##VIDEO ID:n375x86G7ds## I'm going to call the meeting to order will you join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all good evening welcome to the Monday August 26 2024 meeting of the Westport Select board um under Mass General Law chapter 38 section 20f this meeting is being recorded I do want to note that um we have an agenda item uh under discussion number 5A which is going to start at 6:15 this is a report from the auditor so we're going to try to conduct some business before the auditor gets here but um we are going to be pausing at 615 for the audit report um also just want to mention um that we are we're going to Executive session tonight but when we leave for executive session we will conduct no business after that so we'll except to adjourn so there won't be any official business after that we go to Executive session and just want to remind voters that there is a primary election coming up on uh Tuesday September 3rd I saw the booths out on the hallway so you may be um early voting check the town clerk's website um but that'll be the primary um election on Tuesday September 3rd is there any more uh announcements or recognition before we start okay so the first item we have is a public hearing um if there's anyone here for the hearing you can come up um we have a request from jumana shadid doing business as top Quality Auto Sales Inc for a class 2 license and repair license at 1018 State Road Nicholas oyed as manager with a total of 62 cars um we have a note in here that the B building inspector did approve the parking plan for the site and um the note says the police report has not been submitted but I I see a police report came in today yeah so there's police report um expressing no concerns to that um welcome can you introduce yourselves hi jid I'm the owner of top Quality Auto Sales okay hi here do Nicholas I actually work for them I've been presenting them for four years almost three years and a half I want to say okay um and do you want to just explain to us what you're requesting yeah so um I'm going to ask uh Nicholas to represent me explain for you all the information okay since my English kind of limited so he can explain better than me okay that's fine so since over the years we have actually been uh expanding the business over there uh we started at 935 and then we expanded to 937 and since we've been actually been doing great over there with great reputation also in Westport uh and lot of returning customers happy customers so we decided to take the 1018 State Road to start preparing exactly the same thing that Prestige was doing getting the cars prepped ready over there uh detailed whatever they have to do to it and at some point we're going to be displaying some cars on the front line as well over there but not really going to conduct business a lot over there so it's going to be most likely at 9:35 okay thank you any questions from the board there's a public hearing is there anything from the public so what is the pleasure of the board move approval of the license application as submitted second so we have a motion in a second to approve the license as submitted is there any discussion all in favor I that's unanimous thank you so much I appreciate you thank you so much thank you for 2 a we have a request from Gerald Dupont um doing business as Edible Creations by Jerry at 35 State Road for a common victualer license do we have anyone here for that um I had a question about this one so the the we had the police report which was favorable and we have the but do for um a common vict do they need a Board of Health sign off will need to get approval from the Board of Health as well okay so they they will need Board of Health approval but it's separate from what we have to do that's correct okay is there anyone here to talk to that one the paperwork was all in order for the Comm ofc move subject to of Health appr second okay so we're moving to approve subject to the Board of Health approvals is there any discussion all in favor I I that's unanimous we have a request from Michelle and Brian hey sorry I just said that wrong um South Coast Harvest Festival for a common victualer license and an automated Amusement machine license to be held at the fairgrounds 200 Pine Hill Road on Friday September 27 2024 to Sunday September 29 2024 can you just introduce yourselves hello I'm Michelle Pay and my husband Brian pay from South Coast Harvest Festival it's our second year we survived the first year barely two days but uh we're willing to give it another shot and as far as our uh one Amusement it's a mechanical bull with an inflatable mat type situation no big thrill rides happening or planned and no alcohol this year we've decided to foro our uh preview party that we did last year just to simplify things and um save us a little bit of money so we're just going to focus on Friday Saturday and Sunday 10 to 8 and 10 to 6 on Sunday and as far as last year I would like to let everybody know that uh trash was an issue that uh you wanted to make sure we kept up on all four days every morning when I did the parking lot it could fit in a gallon size Ziploc not one nip not one beer bottle yeah it was a nice couple of coffee cups that look like accidents but it was a great crowd and I think we'll have many returning customers and participants this year nice so we do have a favorable police report in the packet um but they do um recommend a detail officer for the event um from 4:00 to 8 on Friday from 12:00 to 8: on Saturday and 12:00 to 600 on Sunday okay last year we were advised to ask for a contingency plan uh because when that rain was coming down we had four officers standing there what do you mean by one police detail just one officer so the police recommendation um notes that there were several details hired last year um but it was held with no issues um they didn't inhouse they they did normal police checks no issues they said um I still believe it would be prudent to have a detail officer present during the event to deal with traffic or safety issues that arise suggested detail Friday 4 to 8 Saturday 12: to 8 and Sunday 12: to 6 okay that sounds reasonable we're open to having one officer there yeah um but they did well only one is that seems agreeable yeah they just saying Adil officer one yeah I think we had four and it was it was pouring rain and it was hard to call them back we called down to the station and they said you're stuck with them so they they they then they worked with me the next day which also rained so they're only recommending one now I think they not we're happy we're happy to have them there Absolut all right I'll I'll move it subject to the police recommendations second is there any other discussion you want to just tell everybody again when it is September 2 7 through the 29th week how can they learn more about it South Coast Harvest festival.com great all right um all in favor I I that's unanimous good luck thank you so much thank you have a good rest of your meeting hope to see you there yeah hope see you there thank you thank you put your rosary beads up for us apparently we got to practice on for the mechanical Bowl too yeah um 2C is a request from the Holy Ghost Club at 171 Sodom Road for one-day liquor licenses at 179 Sodom Road for the following dates Sunday September 22nd fundraiser 12: 5 Saturday October 5th fundraiser 12 to 5 Saturday October 19 October Festival 11 to5 move subject to favorable police reports second we have a motion and second to approve subject to the police uh recommendations is there any discussion all in favor I that's unanimous I don't see the auditor yet um 3A we have a request from Chief Christopher Dunn to reappoint Michael Chica and Shan munzing as full-time police officers so this is a yearly reappointment yeah chair any idea of uh I think CH has been yearly any idea if he's getting close to ten year yet it's got to be it's only three years right it's at least yeah I thought we've already done a couple years okay I was just curious I'll move them second so we have a motion a second to reappoint um Chica and munzing as full-time police officers any discussion all in favor I I that's unanimous looks like chica was higher in 20 so you're probably right so just two years all right um request to appoint Greg Lavoy as a seasonal Cemetery laborer Jim you want to tell us about this this would be part-time he had worked for the highway department cutting grass and um for the last few years and we can use some help in the cemetery Department especially for September and October as the growing season starts again i' recommend approval I'll move him yeah he's a at the veterans evet and one not he's a veteran so do a motion do we have a second second right we have a motion in a second to appoint Greg Lavoy for seasonal Cemetary labor any discussion all in favor I I that's unanimous we have a request from Bonnie streble the library director um to appoint Joshua Brum as principal Clerk and John Maderos as Library maintenance specialist do you want to come talk about it or you want Jim to PS I really loved your video that you had with your assistant Library director please go go on social media go find the video you've done some cute ones over there thank you very much all right so you want to tell us what's going on um when Amy madus was moved up to assistant director her principal clerk position became available and Josh Brum who is already in the union um applied for the position and then and when um Roland Dumis resigned about two weeks ago we had the maintenance specialist position come open and um John maderas who was also a union member has applied for that and they're both previous um Library employees so we're very excited to have them back okay great do we um it's not on the agenda but do we need to backfill any position post for any backfills here yeah so I on the next item we have the Council on Aging with posting of a principal Clerk and the maintenance specialist okay all right so that's next all right so um anything for Bonnie on the two appointments over there no just through you uh Jim met all the requirements High room requirements we good to go yep I'll move on second so we have a motion in a second to appoint Joshua Brum as the principal Clerk and John mados as Library maintenance specialist any discussion all in favor I that's unanimous and we have a request um the next one thank you okay thank you very much did you have anything you you didn't have anything else on a um we have a request from Beverly Bishop to post the Council on Aging principal Clerk and maintenance special positions internally and externally so those are the two positions were just vacated by those appointments we just made skip to I'll move them second um so you're moving to post internally and externally internally the process yeah okay any discussion about that all in favor I I that's unanimous um I don't think we can quickly attend to any of our action items here and we have Mr roselli on the on the video screen there yes there he is welcome to relli um you all can't see him you don't have a well we can see him over there um so uh so we have uh Mr roselli here for the audit report with u roselli and Clark um dick do you want to introduce anybody or you want to well just to say that the audit committee uh enjoyed having Mr roselli make the audit report those was are the financials and as well as what used to be called the management letter now it's the governance letter and it has a list of recommendations uh I think you'll find the report to be quite uh pleasing but Mr roselli appeared before us remotely and uh discussed the report in great detail we asked him to come tonight to simply answer any questions that the board might have Mr roselli has been the town accountant for many many