good evening today is March 19th 2024 and I'd like to call this meeting to order roll call please J Mo pres Joseph shank pres CH seon deranian presid please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance United States of America stands one nation God indivisible Li and justice for all like to thank all those in service and past service and also our First Responders thank you for your service uh 1.3 um the meeting is going to be recorded uploaded onto YouTube uh we should be live also on Channel 9 and uh Chairman's additions and deletions I do not have any no er no Joe Teresa session hi um I didn't see that it made it on here um but we did change one of the uh funds for Capital planning um the amount that was originally discussed before the board it doesn't require a vote I don't think but I just wanted to make you aware they W put that on the on the second okay just because of timing we just wanted to make sure that we got this this through but yes that was that was moved there was another cou presentation I think yes yes thank you um let's see the meeting minutes there's only one meeting minutes um which uh which meeting minutes that she posted 22224 220 February 20th so we'll we'll move the 227 36 and 39 to our April 2nd and I'll entertain a motion to approve the meeting minutes for 22024 so mov second um any discussion on those I didn't see any issues with anything good to go okay all those in favor say yes Jo sh yes yes right um 2.1 is well actually we'll do the um uh meeting of the um appointing committee for the nishoba valley uh Technical High School and this is to vote on the uh reappointment of Karen Chapman for a three-year term from April 1st 2024 through March 31st 2027 for the district agreement we have Karen on Zoom hi Karen hello Mr chair how are you I'm well thank you how are you I am good I am good thank you for helping us out yet another another time for a reappointment my pleasure um so we have Mr Barrett and we have Jess for who else do we have [Music] fora Sabrina is in our office um so they are U they'll be part of the vote correct yes to to be able to do this so they don't have to we don't have to open anything they on online yes no other members are online it's just just car and you you too all right so I guess I am heard the byw the chairman of the committee I think um so I would call the meeting to order of the committee to appoint Town's representative in the Sha Valley Technical School District and I have minutes from our last meeting which we did actually have last year we uh uh it's always kind of hard to remember to do this when it's an annual thing 12mon old minutes I didn't get to send them out to people online but [Music] uh [Music] think um so uh I would uh I guess ask for a motion to approve the minutes from May 2nd 2023 so moved any questions discussions additions or deletions okay there's a motion there a second just seconded just if you moved I'll second okay all right anything further to be said nothing all those in favor of approving the minutes please say I I I I I don't know if we have to have a roll call vote I know you guys always do a roll call but I would declare that to be unanimous uh would bring us to the main topic of our meeting tonight which is the appointment of CC's representative again Karen thank you for your continuing resolve to serve the town and the Sha Valley Regional School District um do you have anything to say or comment on things or uh I'd just like to say thank you for holding this before my term expires um just uh I I love serving for noch it's a great school and and you know I love the town so I love supporting uh the students of this town thank you well thank you um the um well while we're discussing your appointment I I do do want to mention the fact that we're still looking for an altimate yes we don't have a candidate as far as I know I don't think we got any uh uh volunteer response forms to that effect so if anybody else is watching this and they are especially if they're at alumnus of uh noova Valley uh I think it would be you know a great thing if they would volunteer to be an alternate because right now we have both uh Karen and Sheldon serving as the towns and's representative and maybe once in a while the Chapman would like to go out of town and not be around so together um anyway if anybody knows an alternate please uh please volunteer any any any parents of kids that go to the tech there's at least a hundred parents out there that kids that go to nooba Tech so yeah yeah all right well does anyone have any questions for Karen all right I'll entertain a motion to a point Karen Chapman as council's representative second motion B seconded anything else to be said not hearing any I assume we're ready to vote all those in favor please say I I those poos say no it's unanimous Kon thank you very much thanks thank you all I'll see you in a few minutes all right is there any other business for the committee not being any I'll for a motion to adjourn it's moved second all those in favor say I I those opposed I that's unanimous thank you see you in a little bit we see you in a very little bit okay we'll jump back up to 2.1 one day special liquor license application for towns and Congregational Church um for the event to be held on 51124 um I've looked at everything that we had we didn't have everything was in SharePoint right so you guys get to see all of that um I didn't uh I didn't see any issues with what we've had we've got all the paperwork we've worked with uh Tavern 13 before um so I'll entertain a motion um to approve the one-day special liquor license application for the