##VIDEO ID:LNAQd6ES1Aw## good evening everyone my name is Laura shiffon and I will call the meeting to order of the select board on this January 7th 2025 happy New Year everyone we could stand excuse me need Veronica Cal pres from present and along with uh Sabrina and Nelson U please join me for the pledge of to the flag of the United States of America the rep indivisible is that window open it is not okay I would like to thank all of our First Responders our veterans and those currently serving in in our military I have to thank you as well I would like to thank all the town's people who are supporting the town in trash collection by purchasing the purple bags thank you you're welcome a good note the meeting is being recorded and will be uploaded to the towns and YouTube channel and for one point4 Chairman's additions or deletions I do want to add and or and keep repeating that there are vacancies on our boards and that um if you have an expertise that you could donate your knowledge to the town that would be very much appreciated the volunteer form is on the website um 1.5 review and approved minutes of December 12th and December 17th Veronica I'm G to make a motion that we accept the minutes of December 12 2024 I'll do them one at a time okay um I'll second discussion um I don't have anything okay and I don't either I didn't see anything okay hearing none so roll call vote do we need a roll call no actually I we can just say yes right yeah because it's just us yeah we're all present okay so December 12th is approved oh just all those in favor I all those in favor I all right um and then I make a motion that we accept the minutes for December 17 2024 and I'll second any discussion I have no discussion and I don't need so saying none all those in favor say I I I thank you very much are approved so this evening we do not have any appointments and number three appointment of official officials Personnel both of these but um so are you guys here for the are you here for a particular reason no we just came from the okay fine Happy New Year I can relate to that uh 3.1 do you want me to make the motion oh right ahead um I move that we appoint Lisa Struthers as an at large member Dave foli as a tcam representative Carrie wosi as Library trustees representative and laa Schiffer a select board representative to the cable advisory committee effective today January 7th 2025 through completion of the Comcast contract in 2025 okay I'll second that motion and as a side note we still have remaining vacancies from the finance committee I have talked to Don Hayes he was gonna try to get B short really you need one from the finance yes it's for the concast contract for theast contract find um Carol um oh maybe anyway but it it has to be you have to let us know after your next meeting okay okay because we don't have a submission all right from from Finance okay and then we have a position for the second at large representative and also from the Council of unaging Representative and just so that people know you don't have to be per se a member of the Council of Aging say committee or uh or a member of finance committee actually um but you can be appointed by either one of those boards or committees to the selectman to be on this so having said that any further discussion nope um hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes 3.2 would you like to make that motion sure um I move that we have appoint Kobe streer is conservation agent to the land use Department with effective and start date um January 13 2025 and I will second that motion any discussion we're we're all good to go I've um been in touch with Colby okay and he's um gonna take the first Mac course tomorrow evening oh great so uh we signed him up for that so he's well on his way to okay and then his his start date is January 13th correct okay so that was the discussion all those in favor I I and welcome to co to kby yes look forward to seeing him here 3.3 um I move that we appoint Aaron steepfield as land use coordinator to the land use Department with effective and start date January 13 2025 and I will second that motion any discussion um I'm excited no I am too um I just want to know that we will be reposting um the position that she did hold for uh grant writer and housing um committee support um that actually has already been posted okay great very good yep thank you anything else did you call um anybody who appli before for any positions uh that um that gentleman that applied um I did let him know to look on the website for okay awesome yep okay um and I think the Erin said we might have received um one or two um interested parties already for the the housing and Grant administrative position oh excellent great so we are already getting some traction excellent okay all right and you'll let us know or one of us know be able to interview yeah absolutely um so um Aaron would technically be this person um supervis so um but yeah we can certainly um you know include one yeah yeah of to to be part of that process okay that would be great um I I think that it would be good to include someone from the housing authority and someone from the Housing Trust um as well because the person is not only the grant writer but also housing support so that's what I think yeah that's I agree with that um okay three point well we have discussion all those in favor I I again very excited for her she's very enthusiastic so I'm thr about that 3.4 um I make a motion to appoint Dylan Smith as temporary seasonal emergency worker to the highway department with effective and start date December 21st 2024 this is retroactive okay I second discussion I know it was a need there was a need to get somebody on because of somebody yeah um so the highway department not only um had someone um go out for medical reasons but um the private contractors has been um um less than in previous years so highway is really short staff to uh deal with um snow and ice operations and actually we just um have another someone in highway is resigning effective pretty soon actually so we're down another person highway so really um well we have to get that lighted sign back up on the common oh yeah for the position yes had the position Highway for a while yep so it seemed it must have worked so so yeah so we're highways really short on staff yeah so and I understand the lack of contractors because it's more expensive to do that today between the gas and the insurance and everything else correct and you know they can certainly go to a neighboring communities that might pay a little bit more you know it's might even be the next town over so um they sort of go where where the money money is and the difference can be pretty substantial could be 51 million understood um and further discussion 84 all those in favor say I I that passes 3.5 um I make a motion to reappoint um police chief James P sartel fire chief Gary Shepard and select board appointe Michael Grimley to the Patriot um recck board effective January 9th 2025 uh with the term to expire December 31st 2025 and I will second discussion um no this is this is the commun uh the Communication Center okay the emergency