good evening it is July 2nd 2024 at 6 o'clock for the select board meeting um like to call this meeting to order and a roll call please CH Mo present CH SEC ceran present and Joan Shake is excused he is on vacation you could join me in the Pledge of Allegiance uned States like to thank all those who sered both past and present and our First Responders thank you for your service the meeting is being recorded and it will be uploaded to YouTube uh I do believe we are live on channel 9ine as well 1.4 Chairman's additions and deletions you have anything yeah um I just maybe I missed it but did we we had members of the um historical conditions that uh June 30th they needed to be reappointment yes there is um there's been an issue with the charter and I have talked to the um Town Council and I was supposed to have a phone call today with the ethics commission but that'll be on our next agenda that'll be on our next be on our next agenda now do they continue to serve even though they're how does that work Ross I would say yes they continue to serve um i' want to check with Kathy on that and verify that I'll check with the town clerk tomorrow okay and should they get the their service ended on June 30th I think there's two members um should they um retake the AL of office or do they just expect they have to be appointed first so I will check tomorrow if they continue until there is a replacement or if their term expires okay go Jerry can I ask Jerry question about it I think it's like business as usual government as usual until we correct we have to continue on with these that is correct cannot just stop that correct that is correct what we're trying to do is there's Charter issues with that um and with the ethics they were supposed to get back to me today in regards to the makeup of of the historic district commission and the what has been uh is that correct or is it not correct once I get that then we'll be able to Appo the other thing is we have a meeting model for the historic we have some things to address ourselves there sure okay yeah that's okay so they should be present unless you're here differently you're welcome um yeah but we we'll we'll do all the appointments next next meeting the next meeting okay um I have uh two additions Teresa okay um I'd like to put a letter of support for a planning assistance grant at 1. six okay and we did get an appointment from the um Council on Aging okay and we're going to put that one at 3.2 3.2 and I did put both of those in share point to I don't know if you saw those okay um review and approved meeting minutes for 521 I didn't have anything you didn't have any issues with that all right then I'll um I look for a motion to approve meeting minutes for May 21st 2024 so moved and I'll second that and I didn't see anything either so I'm okay with that so all those in favor say m yes chanian yes um the letter support um this is for a 2025 planning assistance grant um it was brought to to our attention that the town of Townsen um has been working with mon Regional Planning Commission um in regards to the um NBTA communities and they've noticed some discrepancies within the towns and zoning bylaws and um they had asked us to um they would help us out with um trying to get the uh zoning bylaws aligned uh and they offered a a grant for us to do that to re to mrpc will go over the bylaw and provide suggestions um so I I'll just read the the letter that's all right okay the Town of Townsen is in full support of the monachus regional planning commission's fiscal year 25 planning assistance grant application to the executive office of energy and environmental Affairs on our behalf to review and amend our zoning bylaws during the process of considering the MBTA communities law and choosing multif family overlay districts mrpc discovered discrepancies and inconsistencies in our site review plan and special permit bylaw requirements and procedures mrpc will review and recommend amendments to our zoning bylaws for any other housing related inconsist inconsistencies or contradictions in addition to revising the site Flame review and special permit sections of the bylaw we understand the grant would be from Fall 2024 through June 30th 26 giving mrpc and the planning board plenty of time to repair and revise the town of Town's zoning bylaw the scope of work will have the planning board work with mrpc to complete the revisions and that was work that we had from our uh Grant um Aon stedfield and uh they will work very closely with um the planning board to get that taken care of so there's no they already they did very hard work and very good work coming up with the areas there not trying to change the areas they're just trying to change to make sure our zoning Ms allow those areas there there there are particular bylaws that aren't they're inconsistent with MRP with um the MBTA so with them changing our bylaws it'll be consistent with that so yes this is to actually enhance the work that they're doing with okay and it's merely saying the board of Selectmen in support of that so okay I know they put a lot of work into that oh yeah I agree I agree and I've been to several meetings in regards to that so I'll go ahead and sign that and send it off to the Grand administrator if you're okay with it um all right so um now we have a joint meeting with the planning board and also if I may say just a point of clarification on that work that we're doing with mrpc um if if you look at the last planning board meeting there was a long discussion with the nrpc representative in reference to the size of the Lots okay so it just might be informational for you to look at okay okay we'll do because I can't remember everything to tell you okay no I don't believe that yeah meeting is okay um I will call The Joint meeting of the planning board and the board of Selectmen uh to order at 6:08 p.m. May I have a roll call vote please I have most of my members here Carol offices Pres last MCN present Andrew I know he was there I saw him Andrew this is Beth Paxon speaking Andrew's having trouble with connection so I'm trying to give him the Callin number so oh oh okay we did all see him before prob can't doesn't have audio okay so anyway I have a quorum to call to order and we have also have with us Patrick kwans and um he's being brought before us this evening to get a vote to make him the associate member of the planning board through June 30th of 25 do I have a motion I'll make a motion to appoint Patrick Panic as associate member through 20 what did you say April 2025 June 30th 2025 okay June June 30th 2025 I will second thank you any discussion I do just want to say that we have all the um the proper paperwork thank you B um and also thank Patrick for stepping up I appreciate uh the new um new blood in the in the planning board um and I'm happy that uh you you want to join us and I'll probably see you because I usually go to the planning board meetings as your Lea's on Patrick are you able to put your camera on yeah so funny story I don't use this laptop very often and normally it does work but today it's not so it did some sort of an update as soon as I turned it on and now it doesn't work so okay well I I also want to introduce Patrick as a