towns and Congregational Church for the event to be held on 511 2024 so moved second moved in second and any other discussion on that um I just didn't see it and maybe I missed it but is that the auction yes okay do you always you used to have I've never I've G to it every year I missed that okay yeah and they they even had the map too which was important we've been not asking for that before so we we know that it's contained um so if there's no further I paid attention to the map because I'm honest I go every year and I miss the alcohol all those in favor yes SE deranian yes so let me just get this out and sign right here oops excuse me bless [Music] you um 3.1 um I'll entertain a motion to appoint Aaron setfield as housing and Grand administrator to the land use Department with effective date start date of 3:25 2024 so Mo second er do you want to speak on any of that um just to say that um as folks know we uh Alison wisy was our uh housing and Grand administrator um she was doing a really good job unfortunately her situation changed and she um got full-time employment um and this is a part-time 19-hour position so when we posted for the position I was hopeful that we get some good quality applicants and and with Aaron I think we actually got an exceptional quality applicant and we kind of lucked into a life change that she was going through where she was looking to move from full-time to part-time for you know the foreseeable future um she was uh a a town planner in um uh in conquer so she has a lot of experience with grant writing and a lot of experience with project management um I think she's going to be a real great asset when Jess and I interviewed her she knocked out of the park so I'm really excited to have someone get into this process as quickly as she did and to be able to bring her on um with that role that role is is probably going to be changing down the road in a few years anyway with the um the way the uh affordable housing trust has been um working with their plans the Housing Authority also is is looking for um management um going forward too so I think that's going to be a perfect fit yeah she's a very Talent very very very impressive candidate so I think she's gonna do a really good job any other discussion all those in favor CH say yes Jo shank yes chess Sean yes well welcome Aon yeah uh 3.2 appoint Mark fatali as a full-time firefighter paramedic to the towns and Fire EMS department for a term effective 31924 to uh 6:30 2024 so moved second moved and seconded um that's I mean we received the information from Chief Shephard and we're all set to go so there's any further discussion on that oh I'm just why is it just a three Monon we reappoint everybody we do all reappointments for police and fire we reappoint everybody at town around the time of the annual time meeting we reappoint them for the next year for the whole yeah so we don't okay thank you very much BR them in now and do it all one shot after that all those in favor TR Mo yes Jo shank yes chanian yes uh 3.3 appoint Jacob rello as on call Fire Department EMT to the towns and Fire Fire EMS Department with an effective start date pending info from the fire department um what is the EF employee action form okay so there's still I think we got that we got that so the the updated the agenda it's just to effective 319 2024 through June 30th 2024 okay same is same then my motion to uh a term effective 319 2024 to 630 202 for so Mo second move second any [Music] discussion all those in favor CH shank yes ceran yes uh 3.4 reappoint Donna Howard as uh I'll entertain a motion to reappoint Donna Howard as the L Regional Transit Authority uh towns and representative effective 31 effective 31 so second any discussion on that do we do this every year uh no we don't have to do Donna every year but because she went from being a town employee to she retired so she's no longer a town employee we wanted to reappoint her to make it official okay to maintain this role but she was willing to to maintain this um all those in favor Mo Jo anank yes chinian yes thank you Donna thank you Jacob Mark and Aon welcome aboard uh 4.1 request for use of the rest of chapter 90 funds for Highway Eric that's all you um so this is a u request that came in from uh James Smith who's our Highway superintendent um for approval to use the remainder of the chapter 90 funds um the fair share amount that we got of extra chapter 90 funds we received from the state this fiscal year and the pavement management funds that were allocated on the general fund um and um uh to uh do pavement work on the following roads it would be uh to reclaim and resurface blood Road off West Elm Street Mill resurface blood Road off Worcester Road resurface new Fitchburg Road finish a top coat on copper Smith Drive and Penny Lane the estimated total cost of that project would be $441,000 16679 um that would leave us approximately $50,000 for emergency funds for the remainder of the fiscal year um uh and to to be clear so that there's no um suggestion of a conflict of interest I did want to make it clear to with the board and and folks that Sabrina Moore does live on Penny Lane she did not um participate in any determination about whether or not that was going to go into Jim Smith's ping list that was the determination that was made between Mr Smith and myself um and we discussed it obviously at at a prior uh board meeting the um specifics are laid out in the um the documentation that Jim included um and this would uh be the bulk of our Paving for this year included in the SharePoint was also the um allocation that was going to be voted on by the legislature