Communication Center and so the way there yes um I'm sorry so you could amend the motion for effective today oh oh okay so I will do that I will amend the motion to be effective 17 instead of 1 n 2025 with the term to still expire December 31st I wondered if that my question was going to be is there an a reason for the other date so now I know okay I I was looking on here to see when it expired previously and didn't see it but anyway when that um that Communication Center was established they have a board that required these appoint you know appointments from the police the fire and the select board from each town and so this is who was um put in place in 2021 and so okay I'm I'm good with it any further discussion okay none all those in favor say I I and if we both agree do I don't have to ask for any anything else right no I don't think you do do you say I oh I did okay I want to make sure yes I did 3.6 um I make a motion to appoint Veronica Cel to the audit committee effective today January 7th 2025 with the term to expire 1231 202 um five and this is for the audit committee it's it's policy and um oh I guess I should wait for a second there yeah um and the policy uh the committee is for the auditor for the town of Townson and it is a member of the select board a member of the finance committee and one registered voter in the town with Finance um experience so previously when um the the first time the audit committee was seated was three years ago and it consisted of me um Don Hayes from the finance committee and um uh I think I think uh Lynn was on it prior but then she resigned from the anyway it was Dawn and um uh Dave Chanel but the note on here says that Dave Chanel um the term Ended as soon as we we stopped meeting when the um when the Auditors were chosen so that's roselli they audit the books for the town and present the audit each year so that the committee would convene to attend the audit review that they are required to do each year yeah so we're now at a point where um we need to reup the contract which can be done without an RFP when we first came in I think the previous Auditors had been in place for 15 years give or take and they recommend the town of DLS the state recommends that you um change auditors every five to 10 years I guess and so makes sense um so we could just remain with roselli but the audit committee needs to meet so we need three appointees to that um so this motion is to appoint me to the audit committee but Lori I'm I'm more than willing if you would like to be on the audit committee I think I have my own thing I have to do and um no I I second the motion to appoint you the a committee okay but we can change the motion but anyway that's that's what this is so um so uh we we it looks like we have posted for um a dawn has not yet been renewed so the finance committee this is another task for the finance committee we did talk about it and Don is GNA come back on and I'm coming on as oh so you turned in a a volunteer SPS for think you did he told me he was going to do okay yeah that's good that's good so all right so anyway that's the um so this is just to appoint me as the select board back okay and then do we end up does the select board end up appointing everyone um the finance committee appoints one person but we will appoint whoever the that large person is so if if you're um applying for that JN you need to turn in a response form that's all um so okay so that is 3.6 for the audit committee has been Mo motioned and seconded and discussed are we good all those in favor say I I I 3.7 um this changed I moved to appoint Veronica Kell to the capital planning committee effective today 17 2025 with the term to expire on um the June 30th 2026 which is actually after my term as a uh we should make this um whatever the election date is um because I you know unless I rerun which I may um I know but at this point um the appointment should be through uh election day in April of 2026 and I'm sorry I made a mistake I thought you were already on 3.7 when I said I was going on Capital I'm not on the audit committee oh you know J you're welcome to be she's been on plan um from Finance oh so you're the finance person for for audit uh and okay now I'm confused but he's coming on Capital plan and I'm coming on Capital plan but I'll be the person at large at large so I am currently a swor in at large member for the capital planning committee because John Barrett appointed me last spring and I got sworn in in June when being a select then was you know returning to the select board wasn't even a thought in my head at that point um so I am on the capital planning committee but if you were appointed then you would want we would wind up having a select board meeting so we can't do that so if we go ahead and appoint me did you second this already I absolutely did okay 100% um that and I'm I'm good with this but I will then need to turn into resignation to resign my atlarge seat on the capital planning committee um so that will um free up an opportunity for someone else on Capital planning so and I think my my appointment expires in June of 2025 I believe I thinken put something in here about this yeah so I will I will turn in a res ation let me and then there'll be another opening yes so there would be two atlarge positions on Capital planning all right so that's all I have to say on that and I am in agreement I don't have anything further to say okay only that we're going to need volunteers yes to fill some more fors um no further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I 4.1 reorganization of the select board all right I make a motion to reorganize the select board as follows La shiffer chair Veronica Cal Vice chair uh clerk remains vacant until annual toing election on April 28th 2025 second discuss discussion I don't any discussion there's no way that we can even appoint somebody until the election right so that's all good yeah know it's not um no further discussion all those in favor say I I and I 4.2 um okay well let's talk about this let me let me make the motion and then we can adjust as needed I have so um I I move to um assign the select board leaon as follows L Schiffer and elected boards Veronica Kell General government and Public Safety um I'll second for discussion okay um I want to uh first of all I thought we were going to go through here and divy it up but um because this is assigning me to all of General government all of Teresa's I know um I already have that many under the elected boards yeah you have a ton and Public Safety is short so I'm I'm not um but you're G to you're why can't you just do the capital planning is already there well let me let me talk about this a little bit I don't I don't mind taking everything but I want to add another section to this because Capital PL planning is not a liaison assignment the expectations um or I should say the particip ipation if you are a liaison the board of Selectmen liaison and I'm reading this from the policy is not considered a member of each assigned Department committee or board he or she should not actively participate in meetings unless invited to do so or is needed to provide or