years he's well known around here and we're glad to have him here tonight so with that I would say mam Sher if You' allow Mr barelli welcome hello everyone thank you for having me and hopefully everyone can can hear me I don't know if you've got um the uh report up I was just going to go over the five or six points I had I can elaborate so we have um we have two we have we have a bunch of information we have a bunch of reports from you so is there one that we you recommend that we look at yeah so it would be the thin one that's just like a in letter format okay well they're all on file names on PDF let's see do you know which one he's talking about know which one usually be we normally talk about the governance letter the okay the governance communication we'll open that one thank you thank you I can go through that um and this is a new um format for the what was called the old management letter so the AIC is always coming up with new ways to present things so this basically um asks us if we had any significant issues which we had none there were any Gap generally accepted accounting principle toes which we had none uh if there were any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies which we had none if we had any disagreements with anyone at the town we had none of those so all of those questions are answered in a positive manner uh so if you go to the third page we can go through What's called the other uh audit findings or issues and let's see there's eight items that I discussed in pretty good detail with the audit committee about a month ago so we can go through uh those real quick and free to jump in if you have any questions uh just wanted to note that the the findings are getting smaller and smaller every year um for the old God you remember you know back a few years ago when we had like 10 or 12 pages of mying now we're down to a handful of bullet points and half of these are informational items so um so that's a good Trend it's very uh good news for the town and you're you're heading in the right direction um and uh so the first comment uh that we talked about is your long-term obligations uh specifically your pension obligation and your opep obligation so the pension you're part of Bristol County so you're part of a County Retirement System so you're kind of at their backck and call you really can't make extra contributions and and things like that like you can with C uh there's a way to make extra contributions but it's kind of complicated so um the town's uh liability actually went up uh 9.3 million on the pension 32.7 million however the Pion is always a year behind so that would be as of December 31 of 22 and if we were to take a snapshot right now I would guarantee you that you cover all of that 9.3 million and probably then some because the way the market has been the stock market and the financial markets have done really well over time so uh so again this is a lag and I would expect when I see the new brisol County report to have seen most of that recovered or or even be High um the second item is oped the town did create a trust several years ago and contributed quite a bit you have 3.5 million in your op account which is a separate trust fund that represents 13% of your liability which is really good to other communities there's not many above 10% a lot of them are starting to catch up and get their four five% but but gold funding has not really caught a lot of wind uh a lot of communities are more concerned about getting to the end of the pension obligation and then redirecting that annual assessment that you sending to pension taking a portion of that and saying hey let's divert some of that to op because the pension going to be asking for a lot less money on an annual basis uh any questions on the pen or open discussion okay uh the second um I was pleased to see that the treasurer is looking at uh different types of Investments um in the past the interest rates was so low that your general fund just went into savings account earning less than 1% uh the rates have gone up uh in fact the nass Municipal deposit was at 5.7% during fiscal 204 um so we had put a um we had put a comment in a couple years ago to start looking at when interest rates increase and the town's done a good job with that they've uh moved things out of savings account better yielding funds so you do see that in your operating results so congratulations right on that good job thank you she's here by the way oh she's here great job I can't see job I'm out in the audience it's the roselli Westport governance communication that I think the town do people you do a fair good job but sometimes it's good to get an outside almost like I fincial statements and then do an audit it's good to get an IT expert and to come in and look at your system and and say hey are there any vulnerabilities there we suspect to an attack um and the good thing about it is beginning September four the state has uh through the community compact has money available for this this sort of thing or different it type things that uh the window for that is open from September 4th to the end you can actually go in and get a menu of it things and they'll send you a grant if it's approved so that's something I just wanted to bring up because we are almost at September 4th and I don't know if the town's ever um you know um tooken advantage of that this is the fiscal 25 Community compact um agreement that the state has so um so good good thing to do um you know if you've never had an assessment done which to my knowledge I don't think you have that might be consider um next we uh just annual reminder on progress uh treaser and should be aware of um departments that handle cash what are the controls uh what um you know how long do they keep the money at their Department before they turn it over do they have receipts do they have a Reconciliation process look at Trends uh are you seeing revenues decreasing inre um just looking for different types of red flags and U you know we we do talk to um Town management about this when we're doing the field work uh about areas that um you know hey take go take a look at this maybe there was a delay in that sort of Revenue um but but it's good for the town to be doing that on a on a continuous basis also uh next comment is on Ara and this is just a reminder uh you have to have it fully committed before the end of this year December 31st 24 fully committed even a contract or a firm purchase order and then you have until the end of 20 2026 to spend your money so it's just a reminder if that doesn't happen they stop call back the money okay uh item number six uh just a little uh discussion about the closing um Nicole transitioning it in you're your accountant and there was some unique things this year uh you had msba things coming in construction projects closing out you had long-term debt so there was something new that had never really been done before he had a large premium so uh some of that accounting was an educational process control which we sat down with her and went through and uh talked about need to be made when those things happen but it did delay the closing process a little bit so I just wanted to um you know highlight that in the manag uh number seven we had a uh a comment on the tapine process the am's been the same thing for at least 10 or 11 years so uh wanted the um you know the treasurer take a close look at that this is a foreclosure has been the same so um so I don't know if it's worth looking into an assignment of those accounts or it's really things that just don't have any value uh because there are companies out there that actually uh do purchase these and they have to purchase them at least at the value that they're on the books it's like a minimum um a minimum floor on these things so I just threw that out as an idea the am's been the same for a number of years so um tax lead forclosure area and then uh lastly a couple of items uh special Revenue balances um look at those uh there's been some that have been stagnant they're legitimate sources of funds that department has been spend so look at them there's gifts that department has forgotten about there might be some State brands that Co that got coded incorrectly that may be able to move back to free cash are those in the special Revenue accounts and there's one pretty large one uh Capital project for about $93,000 it's a PCB Capital project balance and you can repurpose that uh you can spend that towards debt 50,000 a year so there's a couple of things you could do with that um and that kind of concludes my comments I don't know if uh anyone has any questions like I said we did go over this in significant detail with the audit committee with the discussion um I'm sure they delayed to you so um I'm free to answer any questions if you have so dick anything that you want to add um or highlight that he may not have mentioned no this is a pretty complete report uh and we did talk about the financials themselves which were all very solid but this is really the focus uh so-called well the Earth wild management letter now known as the governance letter so these things we discussed in detail and Sue is certainly involved in this so I don't really have anything to add it was a good a good report and uh we like to get reports like this yeah we do Sue did you want to add anything or highlight anything no okay I was pleased that it came up so sue the Sue is the treasurer collector and she didn't have anything to add except she was pleased with how it came out anybody have questions yeah Jim the PCB uh fund he's talking about is that the one that's monitoring out back here too that's the one for the um I believe it's leftover money from the middle school when they did the PCB remediation years ago okay um last year we reappropriated it from One Fund to another a town meeting and it's got to be used for school building projects so kind of holding that off uh just to see how the new school building project closes out okay very good anything else that's it anything from the public much nicer report a few years ago Tony thank you very much I you and keep up the good work finan really really encouraging what we see great well thank you come in person next time y thank you thank you thank you T no commitment on that okay so four we're back to 4A now we have a request from Brian Carney to approve a marijuana Community host agreement HCA for salty Breeze Inc for property located at 260 State Road welcome thank you so much good good evening everyone can you please introduce yourself yes so I am Brian Carney I'm here representing salty Breeze Inc uh we are requesting don't you show one of those mics we got a little feedback thank you thank you uh we are requesting approval for a host Community agreement for an adult use retail dispensary located at 260 State Road subject to legal council approval for our host Community agreement uh we submitted a packet of information last month for your review uh which contains a lot of our operating procedures some of our business plan uh I have a copy for everyone tonight thank [Applause] you good I'm good thank you I do want to point out we got quite a bit of material also in our packet so you did okay um this is redundant information this is the same information that you have the only thing I did include in the back of that packet is the proposed language for the host Community agreement which um I should point out note that there has been a change in the Cannabis control commission's uh structure towards host Community agreements uh they have proposed their own draft model which is what I presented to you tonight um and they're requesting that every municipality throughout Massachusetts adopt the same HCA so there isn't ambiguity and there isn't um any issues