non alcohol common victuals motion M second roll call vote Jason PR I thank Doug mlan yes next is going to be the common victual alcohol licenses during with American Legion number 338 black board congamond Crepes Tea House Edgewood Golf Fusion Hilltop Cafe the wick lucky stop Millie's Country Store noras oen cake rail trail ale housee Roma Saunders package shab 's mobile Southwick Inn Southwick package State Line Station sart LLC The Brass Rail Franklin house the launch the ranch golf course Tuckers Village Pizza New England disc golf and Westfield River Brewing Company motion to approve those liquor licenses and I'll make the same declaration for that and second the motion all right roll call vote Jas forone I than Doug M yes next item is new business um Al Lies We need to item D is recognize and approve the donations of $25 to be put in to libraries gift account no that was the alcohol we just list oh okay gotcha just question on which one check from theer good so I'd be looking for a motion to approve the $25 donation to be put into the library's gift account motion made second roll call vote Jason yes okay we're going to recognize on item D and approve donations of $430 to be put into the cic animal control medical fund and cic Animal Control gift fun donations are going to be um from M cavaler Portland Oregan vnf palange Hagan Mass J Pula from Springfield Pioneer Valley Sportsman West Springfield Mass Scott or beast Scott Druids Lane West Springfield Mass and general donations of H heyen from Westfield and P Turner from Granville make a motion to accept those donations as read second roll call vote Jason Peron I than you I dou Mogan yes next is gonna be item five and we need to uh acknowledge and approve the Open session meeting minutes from December 9th 2024 to accept those right second as amended yes second that's just us we were still in the open so no we did so yeah did you wait second yes go call vote Jason PR i d i Doug Mogan yes next we need to acknowledge and approve the executive session meeting minutes from December 9th 2024 I don't have you weren't there you weren't there oh that's right oh that was that show move I was there but it was there for itain second roll call vote Jason Peron abstain than dou Mogan yes we are going to go on to item six acknowledge abl warrant number 215b dated 129 2024 in the amount of 1, 26432 3.31 and it is that size as it is the school payment that is quarterly inserted into that payment looking for a motion to accept that yeah we just acknowledge just acknowledge it and I now item seven would be looking for a motion to adjourn any other New or Old business from anybody not today nope motion to adj Second roll call vote I yes