obtain information and feedback so if you're a liaison you're basically a fly on the wall if you're at the meeting or you're the person that if the um committee has a question or needs an explanation for something they call you or email you or whatever I would like to see a an a committee assignments section that includes the audit committee the P Capital planning committee the mjtc the mrpc and the markboard because those are not leaon you are an active participating voting member um on that commit on these committees so they are not liaison assignments and somehow they've migrated into liaison assignments on this I don't know how this was ever um decided I don't know origin of theis assignments oh well this is a policy that was put in place in 2018 um 2018 yes and it was to um the purpose is to um broaden communication between the boards because there wasn't boards didn't know what other boards were doing and the select board was often in the dark so that was the reason the policy was put in place uh signed into um it adopted by the board of selectman 731 2018 signed by Sue lisso and Cindy King and the third member on the board was Wayne so the policy hasn't been in effect that long but to me it's a good policy I think it's it's wor and I and I think it could probably use some work as far as adjustments on the policy itself well we can talk about that but right now I don't have any adjustments the um the assignments the assignments themselves like you said you want to see a different category I would I would like to pull out the audit committee and capital planning from the uh from General govern government and just make a a another tab because we do have to make these assignments you know but just make it another tab so pull out audit committee and capital planning from General government from Public Safety pull out MPC alternate because I'm looking at this we have mrpc under elected boards actually their mrpc is one from the planning board who's the primary and one from the select board Who is the alternate and right now we have both the primary and the alternate under the select board and one of those should be a planning board member and and It's Complicated by the fact that you're the mrpc um chair um and so and you're on the planning board and the select board and so and if you are on the select board and the rep then you're the alternate because mrpc is planning and and so the planning person gets um gets Tau billing do you see what I'm saying yeah but that's only so I don't think mrpc should be under elected boards at all it should be mrpc um Alternate which can be me and you should remain as mrpc for the planning board I was trying to say this in the meeting where we did this before and it was not coming out exactly clearly but that's why and that's why I said no to being the mrpc alternate because that's actually you because you're the select board appointee to the no you the planning board appointee to the we need to sort this out that's all um we don't have to do it right here right now I'm not running for planning I know but so whatever is happening is and temporary for yeah very temporary but somebody from the planning board should be attending the mrpc meetings Okay is is what I'm saying um and if that is you that's fine and then I'll be well it is me because I'm chairing so then you should not be listed as the mrpc person for the select board it should just be mrpc alternate and that can be me okay do you see what I'm saying yeah I'm fine and then anyway don't we only need one mrpc person from the select board on assigned yes remove remove but move it to a new section make a new category I'll give you my paper Sabrina okay and um and same with uh Mart advisory Bo that should be pulled out because you're a voting member that should be a committee assignment um and you're that person Lai which is fine but you're a voting member on that you can participate in those and you should so um and the other one isn't even on here and that's the affordable housing trust so let's talk about that because the affordable housing trust requires a select board member as a trustee who is a member of the committee and a voting member and it can't be both of us and and I am currently an appointed member to the affordable housing trust so I would like to be appointed as the select board rep to the affordable housing trust and then I will also resign my at large Community member um designation um that's up to you Nelson we can do it next time uh let's do it at the next one because it's not on the agenda and I I feel kind of we doing stuff that not on the agenda so in the meantime all of you out there listening we have plenty of positions available for others to take yes it does not have to be the two of us for everything that's right so but I'm good with doing the general government because you have a ton with elected boards and the public safety um is for the most part the police department and the fire department and and honestly it's not feasible to attend every single one of these meetings as a leaon no it's not you don't have to attend them but you're but if you do attend you you and you should be getting the other thing is um every the boards and committees should be sending their agendas to the liaison that's part of the policy but anyway each committee and board which has an assign theone should use that person as the first point of contact UM the liaison should be on the distribution of all general meeting correspondents for agendas and all that so I'm good with what is with the motion um but I do want the boards where we are not leaon we're actively doing on it yeah and by the way I am also on the bylaw Review Committee just know that so um so I'm the liaison and a member of that committee but that committee is I think I was appointed by the select board to that last year can you um somehow adjust this to reflect what we've discussed yep and we'll add a section towards the end of that list um I'll give you and then all of these um committees boards should receive a copy of the list as well as the proy okay um so that's why discussion on that any further discussion I think we are in agreement um say I I I on to 43 division to April 25 select board meeting dates do you want to make that motion I I don't know what the motion is it's to here April 1 oh I moved to change the April 2025 SBO meeting dates to 401 2025 and 4:15 2025 I looked at this on the calendar and I thought that's what I had um so I wasn't sure why we were oh we had April 8th and April 22nd oh this was another one then where we were doing second and yeah I'm good with that the first and the third the first and the third is what yeah we must have I don't know how this all right so this one's the first and the third but it has been the second and the fourth I I see when we did this in December this was another month where it was the second and the fourth so yeah I'm good I move that we change the April 2025 sew meeting dates to the 1 and the 3 um weeks of the month so to 401 2025 and 415 2025 okay but um the list that I had which is January 9th and then February 6th where are you at well December 11th we were