that could present themselves with different language um so do you want to just give us like an overview of like where you're located when you planning do hours what like just some some information for the public about your business in general of course so we're proposing a location at 260 State Road um the town of Westport has a very slim zoning sector where these businesses can be located uh so we're right on a public road uh the company itself is comprised of entrepreneurs that have been doing business and this town for for quite a few years uh myself I have been an entrepreneur in this industry for the last eight years I own a store in Oxbridge Massachusetts um a couple in New York and uh we have a different business model than the only other dispensary located in this town we do feel like we can bring a a pretty sizable amount of tax basis to this town um we would be operating from uh 9:00 in the morning till 9:00 at night um like I said we we have a business plan that's been refined over years uh we have a compliance team that has never been dinged by the CCC U so we feel we're very well suited uh we also feel that what we're bringing would um represent the town well you know we don't want to stand out uh we really want to be part of the community and be a good fit for the community and so the way that we design the facility the way that we operate the facility is going to be in alignment with that any of your principles uh live uh locally they don't live locally um we're all from Massachusetts but not in the town of Westport you do business in any adjacent communities so the principles of this business own a couple gas stations in town here uh in Westport um they own liquor stores and gas stations throughout this community I know some in Fall River believe some in Dartmouth uh but they've been operating in this specific area for I want to say around 20 years and can you give us um I'm I think I'm looking at on page 29 here but starting on page 29 here but can you just give us an overview of the benefits to the town like financial and non-financial benefits yep most of the course is financial so as I was explaining there's one other dispensary in town um it's a vertically integrated facility meaning they grow their own product they sell their own product they're highly um um incentivized if you will to sell their own product and so uh what we've seen in the Massachusetts Market is consumers like variety uh they like different price points they like different products and they want that option to choose uh the business model that the the store and town has doesn't allow for that our business model would so effectively that means that we would be drawing customers away from towns like Fall River and New Bedford into the town of Westport to spend the money in Westport versus other towns um so there would be a financial benefit to the town um as I mentioned you know we've also found that in order for a business to be as successful as it can be we want to fit the culture of the town so I come from a coastal town in Massachusetts we wanted to have a similar Vibe that's why we named it salty Breeze there's going to be a nautical theme to it uh we don't want it to be one of these loud out there brands that doesn't resonate with the town we want it to look uh and represent the town of Westport well so um the if I'm reading this correctly the proposed host Community agreement has a community impact fee of 3% of gross sales to the town and um unlike when we negotiated the previous um other companies uh host agreement that's the maximum that we're allowed to collect right from a financial taxation type perspective correct so there's a local sales tax of 3% okay and then there's an impact fee of 3% all right so the so the positive impact to Westport would be of for Financial anyway would be 6% of gross sales gross sales would come in the form of uh sales tax and the community impa tax correct and then um you've talked um about uh local hiring preference and things like that do you want to talk about any of that impact on the community yeah absolutely um we have a uh diversity plan that we do look at first and foremost um we when taking that into consideration do like to H local of course weather is temperamental in this area we've found that by hiring local there's less of a chance of uh people not being able to make it into work because of Transportation issues uh we're absolutely on board to help out the town whatever way possible if you look at some of my businesses that I've owned we go above and beyond what's required of us by the Cannabis Control Commission to engage the local community and to better the local community we hold toy drives uh a couple times a year we volunteer at local soup kitchens uh we participate in local events like the South Coast Harvest Fest type deal so those types of things we really like to engage the community and give back wherever we can thank you um Jim can you talk about um what review we've had or where we are with um legal on this yeah so so we sent up the agreement to Town Council they're currently reviewing it I've had one one meeting meeting with them last week uh we hope to have um an edited version back to the board uh for their next meeting all right thank you anybody have any questions I have a question Madam chair go ahead take um regarding the the fee of 3% Revenue 3% of Revenue and the other 3% the impact is it not true that the town has to demonstrate that there was an impact so it's not automatic second 3% is not automatic oh that is correct so there has been um legal precedent set fairly recently in the state of Massachusetts um the impact fees were put in place en acted by the Cannabis Control Commission directly to offset any negative impacts to a town most specifically if you look at things like uh like a cultivation facility for example that's going to put strain on infrastructure water uh electricity so it was really viewed initially to be able to um keep up with infrastructure uh additional police force if needed you know there was some ambiguity when this first rolled out many years ago as to whether or not this was going to uh lead to an uptick in crime and if there would need to be extra police force added uh so recently there were a couple companies that did Sue the state of Mass or their municipalities I should say uh to recoup some of their impact fees so it is important to note that these impct fees are being viewed by the Cannabis Control Commission as fees that are used to directly offset negative impacts to the town so it is not an overall blanket 3% fee that can go into the general fund um that being said you know you might not know what your impacts are for years right so uh the fees can still be collected just a question with respect to uh revenue is it net revenue or gross revenue gross revenue did you have more questions I had one was a $10,000 contribution to charitable cost is is that a annual 10,000 or just a one time it's an annual is there any restrictions on that or you know what other towns using it I I don't have a legal background this is where it gets a little gray because I know as of the last year there's been some some legal precedent set where towns have required businesses to contribute x amount of dollars to charitable causes um against the company's will if you will to to contribute and I know that there has been some push back from the state to require x amount of dollars above and beyond what's required in the host Community agreement already um that being said you know what we have signed up to do on our own willingly is uh contribute $10,000 a year every single year on our own accord separate from the language written in our host Community agreement this question is that cash or in kind pardon cash or in kind cash so toy drives and stuff that doesn't count towards all that stuff no no that would be different Steve you have a question just so the old times is in town know this is the old beos correct you know do you know it used to be an auto as a matter we have the old uh property owner here uh Boo's long been passed so I'm sure the owner knows Eileen yeah do you know what the business was before the current what was the last business in this location back in the 60s and the 70s it was Auto and then it was a drywall and then it was Antiques and then it was a yeah well many of us have been around for a while noos a unique character with a shirt wide open in the winter it was a unique experience going there um all right the other question was I I I think I went to planning already but what are we doing with the turn around in front of the place uh on Route Six traffic and whatnot has that been considered it has we did a full traffic study um off the top of my head I can't recall exactly what the solution is but we did do a traffic study it was um it was accepted by the planning board I know was that was the last condition uh that we had to meet in order to get approved by planning all right one last question how long has the building been dormant not the not giving us any good tax money coming in how long has it been been uh dormant nobody in there do you know roughly 10 years I would say about three oh it's only been three three and a half years four years okay just wanted to clarify it's been sitting a little while four drywall or the No No thework was the last one and aod got that had to be taken so okay it's a bit over four okay so and we didn't we didn't ask her to come to the microphone but so about four a little over four years it's been vacant um so I don't think we're ready to approve this agreement since we haven't gotten um sign off from legal um but can you talk your recommended approach here yes so again I met with legal last week uh if any of the board members want to join in we can do that but I expect to meet with him again later this week beginning of next week um to finalize an agreement and get it before the board for recommendation does anybody want to participate in that you can contact me if you want you can contact Jim okay can we ask one last question on the on the 10K do you ask for public input on that or is it something you totally choose CU what I'm thinking of fire police or even I don't think the D program is Big anymore but even drug programs in school do you help support that we we would be happy to in fact we we yeah we'd welcome it all right thank you is there anything else from the board yeah anything yeah go ahead Jim could could you um let the public know so what were were the concerns from the attorney weren't so much concerns it was more they gave us a template uh done by the Cannabis Control Commission they had asked if if we wanted to put in any requirements for for lighting for hours um I had noted that a lot of that was addressed with the planning board so we wouldn't necessarily need that um the term of the agreement was another question um if the board wants you know for three years 10 years uh um they there was some Insurance liability type things that they would like to include in the agreement and there was an section of the agreement that was not included in the package that they sent so it seems kind of minor I mean I think it is relatively minor I think it's going to be much easier than it was last time so I think we got the the first one the first one in is always the hardest yeah all right so it doesn't sound like we have any particular concerns it's just that we want legal to to give us the final version here would it be possible to ask for your vote of acceptance pending legal review and acceptance I'm not prepared to vote for that I'm not prepared to vote for that I can't I can't I see more information but um but assuming it's all I mean we meet every two weeks so um yeah we meet every two weeks so I think