for um funding for the next two years um the governor unlike the has been done in the past where the chapter 90 allocation was an annual allocation has requested the legislature voted two-year allocations the town's know exactly what they're going to have over the following two years from chapter 90 funds and that is also going to include in The Proposal another allocation of fair share money which is uh we got about 20 I think it was 220 or $240,000 in extra funding for Paving from the state this year uh and so we're going to get that extra money again for the next two years according to the governor's proposal that was included as well discussion on that well I I do have some discussion and I don't want to blow this thing up but first of all neither one of those two roads Penny Lane or the other one are Town accepted roads correct that's correct not at this time all right so and I've had many people ask questions about that why we're Paving non-approved town roads where there's so many other roads in this community that are in dire needs and Dire Straits so and I think we had conversation somewhat that there was the bond that was cashed in which should have never been cashed in for 30,000 I get it we have to put 30,000 into that road do we have a real solid number that is going to cost for that road so people don't think we're putting a lot of money above and beyond that yes so the the official cost estimate from the highway department which is included in the in the um in the Shar the SharePoint but which I have a copy of right here is um $7,988 that that includes um I $50,000 a little over $50,000 for the resurfacing um a little over 6,000 for um the catch Basin uh work um and then $1,000 for adjusting adjustment of the water gates I think when this this first came up and Jim was looking at it he was concerned that this was going to be a sixf figure project um but after after he went out and looked at the condition of the road after you know the snow had gone and he was able to do a more detailed estimate that's that's so I guess I'm G to go right back to the roads not being approved once we put this money in Grant you we had to do the 30,000 I get that the bond should have never been spent however are we going to be held liable for the rest of the time where that's still not of town except the road something goes wrong with that road because now we've top surfaced it well I think the goal would be to get the roads into a condition that they can be accepted that's that's I think I don't I don't think it makes a lot of sense for the town to put in money not get them to the level of what what Jim would be comfortable accepting and I get that all right so we'll go back okay there was three subdivisions all started approximately at the same time there Goa Smith way that was being done the one in the sand pit in the harbor where the water department is being done now harb trace and also my subdivision all three of us were in front of the boards and there are very strict rules of what needs to be done all the bond Bond binds you know for the corners and everything we got to figure out how to do this so we don't I mean what are we going to just say okay the road's good enough I mean well it's it's a problem and you accept that road and they down the road not being Town Road that that's that's breaking up or something doesn't go right I just don't want to tie the town up you know we gota we got to be very smart of how we spend the town money and there are a lot of roads in our community need a lot of pavement someone should hold that Builder accountable I know everyone says he's gone he isn't missing ain't dead he's out there somewhere someone should find him and have him held accountable yeah I think it's it's less about the Builder as a person and more about the entity that is is insolvent and so you know when somebody said that's one of the reasons why people set up limit liability companies when they do this sort of work is so that if something goes sideways and they walk away from the project then we're left in a situation where um there's they're that the company that is on the hook is Judgment proof we've got to be better situated in the community to make sure we have enough money to do this fix it AB we can't keep going the way we're going and so one of the things that we know when this came up I actually had a conversation sat down with Jim and with the planning board um the land use staff and specifically said if we're you know if we're going to be put on the hook for these things we need to make sure that the bonds that we're getting are in ex of what it's going to cost us to do these the work ourselves that's my point we have to because we as a community can't absorb a bad Builder's bad behavior I agree I'm good thank you can you say no I mean we had the discussion about this and you know we're into to it to you know the sins of the past I guess and I I will stand on the ground that we just have to make it right and thank I'm thankful that it's you know I thought it would be more than an additional $220,000 which again I wish we weren't in this situation and I hope we do everything to avoid it in the future but we are somebody cash the check and we should correct it that's my opinion okay and I share both of your concerns I mean I agree um that we need to protect our out for future um future issues like this more importantly though um I believe that we have to um I don't necessarily think Teresa it's writing the wrongs of the past I think it's just kind of doing the neighborly thing um you know um it's what's done is done and and I just feel that