given a list yeah and some of those were first and thirds and some of them were seconds and fourths and I must have missed April feary no this is the mrpc I had that to the pair okay yeah so what you guys had uh the list that was originally given to you um the dates were uh were off so we're just voting to to change it back to the first and third uh Tuesday of each of month this this this motion is only for April right because we moved in the meeting we moved Janu June and July we moved them to the first and third in the meeting but we missed April that's all yeah any further discussion on 4.3 change April hearing none all those say I I I 44 um I make a motion to accept the rate increase for Town Council effective July 1 2025 as preed there second was an executive no no this is the um Town Council rates yeah for um MTC for me toan and Costa I know oh I didn't think it was in executive it's not it was in the portal no no it's under 4.4 in the portal I'm looking at right now it's it's in there it it belongs where it it should be and the executive session is behind it Stu so is there a second I was looking at it this afternoon yes um so we'll just put this in the budget as um yeah as an increase if we accept it correct and um you know uh I had reached out to Adam to get a little bit of history behind it um in in the packet or the SharePoint you'll see the um original contract of MTC um and that was uh $3300 a month and um and then there wasn't a um inre inre until 2021 um and they haven't increased it since so it's been four years since they've put in an increase um so they've they've tried to limit the amount of increases you know um their hours increased during that period too well the budget itself increased okay so uh so he's proposing um $4500 per month as a monthly rate as well as increasing his um his rate to $200 an hour from the current 180 for um additional services that you know he would that we would request of them that's their rate he's going to bump it up to $200 an hour effective July 1 from the 180 that he's currently charging and it's been 1880 since the beginning of the contract in 2018 right so any further discussion me hearing none all those in favor say I I I um proposed amendments for Zing by law okay so do you um this doesn't require a motion but I there's a discrepancy I think um in here under the accessory dwelling units under number four it references um well give this to laori since she's on the plane um there's a a reference to B yet there is no before above um that used to be where we had the um we from when I was on the planning board and we wrote this bylaw they had to get a report from the board of of Health to um state that you know their plans were acceptable and it looks like that's been removed yet the reference to it remains and so that needs to be fixed okay looks like a bring that to um best attention before Thursday okay yep um and then I had a question and I don't know what you want on the mandatory referral from the board but I had a question on the um 55 plus um I want to know is there a deed restriction that makes these in perpetuities as 55 over and if there isn't is there a limit to the number of units total that can be developed within a certain time period because it this allows for um four to eight units per acre yeah um which is huge and um and so far there are three um one developed already two others in the works for 55 and over so if you look at the um but one is only three units well I'm not I'm all I'm saying is how many 55 and over market rate units are really needed in Townsen have you consulted the housing production plan to look at that um none of these are affordable units so there's no affordable component not even a fractionally um you know to this and I know that the three units that were sold or four units that were sold did not get sold to towns and residents because the prices on these so far are so high that they aren't um really marketable to people that live in town um that's because the cost of construction is high so I'm a I'm a 55 and over person who lives in Townson who has a family home who will not be downsizing to these market rate 55 and over and I I don't qualify really for the affordability um and so who is being how is the town being benefited by this is what I want to know and what happens when the town um so we're putting a lot of units in an acre and yeah you have to have town water so I'm not as concerned about the septic destroying people's well water um but what happens when we don't have a 55 and over population will will these always in perpetuity be 55 and over are they deed restricted that's my question um or could they in 20 years um become Family Apartments which I'm not opposed to either but I I just how thought through is this as far as the character of the town and the housing production plan the 55 and over Deeds are basically done by the state when you have when you develop for 55 and over you have to go by their guidelines okay and so are they I haven't read every word but I do not believe they can go back to anything they back believe so well that's what I would want to know I guess um so those are my questions that's all 55 is like 55 is y relatively young today you know and so I think there's going to be I mean most of our elderly population now are are 70s to 90s in town well yeah but but wouldn't it be nice to be able to downsize to uh home in town you can afford that isn't 500,000 so there are other places where in in pitchburg in um not pepp but in pitsburgh Garder um ashram Westminster that have the 55 and over communities that are some are under three and some are over three and they're 55 and over and they're by state guidelines but so why can't we have on in town because it's too expensive to build here in Townson it's more expensive to build in Townson than the cost yes yes it is because the cost of land is higher here than it is in Gardener W so much in Westminster but in wion yes they're in winon I I think there in affordability piece built in if they're at 300 um or but anyway that is my comment on the referral that's all I'm not looking for an answer or even but I'm trying to tell you what the market is in other areas still under theate it would be good if if what was in towns and was I I agree but I also know that realistically it's not going to happen then I don't know that Vol in favor for this density if that's the case um that's that's all because this is much denser than the original it keeps going down and down was on two acres now it's on one acre um so every time this has been and it has to has to have Town water right which I agree that's a good requirement so again you're looking at what the septic what the Board of Health will approve okay I'm just commenting and I'll be there on Thursday okay trying to answer your your we're doing a b I'm not looking for answers I these are the comments and if you're looking for comments from the board of Select from select board members those are the comments on both um I don't have those comments you can actually write them in and sign as Vice chair happy to have do that after okay um so that's it that's my