##VIDEO ID:vEOWzl5lm_g## will you join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge ALG to the flag of the United States of America and to theic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all sorry Paula good evening welcome to the Monday December 2nd 2024 meeting of the Westport Select board under Mass General Law chapter 30A section 20f this meeting is being recorded um I just want to note that our next meeting is um regular scheduled 2 weeks from now on December 16 um couple of announcements I want to give congratulations to our own Steve wette um Steve was elected to represent the eth Bristol District um for state representative so congratulations official fun thank you appreciate it we we couldn't announce it last time because there was still a recount going on um I want to also thank Steve for putting together the um if you saw it's dark now early so you see the um town hall tree um Steve put together a group um that included um Paul and Chris from the highway department Joan Landry Nick vidmer um some people from town hall um to put the Christmas decorations up so there's some lights out there so thank you for doing that too um I want to point out that there is a community holiday tree lighting um that's going on on Sunday um December 8th at the Westport Woods um that's being put put on by Westport Recreation and the Westport land conservation trust so um Sunday 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. up for Holiday tree lighting at Westport Woods next week are there any other is it what Westport Woods is Adam on the one on Adamsville yep yep um are there any other announcements or recognitions okay uh so our first order of business is a public hearing um pursuant to Mass General Lodge chapter 40 section 56 a discussion with the Assessors for the percentage of local tax levy to be borne by each class of property for fiscal year 20125 welcome Steve Maderos yeah Steve Maderos chairman of the board of assesses uh if you take out the handout do you guys have these we in the pack all right if you take out uh page one and what we've got there basically is fiscal year 2004 24 versus 25 um you look at the first item the levy has gone up about a million and a half roughly or about 4% but New Growth is also gone up a little bit that went up about 7.8% New Growth this year is 736 th000 with uh interest rates way they are I was actually kind of surprised I thought it'd be down a little bit but it's up again and then uh we're going to make the recommendation to stay with a single tax rate if you go down to the excuse me down to the next uh total taxable value values if you look over to the right we've got the percentages of the rcip uh the residential is still 92% of our tax base uh commercial industrial combined is about 5% and personal property is 2.8% and out of that personal property um all um items in a secondary home is part of personal property so some of that is actually not just from personal property from businesses so when you add it all up uh you know the the the other three classes to do a split rate only paying about 8% of the tax 92% of the taxes coming out of residential the average home has gone up a little bit um gone up about 7.6 the average home used to be 596 it's now up 641 uh the median now the averag is when you take them all and divide them add all the numbers and divide them that's the average the median is basically what's in the middle the median uh went up uh about 7% also the median value used to be 494 and now it's 5287 so that went up about 7% if you went to the second page it would basically just show you what the difference was if we went with the uh with the shift but like I say by doing the shift um you put a big burden on the small businesses we have in town There's only about 8% of them so it wouldn't really bring in a tremendous amount of uh Revenue most of the towns in our our type of uh you know breakdown stay with a single tax rate even Dartmouth only went uh with all the commercial they got only went when the expansion of um Fort corner with all the Medicals that's when they finally went to a commercial rate I have any questions so I just want to make sure I'm reading this right because I know we're get some questions about there's always the questions about the commercial residential so on the second page so what um with you're proposing with the single tax rate y the average single family home tax bill would be $477 is am I reading that right the average single family under2 if we stay at a factor of one yes right okay so tax will be up about 3.7 to about 4700 so it's about $4,700 for the residential home if we were to at a split tax rate M the um average residential home is only about $100 different right um so it would be maybe a lower of a $100 for the residents but it would be an increase of about $800 for the commercial right businesses right so it significantly increases the commercial and doesn't really help the residents that much would be paying yeah all right and again uh you know that's uh they're all Mom and Pops if we had you know the big commercial Giants in here' be one thing but uh pretty much all our businesses are small mom and pop garages and car lots and I'd say our biggest employer is probably Le Market yeah France or France yeah probably second something like I think the other um that we say this every year but people still don't understand it doesn't change the tax levy the total amount available to the town is the same either way redistribution of right of grow right any anybody have any questions what's the pleasure I don't think you did you say the rates stay um so the public knows did no it is so the single family value currently is 773 per th000 right it's going to go to 745 the values went up so the rate dropped a little bit so St at a factor of one will be at $745 which is uh down from $7.70 last year basically because the values went up values went up and the rate came down the levy did go up but it only went up about 4% and the values went up about 7% so therefore the uh the rate came down a little bit