##VIDEO ID:jVoNflglcmk## hello welcome everybody and welcome to the November 19th 2024 select board meeting happy to say we have a full board this evening I'd like to call the meeting to order and ask for a roll call vote present Laura Shi present and Teresa Amos present i' like to also thank all thinking of Veterans Day it's just uh thank all our local veterans for their service and additionally I want to thank all essential workers police fire Hospital Etc who will not be able to be with their families on this Thanksgiving we like you to know that the board of Selectmen do thank you for all you do i' like to announce that this meeting is being recorded and will be uploaded to YouTube there are no Chairman's audition and deletions did anybody else see in the agenda want to add or delete something you can if you wanted to add something but you no we the flag part um we uh have meetings they were in your package uh from meeting minutes from 9:24 uh 924 2024 that you uh I'm asking for for us to review and approve they uh even though you were not at the meeting if you see anything in the minutes that you don't feel is appropriate you can ask it to be uh redefined if you have any questions about it we can take them so I'd like to make a motion that we approve the meeting minutes from 9:24 2024 some you have too um I'll make the motion to approve the minutes of 9:24 24 a second any discussion well I don't I think I was here actually I think you might yeah I was here okay um I'm good with them okay anything else no all those in favor I I uh moving on to 2.1 I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the common vixa license CH change from formerly known as 11 n nutrition Inc doing business DBA Main Street nutrition to Cloud9 nutrition 11 18 Main Street with a new soul soul owner of Megan Robinson now could you confirm the date the street address was it 1118 or 18 Main Street 18 did I say yeah apologize 18 Main Street so moved a second any discussion no congratulations to them is there he roll call vote laa shiff yes Veronica C yes enter any yes we do not have any appointments or uh uh official uh appointments to make at this time moving on to 4.1 I'd like to make a motion that we reorganize the board uh with myself as chair Veron Veronica as Vice chair and Laura as Clerk anybody going to move the moer um can we vote the positions one at a time we can discuss it want to move it and then discuss it sure okay so who's going to move it so moved second okay so let's have the discussion is there anybody who would like to change that as a as a motion was read and what would we like to change it to then we can redo the motion if we have to so let's discuss the position of a clerk does anybody have desires to help hold the position of Cl I'd be happy to be the cler I'll second that okay and that would put you in the position of voice chair you okay with that I would like to see Lori as the chair okay and that would put me in position as voice correct okay I would like it noted um and in the um agenda in particular for this evening because this is her meeting um I don't think the positions would take place now uh that she is the chairman and could that be made a note of but that's not the fact so that's when I will talk no I'm I'm an acting chairman or an interim but I'm not the chairman and I would and you know I am arguing that I would ask for your votes to be a chairman until my position runs out in May or even Sumer could that's um what I why part of the reason I asked for because it's important to me for the years that I given and I've been a chairman for nine years on the school board I certainly know the duties that are required uh you're not going to be stuck for me very long in as in the chair position anyways and I just think it's a sign of respect if you appoint me to and actually I don't want it to come off wrong but it's kind of disrespectful I'm okay with that um my my concern is the or sooner um the the or sooner um I I guess the but then if I leave if I do have to go sooner which I'm not sure what's going to happen I didn't expect my husband to die suddenly so if I do have to go sooner then you just reor the board and then vot her in as chair simple as that I'm okay okay okay do we want to change the motion or we pay to move it as is um I'll be Vice chair and and veronic B Clark okay so let me repeat my motion I make a motion that uh we assign the board of Select with me as chair Lauren as Vice chair Laura Laura sorry Laura and Veronica as somebody has to move um so moved you g to second or I'll second I can second it okay uh any more discussion no okay can we have a roll call First we'll start with your Ron Veron yes yes and thank you very much that I appreciate okay I'd like to make an emotion that we assign General government lays on select person to this one La I would like to assign to you we'll discuss it after when the motion goes through Public Safety LS on to myself and Electric Board elected board Commission of and officials to Veronica okay I don't agree okay well just say so move and we can have a discussion so moved and I'll second it okay so how would you like it to them to be assign let's discuss that um my whole thing in running yeah um was I was coming in as in chair in chaza seat and Chaz was the liaison to most of the boards that I'm on okay and I believe I believe that that is um I didn't know these terms before on this was assigned to General government which is what I signed you to which is what I thought you wanted that's he was sign the elected boards he was elected boards commissions and offal I'm sorry I got it confused I really did I I got it confused in my head the way things were written Teresa your packet uh would actually have the list okay yeah if you I got it back so you're right I mean that was my intent Y no I got it backwards in my head so Veronica I did Veronica are you okay with General government uh no I would prefer Public Safety and I would prefer that she has that because she R problem Josie so let's just keep all the assignments the same not now I have in April it will rotate y I have no problem with that so let's I just want to say that in the liaison policy there is no specification regarding rotation that's all I'm gonna say all right because I I did what I was comfortable with three terms okay well I did what I was comfortable with and really that's my staying where I am so let me pull up the uh thing that we have so that's 4.2 yeah so you'll see a list so I did that once before right I mean so General government is the capital planning