discretion go ahead okay so that's the referral um 4.6 vote on special meeting warrant and articles for January 28 2025 so how are we going to go through the yes um Nelson are we going to do one at a time uh we certainly can um that might be the most logical way of going through it so if you guys want to make the motion and then during the discussion period we can and the reason why it's were that way is mainly because of the um public hearing on Thursday for the the planning board warant articles you know that's Thursday evening so if there's any changes that um needs to be made as a result of that public hearing you know we need a couple days to you know work with councel to uh make those changes to the article um do you want a motion first um or do you want um discussion first because articles 20 and 21 I will not vote in favor of on this town meeting War I will vote in favor of them for the spring uh special town meeting War y but I don't think we should be moving money to stabilization or Capital stabilization until we know what snow and ice is and until we have a final on what we have in free cash I agree because if I go with 136 for stabilization 200 for capital 200k for snow and ice which is not out of the realm of possibilities there are there's 25k otherwise in this meeting we're looking at 561k from free cash and that's a whole lot and I know we'll have other free cash items coming up here and so I hesitate to I do want to contribute to put monies back into stabilization and I do think we should be getting money into a stabilization fund for Capital and building that up but I don't think this is the town meeting where we want to do that if we do a spring special town meeting for example for an override uh question then maybe that's where it could go because we would be far enough along that we would know what snow and ice is but the thing that we don't know is snow and ice so that's the um and right now do we know has have we been certified for free cash not that I'm aware of so we don't even know what our free cash certification is yet so um that's that's yep so I I would make a motion for articles 1 through 19 with this um the way it's written here um but not to include 2021 so Lori I don't know what you think about that I'm in agreement okay okay and uh the um articles have been vetted by um Town Council okay I've made all the changes that they've um Incorporated yeah um except for the three articles that you know for planning board and the big one was is certainly the the playground one which I've I like the way it's written I've tightened up the language so yeah people don't sort of I I did look at I get the wrong idea when they read that article for right for the playground and and and Town Council did look at this then yes yeah correct okay good I had one question article one says available funds in the treasury as opposed to free cash why is that is it because it's a prior year um I I did look at that a little bit more closely um that was actually one of town council's um recommendations or they had a question about um so I am going to revise that to say um for to come from free cash okay yeah should I make a motion I'm move to approve the warrant articles 1 through 19 for the special town meeting January 28 2025 as um presented including placeholders for Warrant articles pending Town Council approval after the planning board PL public hearing on January 9th 2025 second should I put the second part in here too yeah um I move to sign the special town meeting warrant out of session after Town Council review and approval of the S second any further discussion not for me no hear none the boat I I thank you and uh I will once it's ready I will let you guys know so you can come in and sign it and then we can get it to the Constable to post around town when does it need to be post uh by the 14th but I'm hoping to which is Tuesday I'm hoping to do it the 13th on that Monday okay um I think that's what his plan was to yeah because it makes sense our meeting that's the planning board meeting yeah that's the real meeting but you the nth is just public hearing but you guys would have buttoned everything up at the end of the nth the 9th would you need to take any further action on the 13th regarding those articles um I don't know we'll see what happens on the nth okay I'm I'm starting at at 6:30 but then I'm gone at 7 and going to so yeah so we're um I'm planning on um having it finalized and so that we can sign and post it probably the 13 for and at the latest the 14 okay so I would need to come in to sign after the planning board meeting on the 13th for the select board yes to sign the warrant I I guess that would depend if everything is buttoned up um at the end of the meeting I think we'll know by Friday okay I think we know by Friday just let me know I think Adam is gonna be there Thursday night for the public hearing okay okay well we voted that right yes okay 7 4.7 um I moved to create the conservation restriction committee to place a CR in sanook Meadows with um five members as follows one select board member one Conservation Commission Member One um uh endangered species permit holder one Tesa representative and one water Department representative with a a consultant from nhp non voting member but someone from um okay that's not on here no it's not it kind of stopped so I'm going to Second it for discussion and you can explain how this came about when it came about and how nothing was done yeah okay so um taon I know James and Dale and Selena are here um for Tesa and kcom I suppose um but uh this property is owned by the town and it's leased to Tesa they have um it's a three-year lease because that's what the town Charter allows but you want to say what Tesa is um for the audience towns and youth soccer towns and Ashby Youth Soccer Association um and so the town soccer fields are there and um so but there are also protected species on that property in a certain area mostly away from where the soccer fields are so back to the lease they have a three-year lease that is um renewed for three years every three years for up to nine years right now and the first time was 2022 two I think pardon me I think we're coming to the end of it of the but but then there within the lease there's a three-year renewal and another three-year renewal so it would just be that we need to resign but in that lease we rewrote the lease with with Tesa Consulting and um natural heritage endangered species Consulting and the lease allows the expansion of the area so the re and um and the CR can be put on in conjunction with it and we voted on this back in 2022 I guess it was 2023 anyway it was in the works and we had started work on it the board of Selectmen voted to put the CR on the property there was a whole process where the Conservation Commission could have taken ownership of the proper but the or the town could put a CR on it the select board is the the town itself is the owner of the property so that's under the purview of the select board so the decision of the Conservation Commission was not to do the CR but to not to own the property but to have the CR put on it so the select board