and the average tax ability be about 4778 bucks thank you yeah know all the questions you want us to move it you need to vote on that tonight do we need to vote Yes so what's the vote that you need move we uh approv the rate is set by proposed by the assessors second that's tax tax Factor one tax Factor one yep okay so the motion to um set the percentage of the levy at the tax factor of one as recommended any further discussion this is a public hearing is there anything from the public all in favor I I that's unanimous thank you all righty everybody have a good Christmas if you don't see too thank you back in March back in March get to bank some time we're getting you out of here in time for supper tonight that's remember that for the [Laughter] future um next on the agenda we have a hearing um request from Ralph Souza The Building Commissioner and Zoning off zoning enforcement officer to consider the following increases to wiring plumbing and gas inspections effective January 1 2025 I think we need to read do we need to read them I think we need to read them yes oh do you want me to read them Ralph or you want to read you can read them all right so the Residential Plumbing and gas permits from $65 and5 per fixture to $95 and5 per fix per fixture so an increase of $30 the commercial plumbing and gas permits from $100 and20 per fixture to $1 1530 per fixture so that's $50 increase in the permit and $10 increase in the per fixture residential generators from $150 to $200 commercial generators from $150 to $250 wiring plumbing and gas inspections or inspectors from $35 per inspection to $40 per inspection um so Ralph can you talk about why we need these changes or why you're recommending these changes it's uh West Sport's the cheapest the lowest paid town in the area so when I talk to other Commissioners they they're they're under inspectors were getting paid more than than ours were um and the the amount of activity that's going on in this town right now I thought that was unfair to the inspectors uh there's a lot of activity still going on in this town I've I've taken in over all 1100 permit applications since January 1st and I'm still taking them in so I think there is room with the raise and the fees there is room to give the inspectors a little more it's a $5 increase for them plus they get mileages that's a separate deal but there is enough room for them and and to bring in more money for the town thank you Jim do you have a recommendation yeah I'd recommend approval the increases in the fees will cover the additional inspection costs um it's a revolving account so majority goes in does go out back out to the inspectors uh the town does get a portion of that fund over a certain amount I don't know what that is right off hand but um yeah the fees haven't been touched in a number of years so I recommend approval right uh I'm going to abstain from voting because I'm a license plumber but you don't think graduated would make sense right uh like 25 next year 25 the year after think we need all our funds now we need to build up the funds the difference between the other communities and Westport that's what made me go for that all right I mean because obviously difference man because I I had a I was at a state sponsored meeting and started talking to other Commissioners about it well just cuz I'm I'm you know we want people to pull permits yeah want people to pull permits but I I want to keep inspectors on hand I don't want you know as they either retire or or or they could move on to another Community I got you yeah it's just that it gets passed on to the consumer unfortunately but yeah okay know there any questions no Madam sh but I have a motion to make uh to accept these recommendations that are listed here and that you have spoken to second is there any further discussion this is a public hearing is there anything from the public um so we have a motion in a second to um set these fees um all in favor I I abion we have three in favor one absten exstension um thank you Ralph anything else from you that's it no okay have a good holiday see thank you by um so we're on 2A license and permits we have request reest to approve the all alcohol liquor license at common vict renewals for Compton clam bakes llc at 140 Charlotte White Road um do we get all the paperwork on this one yeah these two are okay because of reasons okay so these are just the standard renals and all the paperwork is in order okay it's good to go I'll move it second you have any discussion all in favor I I that's unanimous um we have a request to approve the inkeeper all alcohol license renewal for the Packa Chuck in doing business as the Packa Chuck in 2056 main road I thought we already approved that ended that was just now for now oh okay so this is for this is for January January okay but we had a pretty lengthy discussion I'll move second a motion in a second is there any further discussion all in favor I that's you unanimous um appointments and resignations do you know if anybody was coming for this one okay um we have a request to appoint Valerie Basset as clinician Pamela Clarkson and David dorski as community members to the opioid advisory committee I believe we had this request from Donna Amaral the OPI advisory committee and I reviewed it as the co- convenor of the committee hopefully we'll have a chair but um and uh recommend second you moving them second all right any discussion all in favor I that's unanimous we have a request from thad's Auto Salvage Excel recycling to appoint Nicholas gaboni jetoni I don't know how to say that as a public wearer I'll move second any discussion all in favor I I that's unanimous we have a request from Timothy Bryant to be appointed to the histor IAL commission we did have a a letter he's an architect in town and has been on the Commission in the past he's not here is he who's not here is he I don't I move the appointment of Timothy Bryant to the historical commission second there any discussion all in favor I that's unanimous um we have a request for the appointment of a select board representative