once you once you've negotiated that with um Jim I think it'll be just a formality mostly okay was there anyone from the public who had any comments no all right anything else so we're we're willing to in the next two weeks we're going to work with legal so that when they come back in two weeks we we can vote on that's what we're looking at right now we're going to see if they reach agreement in two weeks yeah well so we will get them a draft um is the plan unless something holds us up but the intent is to get them a draft for them to review prior to the next meeting thank you so much thank you do you have any of the planning goting for within your pack it's it's I didn't see there's a whole buch of stuff in there wanted to catch them before he escaped that's all no there's a there's a whole bunch of this is the S plan approval it was it was approved by planning board yeah there's a whole plan engine was sea Lee Sean Lee no they they have an there's a mass Highway approved plan that they'll be they'll be able to submit for the curb cut oh I agree all right uh 4B we have a request for acquisition of sewer easements and properties located at 35 and 287 State Road by imminent domain Jimmy you want to talk about this or Steve you want to talk about this from the infrastructure Jimmy work details a lot so um it's been discussed a number of times uh it went before the infrastructure oversight committee and they've recommended uh that the select board um make the takings for these two properties this would be an easement for the pump station at 35 State Road which is right near the four of a line um there's really not too many options for that location where if you know regardless of when or if the sewer goes in um that's probably the only location where the The Pump Station can go so um that's kind of critical I will say that the easements include a permanent taken and temporary easements temporary ments are only good for 3 years but um so they may have to be retaken if a project uh does not get constructed by that time uh the other one which is 287 uh State Road is uh property owned by Meat Works um this is in the front of their property um it's kind of an isolated area um it is right in front but it's um an area that really isn't um suitable for other types of development um and this would get us through the first section of the sewer contract if if if we get funds in the future to construct it um it's been designed for these two locations so there is a benefit to to doing that we've had the appraisals done we also have Opa money from Bristol County that has been approved by them for these two locations um I will say that um I've spoken to the owners of 35 State Road and I've spoken to uh Cindy uh who's been uh working with two 87 State Road 35 State Road uh is not opposed to it they're somewhat in favor of it the only point they mentioned was that um they like the board and I mentioned this at a previous meeting that um when betterments are discussed if betterments are done in the future that um we look for legislation to exempt them from the betterments because they've already been beted by the project they already have sua this is 35 yeah um 287 again is um meat works and Cindy here can speak if she wants um but I think they're both somewhat in favor of these these two takings mam sh yes uh from PRI prior discussions about the owners being favorable why do we need to do an eminent domain at all is that part of the requirement some legal reasons for doing that yeah we wouldn't have to do eminent domain but eminent domain gives the the uh the town very good title right so it clears the title when they make the taking if there was a title issue not that there is but um it it puts the town in a better position um these aren't you can be a friendly taken normally they sign off ahead of time they did not sign off but they have not opposed it so um there are some benefits to the town to do an a taking as opposed to a transfer yeah I I know that I was just wondering if there was if this was a harmonious engagement why we needed to do that and if the if the other parties are amenable and they feel the comp compensation is fair is eminent domain needed at all although I recognize it benefits to us but does it present any benefits to the property owners sure I I don't think there's any specific benefit to the property owners no whether we do eminent domain or we do uh simple transfer by deed um I don't think there's a benefit to them either way but is this if I may follow up m is this this so-called friendly and once this is done this I I don't want to be looking at legal issues here I I consider it friendly I I've spoken to both of them I've uh met with LA Francis um a number of times and discussed it and they're not opposed to it um we no it' be a benefit to us to have the actually come down that far so for those who didn't hear the representative for meet Works said um that they have no objection it's beneficial to them if uh I also verified with LEF France to make sure there was no confusion and like Jim said I I guess one of the advantages of eminent domain is that that uh uh their concern like Jim uh mentioned is that they don't want to have to pay for betterments down the line where they've already got got it hooked up which makes sense but we we've got to go jump through the Hoops on it uh we might have to do a legislative letter so there's a little bit of work on our end uh as we go forward but as you know this isn't coming out of Taxation that's coming out of the funds that we only have for a limited time so you know we need to Giddy Up on it um and move along anything else from the board is there anything from the public I'm going to vote no on these takings um I respect the people who want to go forward for the reasons you want to go forward I don't believe it's appropriate to have a taking for a project that has not been funded and it's not there's no clear path to funding for the project so I'm going to vote no um if someone wants to make a motion there's a specific motion that would need to be made and they're written in the agenda so if somebody wants to move that please use that language the red yeah I see all right and I I want to clarify again it's because the funds are there and and the chairperson is right the the project is not going forward at this at this time it is just to acquire some property so if we do get funding that'll be less of a buring on the tax taxpayers uh will will be ready to go less lot less hurdles and more likely to get funding to help the public uh motion number one mve to adopt an order of taking the form presented taking easements for sewer purposes at 35 State Road and to award $44,500 in damages to the owner of the property for the taking second any discussion all in favor I opposed I vote nay uh number two move to adopt an order of taking in the form presented taking easements for sewer purposes at 28 7 of 291 State Road and to award $9,700 in damages to the owner of the property for the taking all in favor no no second Sor second any discussion all in favor I I I vote nay so that's um for both of those it was four yay and one opposed thank you um for C we have a request from the planning board for comments on the application for William Wright and elain FAS uh for property located at 203 Mouse Mill Road this is for a new 7200 ft manufacturing building we frequently do not make comments on these so if anybody wants to we can make a comment but otherwise we can move on anybody have comments on that one no excuse me y Ralph at what point do they does it kick in for Sprinklers and all that good stuff is a square footage I'm 7200 squet 7250 72 Al we'll K in for this one okay yeah get VAR okay thank you okay so no comments still planning board on c um so we have for D request to change the building department principal clerk position from part-time to full-time Jim you want to talk about this yeah so this has been ongoing for for a while we've been trying to build up the building department a little bit um Rebecca has has been in there for shec a number of years probably three or four years now uh she's done she's done a very good job while she's there she's also very good with the computers uh the planning board planning department recently received a grant to do online permitting and the building department is the key department when you do online permitting uh so we really need somebody in there that is familiar with um the computers and spreadsheets and databases and Rebecca is so I think she' she would go a long way in um getting that project up and running um but even without the the online permitting the department is still in need of um additional staff um and I'd recommend that we increase her from part-time to full-time otherwise we're going to lose her I think she's going to go to another department and then we're looking at the uh I recommend approval of recommendation that's a motion sir yes second so we have a motion and a second to approve um the principal clerk in the building department to go fulltime and um I think you just said it but this is the budget it we can cover this under the current budget yes it'll be covered uh we have some additional funding in the salary for the local inspector and there's also the revolving account that we can we can fund for this year okay is there any discussion busy police all in favor I I that's unanimous e was removed um f uh request to approve the contract for inspectional services for engineered Concepts Inc for the route 6 and maom Mer Loop waterline construction $172,900 Jim so um we went out for proposals for the inspectional services this is for the waterline the route 6 mumber Loop waterline installation um we went out for proposals we had two bids we looked through their proposals uh member saws myself and Roger Fernandes who's been working with us on the project I reviewed both proposals we checked the references um we had interviews with both companies um and we recommended or the group recommended going with um the ECI this is essentially all they do is inspectional services for these types of projects uh they've also worked with the contractor that'll be coming into town um they will still be working with kleinfelder engineering but they'll be doing the on onsite roots on the ground type inspections and they'll be out there on a daily basis uh providing us with reports um responding to complaints or concerns from residents in the budding property so um the pricing was very good um the contract has seemed excellent and I'd recommend approval thank you can we just state with ar a so the public knows the ECI do you know I we did ask that sorry about that just so they're while he's doing that I'm going to move it second so we have a motion a second to approve the contract with ECI they're actually out of New London uh Providence New London North stoningham Connecticut but they have several off okay is there any discussion yeah Jim did did we look into at all with uh you know moving forward with digit if they were going to have a field office and if we were going to combine I have not checked to see if they're going to have a field office on second right all in favor I I that's unanimous um we have four G request to approve the contract for digit Construction LLC for construction of the route 6 at MCO mer Loop waterline construction 3,146 68534965 million and then it went up from there so uh we got some very good pricing on this uh below estimates from the engineer um we have checked references with the contractor uh Klein Felder engineering who's been working with us has uh checked the bonds the insurance um all that is in order um I think we got a good price the contractor seems reputable and is doing work in a number of communities in the area and