bylaw review audit committee historic Public Safety is Animal Control Fire Police Inspector and elected bodies is Board of assess Board of Health gal project Highway Department whatever so you would like electric bodies yeah I'll stay with that Veronica you would like Public Safety correct and I will stay with General government okay okay do we can I just since we're on this um do we need to update this list for example I think so the aazebo project is no longer active correct yeah this is it says 1024 1025 but we can um not necessarily today but I think that it needs to be gone through and um updated okay and I think that there are people who maybe have left who are no longer right we do have some people that have to be a it changed on here I know that the um historical district that uh I believe there was a change in leadership there Etc so yeah we're going to to the general assignments so where it says here uh General government that will be me where it says Public Safety and you to say Joe that will say Ronnie and where it says Chaz that will now be you but we will update this list um that's going to go to you uh to get this updated for us okay so I will restate the motion I make a motion that we assign General see if I can get it right this time General government lays on to myself uh and let's do one at a time okay um moved second all those in favor yes do we need a roll call those for this we don't do we no no okay I entertain a motion to sign Public Safety way Zone to select person Kell so moved second all those in favor I I H on and I entertain a motion to assign elected board commissions and ficial on to La I was gonna say Lori again so I Lor that's okay Lori soov so moved Veronica a second all those in favor Laura shff yes I okay okay moving on to 4.3 I entertain a motion to approve and sign out of session all 2024 renewals for retail licensed alcohol contingent upon valid certificate of reection and receipt of required notifications and payment so moved second does it notifications or documentation does is that important um I think it's on here and on the list does don't you have um oh it doesn't say that just have the list that we're gonna do okay yeah documentation and payment okay have you seen the list of all of the ones that at your any other discussion no that's a yearly thing for clarification corre okay and then we'll just uh uh vote we don't need to Beal all those who approve yes I and I okay all approved okay moving on to 4.4 I make I entertain a motion to approve and sign out of session all 2024 class 1 23 license es contingent upon receipt of required document and payment so moved second any discussion no is this also yearly just for clarification okay all those in favor I 4.5 approve and sign out of session all 20124 renewals for common V never say it licenses contingent upon um receip a receipt of required documentation and payment so moved second any discussion no again is that cly okay all those in favor I I I I 4.6 approve and sign out of session all 2024 renewals for entertainment licenses continue on receipt of required documentation and payment so moved and it's annual as well right um Can can I ask a question this is backing it up I'm sorry um can we get a second and then discuss uh sure I'll second I'll second it okay discussion my discussion is on 4.5 so maybe we need to back up okay um do you want to go ahead with 4 point six and then um move back to 4.5 finish up 4.6 which is the entertainment licenses any discussion on that did did I second that I seconded it okay good any discussion all those in favor I I and I okay there's been a request to remove back to 4. 6 um this is the 4.5 I'm I'm looking down at the bottom 119 nutrition doing business on main 18 Main Street didn't we just change that so should this one be on the list um the original renal what did go out to 119 nutrition the change came afterwards so are we granting both or what no Ral was sent to nutrition but then they changed the owner okay there's no Ral for them okay so no renewal there um the other one is name this is a change of name right name or DBA name and owner the owner is also changing that's that was item 2.1 also CH new this is a new license okay so that'll be eliminated then the list just won't next year be okay okay thank you okay thanks and the other one I was looking for is on here that was McDonald's because sometimes anyway okay they good yes I'm good okay 4.7 I entertain a motion to approve and sign out a session the ab CC seasonal population estimate form to zero population I'll say okay to move I second okay let's have a discussion what exactly is the I couldn't find this the abcc Sabrina the um seasonal population information form is sent out with the renewals every year for the alcohol licenses alcohol yes for um the abcc governs the um alcohol licenses and that form gets sent out every year with the renewal docum M mendations and it has to be signed um by the board um or signed out a session I here um and just certify that there's no re of population increase in the town historically we've had zero there right okay I I think that in the packet the um pages are switched which might be the confusion the um 4.8 is the seasonal population oh yeah out okay okay yeah and then 4.7 okay so this is 4.7 and this is 4.8 yeah both forms are required by the agcc sign off Bo and then it gets sent back with all the Ral forms okay any further discussion all those in favor I I I did move did we move it and second yeah we had move we were talking right ask talking about it once it's move okay okay 4.8 to approve and sign I I entertain a motion to approve and sign out of session the abcc renewal certificate for 2025 so moved second and any discussion no it goes hand in hand with the other okay all those in favor I I and I 4.9 I entertain a motion to approve the Thanksgiving in Christmas schedule for the town of Townsen Town Hall as follows Wednesday 11:27 closing at 12 Thursday 11 11:28 close Friday 11:29 close uh 1224 closing at 12 and 1225 Clos uh so moved second any discussion um how does this fit with the um contracts uh this is in line with it okay yes correct so we just um it's really more uh of a FYI for you guys um because I mean it's already in everyone's contract basically okay um so we're just letting you know ahead of time that you know during the Thanksgiving Christmas holidays town hall is going to be closed yeah it will impact uh uh agenda we'd have to get our agenda adjusted it has to be adjusted accordly um because it has to be certain time period before the office