member of our military he's still serving nice so yeah we appreciate him in in many ways and Andrew you are on the phone are you on your iPhone now I'm on my phone can you hear me yes yes we can very good thank you all right great okay so we have a motion in a second we've had discussion are we ready to vote I'll take a roll call vote please starting with planning Carol Hoff say yes Andrew Shepard yes Lance mcnell yes Laura shiffon yes M yes T Iranian yes thank you very much all right you're unanimous we'll see you at the next meeting Patrick make sure you get right into town hall to get sworn in Patrick all right thank you okay thank your meeting thanks everyone yes I'll entertain a motion to adjourn our meeting at 612 p.m. I'll make a motion to adjourn the meeting at 612 PM I will second okay roll Callo please Carol Hoff say yes Lance MCN yes Shephard yes and Laura shiff yes bye bye thank you thank you thank you uh 3.1 um I will entertain a motion to appoint a select board member of your choice we're alternate to the Mart Advisory board for the term from 7224 to 63025 I make a motion that we uh appoint Jaz seon deranian for the M Advisory board for the term from 7224 to 63025 second all those in favor Mo yes yes yes I had to go to a meeting today for that it helps all right well I'll submit that um 3.2 um this is I'll entertain a motion to appoint Susan AR gin to the Council on Aging for return from 7224 to 6226 so Mo I'll second that discussion just by 620 and not 6:30 6 2026 oh 26 I'm sorry okay I missed the date it could be 6:30 but it's just until June no no that's the um we got it um any session all those in favor say yesing un um 4.1 confirmation of special town meeting dates all right Ross so um Town Council moderator and town clerk are all good for September 10th that should be a Tuesday and we're suggesting that the warrant open on July 29th and close Friday August 9th at 12 at 12 noon okay so is that we need a motion for that or is that just we're giving those dates yeah we would need a motion for that okay so moved and I'll second that any discussion I think that gives us time to digest any new numbers we might have from the schools as well as work out exactly what that budget impact will be I think the intense is that that meeting will be primarily focused on the fy2 budget but as I said the warrant would open um July 29th and close August 9th so there might be a few other items being brought up at that time and then if they if there was citizens petitions they would have to be within that time frame yes anything else Teresa all those in favor um we have it as 4.1 and 4.2 should we take it as two separate votes however you'd like that okay I'll make a motion that we uh have special town meeting well we do have a motion on oh okay for again then we can approve both two Mones approve for votes 4.1 and 4.2 the opening closing and the date for the special to meeting I was goingon to say would did you say um Ross when you said that you said both of those together yes I did okay sep yep you want to separate I think we need all those in favor Chan yes um and will Sabrina send out notices to all departments with those dates so I guess those three dates yes okay thank you I'll put that in my packet that and I'll see her tomorrow so we'll we'll go through this um 4.3 discussed fiscal year 25 budget yeah we've been discussing that for why is any different know I mean this the status as of now is that both override questions did not pass in the ballot after the recount so that now it brings it back to North Middle sex to come back with a revised budget within 30 days I heard from Nancy Haynes today that on the 20 June 28th they voted a lower budget and therefore a lower assessment for Townsen I believe that number is $243,000 less than the number um that was mentioned at town meeting so I think between now and and well shortly that the town ought to give a formal response back to the school and then we ought to start figuring out how we account for that wasn't there also a letter from the superintendent about using Reserve funds to supplement the school budget yes so what they said is they Ed more eend funds to help reduce the assessment to the three towns and towns and's reduction I believe is like I said $243,000 can I ask Russ to clarify if it's from the town meeting March 19th the reduction from that number which was higher than was on the June 11th ballot correct so that should be clarified well they gave they gave me a number and what the total assessment is I was taking a number from what I believe was the May town meeting number um I don't think wait a minute I have their to their new number if you want their new number the new number is 14 milon 748 th000 $550 I believe the number that was talked about at town meeting was 14, 99169 but either way I believe the new number is 14 million 748 550 and Town's portion that that is towns and's portion that is questions thank you um and so what I want to say about the budget is I'm planning to meet with the finance committee probably every Tuesday starting near the end of July and we plan to look at estimated revenues and obviously all the expenses to see if we get how we get to a balanced budget and that's what our plans will be from July through August have some you know a budget ready for the town um we are also Ross did I send you the letter from um desie we're having a meeting on July 19th yes I saw that I wasn't sure what the time was but yes I've got that marked to my C for the 19th yeah 9 to 11 okay and um that'll also give us a little more insight on exactly what what we're doing I do believe the school committee is meeting tonight again from what I understand that's I understanding okay I left multiple voice messages for Nancy Hayes today and we haven't connected yet but um when do we have to get back to the school and say we can support or not support this budget and them having to provide us with new numbers on or accept that well the provide a new number oh it's 30 days to give the new number I knew there was a 30 days in there and then how the 243,000 that's taken off the figure that we had on the ballot for North Middle sex I don't know that I have that ballot with me but I thought the number was was 14991 on the ballot no that wasn't on the ballot no that was the total total it's not the ballot I think is the question is what was what did town meeting vote town meeting voted as level funded budget right that figure that's what that's what the level funded figure and if cath is do I hear Kathy in the background yes do you want to move closer to the table Kathy please I'll just hi Ross this was back the preious topic I sent you a text or or to ask you how long historic district commissions Commissioners can be active if if the term ended 6:30 are they active until they replace or do they stop on 6:30 regardless of whether there's a replacement um usually they continue on if they're waiting for reappointment because especially in this case there will only be two um active members and all applications will not be allowed to act on okay so I didn't I didn't Chaz I'm sorry to go back on you but um I thought we could close this tonight if we we got a ruling on whether they're