to the serid commission so Steve you want to tell us what this is yeah it's what I've been doing for all my terms for over 20 years uh it's got to be missed but when you when I'll be with the state now uh we appropriate funds to them we have some decisions to make um with them so unfortunately I got to step down Manny did say he was interested but we made him chairman last week of infrastructure committee so I don't know if he'll still have interest but he did show interest initially all right so did any of you guys like super wanted or should we table us and wait for Manny to why don't we tabled because I I might have an interest in it as well okay all right but we'll let um Manny so we can make his case we can choose the best person for long riding a winter to Taun 6:30 at night yeah my my father lives up there I go back there all the time I just doubled U so action items we have a list of donations from the count to the Council on Aging so I will entertain a motion to accept the following donations totaling $1,860 $15 anonymous for Hospitality $100 Ivon mares for technology assistance $350 Westport Historical Society for best use $50 Marian and David momer in memory of lilan sonda and Amelia sers $20 Norma Lewis for best use and for the support of Day program and scholarship fund $250 William masy $100 Virginia Sweeney $100 Lincoln Palmer in memory of LC buuse $200 Mary Ellen Gomes in memory of Elsie buuse $25 Walter and L Louise Monroe in memory of Alex Johnson $100 Adrien Goss in memory of Alex Johnson $100 Wendy Sabra trustee in memory of Alex Johnson $50 Holly and Ralph Dean in memory of Alex Johnson $100 Ed and mateline gromada in memory of Alex Johnson $100 Frederica and Paul Anderson in memory of Alex Johnson $100 James and Linda Sullivan in memory of Alex Johnson $100 William weeks in memory of Alex Johnson move to accept all second is there any discussion all in favor I I there condolences to the family of Alex Johnson very generous friends and family um request from Chris Capone of the Conservation Commission to approve the reestablishment of the open space and Recreation committee um I don't know that much about this one do do you know anything about this one Jim yeah so we have to have an active open space and Recreation plan in order to qualify for a number of state and federal grants mainly state grants um they did a plan she a number of years ago and I believe it's it's expiring or has expired so they're looking to update the plan serit will be doing the plan for the committee uh it'll be paid for out of the conservation Wetlands fund I'd recommend approval uh to reestablish the committee and he had uh given is some committee members Ada Committee Member Board of selectman member planning board Conservation Commission Recreation committee Beach committee and two at large members um so if we could kind of go with the board go with that format that would be consistent with what what's been done in the past okay and we can um we can reestablish the committee at this meeting and then seek um seek appointment afterwards for a different meeting okay so moved second any further discussion all in favor I I that's unanimous um we have acceptance of the deed to West Beach property assessor assessor parcel ID 9129 to 30 zero votes there's specific votes we need to take but you want to explain this to us before we read this yeah so this is a a possible of land that's located down on cheran web Beach as you can see on the little picture up there on the screen you can see the path on the right hand side that leads from the parking lot at Town Beach up to uh cherry and web there's a number of small pels most the majority of it's owned by the town but there's a couple of privately owned parles Mr brex is offered to sell his property to the town the beach committee and town meeting approved appropriated uh funds at the last town meeting to purchase his piece for $10,000 uh Town Council has done title search on it uh they prepared the deed uh they have the pns agreement it's just a matter of executing the document um I'd recommend approval consistent with town meeting vote from May of 2024 so moved Dr so I will accept motion to because I think we have to read this out loud to accept a deed of land at West Beach assessor partial ID 91 2930 from the trustees of the brecks family revocable trust in the form presented and execute a written Acceptance in accordance therewith provided that non-substantive adjustments may be made to the deed upon approval of Town Council prior to recording and further to authorize the Town Administrator to provide for payment of the considerations stated therein and to execute such other documents as may be required to complete the purchase on behalf of the Town including a settlement statement detailing the payment and receipt of funds for the transaction that's your motion right and that's your second okay is there any further discussion all in favor I that's unanimous for request to accept the owner's project manager OPM estimate report increasing the diamond Regional Vocational borrowing authorization by $1,733 686 and submit a request to the Department of Revenue to consider the increase as excluded debt you want to explain this one sure so at the uh last meeting or two meetings ago the select board voted to approve the additional funding for Diamond uh the original funding authorization was I believe for about 200 $93 million um since that time their estimates when their final estimates came in for the building it was an excess of that amount so they um did some value management and um took out a number of items from that project um since that happened the msba approved additional funding for the school and they've added some additional work back into the scope um so they're increasing the overall budget from 200 93 million up to uh 305 roughly an increase of $1,733 686 $733,000 documentations of the E2 form that'll go up to the um Department of Revenue asking them to include this additional borrowing in the excluded debt which would transfer roughly you know what