closes at noon so that comes into into the time period correct uh you mean for posting like meeting yes correct and you know the town clerk is aware of this schedule so they're going to plan accordingly so we should be uh saying if you have anything for the agenda we're going to have to plan it accordingly corre okay no other discussion okay um vote I and I okay okay 4 uh I put it in front of you if you didn't have it and printed it out for you but there yeah um the uh I entertain a motion to accept the bo uh Board of selectman meeting scheduled and uh as handed to you when I will read it into record I put one out for all you and I lost mine it's I just I just want to know is this now I know in the past the um boorder of selectman meet when they need to meet too they don't just stick to the schedule or sometimes it gets cancelled another one so that's still in play right for some reason you need an additional meeting or we decide not to have one of them that's still okay even though You' set the meeting right okay so let's get this moved first let me finish this motion got this we can finish the discussion so I uh entertain a motion to accept the board of Select meeting schedule as follow 17121 24 218 34 318 4842 22 56 520 610 624 78 722 and the chairman always has a discretion to ask uh the board for additional meetings or to modify the meetings as needed move I I saw moved do I have a second second yeah okay any further discussion um yeah I want to know if we taken into consideration um things like school vacation weeks or weeks with holidays um those sorts of things um in in setting this or is this just uh going through and doing the first and the third it is just essentially the first and third Tuesday of so it may change yeah which we can we can certainly do that um if something comes up but uh but this just been in June though um okay uh in June the first Tuesday if I'm looking at the right year is the third not the 10th and the um third is the 17th okay I'm okay with if we're doing the 10th and the 24th I'm okay with that I'm okay with the other way so um I know that it's possible that I'm not going to be able to make either the 20th or the 3D so um but the first and the third in June is June 3 and June 17 so I didn't know if there was a reason for for switching there so I think uh for the sake of being consistent we probably should do the first and third and July is the same um because July is the first Tuesday is the 1 of July and the third Tuesdays the 15th good catch that's why I brought my calendar I didn't look with it I'm sorry um um you know if we wanted the Fourth of July is that first week the week of the first so if there's you know a reason for that we have plenty of time to change it though right we do we do so just keep it like this even though we switch to the 2 and the 4th in June and July that's up to you I have those wide open for me so I I would and actually those are after the election so yeah that is true she doesn't care that's up to you two to decide I would probably change the June and July 8 just to be consistent to be consistent and then if we decide to change after April or whatever looking at the schedule again it can be done yeah looking closer at all right so let's let's do the six03 and 617 yeah and 71 and [Music] 75 so that's a a move to amend and I'll second it I can't move in second you can move I'll second second any okay I'll move to to amend as was stated and I will second the motion to amend yes okay any further [Music] discussion about the calendar yes you changing to the second Tuesday of the month no we just talked about that because that's been right no they accidentally tyed the second Tuesday we're changing sorry back to the first thank you Jerry glad to see you looking good okay so we're back to the [Music] first the ju also the first and so it's June July 1 in July 15 any further discussion okay all approve I I and okay I entertain a motion to auction SL sell the following Town owned property fil as read into the record so the property that we're talking about it list is quite long is this what we're talking about the entire list yes correct okay so their property at would you like me to read this yes go ahead thank you I appreciate it um you know yeah I do because it was town properties I shed it okay so uh the following properties were recommended by the uh town properties committee and that was uh these are all town-owned properties uh one acreage uh 2.5 acres on New fishburg Road uh map 10 lot 20 or block 20 lot zero vacant land was uh taken by the town for tax um the first recommendation is to offer to sell it to the Commonwealth these for the most part they're either gonna oh you can't discuss till we read inter so just read thank all right um 7.5 Acres off Cherry Drive map 16 block 44 lot zero vacant land 46 acre on Cherry Drive map 16 block 49 lot 114 46 on Cherry Drive map 16 block 49 lot 115 32 Acres on South Row Road assessor map oh excuse me map 25 block three lot zero 1.20 Acres on Adams Road map 27 Block 33 lot 0er 46 Adams road map 27 block 34 0.51 on Whitley Lane map 28 block 12 lot zero 1.5 Acres one and a half acres on Meadow Road map 28 block 38 lot zero .92 Acre Meadow Road map 28 block 49 lot six 1.3 Acres on main street map 3 block block six lot Zer 9 Acres on Shirley road map 40 block 2.5 acres on Edward Road 42 a map 42 block one lot 54 and one acre on Wester road map 49 block 20 lot zero second okay discussion you want to behind this yeah I can explain okay so the first block on new new blot on new Fitchburg Road the recommendation is to offer to sell to the Commonwealth the uh off Cherry Drive 7.5 Acres uh recommendation for the next four oh let me see one two three four five six seven8 n the next nine Parcels which Go from off Cherry Drive to the met Road um that I spoke of are all recommended to be auctioned and then and it looks like the the three Cherry Drive um Parcels they should all go as a group I guess they probably that those was your recommendation yes so those should those three uh on well they all like a each other right so that's the best way to go on that one and then and then somebody might it's a wetlands area by Wetlands I mean uh it's not if you put them all together you might get one lot okay kind of thing so that's that was the discussion um and then Main Street and Shirley Road um yes okay so will be offered to the Commonwealth first and usually that's fish and wildlife is what the recommendation was and then if they don't buy it auction is recommended I think it's the my copy didn't print