still active until rep placed or whether they stop on 6:30 that's you just said isn't it they can continue yeah continuity of government yeah so they can continue on and we can we can do the appointments next meeting okay right yeah thank you you're welcome and that's renewals right all replacement but renewals yeah okay yeah I guess so the thank you Kath the process that that I think well at least we're looking at is um has the school formally um sent us back that assessment Ross I I believe they have um what what Nancy sent me today was a copy of the letter that the school sent so could be somewhere Mail system you know a formal letter saying the new assessment number um and when are you meeting with the next with the finance committee I'm gonna say 23rd what time here um well that'll be after we meet with dessie and find out what their conversation is um I'm am I also will be meeting with uh uh both the Ashby and peol Town Administrator and um chairs uh we will be having a discussion in regards to the whole process involved too and that is on the it looks like on the 11th hope I wrote it down J my desk down 10 a.m. 10 to 12 and it's be here um the finance committee members as well I think invited every anybody that wants to attend except for the other select boards or we have to post for anything else for now Ross not on those topics nope okay um Teresa I did put in um I don't know if you looked at it in SharePoint um we had asked um each department to submit a revised budget and I put them all in SharePoint just for your reference um if you need anything else in regards to the budget let me know and we can get them in there for or let Sabrina know we can get them in there in regards to my only question about what you s selected does the finance committee have access to those as well um what we put in and we can yeah can we do that because I think it would be helpful at our next meeting or their next meeting I'll be there as all so I can do that so I'll share it with everybody from I'll I'll add you guys individually to the folder so you guys can go in the folder and look at it each department put revised budgets with a 10% reduction for each department so that it'll give us an idea if we need to really cut we can we know what to cut with and then can I ask a question specific question so on the each of the several of the budgets I saw there were there were reductions but um at least three I looked at had longevity longevity I can't get the word out and I thought we had gotten rid of that um no it's all those are all Union oh Union based okay so and they can't cut that based on Union okay thank you yeah that's Collective bargain so we have to adhere to that anything else that was all thank you all right so um what what I plan to do is to be uh let people know as we progress through this um I haven't seen the the budget numbers yet from the school uh and then I was hoping um I had asked to schedule a meeting as soon as we can so that um the select can talk in regards to what we see for um how how we're going to cut through the The Fog here um I have suggestions I'm sure that Joe has suggestions and I'm sure you have some ideas as well um so my uh because this just happened on Friday um I'm still piecing together what I do so and then we have the holiday this week so I'm looking at sometime probably early next week you going on vacation or you going out of town not till AUST okay so we're looking at I'm going to try to do it like around noon time or something if that's okay and did you get my email about would it be helpful to have an explanation of the process yes we're going to put it on to give Kathy some time to be able to get prep you don't instantly oh never mind we haven't told you yet I want you to explain uh government to us have a government 101 cluse on how recounts work next meeting be joint District Board of Select should be at a joint meeting with the doesn't have to be because it's yeah elected boards that are appointing is when you'd have to have the joint but with uh was that are they elected are theyed no yeah that's why you're an appointed Bo so no no elected board if there if the selectman is appointing it has to be done with both boards you're more welcome to attend and point oh everybody support your renewal all right anything else Ross you all that I'm good thank you okay ter are you good yeah I'm good thank you ladies see you on finance um 4.4 um Town administrative search committee process recommendations um the reason why Teresa I had this on there is we had not had a a chance to in regards to our interviews that we had last week correct and however you want to be able to do this um I wanted to make sure that um you know was was the two in individuals that we interviewed um did you want to um did you feel that we need to move forward with one or how how what say ye I I'd be interesting to hear what you know at this there been so many people coming down the line that I'd be interesting to see if the committee has any others that they like to present or is this the only two that they feel they should be presenting at this time of the problem with that though I I know we've already lost people that they wanted to present by the time they reached out back to them they had already went elsewhere so I don't want to get caught in that trap either so well the the concern I have is is um proper hiring practices so we've we've they've uh sent forward two individuals okay um so we would make a decision on whether we want to um go uh to offer one of the two individuals okay if um if the board felt that they didn't want to move forward with one of the two individuals then we would need to go to phase two we need to close face you have to pH one okay I I wasn't clear that that's the process so I I would not have an issue going forward with one of the individuals right so um at this point I think the board worked very hard and coming up with names and I was happy with with one of the individuals so I wouldn't have trouble going forward a little more okay um I can't I can't work um this is a board decision you have the your committee has placed two candidates to us and we interviewed them and you know I would like to move forward with one of them too I just don't know if it's the same one or not so um what do you want to do to this well I'll make um a um motion I got to pull up the names um to move forward with the appointment if you're okay with that what you with the one I'm thinking I don't know if it matters um Joe's not here but when I talked to him I thought he was would would like to at least see if there was another candidate before he makes that decision but there only the two of you voting tonight right and again it's then we have to pass up these we have to pass up these two if if if that is the case if we want to move forward I don't know that you have to pass up you could hold a decision talk to an additional additional candidates and you might still come back to saying you pick one of the first two but it's up to you that's different than what Chaz believes that I I I I don't believe that I believe that we were we had two finalists that were sent to us to ask us to interview we interviewed and we need to make