I'd recommend approval thank you is there any questions well I ask Jim because a few things on it uh just I I was concerned about like if you look this rocks at a penny each and the hangers and everything are a penny each but Jim uh was letting me know that's he's confident with the way it was worked into the bid that it can be done that way usually I like to see the specifics you know we we'll cover a rock up to two feet then after that it's an extra or whatever but he's confident in the bid there's only one other thing I I forgot to ask you and uh number three says that we can't we're not involved either directly or indirectly the town obviously us but the uh how about with Chris Gonzales I mean he's involved right yeah he he'll be involved um we don't have to make we will have him there with the preconstruction meetings um yeah want him involved when they say I think we're covered but just they that's just that one line that we're not involved directly or indirectly just so we normally go through the inspectors right um in the uh engineer himself um if we have an issue and it just kind of they're reporting to to the engineer and the inspectors they report to us you know the project typically go that way but we're still the owner right they're ultimately responsible to us make sure have issues yeah and a large portions in in Mass highway is the mass Highway um utility access permit is that all set we thought it was all set they they just uh because we had the sewer and water in there they wanted to approve the permit first and then amend it to take the sewer out so um we sent up the amendment if it didn't go out today it went out tomorrow and they figured it'll be a week or two before they finalize the permit right because because they do want to be involved in a pre-construction meeting before we start makes sense we reduce a not increases so would think that would be pretty easy go through right yes well one of the things is you're supposed to do sewer before water deeper so we know I know it's deeper all right did we move this yet I don't think so I'll move it second so we have a motion a second to approve the contract um for the construction of the route 6 macomer Loop waterline is there any further discussion just Jim as it gets closer let's have Forum like we did in the past at mcup or something so people know why their neighborhood's going to be all ripped up give my heads up anything else all in favor I I that's unanimous um for H request from Chris Gonzales Highway surveyor to approve the chapter 90 contract for paket hot mix asphalt Inc 25 conquer Street paket Rhode Island $1,999 this is for yearly Street work Jim so we've we've talked about this a couple of times at the previous meetings where they uh the board had voted on the notice to proceed this is the actual contract for 1 million just about $1,100,000 just under $199,950 the majority of this work will be main road which will be down from hotel Hill area up to um just past the cemetery here up to Hicks bridge and that covers you need to advance your slide the time as it keeping me busy um Jim no yeah this is the yearly work I'm sorry go ahead no reduction in as asphalt pricing with with uh fuel oils squeaking down a little has it affected that so in these in these chapter 90 contracts they do have a provision in an escalator for for asphalt so if it goes down um it does reduce it a little bit it doesn't it's not going to change it much be able to do an extra 5T yeah it's all right I'll move it second you have a motion a second to approve the um chapter 90 contract any further discussion all in favor I that's unanimous Zar did 5 a so 5B um we have Eileen monre for the Council on Aging with updates and a status of the Strategic plan good evening welcome Muriel is with me I think you all know Muriel can you just um state your name so I'm sorry I'm ien Moncrief um I am the new chair for the council and aging board and Mario your mic is off can you hit the button there's a little button there you go Muriel kakasa I'm the treasur of the board great thank so um we wanted to uh give you an update but we're so sorry um that we couldn't couldn't come earlier because August 21st is National senior citizens day we don't know that you got to celebrate but congratulations to all those to whom this applies um it was the cover of our our um August newsletter and the September newsletter is uh coming um we just want to give you a brief um update uh of what has been going on um I've been on the board for really only two years and been in town for 12 um Mel you are fixed yeah I lived here most of my life she worn a lot of hats around here that's right um some of the uh things that are uh going on that we're really excited about and I got to read today was the maybe the penultimate uh final draft of our strategic plan and it's been two years in the uh making we have really looked at all of our uh constituents our partners and um in town uh in the state and on the national level of really what is going on for the Aging um what I think is interesting to remind people is that o as of the 2020 census over a third of the population of Westport is aged 60 or older so they're eligible for services and some of the services of the Council on Aging is preparing for retirement and so we have workshops and things that go along on that the people are not taking advantage of our full advantage perhaps um uh we know that um when it comes to budgets of the budget we only get uh a little over third of our total budget our working budget uh from the town the rest is in the form of Grants and user fees and so that I think that that's something that surprises people um we think uh the population that is eligible for the Council on Aging is actually a very Dynamic group and we're really trying to um uh um capture this if you will in what services people want what they need and the level of volunteerism that people really want to serve the town in their community so I'm I'm just sort of throwing these things out um some of the activities I don't think people realize that we coordinate with the police the fire and the health department um having to do with issues that come up with with uh some of our more delicate members of the population um we are probably really more of a Social Service Agency Than People realize because we deal with um Outreach we have uh three individuals that actually go into people's homes do home home visits um a lot of Health classes programs um coming in and and doing a part of the out Outreach transportation is something that's interesting with um um the amount of transportation that goes on it it should be more it should be something that people really think about it's um also for safety not only for the individual but for the rest of the community we we've noted a few times um the Council on Aging uh also does exercise tech programs um one of the things that I think is very interesting is that people might not realize is that during tax season over 300 families in town had their taxes done at the Council on Aging and um it just it's a it's a very booming business there in in January February and March um from the Strategic plan you're going to see that there are is a um a request for more robust programming and more activities so um there's already a discussion of how we will fit in pickle ball and and the like so um just so that you know that that what's going on and maybe who we are so that's really about it great thank you okay anything to add other than Transportation I think is very important issue because as soon as you can't drive you're going to have to move out of here yeah right as soon as the two not much public transportation no no no I I I think the other program that um people sort of think the only thing that we do is the social Day program and that's a very very important component in fact that's how I got initially involved um my mother was a um um a participant and and we were thrilled that she could be there and so uh I I think that more people are um perhaps in need and they could use the type of socialization that goes on here Le he's and I did want to make a few comments I uh I didn't participate in the Strategic plan I thought that was truly a board of directors function but I did review it and it's well written and has it really hits all the high notes uh one thing I had brought to the attention of uh the council is that if you think about it long term you've got probably what what the council is getting from the town now may not be any greater than that that could be the high w Watermark and yet so that's steady and then you have growing needs as alen's pointed out um for the services of the Council on Aging so that presents a strategic challenge uh there's no easy answer of course and I didn't have an easy answer but I did suggest that you keep thinking about it as a team and ask yourself the question at what point do you uh well need needing more space is a constant issue there that's right and of course being an old school building it's it's been said many times that it doesn't really fit what your programs are it's a different structured so it feels for different but anyway um so that's something to to keep in mind again it there there's no simple solution uh I suppose one possible solution is the old high school if that turns out to be the case but if not I think the council really needs to think long term about maybe even being independent or quick independent of the Town um because the town will not be able to in my view based on what I know this could change of funding uh the council to to a greater amount than it is today whereas the the needs keep growing but that's that was acknowledge well I think one of the considerations I know that privatization is is always um on people's minds and and rightfully so but um should we um privatize the counsil on AG we will will no longer be eligible for much of the funding that we get and the grants that we receive from the state it's Catch 22 so um you know um I'm going to stay and listen to your discussion about the use of the high school because um we like that it's all on one level and the people it's it's usable and the halls in the winter time would' be nice legs out right that's right better than go into the dmouth mall well the other good thing is if we ended up moving the offices there the town nurse would be there too God forsaken you need something or if you wanted you boost It One Stop shopping that's right so we're trying to get that building going would be convenient you got a nice Garage in there you po a couple of Vans that's right that's right we happen which we happen to have keep them warm indeed indeed so I thank you very much for I I want to thank you for coming and reminding us of all the services because I I know we're going to come into the season soon where we really have to look at making some really hard choices in town and I just think it's really important that people know the work that you're doing so I'm really appreciative that you kind of reminded us all thank you for thank you and I'd like to come um and make a presentation when we have our strategic plan more in in um more buttoned up it's really not ready U for other than dick is the only one that's gotten to see it um uh outside of of the board but we've been working as I say for two years on it and it's it's very interesting um some of the suggestions I think that people have come up with thank you thank you thank you have a good even Jeff you came in just in time you must it's like you're paying attention Som YouTube so we have uh we have just 5c the Hicks Bridge Landing bench on the Westerly side of hicks Bridge do you want to talk about that sure the Jeff bll hi I am chair of the landing commission the bench is going to happen