off very well but I think it's the same recommendation on the top one on New pitchburg Road as well and then uh the last two Edward Road um which town properties looked into before and so didn't um the Housing Authority because because they were trying to get a habitat house on that one and it just couldn't happen it's only a half acre if it's wet there's right it's going to be tough yeah so they tried and so auction it might go to one of the abutters somebody might that's the first thought that we might get more tax revenue if an a butter bought it okay and then wer road is uh kind of the same thing to put that to auction so I have a question have you did the properties committee talk to Fisher Wildlife or DCR about these no because there is a land committees meeting that happens twice a year and they need to be aware and another they need to be aware of it so it goes to the lands committee to get approval to purchase if they're interested in it so that's from this body here so Nelson would call them and say we have these and when is their date um typically there's one in the fall probably has already happened it's around October and then the next one is around June time frame um May June I I don't know exactly but um typically there are two um land committee meetings where they approve purchases of things like this okay so um I'm just saying that those three could be a delay if in fact the state is interested it are you offering them to D recommending they be offered to the state because they AB but other um Parcels that are already owned by I think so at the that would make it um right if if it doesn't about if it's just a a landlocked like this 32 South Row road which is a landlock 32 Acres right um but it looks like that AB buts the rod and gun has anybody talked to Rod and Gun Club about was mentioned at the meeting so um it's landlocked and no we would we would not have done that the recommendation was only to the board of Selectmen okay so we would not have done that but in looking at the maps and Kevin's on it and uh um you know people who know the land um or have walked the land before because we've done that too um recommended that because in the past meetings we we uh trans we recommended transfer to conservation on a number of parcels but this time around this is how we came up with because we could tell those right away you have auction but unless it's in a butter that purchases because it's landlocked or unless there's an easement across one of these other properties there's no access to that property right right um so okay when these do go up for auction other than the article in the paper does do the abodes get notified yes yes they did okay so Rod and Gun would be notified that this property is available okay thank you any other questions any further discussion okay all those are approved I I and I moving on to I wanted to put it on the agenda yeah finally it's got to go 4.2 I entertain a motion to take no action on the right of first refusal for possible IB 17-10 d-27 bbery Hill Road um is is that what we would do or we just we wouldn't do it sorry um I'll make a motion I mean I'll move the motion second okay discussion why um there's we have the right of first refusal because it was in why take no action on yeah why take no action uh the uh assessor's office looked at it and there was no reason to to uh exercise or that's what I was told yeah so why is the motion to take no action why isn't the motion to uh not exercise our right of first refusal um because it seems to me that then we have the right of first refus and we should say yes or no correct right so um so I I just question the wording on this I think it's fun yeah yeah it's almost like a double negative in a way so um what would [Music] be so I we can had it at planning there no no action yeah so that recommendation is to take no action no plan no when you take no no that wasn't the planning board's recommendation I thought that was a recommendation from award that we take no action I I think that the wording that we want is different from take no action I think we're saying the same thing but I think we want to say that we move that the town not exercise right first refusal okay okay then that's what I agree with because I think we we set up planning that um the town doesn't have the money anyway so it's like we're gonna go and buy it you know but they have to present it to the town and we have to say no because it's chapter 61 yeah yeah okay so I in the motion to read that I uh entertain a motion that we refuse no that we not exercise not exercise the right first refusal first refusal forel ID 1710 027 bbery Hill Road perfect and I move that a second any further discussion all those in favor I I and I okay 4.13 I entertain a motion to approve the conservation fee scheduled as proposed October 23rd 2024 you have that is there anyone from the Conservation Commission here no I not end up inviting I I move the question I mean make the okay do we have anybody online from the Conservation Commission I don't see anybody so did they ask this to be brought forward for approval correct okay y they they approved the the commission the Conservation Commission they voted on this correct so anymore more discussion did we already move and discuss or no no no no we were in the discussion okay any further discussion you see the September rates from 2023 and you can see the increase in the October rates 2024 if you would like to check the delas on them I can't speak to um the um conservation uh Commission but I do tend to know that anybody who runs his um count on the boards I usually follow any recommend recommendations they present before the board so I would support their recommendations okay any other discussion okay all those in favor okay moving on to work session the meting I'm sorry oh yes I end do we have a date we're recommending we do uh so I spoken to uh Kathy and doing some backtracking you know because of posting deadlines and whatnot um I recommend Tuesday Jan jary 28th 2025 as the fall time time meeting it's not really the fall so I don't know let's get the motion M second then we can discuss okay I entertain a motion to set the fullt meeting date for January 28th 2025 so moved second second any discussion go ahead can tell me how you came up with that y so uh you know so like I said I did we had to do some backtracking because there's a twoe posting time that that's required um Town Council needs to review it and we also need to open the warrant as well so I kept backtracking backtracking and I I end up with