maximum when the final project is closed out and the payback would be roughly about $30,000 more a year with this additional work um if do approves this authorization that would be excluded debt as opposed to coming out of the operation budget any questions I have a question to the Town Administrator mam chair uh what would be the normal timeline on this do you know it all any thoughts I don't I I don't um they responded pretty quick a couple of uh emails that I had so I'm assuming it would be relatively short time but I don't I don't for sure all right anything else so do we need do you need them yeah I I need the uh select board to recommend approval to request the to consider the increase as part of the Deb exclusion chair make a motion to that effect second a motion a second is there any discussion all in favor I I that's unanimous we have a request from Chris gonzal we have a um request from Chris Gonzales the highway surveyor to approve the contract extension with pit hot mix asphalt Inc from October 18 2024 to November 15 2024 and so the original contract was dated uh to expire on October 18th they had done some additional Paving just after that so they're requesting a completion date of November 15th which all the paving was done prior to that so this is just uh paperwork to clean up the chapter 90 funding request okay through the chair it is complete now though after right I'll move it second any discussion all in favor I I that's unanimous um next next item on the agenda 4f is a request to approve the amendments to the offshore wind advisory Charter as we talked about um at the last meeting the offshore wind committee had a few um edits to the Charter that we sent them that we sent to them um and recommended approval there the version the marked up version is in your um packet as well as the one with the changes accepted really the the major difference is um they added wording to um where it was evaluating local environmental economic or visual impacts they um added to that chapter and then they included the Commonwealth as to other um other uh entities were that um they would be advising on or offering input on so I recommend as a member of the offshore wi committee I recommend approval I'll I'll move the approval of the charter second is there any discussion yeah I just thought we did a I think the the process of the revisions was a substantial expansion of the um focus of the committee so there were substantial changes recommended to the mission and some things which I found to be confusing I don't know what what all this has to tell me what was the uh interest in electromagnetic fields that could uh that relate to Offshore wind is it the transmission lines that come in when that may have electromatic uh is there some sort of generating capacity or um but there was some things there that didn't make sense to me seem to be can you um so the electromagnetic field radiation testing was in the original charter that we sent over to them from our group so um they did not remove that but I think it has to I think it has related to um I think it's related to cabling or onshoring if if that were to happen Okay but that was not a change okay is there any other questions or discussion I just had some concern about going to the Commonwealth and whatnot but I'll depend on the committee to keep an eye on that because like with infrastructure there was people going all over the place seeking Grant funds without going through the committee yeah that was so you know there there's been some concerns with some meetings with some of the members uh in the past disrupted meetings and I just want to make sure we're well represented at Boston so I'll Trust you that you guys are going to do a good job on that yeah I think that because if you look at the the paragraph where that that comes in it says um the committee meetings will serve as a public forum to provide residents and Property Owners with information about offshore wind relevant to Westport project status and the means to offer input into official deliberations between means to offer input into official de deliberations between the town wind companies and the Commonwealth and I think that's because um they believe that they were going to be discussions between the town and Commonwealth and they wanted to make sure that they were included and that we have public meetings related to that okay Bridal the passion that's so except it's an advisory committee to the select board not an advisory committee to the Commonwealth and that's a fundamental difference agreed it's absolutely advisory to us yes but that suggests that the committee has the power to advise the Comm Commonwealth the means it says the means to offer input into official deliberations between the town and the Commonwealth okay you moved it was a second you was motion a second yeah is there any further discussion all in favor I opposed that unanimous thank you um we have a request to accept a 60,000 $643 charitable donation from the Richard s Anderson revocable trust to the Westport free public library this is um a very generous donation from the Richard Anderson revocable trust and any stipulations or uh with respect to of the gift or is it for a specific purpose there's no specific purpose listed it's for the library specifically but that's it so it's an unrestricted gift okay it's very generous we'll move to accept second and I just check to see if there was anyone here to speak on behalf of the the trust or anything there isn't um I know I have a library trustee here if anybody has any questions for the library but I don't think I'm glad I could do it a lot of a lot of meetings and whatnot going on at the library two there last week yeah all right all in uh we there was motion a second right yes all in favor I that's unanimous thank you we have a request for the select board to enter into the following local American Recovery plan act arpa agreements um $150,000 to the water Enterprise fund for water utility payments ments 158,00 to the town hall expenses for HVAC improvements $60,000 for fiber