a decision on these too before we can move move on to the at least I believe that that is the process so could the decision be made I I I'm just asking because I'm not I just know how I work in Private Industry and I know this is completely different than Private Industry but to tell the person we have tell like one person we decided to move on and tell the second person we're not 100% we're going to do some looking but we haven't wrote out we don't have that option here I would I would want to check with the with our labor attorney then if that's what you want to do I'm more concerned about the process involved in this yeah you know this is this is this is putting I mean the search committee felt that they provided you with two viable candidates correct so there's nothing wrong with these two um from their perspective I think it's a board board's Choice whether to pick from these two or or to continue looking um just just because of what we did I understand I understand but you had no we continue the process I understand that but the whole thing is the the applications and interviews continued they were not closed after we sent the two they were not closed I understand that continued our process I understand that as well but according to how how I believe the process is is you the committee is supposed to supply two candidates you have two candidates that were supplied to us we have opened up their names um up to the general public and interviewed them um in public all right and we are to choose from those those two adding somebody else afterwards you know I just I don't think it's fair to those two now the question is um if we if we do decide to well I would like to move forward with one of them and you said that you would like to move forward with one of them and that's the only my concern about that um it could be to we could be against that never happen that never happen I think I think we need I think in the fairness like you said I would hate to publicly have it out there that I'm willing to leave my job and then just be put on H as well I think it was a public interview Etc that's my only concern it's it's but I can also understand we had them continually to come in I can I can I can float on this I can you know stand on the wall with this but because we kept it open and it was like wait a minute why did you interview me put me through this if you're already put to full but it could be that right well they didn't know if those too we have to keep we have to keep it open until we decide somebody well we could choose one I guess we can we can I just think the process is wrong the way the process is both the them when they're interviewed and made public they know that ahead of time neither one of them didn't get the job even though they made themselves public and they need that ahead of time right but but we asked the committee to supply us with C with finalists you supplied us with two finalists at that time it doesn't matter at that time you supplied us with two finalists right but we the two that we met with we have to make some sort of decision on it's it's what say and and I can understand that if we if we met with them then if we say no to vote then we go back to the committee and say you've been you haven't been dissolved yet and we like to see more candidates if we agree that one of them is a good candidate um we move forward see how negotiations go if that doesn't go well then we go back to the committee and say provide us with another candidate or two more candidates but to not do anything with the two we have I can understand your concern I'm just thinking of fair hiring practices yeah um well I would like to move forward with Nelson M as what as my as my suggestion um r both in in agreement in regards to the individual that we would like to move forward okay then I think a motion to um appoint di here Nelson um yes subject to contract negotiations and then as so moved second discussion I just I think at since we've gotten to this point then we would take no more further candidates if this doesn't work out we still have a lodge pool it's contracts don't work out we still have a lodge pool to go back to okay with that all those in favor say mo cheran yes um so we um we have Sabrina contact Nelson and let him know that we would like to enter into negotiations yes can we ask that he go A Year Without okay until we get the budget straight you know I don't think that would work you and I could I we I can send a note to Adam to have him draw a draft contract um I think that would be did did Adam do it before no actually we did the contract I I think it would be very similar to the one you signed with Eric but um unless there changes you want in it um I think I'd be okay with doing the same as as Eric and then we can discuss it um when that comes back okay so maybe Sabrina could pull up Eric's contract me or she can edit you know basically changing names and leaving the salary line blank or I'll I'll be glad to look at it between now and when I get back if you want okay and well do you want to let Sabrina know or do you want me to let Sabrina know if you wouldn't mind doing that that'd be great I could do that I will talk to her tomorrow um and we will contact the gentleman and we'll get the ball rolling um we'll set um we can uh put this in our next um select Min meet no why don't we why don't we see how quickly we can uh we can get the turnaround on this and then we'll set a special meeting to to review the contract yeah okay okay with that to yes I am um 4.5 agenda item deadline change um I put this on the agenda to I had a conversation with Kathy and Jessica downstairs in the clerk's office and um I just wanted to make sure that uh a we have a clear process B we're not we were doing a lot of revisions yeah and that's problematic not only for us but for them as well okay did you get a chance to look at yes I did okay so I had you have any issues with that no um this will this will be that when we finally post it that posting will be that that's it no more changes except for emergency additions and deletions if we need it the only thing I didn't see in there is if the zoom link changes that should be a revision if it's not the correct sometimes the correct incorrect Zoom link or the incorrect date is on there we would do that immediately yeah once we change that but I didn't see it written out there was it that no I didn't put it in there the the the concern was that um we would be getting things from other boards and commissions and they're like can you put this on the next agenda right and we would do the revision and then we get something else and then do the revision again so we were we were adding things and I just wanted to make it easier the only time I think we should un urgency like it does say in that is like I said if there's incorrect information that the zoom link is wrong or the date is wrong then that has to beis done cor immediately correct yeah okay but this would be that we can make our we would we would the submissions for the agenda will be for that Wednesday we have our meeting um but then we won't post it until Friday to take because sometimes we have changes we need to do a reallocation or whatever and