January 28th and my the way I think the schedule is going to work out with the January 28th date is that um we would open the warrant on December 4th and then we would close it um at the end of business December December 16th okay and do we already have some ideas of items for the warrant uh the uh all the properties that we just spoke about those can all go on go on separate articles do the licenses go on the warrant the renewals I don't think so I just wanted will free cash certified by then it would be correct okay so we can uh put an article in there as well and I know you already said it but what was the date of closing of war the 16th at 4M and that's a good time to close it because we um have we ten atively have a board of selectman meeting on the 17th so we can discuss all the articles that um folks have put forth at that meeting on December 17th okay and then once we discuss things we're we're okay with it we can then send it to Town Council to review um and that should give um them plenty of time um for uh the the warrant to be posted on January 14th so when do uh if we want art we don't have a meeting between the 3rd and the 17th the warrant is already closed so we as a board haven't been able to provide input to the warrant um well we have December December 3D the warrant opens on the 4th correct uh were you were looking for um input on articles correct um let me see I can you open it earlier um could we open it on the second or could we close on the 18th uh all those are in play so um that's why I wanted to have the discussion it's only moving it a couple days so that's not really going to affect too much so uh if that makes sense for everyone I can I I would like to open it before earlier closing it on the 16th is fine as long as we've had a meeting during the time period that the warrant is open Okay can youit a second yeah we could yeah um that kind of leads to something slightly different which is you want it to um it's further down on the agenda yeah so I I think we need to talk about it now then right okay yeah um so I think we tentatively have a oral selecting meeting on December 3D um Veronica says she has a prior engagement that she can't make it she was hoping to have that meeting on December 2nd correct if you guys are available for that yeah I am because I have planning on the nth yes that's okay because I also have some information to add from planning board regarding the warrant but I'll get to that okay so warrant opens on the second and can we move the date the meeting to a Monday instead of a Tuesday that week so we're still one I I'll have to move things around but I but we still if we open them the warrant we're really not going to have that much we're not going to see that much so are we making a motion today to open the warrant on the 2 or can we open the warrant on the second in our meeting uh no why wouldn't we make the motion today and give notice we could do that today you could you could open you could V you could vote what is the earliest we can have a January 28th meeting and open the war if we keep the meeting at January 28th um there's no time frame of how long we don't have to have a set amount of days to open the warrant from we say it well I think the typically we give folks two weeks um for period okay so so you want to maybe time it um so that you can I mean you can discuss things after the the warrant closes or are you talking about what it well if we open it on the second and then we can have a discussion of anything that um on the third no the second oh our meeting on the second okay we can have a discussion of Warrant articles like you'll know hopefully by then what we have for free cash tentatively possibly uh and what we need to do like are we moving money back to stabilization is that one of the Articles uh are there bills that we know about that need to be paid that haven't been paid I mean what about the arpa funds uh that's a separate matter yeah that doesn't go on town meeting that's voted by us in a meeting okay let's get back to this so we're looking at in attaining a motion to set the full town meeting date for January 28th 2024 with opening warrants two weeks from today which would be December 2nd given the two weeks which you say could be less it's not mandatory that it's two weeks yeah it could be longer H the more time you give folks you closing December 16th I'd even close it on the 18th uh I would as for the 17th after our meeting after our meeting and the reason for that is what if we determine we review the warrant on the 17th and we decide we need to add something to it that we're missing something um we would have it's already closed closing on the 18th or the 17th in our meeting on the 1th yeah say by 5:00 on the 17th on meeting well you said you wanted to potentially add something so you you you would have to give so we should give ourselves an extra day and close it on the 18 yeah okay so moved so moved for December second opening any further discussion wait let's get clarifying clarifying December 2nd to open the warrant and close the warrant December 18th correct and the meeting will be January 28th what time um they or0 sometimes it's sometimes 7 usually okay any F discussion okay all those in favor I I and um okay now uh tone administrator updates and reports um so the um energy electricity aggregation program most folks have probably seen um the informational sessions as well as um the information that was mailed to each household um we've had uh one uh live inperson informational session at the senior center as well as two virtual Zoom meetings uh to uh let everyone know what the program is about and then ask any questions they may have um the deadline is tomorrow to opt out because everyone is essentially um you know you know enrolled in the program unless you currently have um another electricity supplier at that point you're not automatically enrolled so folks have until tomorrow to opt out or sort of change um their rate plan because right now there's three rate plans um and there's um plus and basic and let me see what else it's called yeah it's called The Standard basic and plus um the standard is the one everyone would automatically be enrolled in the basic is fraction of a scent cheaper and then the plus is a little bit more expensive because it's all using renewable energy so uh got a lot of good feedback regarding that um because the rates that uh We've negotiated are significantly less than the unitel rates so um so folks have until tomorrow to opt out but they can always opt back in opt back out as