we have the bench The Landing commission owns the land we've figured out a place to put it the issue before you which I've been working on for five years and it keeps sort of I run out of steam every two years is parking for disabled and other permit holders on Hicks Bridge Road so they can easily use that piece of land that the town of Westport probably hasn't used in 80 years it's beautiful it's a lovely View North of the river it's not the most ideal parking as far as safety but it's certainly safer than parking it in front of the annex or all the other places in town that are not ideal we would increase the sight lines the highway department has an order of conditions to increase the sight lines coming east on hixbridge road um we would be rolling The Boulders in about 5T so we're clearly off the road uh Richard Brewer was at the there and can attest to it's a beautiful place and it seems like we ought to be using it we're paying to mow it so let's use it so this isn't just about the bench so the bench is going to so this is the on the the uh Westerly side of hi is it west or north it's north it's on the Westerly northwest corner the northwest corner of where the Hicks Hicks bridge is there's a grassy null there's a grass area there that you're going to put a bench in so what you're talking about now is um moving the boulders over so that you could that people could park in that a little bit more off the road it's it's it's signed no parking both sides and when I've spoken to now three different safety officers over the years they've all said well we got to go find out from the selectman why it was signed that way 40 years ago or whenever it was and then it dies so we're back again and asking you to sort of push through about it uh my sense is that it would be important to make it permit parking using Hicks Bridge Landing permits which you all already issue because that Landing particularly on weekends needs more parking anyhow and particularly for people that fish from the bridge it would be convenient um so that's my sense there one handicap spot which the the disability commission would really like because it's it's one of the easiest places for handicapped folks to get to a view of the river um and and then make the other four or five spots it would be parallel they won't be striped because it's dirt but I I don't know I mean maybe Mr Brewer can speak to it also well as you know I'm the lison to The Landing commission um and I was surprised at how many Landings we have and further surprised at how many Landings we have that are not used and uh I think the town when to uh Jeff's leadership is needs to take a more active role this is these are valuable pieces of property that belong to the citizens and they're some of them are not kept up well um one for example down by the trailer park there's a landing there called Emma trip and the the name is etched into Stones there the problem was there's all bushes and weeds around it so he detached me to get down there with my weed whacker and clean that up but it's not used very much cuz most people don't know about it uh Jim said this he's got a list of a whole bunch of Landings that I should come in and check it out uh so I think but there are other examples of where we have this land and it it could be lost forever if we don't do something and at least make people aware of it and assert our rights and depending on the particular Landing put signage up that's appropriate the signage does sort of assert that this is this is our property um so it's something that's sort of an underutilized resource so I'm kind of enjoying this uh lison job and uh but this this particular piece of property I've been driving by it now for years and always wondered what it was and a pla there that talks about what it was it was the first establishment to have a liquor license in the town of Westport that should be worth saving but anyway uh clearly it's got a it's got a long history that's very very interesting I guess it was a restaurant there was but anyway it's a wonderful piece of property and it should be used so that's so are you just informing us and want to hear our opinion or is there some action that you're looking for my understanding from working with the highway department and the police in the past is that the select board is in charge of signage along the road and typically I would expect you take the advice of the police safety officer Etc about well gee does this need to be signed this way I think from what I have heard part of the reason it was signed that way many many years ago was so that people who were not Westport residents wouldn't come and fish from the bridge I think we have the ability now to consider making it permit parking which should help with that problem it's not that different from having permit parking on Beach Avenue which we have so uh my sense is for that section of Road a couple of signs that say permit parking and a handicapped parking spot that's what you need to ask the police to then ask Chris gonzalves to create the signage and change that we didn't want the whole world to know but that used to be a premium Crab Spot that's why was a problem that's why there was a problem there was many out of town as there been a bunch of people everybody throw crab out I mean chicken out in a string and that they went but what you're recommending is the Hicks Bridge permit parking right because it's it's part of because it's on the other side of hicks Bridge it's well it's it's actually part of the hixbridge landing yeah okay that's that that's the ownership is it's it's it belongs to The Landing commission it's titled hick Bridge Landing right they but that's probably the reason why the boulders went there we used to have problems parking all along that side but I'm willing to give it a shot again with the permit so what do we need I think we need a police recommendation yeah I can request that for the next meeting there also may be a process I believe there's a process for um establishing no parking zones and if we're going to change that we'd have to follow that similar process it may require a public hearing I don't know we find out I said I would check at the last meeting and I haven't checked yet but I will find out this week and um get back to Jeff and I will check with the police and get that recommendation all right so does that sound right so we we tasked Jim with um uh researching the requirements for changing the the no parking police recommendation and I guess Highway recommend confirmation they can move the boulders and then um bring that back as an action item you don't need that as a motion do you I don't think so all make sure that's going to we get a handicap sign in yeah that we need at least one handicap disabil make sure not all right but yeah they maybe they'll have a recommendation because you be cutting out traffic yeah yeah maybe they'll have recommendations because you g be pulling into the traffic so yeah well let's find out if we put up the signs or there's a big plan there sounds good all right jefff anything we should add to that instruction to well I think just also to understand that the other major Landing public park in town if you saw the High Tides last week it's rapidly disappearing and this is an area that's least dramatic rically above high water so if we can establish a tradition of it being used and it wouldn't be overused because there's not that many parking places um it's something that would be relatively low cost to the town and actually create some revenue from permits and from riding tickets for people who go there without permits so it seems like why not I mean we own it we're paying to mow it let's use it the board hey Jim is the landing commission involved with the the issue we have with the snow fence up now and access or is that on our side do we need to work with that agreement with the going going up by the Masonic Lodge is is that them yes he's been involved we're involved also in that can we ask a status so the status we have not reach agreement that's it that's the status okay thank you for the status is that basically it we have not reached agreement nothing in the yeah I I would if anyone has more information I think there's the history of it is unclear and it's you know when the town sold all that property to them for a dollar many years ago there must have been an agreement from the people sitting in this room and the Masons that this would become public use because not only did the town help fill that property because it was a gravel pit as I've spoken to the farmers that own the potato farm on the other side everybody in town dump stumps there it was called the stump dump and so it you know it's under and then the town did significant work improving the property so there must have been an agreement but there's no paperwork and it's not in the deed so it's unfortunate and but I think it's worth pursuing and you know hopefully the Masons will work with us on it I mean it's they're a public spirited group I think think that's what's in their Charter we're the public okay thank you thank you all right thank you so the next item we had was the old high school request for proposals so at a previous meeting we directed Jim um to work to put together an RFP for um the evaluation of the school evaluation of the current building so that we could get a better Financial picture on um what might what is involved D in um converting the schools you want to talk about what you got for us yeah so I tried to get a couple of samples of uh draft rfps for similar projects and they are out there I'm waiting on uh two to be um emailed to me but I did put a draft together um and it basically it's it's pretty standard it includes all the old reports existing conditions reports when they had the old high school um when they were evaluating the old high school for potential uses in educational facility when the new school was built so there's a number of reports there we also had the utile uh reuse study that was updated with a code analysis um and we would ask the um essentially we'd be hiring a project manager we'd ask that project manager to interview current staff and departments uh we'd want a public Outreach portion of that project or process uh we'd want them to analyze the existing conditions of the Town Hall Annex the town hall the Council on in um and also the school admin offices and then we want them to evaluate the different options and and what I have here is just a it's not all the options just to give you an idea of some of the options that have been discussed um we're looking maybe demolishing the building keep the land uh limited municipal use um with minimal improvements so we'd move the annex uh School admin there and maybe the town hall uh we would be looking at maybe all Municipal uses uh the annex Town Hall Council on aging and school admin and we could look at two different options for that do we do one at minimal improvements and do we do one where we're upgrading the building to uh today's standards and um you know that would go handicap accessibility earthquake standards fire protection and so forth um you demolish the building is it worthwhile if you're going to spend that money to demolish the building and build a new Municipal complex and get something that that meets the specific needs of the users that are going in there um or do you demolish the school tool and Rehab the Old Town Hall which is this town hall maybe build an addition and move the annex over those are the options I've come up with I said I would get some ideas back to the board um if there's some that I'm missing or some you would like to exclude we could do that my thought is once we get a project manager on board we would be relying on them to give