those um we can do all of those during the week so then Friday at 11 o'clock that's our that hour meeting the board of selectman's deadline that we we can post them just so we stay within that frame framework and um more importantly we're not uh going down every 15 minutes to the clerk's office because that's a lot of work for them too um 4.6 um discuss and vote Bluebird houses at San meows um I'm going to read the letter uh in uh in the record this is from autum Buck our conservation agent uh dear members of the board of selectman I hope this letter finds you well I'm writing to bring to your attention a proposal that I believe would benefit our community and enhance the environmental stewardship efforts at the Townson Ashby Youth Soccer Association Swan Meadows soccer fields specifically concerning the conservation of local bird species the Tesa soccer fields are not only a vibrant Hub of activity for our community Sports enthusiasts but also play a crucial role as a habitat for local wildlife in order to enhance the biodiversity of this area I propose installing three blur bluebird houses within in The Tall Grass areas of the property these bird houses have been purchased with funding from the Conservation Commission and will be positioned at the height of four to six feet facing Eastward to optimize their effectiveness native to our region Bluebirds have encountered challenges such as habitat loss and competition from non-native species given the expansive open space of the soccer fields I'm confident that this location will offer an ideal environment for these birds to nest and thrive this initiative not only supports our community's commitment to environmental sustainability but also promises to enhance the natural beauty of the Tesa soccer fields installing these bird houses would provide much needed nesting sites for bluebirds helping to stabilize their population and contributing to the overall ecosystem health of the Tesa Fields these houses would also serve as Educational Tools allowing residents and visitors to learn about the importance of habitat conservation and the role that each of us can play in supporting local Wildlife once I receive your approval I am eager to volunteer my time to install the bird houses I firmly believe this initiative reflects our community's dedication to environmental sustainability and will significantly enhance the natural beauty of the taste of soccer fields please let me know if there are any additional steps or information needed to move forward with this proposal I look forward to your consideration of this request and to working together to enhance our community comm's natural environment Autumn Buck which I think the name is appropriate for a conservation agent um so I would entertain a motion to approve the bluebird houses at Sanic cook meow soccer fields so moved and I'll second that any further discussion my my only question is if I doing my bluee house is right I might be doing them wrong they have to be maintained every year you can't leave the previous in there and I didn't see anything about maintenance um I can talk to L's office about that but I could be wrong and I should be leaving the nest in there but I'm pretty sure was the autobond said to take them because they start new each year and they don't reuse the nest we can check with that thank you um you have to don't remember seeing anything about the big thing you have to make sure Hornets don't go in because then that will stop the they just got to be checked every we can check on that just for all those in favor cheran yes and thank you a for your work on this um 5.0 ARA projects um do you have anything on that Ross I I I don't have anything on the Opera projects okay um I did have a conversation with um uh Katie today in regards to what we have there um I do need to talk with you about some of the things that I discovered but we had uh when we first established this there was a spreadsheet sheet that that had um all of the allocation sheets and what they were for and all of that um I'm going to try to see if I can look try to find those documents between now and uh next week and um hopefully get a uh an agreement between Katie and I that we are both on the same page and then I'll bring it forward to the board uh so that we can uh we can see if we need to do uh any reallocations um I it's July and I want to make sure that we have um the um the remaining funds are um what's the word they're either under contract or um encumbered encumbered yes um I just want to make sure that gets done because I don't want to have to do this on the last [Music] minute uh 5.1 Town Administrator updates and reports um I've got a couple here um atw Acres um has been dealing with a bed bug problem although this is a private Enterprise and it's up to them to solve the problem towns and Board of Health has been providing assistance mostly in offering to do some training um last week Chaz held a meeting that was very well attended with several Managers from um atw Acres towns and board Health representative um director of the senior center was there state representative was there and along with her staff uh we discussed the plan remediation um steps and took steps to prevent any of the bed bugs from being transmitted to other Town facilities and we'll meet again um in August to check on progress and if necessary figure out next steps so as much as this is a uncomfortable problem for their residents I think we are working the best and the atw acres is working the best they can to solve this I I have an update on that too Ross we um we have um some volunteers that are going to be helping us uh with the residents um there's a prep that needs to happen before the um the treatment is is applied and some of the individuals that are over at that facility um either don't have family or they don't have uh support to be able to help them out with that and uh Elise and I are are gu gathering together some volunteers that are willing to go over and help them with the prep so that the treatment is more effective just so you know okay thank you it sounds like it's a coordinated effort all the way around yeah um the trash contract the board had previously voted to extend last year's contract um into fy2 um I just saw an email a few minutes ago from Town Council saying that there's a few more changes they like to put into that base contract before it's extended so I think that's still waiting for those updates um now that we know that the to override um votes for the to fund the schools have have failed I think the the board and the finance committee and I you know will explore options to possibly change the funding source for the trash contract but that I think have been talked about in the past but I think that's certainly on the table uh the fire Union contract the town and the fire Union have reached an agreement on terms uh the mou is available for the board hopefully they'll sign that tonight uh since the old contract expired on June 30th and today is July 2nd but before the current pay period ends I'm going to declare that we successfully completed concluded these negot iations without elapse in the contract thus we avoided the potential of having to calculate