many times as they want but you can only do it once a morning yeah and I just want to send a general reminder out there um you might have a long time ago signed out to get away from unitel being your provider went to another provider when people were sending out flyers and stuff so just check your bill and make sure because uh you can probably make significant savings by opting in now what we're on here so if unitel isn't your provider you are not automatically oped into the program so just make sure you take a look at that and uh uh I highly recommend you look at the benefits of joining correct um let me see uh there was a school budget form last night at the high school um uh folks from Ashby Townsen and prle were invited uh representative Scarsdale um state senator Cronin and state senator Kennedy were also in attendance um it was um it was a pretty heated Forum at times but you know the Tas as well as the school department you know led by superintendent Brad Morgan um you know uh presented s of our issues you know as as a town um you know we really can't grow the budget by any more than say 3% otherwise that's um you know heading into like override territory um and from Brad's perspective there's all kinds of federal and state mandated programs that and programs that they have to follow but unfortunately a lot of these mandates aren't funded at all so it's really left to the school district and ultimately the taxpayers to fund these mandates so it really um has gotten to the point where you know towns can't no longer they can't afford it any longer that's why we're having these overrides year after year you know asking the taxpayers to to you know you know pay for the increases so uh it got pretty heated at times because there's rumors going around that there's building closures meaning school closures and um everyone thinks uh Ashby Elementary is on The Chopping Block it's it's a rumor but um you know there was a pretty vocal contingent there from the Ashby Community last night what did the superintendent say what was his answer to that um I mean he was only um directed by the the school committee last Friday to look at um cost reductions and so he hasn't had time to really well he did accurately say he does not make that decision that is not decision of the superintendent he can make recommendations but that is decided by the um school board so where is the state's position because we're in most of this mess because the state has not given the funds to when they redid the formula Regional Schools got basically wiped out of the formula and the new formula really um highlighted uh inner city and Rural V school so that that's where the focus was um in the formula the formula was stuck with for at least another year they they did verbalize that they are working hard to make changes to the formula and uh the superintendent made it very clear that unless they do do something that we are going to continue to have this problem year after year after year there was one uh piece of information that helped um about possibly not having to have a seat a seat for every child on a bus that might come faster because that's a large expense if kids don't ride the bus we still have to have a seat for them so uh that might come a little faster so um don't think that was two high to yeah you know it's it's really Ronnie you were there did you take away anything um a lot of student Opportunity Act year five of six and those funds are going largely to Gateway cities um John Cronin had noted that linster and Fitchburg have more money than they can spend for their schools more and more money but but what struck me was what um Andrew mcllin from pero pero uh in his um presentation he noted that from 2001 to 2024 our state funding has increased $523,000 two and a half% yeah and in other places it's been in the um 36 million kind it was 75% for them for us this very small amount and you come down to it it was like $60 a child in five years yeah increase yes we got from the state in not five years in 15 20 20 years from 2001 to 2024 um so representative Scarsdale we are not the only ones in this situation there are 21 communities not all whom are Regional but they tend to be towns that are the I call them the Forgotten towns in Massachusetts we don't have large industrial bases we don't have roads that come in and out that would allow industry to come in and these are the towns that have been left out of the funding formula so they are looking for a circuit breaker for the 2011 they actually call them the 2011 and there is some work being done around that as well yeah so there you know three things that are being looked at the transportation the circuit breaker and minimum per pupil Aid which is that formula so I think that all two1 towns should um have a coordinated letter writing campaign to the governor that we should get in buses and go pick a day sometime and go and do that similar to what we did for the pipeline when the pipeline was coming through town and maybe then we'll get the attention of the state house um but um representative Scarsdale is she has assembled a coalition and they are working on making this issue known in the legislature so things at the state though take time that's all I'll say it's not instant and time is mning okay anything else I got a few more um so uh arpa funding um just to sort of um set the stage um the way the arpa funding Deb line um is set up um you can either spend all the money by the end of December 31st 2024 or you have until December 31st 2026 um to spend it if uh they are either Personnel expenses because you know you can't pay salaries you know a year into the future but if you set that money aside with the intention uh for paying uh for certain positions that's allowed or if um you have a contract in place to um purchase goods or services um that that would sort of um that would mean you don't have to spend everything by the end of this calendar year so at the moment I am working um through the list um certain projects have been completed there's some money left over um and once I get a a good handle on what that looks like I can then come to the board um probably at the next meeting um with a plan of reallocating some of that money um elsewhere within you know the some of those projects um there's one or two projects that might be over budget the moment so I think I can you know come up with a plan to sort of um Square everything away um but the last thing I want to do is um send money back that we can well we have places where it could be used uh there arey yeah