us some suggestions as well every option has alternative um pricing you know if we're going to do something at the old high school that May alleviate some costs that we're dealing with at the annex if we do something here that may alleviate costs elsewhere so I think all those have to be considered when you're looking at the different options so my thought was that um we had kind of agreed in principle on that middle one um right so but you're saying um and that we had kind of dismissed the other the other options but you're saying that we're looking at it you're suggesting here is if we're looking at it with a project management with with all that's part of the financial uh evaluation that we need to do is that yeah I think you'd want to at least in my opinion we want to look at the Alternatives right well what's the cost analysis if we we we limit it to one use or one option we don't know what the benefits are uh we don't know what the costs are in comparison to the other options and my thought is you're not looking at it very detailed analysis right they can they can look at the size of this building the size of the school and come up with some very basic estimates as to what it would cost to do minimum Renovations and to do a full rehab um I don't think that's a heavy lift I think that the more time consuming things is just uh the managing of the project um the public input um and the facilitating of the groups to get to come to a consensus or a conclusion so dick I know you were kind of the the proponent who recommended that we go out for this is that what are your thoughts about what Jim's talking about well uh I agree and and that that's consistent with the long range building committee which made a point in their slide Mr Thrashers here he could talk about that you got to look at all the buildings because that's a big part of the equation and some of the buildings like this one are historic so you can't just look at it in my view and say we do this with this school building the old school building you got moving Parts here and uh this would be a more comprehensive look which I think was intended from the get-go in the wording of the uh article uh at town meeting to spend money on this if we are so inclined was to have a more comprehensive look with the word feasibility being key here what what is the most feasible approach and we don't really have that now we have pieces of it from utile but we don't have all of it so I think that makes sense and project managers can really help us in that regard is there a motion needed at this point in time um no I think uh Jim is just looking for directional guidance um it's under discussion topic right not an action okay I mean I I I agree with what dick said I think we need to based upon our interaction with the with the building committee at at at previous meetings as well as meetings of the committee there is no consensus about the restu we're going to need the assistance of this uh type of consultant and so I think because of that all of those boxes are still in play for the time being if we can narrow it down if we can take an approach but we've done a lot of this work and I haven't been here for most of it but the net effective is my impression is is um we're we're not yet headed in a direction except to know we need to do something anything else from the board before we go to the public well I may just add uh I may be repetitive here but it's also the financial impact I mean whatever we do is going to cost money um I've talked to enough people who want to know what the cost would be the only thing I could tell them is what youal said that but that was for a full renovation this this has other options but in order for us to ever get this in my view uh to a ballot question uh for excluded debt this kind of material voters going to want to know yeah um in its only common sense that you're asking somebody to do what they haven't been inclined to do lately you got to have a reason and and if we have a supportive uh project uh report a project manager report feasibility study that says this this makes sense and here's why you want to do it I think that that's important for the raising of money agre thank you uh Christopher Thrasher drift Road chairman of the long-term building committee I just wanted to mention a couple things first of all as far as the the options that are presented here I think the one option that there did not seem to be widespread support for on the committee and and it would be de demolish and and keep the land now that being said even if that is I I feel that that does have to be considered to some extent when you're doing a uh a financial uh overview of this but I do believe that some of the previous studies that have been done have gone into details of of how like the Lots could be split up for example so I think that that part there's enough information there to at least come up with a with a ballpark estimates from from say a project manager as opposed to having that be part of the feasibility study um but my my other recommendation would be again as as Mr Brewer mentioned it's imperative that any study that's done looks at every Town building because none of this exists in a vacuum and and you know in order to to make a real cost benefit analysis that can be useful to decision to the decision-making process you have to look at the expenses uh that are being incurred across the town buildings there's no question um the only other thing that I would mention is that I do think it's very important to get uh get going on this as soon as possible uh I we this has been going on for years and I'm not hearing anything tonight that hasn't been discussed at uh at length many times before so I'm just hoping that there there can be you know an RFP for uh for even if it's just a project manager as opposed to uh doing the uh doing an evaluation study if if the first thing is to get a project manager to at least figure out what the steps are in that process um you know I I hope that the the select board will will get moving on this so that there may uh be an opportunity for a ballot question some somewhere uh in the near future so thank you thank you all right so Jim did you have other questions for us or any other guidance would be helpful no what I've seen in the past is the project manager would um if they don't have it in house most of them have their own estimators uh in house uh but if not that would be part of their contract the subcontract to their their award so they would include most of that they would include all that work as well in one uh one contract so we'd go off for one contract for project manager which would include the s estimations and the direction for the committees as well and and Mr Thrasher just mentioned all the town buildings but I think we are not considering the the school building so the macromer school the elementary school I think we're not including the library um and um not including the Harbor Master I don't think anybody really wants to move the Harbor Master away from the harbor but I don't know what do we think do we need throw the Harbor Master in there no yeah no I mean find out the expenses you the bills together and whatnot so okay yeah I getting late and heat needs to be on in that building soon so all right any so I can finalize the uh RFP um I can send a copy also to the long-term building Committee just have them comment on it do you want me to get it out or does the board want to review it one more time no I would say get it out to the interested like to the long-term building committee and um the only other subjection I would say Jim is to get an estimate on on uh winter as it too is that an option just to get just have the board has an idea if it's sitting there because the boiler boilers were taking apart when we went so you're talking about for the current this is the current building yeah if that sits over the winter it's going to freeze and we're going to have disasterous results but it's it's it's not cheap to winterize a the system that's a big building I did have one inquiry for Mr hard has there been any resolution on the uh potential increased Insurance costs as as of this is there is there any number that's been presented at this point or is that still outstanding at this point the insurance company's been notified we're waiting for them to come back to the town and tell us what we need to do okay thank you anything else anything else you need Jim nope that's it so I say go ahead and send the drafts out to the committee and um that's fine I thought I thought we would he just asked if he was going to send out the RFP the request proposal he doesn't have an RFP to send he doesn't have an RFP to send he was looking for input from us but it should be included in the RFP I have a draft but it hasn't been reviewed by the Committees so do we need to review his draft of an RFP to hire a project man manager for the old high school or we going to just kick the can down the road another time well I'm sure you saw the draft of the RFP in your meeting materials that were handed out a chance to look at it so there there's the draft is in your meeting materials so can we send that draft out send the draft up to who a request for proposal for a project manager for the old high school now if you look there are questions in the draft is not complet you can make a motion if you'd like to send the draft out as a request for proposal but I think it's not ready I think Jimmy could handle it no is that what we pay him for or we got to bring it back over here again and kick the can down the road again mam Sher if I may I I looked at that this afternoon and I thought it was a pretty good proposal um I'm trying to bring it up now but it seemed to answer all the questions and it did make uh a very specific mention about including all the buildings that we want to be in here so it looked to me like it was a pretty much almost done project uh so I don't I'm I'd be comfortable with Jim filling out the rest of it and getting it out I I would agree somebody man make a motion then I'd make a motion to that effect second so you're moving to um s to have Jim finalize the RFP which one number two the or was it all together well there one the RFP flow chart and then the other one's the high school proposal so you're so the propos so you're authorizing Jem to complete the RFB with no major changes just basically what's in here and um send it out for um proposal yes that that's my motion okay that's second all right any discussion on that all in favor I I that's unanimous for bid he's going to send it out for bid on that point that is there a group of companies that you you know or you have access to yeah we'll put it in the central register um and we will also there's a few that have been doing work in the area will notify them as well okay great okay October meeting schedule so on the um October so we we currently have on the calendar an October 21 meeting Paula Jim and I are all not available on October 21 um so we wanted to bring to the board whether we should amend the meeting schedule the proposal from Jim is to take that 21 the October 21 meeting and making it October 28th that would mean that we would have two meetings at in a row we'd have October 28 and then November 4 and I think the part of the problem with the 21st is that we wouldn't have anybody to PR because that Paula is out the week before right so you we don't have anyone to prepare the agenda for the 21st she's actually she's out the the first week of October which so I'll be able to prepare the agenda for the 7th um I'll be out that following the week before the 21st yeah so what what are the meetings 7th the so today there today we have on the seven and the 21 and then the fourth and so what 