went forward that way and it was in process but it because we voted it I think in a January meeting or an October meeting and then it started budget work we never got the CR done and then I went off the board and it just got dropped and so the reason this is back is because Tesa H is working on plans to expand the soccer field and I at least personally would very much like to see those plans come to fruition and so but I do think that the species does need the protection and there's a a Well site up there as well which is why one of the members is a water department member or Board of Water Commissioners member maybe I should have said that or appointee could be anybody but because water has an interest in that Hill as where it's the flat as well it's the flats where the soccer fields are it's the hill where everything that needs to be protected is located so um anyway I I so that's why and everything the vote is you know people can look at the meeting for the vote from two years ago or whatever and um and there was work done which when I went off the board in April of 2023 I transferred to Eric but it never went further than that I didn't think James I believe they gave you a template to use yes well to I don't want to say expedite but to help guide and in the meeting minutes there's a um the yes there's because a regular conservation restriction a conservation restriction says these are the things you can do these are the things you can't do either on the full property or in an area of the property and um but when there is endangered species involved it's slightly different the format is slightly different than a regular conservation restriction on say a land trust property or a um you know a a private owner's property so in any event I do have that it's in the meeting I I had transferred everything including I had actually started editing that okay based on we have all the map it but I was hoping it was somewhere in the mix we have all the leases all the like I don't know nine documents in in the packet that we got and um cuz I documented it all when I left the board but it just sat so now that they're coming forward and we the town maybe I should let Nelson talk about what's come forward from Tesa um so um Dillis and Roy which I believe Tesa has contracted with to to you know do this project um has reached out to me um because you know we technically own that land to um give the okay for um for them to move forward this project you know obviously with you know all the perming and conditions to be um you know dealt with down the road but they just need permission from us as the land owners um you know to uh to go ahead with um the project so that's sort of what drove this conversation I guess to begin with a few weeks ago when I reached out to you so um you know if if as a result of this um motion um you know we can uh you know not only get the committee in place but also um you know give me permission to uh give um you know D and Roy you know the permission to to start working on this project would have to meet first before you could actually do that right the committee doesn't have to meet first the CR it's on the same property but the CR is separate from the work that the the um Tesa will be doing and and these can be done in tandem I mean they can be done at the same time but I don't know what so there there is and I I try to Fe because I go the same thing um there is a storm water permit associated with it um because of additional parking um so there's a bunch of other permitting especially you know within Town um that we want to try to work um you know navigate it at the same time as U National Heritage and we've done pre-consultation or pre- permitting with National Heritage several years ago so we already we um used their comments and that's how we ended up with the CR recommendation so that it's multifaceted and conjunction with all the different aspects know takes time to go through the planning board and everything else so you recognize that yeah I know that um anybody else want to say anything more than welcome to hear from you we're just super excited okay this is this is the documents that are in the port hole that have to do with this so do you have all these James um I can forward that to you James um it's you probably do have them somewhere but I had I had put them all together and sent it to Eric in April of 2023 saying hey this needs to so my response so this email and B for Selena is with all of our digital CL F so when you send that to James if you can reply all we all get it I can help keep track of she keeps our Drive organized okay I think you're lucky you have her oh very very so um back to this so is this the kind of board that needs to be there's no atlarge members it's a select board appointed the Conservation Commission appointed the permit holder you know um which is Emily fine I believe is still the permit holder a Tesa representative so Tesa should be notified and a Board of Water Commissioners representative some again it's a representative right so it doesn't necessarily have to be somebody that's Seated on any of those things right it could but they can send a representative correct so and I would like someone from nhsp to consult with us if we um if we need if we have questions just like we did we had meetings with nhsp when we were talking about this and they were very helpful um so to have some say what that is a natural heritage endangered species program of um D Mass D Department of Environmental Protection so Sabrina you have all those uh people positions in the motion okay so the Motions been made and seconded and discussed any further disc discussion um it I think it would be good if we met should we put a date on when to meet so personally I I don't intend so we're going to discuss the conservation um recommendation tomorrow night I don't plan on being the being a person nor do I plan on being the person for tasa just because of my involvement with everything trying to just keep clean but try to questions or I try to offer perspective part of discuss okay all right so well if we could get somebody by the end of January to meet in February that would be good so okay um that means postings will be done that was the question do we need to post for them or is this something that we just notify the boards that are involved and they there's there's no at large really there's no at large but there are people from the public that could seek out one of the boards there or one and be a representative oh I see what you're saying yeah and I'm going to keep verbalizing this through throughout our meetings try to get more people I did think of was I know the had know an intention for that property to be used as it is I really wonder discuss well they they could get themselves a from one of the five positions is it five position I like an odd number yeah it's five official positions okay so certainly you can pick whoever you want that you think is appropriate and and they fill out a volunteer form oh yeah I mean so these would be open meetings and certainly people would be welcome to attend so how would yeah how would we post so would we