depending on uh how you want to spend it I I don't know if there's really any extra money so to speak left over but um because some projects are a little bit over budget so um once I get a clear handle on uh the status of each project I can make recommendations based off of that I also want to note that there are three arpa policies that were set by the selectman when this um these funds came to the town they're in the selectman's um policies on the website it's the AR arpa expenditure form the arpa allocation reallocation form and the arpa subrecipient policy um the reporting that's required by the federal government and this gets uh reported directly to the federal government it isn't um through the state the way the co relief funds were um the the uh movement of money from when it was initially allocated has to be documented so we set up those forms way back when you can look at the policies you know it was when the funds originally came in so for everything that is moved there should be a form for that to show where it went or what it's being spent on so um uh just to point that out um also the town had engaged um Capital uh CSS Capital strategic strategic Solutions um to help they do the reporting for the town and the arpa funds uh have specific uses so you have to look and see what the latest um direction is from the treasury Department for these funds um uh and CSS was the one that helped us with all of our allocations and reallocations keeps us on track kept the town on track I don't know for the past year and a half what has happened but I know during three years two of which we had arpa funds um that was the case and we had a contract with them arpa funds can be used to pay for the accounting because it's a massive amount of work that isn't part of the normal treasurers or accountants jobs so um it's allowed to pay for a consultant and so we have a contract with them um so like I said between now and probably the next uh BOS meeting I'll have a um a solid plan in place to uh you know reallocate some funds to cover some deficits and if there's any um extra money left over we can probably decide at that point what we want to do with it I don't anticipate it it being a ton of money left over um but you know I won't really know for sure so no promises but I'll I'll certainly bring it to your attention once I uh look into everything okay thank you so December 2nd ARA on the on the agenda yes okay thank you um so the FY 26 budget season is right around the corner typically around early December um the TA would send out a budget memo to all the department heads you know sort of outlining uh what I'm looking from them and then setting some deadlines as well um I don't think uh the budget memo is going to change too much from previous years I think the the the request is level funded um level service um budget submittals uh no uh additional um you know new positions being added new no new um stiens uh anything of that sort so um you know we're just you know we don't have a ton of money to to uh you know to go around so I I think that's sort of the general um tone of of the memo and so departments will probably get um you know a little more than a month to uh get that um submit to me um so that's on the operating side as well as well as the capital side the capital side is typically a five-year Lookout and then um once I had time to sort of um input everything you know we'll start scheduling uh meetings um you know in conjunction you know you know with the finance commit which I believe culminates in like a big you know meeting Summit yeah budget Summit late February early March I would if um if the budgets require an override ask I think it would be good to do the budget Summits earlier rather than later I I know that at last night's meeting Brad Morgan was talking about doing a you know asking at a meeting in March or something yeah that that was certainly pretty aggressive in terms of um asking for a a potential override um town meeting um I'm not sure if that's really possible but um but yeah the sooner we can sort of work um the options you know you know we won't we won't be uh you know surprised if the final School assessment number comes in you know High um as so December 2nd we'll have the budget memo to review and uh yeah and I can send it out the morning of of the 3 so okay all right and then the Departments will have a a month to look at It's usually the first week in January that they need to get things back to you yeah so I'm thinking uh probably like January 6th which is a Monday so it gives folks you know a little more little more than a month to but you know if they started early they could conceive finish up before the holidays started um let me see yeah so I should have a a draft memo for you guys on December 2nd like I said it's not going to really be that much different than past years because uh seems like every year we're sort of under the same budget constraints and we're going to talk about um the uh thing the past the community oh the uh yeah the community uh preservation act I think um there's still a lot of questions regarding how that's sort of setup and how it would operate I think a lot of it um is going to be a town meeting so um in terms of uh the committee itself how how many people end up being on this committee I know there's um five required members um one is from the Conservation Commission uh planning board historic district commission um housing authority and parks and Cemetery and you're thinking that that committee needs to be voted on on the January 28th meeting um no I I not necessarily I I think um a regular Town me might be better suited for something like this but it wouldn't be just put together here by the board of select um no I don't think so no I think someone has to put forth the article okay see uh the CPA does not go into effect until the fiscal 26 correct um but you you probably need to start like getting educating people getting the committee together have them you know start discussing things or at least you know get it together there are already a lot of questions out about it so we got to stop the rumors and get the just get the questions answered yeah it'll be fiscal year 27 till the town realizes any funds really from State match um true so the Committees um the you know the um direction of the committee is to look at projects I mean I suppose the year in FY 26 people could if the committee were seated they could you know figure out how they're going to collect proposals for projects how they're going to evaluate projects those sorts