and make retro payments I want to thank the town and the union negotiating team for their patience and their reasonable positions during these negotiations police Union a um old grievance was settled um the grievance has been dropped and the town has made a payment covering that settlement uh next department is the highway department there was a vehicle accident I think it was relatively minor there were no injuries um per the town's policy a drug and alcohol tests were done and performed um and both of those tests came back negative I.E no drugs or alcohol were detected in the drivers Conservation Commission their Administrative Assistant has resigned um seeking El opportunities elsewhere although her services are important to the Conservation Commission we will leave that temporarily open um until we know exactly where we are in the FY 25 budget the land use coordinator said that she can cover her dut the the admin's duties for a short period of time and HR will conduct a exit interview I think we've already talked about the budget um in my mind we're starting the fy2 budget process all over again looking at revenues to see if there's any way we can be more aggressive yet still accurate in estimating revenues and looking at what we can do to cut costs you talked about the special town meeting um there's also a request from the COA director to increase wages for van drivers um to bring them up to $18 an hour to make them competitive weather towns um I think maybe that will be show up on an agenda item for the next meeting and the last is how many hours you'd like me to work as interim ta um due to budget constraints and direction from the board I've been trying to get to work close to 20 I think I've been averaging about 24 hours a week I think to do this job well really you need 40 or 50 hours but I think 30 hours as interim might be sufficient um and I want to assure you when anybody's listening I'm not trying to extend my hours I honestly want to enjoy retirement in the summer but also I feel that we need to get things done as they should be and 20 to 24 hours isn't enough so it's up to the board if they'd like to ex extend my hours on a weekly basis so my thought was that we kept we limited um Ross's hours during June because it was the end of the fiscal year now we're in a new fiso year um we we had said when we first had Russ come back that as of July will will re rehash what what we think about that I think 30 hours is Reon able for right now um I'm being very cautious on the amount of work that's being placed on him right now um but I didn't expect the budget to be um to come back like this I didn't realize we were going to do the amount of work that we do what are your thoughts on that Teresa I guess I my my first thought is of course if we do anything that cost money we're going to hear about in the grocery store um but with the fact that we have an offer out to somebody I'd like to get a sense on how quickly that person might be move moving forward before we make a final decision so we I can give you an estimate of what it took for Eric um we planned on six weeks we we were able to get him on board four so and that was from the time that we we gave him the letter and then he was very responsive of coming in and negotiating with us okay so yeah I uh if we're we're not talking 12 18 24 weeks that you think it would do like I said I'm hoping that it either go smoothly or we move to another C candidate oh then I have no issue is well but I wouldn't like to see he carrying on and on and on well I would neither I would neither and neither you just cut out Ross we didn't hear that I was I was echoing your comments that you don't want this to drag on forever okay um what uh what I was was hoping is that um we have a discussion Ross and I in regards to what we have on the table um as far as what the things that we have going on and limiting that to about 30 hours a week um and then then cutting back to 20 maybe we can do that up to 30 hours a week up to 60 days and then reassess y we can do that we can do that yeah I'm I'm only I'm only going to work what is I think absolutely necessary and I'm glad to check with the board before on each week um I would prefer it to be less than 30 hours honestly but I don't believe the job can adequately be done in 20 to 24 hours you know when we when we said 2 that was assuming there wasn't a Union contract to finish up which is now done but it was also assuming that the budget was done and town meeting was done with it looks like we're going to have another town meeting in September not to mention a lot of work with budgets so so I'm trying to be realistic um and I won't work any more than absolutely necessary but I think there functions that should be addressed and help handled weekly to help get us to the next h meeting I'd like to make a motion that we extend um Ross's hours to up to 30 hours a week until the next town the September town meeting okay I'll second that those in favor chinian yes and Ross will I I would like to be able to sit down um as we do anyway every time you come back just to um um I want to fill you in on the things that I've been doing and then we can um set a course for the both of us I'd also like to have a little bit of overlap when we when when and if we get the new TA in here yes all of that more than willing to you and and the board about tasks that I think need to be done and you can say yes do those or hold those I mean that's you're in control on this okay so as we said it'll be in up to 30 hours and we trust you to be if you need the 30 hours then you have them okay thank you you're welcome um 5.2 reports from boards the a zones so we kind of brought on it but I want to um make it clear so I had a member from the energy committee that's due for Renewal replacement I have a couple of members from Historical Society um renewal or hopefully all these are renewals uh that needed on these boards uh finance committee has somebody uh coming up and there was one other committee and that uh each of these committees asked about when these renewals were coming forward but you already answered that the yes the any questions on that they can go right to the clerk because the clerk can answer those much quicklier than we okay well all of these were June 30th appointments right so there's reappointment forms and then if they are hiring not hiring if they're getting somebody new then it would be a volunteer respon for yeah so they so they're supposed to put in a reappointment form yeah okay there's I did not know that so I didn't say that to the so I'll make sure that they all know it's a reappointment form and it needs to be signed by the chair so they need to the just so that border committee is bringing that person I apologize I didn't know that and I didn't uh didn't inform three three board meetings I attend and I didn't bring that up once and then the other thing I like to bring up I wasn't there but watched it uh it was on on we we had I think it's same meeting that we had whatever but the energy committee uh has been as they always are have a a lot of Grant Management um that they working with uh Eric couldn't remember his name for a minute was working very closely