post it and that would be an appointment after poting yeah we could we could probably post it that way if someone from is someone else is being appointed by the um they could turn in on they're interested in the you know the Tesa wrap or the you know I would think you may have somebody who's very interested in any one of those things got their hand up I'm not evening I have no idea maybe it's Dave ory heartley or Dave okay would someone like to be uh would like to screen share no no no we're good but thank you for asking okay can post it yeah yeah post it I mean I want to put everything out there yeah all right you know that there is you don't know who's got an interest that would really like to you know participate okay um so discussion um oh well do we want to vote on the committee and then discuss the signing of the form make a motion to that for that uh sure yep okay okay all those in favor I I all right so then I make a motion that um that we sign the what's the name of um um so this is the pro project review checklist as the owner of scanic Cl comms uh yeah and um does is the section here that as the record owner or a representative we uh we give permission to submit this request or filing and the request or filing is um site modifications to the to to the fields or that area all right then I make a motion that as the owner of sanook Meadows we give permission to um um to who is that Dillis Roy D Roy to um let's just say we give permission to um allow uh the lease holder to go forward with um the property modification and I would sign on behalf of the town and um for for uh Our Town Administrator Nelson Le to um to sign on behalf of the select Bo okay is there a second uh yes second any further discussion anything we missed hearing none I all in favor I I yay thank you for coming okay uh8 um make the motion you can make the motion all right I move to approve the contract for Mis Services through Guardian for backup Ser services and to authorize the Town Administrator Nelson we to sign on behalf of the S board a second for discussion since I'm not a big fan you want to discuss it I don't have anything to discuss I mean if we need it need it I don't know Nelson do you want to talk more about this um yeah it's a additional service that you know um Guardian provides it's to to back up all of our servers so it is a service here in town huh yes uh yeah there's several um servers that that we have and um yeah so it's I would say it's an essential it function that they I related it to the uh portal um we have it now correct we do have that service now do we not we do correct this is just to you know renew it sort of yeah for another what was the increase in cost from the last it's the same price and what is that uh it is uh 3276 a quarter so um not exactly inexpensive but um nonetheless it's and it's already budgeted correct yes yeah no increase from the last go around so same price any further discussion hearing none all those in favor I I work session AR projects um not too much the report um we had that big meeting on December 12th where we uh voted to reallocate um a bunch of money um you know to um to bridge the the that we uh have discussed at the meeting um so I'm just now working with Teo and NM cares to um provide them the money that we promised we would give them so I'm just working that to uh send them the money that way we can sort of close out those projects and um move on to other other send them the remainder of what we already said we would correct for the rest of the arpa that's correct so they have that up front rather than piece meal yep out what left and right yeah that yeah that's for NM carees um Teo we did problem in the the the walk-in fridge so I'm know they already have plans to get that in place so I'm just um I just need to figure out what we need to get from them in order for us to pay them the uh the money that we promised them whether it's a invoice or some sort of yeah something and where will that money confir um the arpa oh right what we already voted yeah correct yep so I'm just working behind the scenes to sort of make that happen okay so um other than that I don't really have any any um updates no on arpa [Music] questions are we doing the boards I see to it okay no it's not on the agenda all right are are we gonna put that back in or not I guess I didn't take it off but I'm good with not doing it tonight okay all right that's um at 5.1 is Town Administrator updates and reports I have a a few um the pay you throw bags um I'm happy to report the uh the small bags are available right now at hanford's and mcnabs um how much are the small bags uh compared to the big bags see bags were so are they're 250 each and they come in rolls of 10 okay for the small bags correct so it's $25 yes correct for 10 small B yep and uh we have now added Walgreens as a local vendor that's carrying the bags too so another place um um that's going to carry them so we're constantly trying to find uh new vendors you know in different Geographic areas you know just to spread it out a little bit um so I think the red brick is now in West Townsen that they they're selling some too um and is that g to be on the website uh information posted yeah we have been posting uh them as more vendors come on board okay so it is on the board Health Website at the moment what else um the uh electricity aggregation program that you know was U put into effect a few weeks ago um there was a little bit of confusion and I can see where people are coming from and I think it was Veronica and someone else that brought it up um most people are probably received their unitel bills already but when you uh look at it the re date or you know usage period is from like late November into late December that's technically the November read and this um electricity program what was being advertised to everyone was that the starting on the December read you would get the new rate so um so which what this means is the bill that you receive in late January will have the new um electricity rates on it well I look forward to that because I didn't see any decrease this month um and the unitel rates uh have also been published so these are for folks that just you know have unitel um you know as uh you know their um supplier versus you know program that we're all enrolled in and that rate um effective in February is um 15 599 cents per kilowatt hour which is over two cents more than the electricity program rate so um just a little quick math if someone uses 500 kilowatt hours of electricity a month um at these rates you're looking at um $125 in savings a year you know through the electricity program so and you know obviously the savings are more if you use more electricity but I'm just using a baseline number of you know 500 kilow hours so um you know over three years that's you know at least $375 savings you know at these rates so um it's I would say it's pretty substantial and again you know the the savings are only going to increase if you're a household that uses more electricity than you know the 500 kilowatt hours so it's a real savings that residents are going to are going to see okay we we hope so