of things um but anyway the makeup is State mandated um let me see here we don't have it in our Charter so it's between five and nine members so um the five that I mentioned you know had to be part of you know those boards boards and and at large correct yeah so you have to a town meeting is the voters will need to decide how they want um how you know committee how how the committee is going to be comprised and I I don't know all the details regarding that right now but we certainly have time some yeah okay um the other thing is peppero and Shirley have both passed the CPA um prior to the year we did and so we can always look and see at what what there's a few yeah a lot of town cities and towns have have passed them yeah um from the Staffing perspective uh there's a lot of exemptions that um are in place for example um the first $100,000 of your property value are exempt from the CPA 1% um so if I may assessors address this because of the same thing and so we looked at what other towns had it and because we thought this was going to be a nightmare but there's already software in place from the state so yeah yeah it's it's been around a long time it's so running smoothly yeah it's it will be new to us so I think there'll be a little bit of a learning curve and I think at the moment we're just a little bit jittery about it but I I think but the others have more experience and they're like-sized towns so so I think we can certainly lean on some neighboring cities and towns to for some advice to to provide to us since this is our first go around and they have it in West bir where Vicki does her work on Fridays Oh I thought she was Dunstable dunable dunable they have it there they've had it for a while but there's this 3% and there's no deductible and they've had it for a while anything else uh I think the last thing was um the town Charter the new town Charter has been officially um signed in to law by the governor's office and I think John paig might be here to uh speak about that I was trying to get him and then I got him down and I got him up and had him John is that you I think that's John I think heartley can we uh unmute John is that is that the John of John's iPad yes okay he's muted hi thanks Nelson um course just provide a little bit of History um more than six years ago the then sitting uh Board of Selectmen uh comp complied with their Charter responsibility and put together a committee to review the town Charter um nine people representing different areas of town government as well as some atw large stuff and uh they worked hard for years and finally it as we thought we got close there was changes in the in the legislators um but it went through several trips up and down the halls of the House of Representatives and up and down the halls of the state senate uh and even took me into Beacon Hill to to talk to the folks as to why this was really important and finally we're now six plus years later uh the charter review has been approved by the governor um I know at least I understand that it's going to be on the town website as soon as they figure out how to do that um but in the meantime if you search uh the chapter 229 of the acts of 2024 you can find all of the language uh that was changed and and and what is now our constitution um it was signed by the governor on the 8th of November and it would take effect immediately and so that's the body that we're now functioning under and uh I I guess I performed my duties as The Shepherd of the charter uh ad quite well and and and and so uh it it it it's it was a labor of love but uh we got it going unfortunately uh we may have to do this again in a couple years and I I can assure you that although I'll provide any input I'm not sitting on that committee again to thank you for all you did for the town it was a quite the hercul effort as you said thank you John excellent shepher thank you thank you for the thanks okay anything else uh that's it for me thank you thank you okay moving on we have a couple of announcements uh first of all the resentation of Jo laritz has submitted to to Res resignation as a member of the Sho wild and Scenic Stewardship Council affected January 26 we have the copy of letter here uh as always when of my favorite events in tonsen we have the tree lighting on the common Sunday December 1st at 430 music will uh be available uh and complimentary stew at the church um as well um it's always well attended and uh hope to see you all there that's chilly and all everything's good and then final announcement I don't know many people know about it but it's been going around for 14 years um I haven't heard other people not here so I do want to announce it um at cly's go Garden Center in fitzburg between November 29th up to December um 21st if they last that wrong there is a free Christmas tree for any active duty or retired military um who would like to have a Christmas tree but as you know they're getting very expensive and can't afford one it's all um uh just come down get them pick them up while they last uh and this is a uh funded by like Gund me and other charities in the in the organization and well as I said they've been doing it um for 14 years it grows every year and so I hope uh some of our veterans that want to put a nice little tree in their house uh take advantage of it and we'll have this information in the poet yes I just wanted to mention that the Historic Society is having their their Christmas um Victorian event and that would be on December the 8th December the 8th for those of you want to make sure you heard that the historical society Christmas event is going to be December and I'll get a copy of theer and put that in the package as well um can I can I back up to the uh wild and Scenic resignation um we as a town need to have another representative to replace Jan wtz for that um can we have a and typically towns have an alternate as well um uh can we post for that opening on the we can let's do was it already excellent thank you it's already my understanding I don't know if we should Bea somebody resigned you post yeah okay the next 5.3 the next town meeting will be Monday December 2nd 2024 at 6: p.m. the next select Mee what did I next select board meeting will be Monday December 2nd and I'd like a motion to review and sign payroll and Bills payroll warrants out of session so moved second any discussion all those in favor I I we have no exe executive sessions I like a motion toj at 7 35ish I have 724 72 God I'm looking at my watch y 24 I did I'm move to journ 724 second any discussion all those in favor