7th and 28th so yeah so Jim is propos or Jim has put before us the 7th and the 28th and the 4th motion of consensus on that you want a motion I move that we uh change our October 21st date to October 20 28th I second that I have a question go ahead uh so but we will keep the November 4th and the subsequent dates because if we were to go ahead two weeks that would holiday really mess up the holiday it's my opinion we should keep the fourth and 18th that's we're starting to get in the budget cycle then too so I think that's we keep the fourth and go forward so the remaining on so the 28th of October would be the new date continue though with November 4th 18th and December 2nd and 16th as is now published yeah okay right uh did we vote all in favor I that's unanimous Town Administrator report so there's a study that was done by the Army Corps probably three years ago I think they started it maybe five or six years ago um at least five years ago uh the armi Corp is looking to close that study up um this is kind of the Westport River Watershed Alliance has done a lot of work on this study what it is is there's debris under the old hick bridge and the study was to determine whether or not there'd be significant benefits in moving that debris with the flow under the bridge uh not only for the increased flow going up and down the river but for The Aquatic Life as well and the general ecosystem uh in general um the Westport River Watershed has asked that um and we sent a letter to the Army Corps requesting that we have an additional two years uh to extend the study before they close it out I'm not sure the Army Corps is going to grant that but that letter did go out um The Watershed is studying they have um tide chots I'm sorry tide tide gauges on both sides of the bridge right now and they're just studying to see how much flow goes up and down under that bridge so um if they have a little bit more time to study they can provide that information to the Army Corps and that may um change some of the results of their initial study could Jim that that I don't know the technical name for it the deep hole that's there did they decide it's good not to put any fill in that or or are they still looking at that I think the general consensus is that it's not a good idea okay yeah it's called scaring hole actually my son-in-law Dove it for Watershed and it's full of oysters yeah actually that's what they said they said the oysters in there are very old you don't see them don't tell everybody anyway um Town Hall Annex uh we just uh we had to shut the water off twice last week uh for a leak at one of the valves down near the pressure tank um they came in Tuesday and did emergency repair and then they came back Friday and uh fixed it they'll be back one more time to move the C filter and change two of the two of the valves on the intake line coming into the filt filtration system the American Legion building uh we went out for bids um Tony vieira's been putting a lot of time into this um to redo the exterior of the building uh bathroom improvements the parking area um they have a lift uh to get up to the second floor that was donated that they wanted to install we went out to bid the bids came in too high for the amount of funding that we have so we're modifying the scope and we should be going back out to bid again in the next couple of weeks don't have Kleinfeld to do it all their bids come Way Down Low Project updates Cemetery design Power Engineering is working on finalizing the plans for the cemetery expansion um we'd like to get that done so hopefully for next town meeting uh we can look to appropriate funds to do the actual construction work these would be two sections north of the existing sections east of the garage um we also went out to proposals for the cemetery software we had two companies submit proposals Thursday last week uh we'll be reviewing those and making a recommendation to the select board um if the proposals are good U this would be the website that they've used in is um was kind of a private website that has not been updated in a few years and it's no longer supported um the gentleman that's worked on it been doing it volunteer for years put an awful lot of time into it but um again it's not being supported so we need to get some additional software to do that we're also looking at the cemeteries will be mapped so that we'll have uh better access to what's out there and um not only for the public looking at the site but for the workers there as well if I could I was going to suggest when we went around uh during one of our slow weeks if we could get uh an update on the cemetery is I know they were tight for space for a while how we're looking with that and we are we are tight for space I want to I shouldn't say but I think there were only a few hundred available plots last time I checked but I'll get sign it every week so uh the 177 roundabout the 75 design plans are scheduled to be filed with mass do in September um construction funding is on the transportation Improvement plan with the regional planning Agency for 2026 that date gets moved around depending on funding and if other projects are ready or not ready so um that's a tentative date but right now it's it's programmed in the plan which is good um it's not always easy to get these into the plan themselves uh the route 177 and gfin Road intersection improvements Power Engineering completed their assessment of the intersection um it does not meet the warrant analysis for a full signalized intersection um we've met with mass do probably about a year ago um they've recommended and with the study approved of a U Mass overhead Mast on with a with a new blinking light there and we'll do some um site clearing on either direction to improve the site distance hoping for the design to be done in the next couple of months uh this is Opa funding through the state so we we need to get it under contract by the end of December so we're pushing to get that done that's all I have okay thank you uh we have minutes I think we were all here for all of them yes so oh you want me to move these things since I have read them in clerk job okay you're the clerk okay I move that we um approve the minutes of July 8 July 22nd August 6th and August 12th second any discussion all in favor all right I that's unanimous thank you um report on the bill warrant this time it was very routine 2.1 million that's an average number of warrants and everything was in order so much so that I didn't make any cryptic comments at the bottom like I usually do so that's fine and it doesn't have to be approved and it's uh was all in order on time thank you um we have liaison committee reports and suggestion for future agenda so we'll start with you man um bikes pushing ahead they we've been getting more grants uh I think I forwarded the email to the board if not I'll I'll make sure I follow it um you know Michael Baris does a good job and Gil and bet uh tracking him down uh they also got the bike rack in at the transfer station um the the other thing Jim is U another slow meeting idea uh Beach decompress the and let us know how the season went after you know when things slow down um you know if there's any ideas we can do with parking yes it's a very fragile area but seemed to again it seemed to be the number one complaint with with what do we got uh whatever 6,000 permits out or whatever it is so anything we can do for the future plan thanks um so we there was a school building committee meeting um they there was no real um there was no real action taken there's still just just agreement about the water coming in from the roof and who's responsible for that um so there's some discussion going on with um the general contractor and the architect so that still has not been resolved and we're trying to get a final report on how much money is available I think that we may end up having to make the final repairs on our own but we want to make sure there's enough money um to cover that um so more to come on that one but that's the only meeting I had sha so in that in that meeting did they discuss the septic I I didn't attend the entire meeting so I not when I was there yes they did um the odill plans uh the engineering company was out there last week um finalizing the inverts that they didn't have so um we should have that I'm hoping in the next week or so what about um what about a letter from the Board of Health on the abandonment on the old system that I wasn't aware we needed but um that wasn't discussed in the meeting yeah only thing that was discussed was removing the manholes above the um leeching Chambers from the old system so so because you you are aware we don't have a certificate of compliance on the septic system for and that's what we're working on now right and the permit was never picked up so there was never a permit and that permit is expired and in that permit it stated that that system had to be abandoned so now we just need clarification on who's going to come back and abandon the system I mean are we are is the town paying for that abandonment that the contractor didn't pick up the permit for so there's a few things I think the contract they didn't do right they right in their specs that was their responsibility to take out the permits to get the certificate of completions um that's part of their responsibility um they didn't do it so we're trying to follow up to make sure it gets done do do we have a so we don't have a certificate of compliance and we're occupying the building we don't have a certificate of compliance yet is that is that against Title Five that's a border of health issue not M I think it is Dick uh not too much because the Council on Aging did not meet in August the next meeting will be September interestingly there's a meeting of the landing commission tomorrow I'll attend that as leaz on that's all I have in terms of meetings in terms of future uh agenda items I think it's the time of the year we have to do the performance review on the Town Administrator and I I thought a little while back I I just I appoint a committee of two I thought I did I think I think that um I I think Manny and I were supposed to be reviewing his contract so that probably included the performance review all right should I just mentioned that that's all I have affordable housing trusts uh we met last week we uh have some we had the cab RFP that we sent out we have some Bob you can correct me at any time Bob is our staff coordinator but um the cab RFP we've have sub trious applicants there and we will be uh we posed some uh questions and uh requirements and we're awaiting uh an update on that we also are going to be issuing on RFP for um for developers or uh Property Owners to uh respond to uh potential opportunities for um affordable housing um construction and development in the area and we've had some leads uh relative to that based upon some uh responses we've already received right thank you um we don't have anyone remaining from the public so I don't think we have any comments or statements from the public um we don't have I don't think we have anything within the 48 hour rule to address um so as mentioned earlier we're going to go to Executive session but we will um only come out of executive session to to adjourn so I will entertain a motion pursuant to the revisions of Mass General Law chapter 38 section 21A where the chair declares an open meeting will have a detrimental effect to a uh discuss the Fall River water billing B discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining Teamsters Local 251 C approve the minutes of July 8 2024 July 22 2024 and August 12 2024 so move stevette second Richard Brewer all in favor any I I Steve hi sha hi Richard Brewer hi Craig Dutra all right so we are in executive session