with them on some of the stuff I referred them to Ross and I know Ross you were able to get back to Ron on my go I believe um most of the grants are coming from Rise which is part of unitel which is the grant so if you're right I'm just going to read where we stand now okay so we closed and they basically they filed closeout documents to unitel for the Memorial Hall and garage regularization projects um so we should be getting that money they 100% complete start date 13024 completion date 31224 we also close out documents to unitel for scolding Memorial weatherization Pro problem those we we can process those rebates that 100% complete to 2024 31524 most of the lighting at SP spaling memorials and complete this scheduling the final work in the gym uh finishing up loose ends and they hope to uh sign off document uh once they confirmed this week so they were supposed to be sending sign off documents on for the last uh town meeting uh we they sent them in 61 I don't know if those have been signed off yet I have to um they sent those probably to Ross I don't believe I've seen any sign off documents I've I've seen inquiries about whether the projects are done and you know the form submitted to unitel for rebate as appropriate but okay I'll check I'll check Whit Ron on that then Teresa if you could take the lead on that because I don't know any of those grants and you're more familiar with them if you could project manage those and get those to Ross yeah and that was the the um basically the the last of of those uh grants and then they were going to start those were the 20 earlier one with the new new four new projects that we approved this year good but I will I'll we have a meeting June I got another meeting coming up so I'll find out where we are I got a an email I was copied in an email and I was like I didn't answer it because I don't know anything about that particular Grant yeah and I certainly don't want to sign off that it's complete because I don't know what complete is but I but they certainly do they can tell you by the lomen if it's if it's complete or not so so I will I will follow through with that all right I'd appreciate that uh anything else Finance we we're meeting more regular to we can figure out you know what where where we're proceeding um so I did talk about the the budgets that you had and I asked you if we can share those with those I think that'll make things help them as well and [Music] um historical they're meet oh they're meeting tomorrow but I don't want to say they have questions um because that's not the the right term well if they have that have to renew but I guess I didn't tell them they have to hand to paperwork so I'll take care of that tomorrow um but they want to just make sure we're all on the same page on the on the town no it's not Town Line to what's the new area that we're building oh the historic village right so um they just want to make sure they're working with us correctly and they're working with the other people that are involved like Gary correctly and the only the only concern I I I had received a phone call from the ethics Commission because um all but one member of the historic district commission was also members of the Historic Society and the concern was that there is you know you either are on one or another so I was asked to submit the charter for how that group is organized and the charter States specifically that the Historic Society should have two nominations with one of them being on the historic district commission they need a an architect on there and they also need a real estate agent um the rest can be at large members but one of those at large members need to be living in a historic district so it's very strict right um the there are a couple individuals that have filed disclosures with the ethics commission and the ethics commission said that it really depends on what how did they phrase it they they have to do like a notice of a certificate of appropriateness so when somebody like wants to change their windows in a historic district they submit an application for a certificate of appropriateness they look at the plans they they decide whether or not those window do are appropriate for historic house and then they sign off on it okay all right the the the the concern from the ethics commission is having members both on the his Historic Society which is a private organization and on the historic district Commission Now The Historic Society is a committee in town right that is on for correct the that's all I know about I so you help and advate me the historic district is an elected board or that's also appointed historic district commission is an appointed board that's also an appointed board yes and that's what they asked earlier that's what she was asking me if they needed to have the other members here when we were appointing you only have a joint meeting if if it's an elected board gotcha so okay uh I think no I think she was asking about for forther renewals and stuff because you know how we just had for the planning we all voted it she was thinking she's up for Renewal Jerry I think and she was thinking do I have to have there's a couple of them but again the concern has nothing to do with with the person it has to do with the district or what it it has to do with with the charter the and if I if the if the ethics commission said that we don't have to adhere solely to the Charter then I don't have a problem with with reappointing anybody okay but the concern is that the majority or the U the majority members that are on the historic district commission are also on the society so if there's any because the society has buildings in a historic district if they had um if they have to vote on uh certificates of appropriateness on one of the buildings that are from the Historic Society then there's of Interest that's what they're concerned about so if we were to say the mission of the district versus the mission of the society could you break that down for me um the society is a private it's a nonprofit organization so so how is that like we have the energy commission whatever why am I Leon to a you're a leason to the historic district commission not the societ society thank you okay now I got it so the district commission is they have three put these windows in you can paint your house purple right [Laughter] well leave that to a historian here no there was no purple back in the day um but uh they would be they would be looking at the appropriateness of how it fits in with the district gotcha okay and Historical Society I know quite well right the ones that right okay now I got it okay and now and to answer your or to to actually ex expand on your comment has nothing to do with with the people it has to do with the charter right and and because with the Char for finance and China for energy they just got to get their forms up correct and that's where I misled the I don't want to say misled they have have a signature from the chair and a couple of those did not have signatures from the chair as well that's sorry okay so we if we follow follow the process and we the chair of the committee or the okay thank you corre okay excuse me Mr chairman yeah go ahead is there anything