in order for us to continue to move forward like we have been moving forward we take the precautions um I've had discussions with with Eric in regards to how we're going to move forward especially with planning and and all of that and the those departments are in agreement that this is what we're going to be doing moving forward and let's just take care of this and and and you know unfortunately it's it's in a situation that we're in but I think fortunately we can make a decision we have a relatively um small economic price to pay for this it could be a lot worse it could be so and having said that if there's no other comment um all those in favor TR Mo yes shank yes T TT yes I'll pass these around after for our signature for each individual project that we have to sign off on just we pass thank you um 4.2 Surplus request for Highway um this is a a surplus request that came in from the highway department it's fairly straightforward it's for three um uh items the McConnell pa91 mower um uh the a 1950s generator and a homemade Boom trailer that was kind of welded together by by some of the highway staff um and in abundance of caution because we're not exactly sure whether or not there's any value to this we wanted to bring it to the board just so the board could vote to to um to to Surplus these items the mower may have a surplus value Jim's not sure if the generator the Boom trailer have Surplus value but if they do we're going to try to get SC funds for it so I think it's pretty pretty straightforward so we just need a motion to approve the um the Surplus request from the highway department so mov second any further discussion on it all those in favor M yes shank yes CH ceran yes um 4.3 I asked Eric to give us a quick update on the um I had received um several um Communications in regards to where the um uh the select board is with the energy aggregation project and I thought Eric can give us a quick update on that yes so right now um our consultant good energy we've been working with Ross as our our agent but the our our consultant is good energy they have filed the plan with dpu is currently in the public comment uh period that public comment period ends on March 25th and so after that so we're talking about you know a little bit more than a week or actually little less week um after the public comment period Then the dpu can move towards the approval of the of the plan after that um the after the plan is approved the next step would be working with your energy to talk about when the appropriate time for the town to go out for a quote would be um and that is going to be the point at which we're going to get some real pricing for the the residents to be able to know what kind of um uh Energy savings we can we can accomplish with the with the the plan but right now it's still up for public cment so that's the we had uh it's it's SI C because bills came out and when bills come out that's when we get the question where are we at with the aggregation bills are expensive slowly and we're working on it so I I think that the process actually is is going along the way it should I think it's quicker than I expected um as far as uh where we're at so once we get approved um I think U it'll move in in Rapid fashion thank you Eric for that have you um seen anything lately you know I was reading an article and they were saying that the uh energy aggregation costs um are significantly increasing have you seen any um thing from good energy or what they are right now or any ideas I haven't no we're because we're not really at the point where we're looking for pricing anything now would be a little premature to to try to figure out what the pricing is about that I do know that that when we went out as a town and put all our town buildings out for bid um we got a price that was a significant discount on what we were getting commun so that's the last kind of real real numbers we had was when we did that um and we're locked in with that for a three year it was a three-year term that we locked in for um and that term by the way is looking better every year as it goes by and unit's rates are not going down um um so I you know certainly we they've been very communicative with us I I think that um as we get closer to a time when we're gonna be going to bid I'm gonna I would ask them to come back in and talk to the board about what the market looks like at that time and what they expect to to you know have as a as a reasonable expectation so get the best deal for the town okay thank you very much um 5.1 Town Administrator updates and reports I'm all set you're all set uh 5.2 next meeting will be April 9th 2024 um and again Teresa will put those that item on for that we also have a presentation from the land use office that we're putting on at that day too and I'll zoom in and you'll zoom in on that time I'll zoom in got you down in pen here uh 5.3 I'll entertain a motion to review and sign payroll and Bill's payable warrants out of session some move second any discussion on that all those in favor J yes yes CH yes okay um I will entertain two motions uh one is to enter into executive session pursuant to General Law chapter 30A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares which he does and this is in regards to Clark versus town of Townsen and the other motion is executive session pursuant to General Law chapter 30A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the public body and the chair so declares which he does and this is in regards to water and Highway Union m so moved second any discussion on that all those in favor and adjourn from and adjourn from shank yes yes