so we'll watch our invoices as they come in yep that's all for your report uh I had one last thing um this sort of came about right around Christmas time um you're probably aware of um the you know MOBA um Hospital closing and and sort of the uh the effects you know um surrounding communities have felt um so we uh 13 communities including towns and actually um sent a letter um and it had my signature as well as uh each community's Fire Chiefs um we sent it to the um to the governor and we basically um told them you know about the the effects the hospital closing has had and you know it's um it's it's affecting us financially so uh as part of that letter we actually requested um each of the 13 communities um we're looking for $350,000 a year for the next two years to um offset some of the um expenses that you know um the towns are um experiencing because of the closures this is from the state you're asking for that much from the state correct to go back to each of the communities correct y it was a letter um um um sent to the governor so uh the the ask was 9.6 million um again it's $350,000 per year for two years to the 13 communities as well as $500,000 to have an independent study done of um the emergenc response system and you know maybe there's some efficiencies that you know can be gained by you know doing a study maybe recommendations as well so um this letter was sent out to to the governor um right after Christmas so you everyone I'm happy I say all 30 communities incl in towns and and the fire chiefs signed that letter you know in support of of this request not yet Mar um she gave a report uh that she sent all of us it was in our portal I actually ended up sharing it um on Townson United and I believe she might have mentioned that letter as well I did see the same email from Margaret and um you know so it was it was definitely a joint effort you know and I think she her and her office we have to do we have to ban together yeah absolutely so so that was 13 communities Banning together with a United message to the to the governor so I haven't heard back yet so but we're hopeful but it it is a large ask it's almost 10 million dollar and you know but um I want I know that we're not in a densy populated area but those 13 communities do you have any idea what the population is combined um affected by that one hospital um I don't have the stats but I believe uh um in some emails we we had that that information available thank you I believe that's all I had oh um the FY 26 budget was uh well underway you know the deadline was yesterday for all the Departments to submit their budgets I believe I pretty much have all of it so now I'm going to spend the next um couple weeks uh compiling everything so then we can have like um you know discussions you know looking diving into you know all the Departments request so so I'll be on that at least for the next two three weeks to get something together so that we can then I believe talk to the finance committee have joint meetings from you're thinking February probably like yeah we we tried to meet weekly um finance and select for it didn't always work out those Saturday meetings you probably remember those Saturday we look at the procedure it says we should be meeting at least twice in February yeah um I I think it would be good to meet um like do a joint meeting every time the select board meets and every time the the finance committee meets yeah so that so that once a week we um we know what would what yeah we're looking at yep and discussing in the last meeting you had two dates in January listed we did were we were so get February and then we had that um budget Summit I believe on Saturday March 1 so that's like a all department meeting and and what is the date for the school committee to have a budget for us um I heard it was February 6 is what I've been hearing there's a joint meeting between the school committee as well as the um Finance subcommittee of theirs um and uh which is actually a good point will Hackler he's the um Finance um subcommittee member um he um I I spoke to him recently and he's willing to attend our next um Board of selectman meeting to go over some of the high highlights of what the what the school budget might look like okay um so I I think he he should provide a lot of valuable information you know to us um I believe our next meeting is not until the 21 he said he would be able to uh support that remotely okay me too okay I'll be here so I'll um I'll extend the invite to him um that way you can prepare some talking points for us but yeah my understanding is February 6th is when they they are presenting the budget and as far as our next well maybe I should wait till we get there okay so there's um I have I have documents that's 5.3 so can I do my 5.3 what is 5.3 because I don't have a 5.3 on the agenda I know we 5 5.2 and now it's 5 two now it's 5.2 which is the announcements and Communications oh yeah that's 5.2 no there's no 5.3 so um we do have a communication [Music] from Kathy spord that James noron has submitted his resignation as a member of the town's Empire AMS Department effective December 31st 2024 thank him for his service that's all I have under [Music] um um the next meeting 5.4 is January 21st but don't we have a meeting January 14th with the Board of Health a joint meeting we do we do is that been resolved is it posted it has been posted yes by them and us is that correct okay yep so it's going to be a downstairs in meeting to and and it'll be zoomed correct so people that want to attend have to attend by Zoom or in person yes it's a hybrid meeting yeah okay yeah so people can attend in person in meeting room too yes and uh I heard that uh Glenn Shaw um from shaww um he wants to be there and he he actually apparently will have a proposal for us um to take a look at that's good it would be great if we could have it in this room so that we could so that it could be um projected live on Channel 9 I I'm I'm trying to make that happen Okay but but if not meeting room two is fine y but yeah glen glen glen um has uh expressed you know interest in coming in person and presenting it to us I think it's great that you know we get an actual proposal at that point and we can have we can certainly discuss it at that time um but also you know we might need to take some time afterwards to digest The Proposal as well you know if any further questions okay so again our next meeting after the 14th joint meeting with the Board of Health is January 21st at 6:m in the chambers it will be hybrid and I will be attending on Zoom okay and FL review and sign payroll and bills payable warrants outside session I I make a motion that we sign payrolling bills P payable warrants out of session second any further discussion all those in favor I and I and now uh six executive session I make make a motion that we enter executive session and adjourn from executive session 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 of the public body and the chair so declares for the highways superintendent okay um second all those in favor I I we are adjourned here goinging into executive at 7:32 p.m. thank you all for attending