else I can do for you tonight or am I you're all done with me no you can go fishing thank you have have a good even thank you Ross okay bye now bye now um so I was over um I marched in the parade on um Saturday over at peol and it seemed like I was a beacon for people to come up and talk to me about things that I really didn't bra than I um I did have a conversation with Betty may she said that she left a message and she didn't hear back with you um there was um we have I have no message I but I stop bying visit her okay she has it at 597 672 which hasn't had a phone attached to that L line in 200 years well I we were standing in line ready for the parade to step off and she came running over to me and started talking so it's like um they have three um lawn parties that are open uh July 11th July 2 5th and August 8th um and she wanted um us to to announce that um the band can perform without a lawn party being held in conjunction with it but having Refreshments available certainly a nice addition and local organizations of projects can financially benefit from having concessions um so they are looking for um July 11th uh July 25th and August 8th uh for the Juan party okay um I think this also dovetails into a conversation you and I had had um I think that uh we need to do have some kind of I know that on channel on the local channel they have what volunteer that they have to do right um but I'd like maybe to to reach out and see what we can do to get the word out get the different boards if they available we can sponsor on and get the different boards that are looking for help to come out yeah we doing country playgound but that's already sponsored maybe we could sponsor just do the town of tones and learn more about it what the different committees do me like Mr ride out about the rail trail and you mean like have a tent or something just that they most of them are up in tables and stuff like that just have the different but they're looking for to sponsor the lawn Pary so that means to do hamburgers hot dogs popcorn all but then if we're going to do that like I said invite like the energy committee there to explain better what they're doing invite the oh I see have table what do the hot dogs and hamburgers and all of that but invite you know B A help but historical district all of those to put a table or a tent or something and explain what they do me your time that's a good idea anybody who has opening and you have to volunteer forms right there on the TBL it is all right but um you know those are the band concerts and I think those are really important and and you know I I like it I like going to the concert now when is the uh the kids one I thought I was uh had a meeting I think that's the 17th 17th 18th it must be 18th because I said I didn't think I could go but let me double check I think it's the 18th because there was something I had that day but it might have to that off so do you want to make a motion to sponsor the 25th and see if we can get other members of the tal bring out tables I want to do it the other way around okay let's see if we can get other people to help us before we commit to because I see you and I doing H andbody else I'm from a family and nine I can serve 200 people hot those and hamburgers without any help at all family seven so yeah mother's favorite dish was the uh American chop sooie she could make it for like 50 people she needed to um okay we um we can move on Public Safety um I didn't I didn't see anything from Joe for Public Safety um 5.3 announcements um I did want to go through a couple of them um one of them is I wanted to let you know Teresa in the town if they wanted to know um we had as part of our new insurance um agent that we've gone to we've reduced the cost of our insurance about $30,000 in total our premium um we had um $100,000 for cyber liability and uh I had to they did an audit I submitted all of the um the upgrades that we did to our system uh and um I got this letter saying I have some great news um they increased our limit to 250,000 because of the safeguards we have in our system oh wonderful yeah that's what I thought too so that's a big plus a we're saving money and B we're have more coverage on what we have um we have legal notices here um this first one is for um Wednesday July 10th at 700 p.m. um the towns and Conservation Commission will consider a request for determination of applicability to install a crush Stone pad and a 12 by 24 shed on 94 Main Street and Townsen and again that's on July 10th at 7 o'clock um on Wednesday July 10th at 7:15 um they are looking at a notice of intent filed by Matthew S Maro environmental Consulting for the applicant Ace your home Lux LLC for property at 21 emry Road the proposed work is for replacement of an an existing septic system within the 100 foot buffer zone it is a joint hearing and it is in regards to towns and wet lens protection bylaw and regulations act then also on Wednesday July 10th at 7 o' um the Conservation Commission will review a request for determination of applicability regarding the upgrade of the current septic system through the installation of Presby type system it is uh located on 18 copper SMI away and it's going to be submitted by Dillis and Roy design grou uh we do have um there was a resignation Beth Faxon who was on the towns and bylaw committee she is regrettably um submitting her uh resignation because of her demands as um the planning board and Zoning Board of Appeals admin admin um we also have a resignation for John Walsh from The Amanda Dwight entertainment committee finally the there's safety improvements at Municipal bus stops um there's a survey um that has been done there's actually two one of which is a corridor survey for route two it's that's a safety survey I just put it up in well I've just asked to have it on the website okay um there's results from a survey that they did for District 3 I think the the findings if anybody's interested it's pretty pretty in depth into what they feel that route two Corridor and how to get up this way okay um they're suggest improvements for District 3 um which duve Tails into our area they talk about lunenberg they talk about Fitchburg coming nor can't get that exactly you know they talk they talk about truck routs and their recommendations for changes for truck routs because you know how we have problems that on L down and all that Y in regards to that um and outside of that I don't have anything more do you have anything I do not um as Ross said we did have an amended fire contract um the trash contract as he said uh we just I had to track down um our last contract for our attorney um from 2021 that took me a little bit of time to find I sent it in this morning and they they reviewed it and then came back we just need to make a couple of adjustments and that should be all set um and W up safety survey and I think that's it uh so our next meeting is going to be July 16 2024 and I'll entertain a motion to review and sign payroll and bills payable warrants out of session so move and I'll second all those in favor chanian yes all you now I'll make a motion to adjourn at 7:26 second that all those in favor say mo yesan yes thank you very much everybody enjoy the V