optics Grant matching and police details uh and provide the balance of the local arpa funds approximately $170,000 to the new Middle High School to be used for building expenses Furniture fixtures and equipment so you want to talk about this Jim yes so so most of these have been approved by the select board already um we need to obligate the funds by the end of December according to Town Council one way of doing that is to actually formalize an agreement between the select board and the department that the money will be transferred to so Town Council is finalizing the agreements right now but it would be 150,000 to the water Enterprise fund which has been discussed by the board already that would be uh used to offset some of the previous uh billing discrepancies um the 15 the green community's Grant to update and up update the town's HVAC system uh the 60,000 for fiber optics um 52,000 of that was previously approved uh the other 10,000 was approved as another it um Opa Grant so we're just combining the two to make sure we have enough funds to cover police details but the majority of that will be used for the matching funds for the believe it was about a $250,000 grant for uh fiber along I believe it was Sodom Road and tickle Road um and then the final one would be the balance of $170,000 approximately I'm waiting for Nicole to give me the final figures but it you know it should be right about that number um and it'll be used for the new Middle High School for a number of various expenses uh one thing we just approved the other night was um display cases for the trophies and for the um previous awards that were displayed at the old higho but we didn't have room at the new high school so this this would be something that we could spend those monies on so I would recommend approval thank you any questions this is the end of the offer money this is the end of the offer money the end of the road I'll move it is there any discussion uh all in favor I I that's unanimous now we have a discussion about the 250th Year celebration country not the 25 and celebration I caught that on the agenda before we published it Irene they talk you into getting good evening please come up Irene is talk Irene into it she's the one talking everybody else into it we've been trying to talk about it for two years so wouldn't let us there's a fun for that sit down sit down that's even better yeah I think there about miles and I are here to talk about the semi Quinn Centennial which is coming up in July 4th of 2026 we're both party people so that's probably the first reason we're here but most importantly the country is hard at work to celebrate an important event and I was not in Westport for the uh 2,000 200 birthday but I was living in Massachusetts it's a very wonderful thing to be part of a community that goes back so far in history um and I think it's time for this community to begin to think and plan so we're not here tonight to ask you for money or for you know even hard labor we're asking you for your support we're asking you to acknowledge the reality that the 250th celebration is well underway in our Commonwealth many communities are already beginning to do things or plann for things and I have talked to a number of people including our esteemed chair a little bit about how is that going to happen in this community because I think it provides a wonderful opportunity for Community conversations across our community to involve people who might not be part of any existing organization and begin to get new ideas and more importantly new leadership from different age groups and different segments so my first request of you is that you as the leadership body in the community encourage and support through to maybe your uh Facebook any other media media uh that the town uses to encourage people to start thinking about and getting involved what I'm offering and my friend has offered to assist me is to uh promote some Community conversations in the beginning of the new year January early February where we reach out to organizations to individuals to artists to Educators to arrange business you know many communities this is about how many new people can you bring in and go to the stores and take advantage of tourist opportunities but we need to find out what our community wants to do because bottom line is celebration for this community for the people in Westport and we can have one celebration or 29 celebrations or 250 celebrations but the um I did ask Jim if he would distribute to you the guidelines that the 250th Massachusetts committee has put together oh it's a busy day did that you didn't get it don't believe I did that did you have a copy he didn't distribute distri whole copy it's 30 pages so I didn't copy the whole thing but it's a beautifully put together document we'll get it out to the board and if everybody can uh paa Paulo will get it out right also online so take a look but but as I say my proposal is is very simple with your support because I think it's it's important that we as a community get behind looking at what we as a community think would be good to do and I have talked to historical um Jenny O'Neal and Betty Slade there's lots of ideas but how do we begin to incorporate everyone there's a a wonderful opportunity to weave together all the different organizations and individual if we allow people to talk to focus on something that is celebratory and exciting and it's a birthday party and everybody gets to come I think what's um when you have a chance to take a look at the State uh document that has gone out to all the cities and towns and it's online it's the field guide for the 250th anniversary and why why wouldn't we participate um there so many towns that um have obvious connections to this anniversary but we don't know all the stories about our own town and um I I worked at a Historical Museum in DC and on our 20th anniversary we took the museum and the all the conservators and historians out across the country and we collected artifacts and stories and we we went to six different major cities across the United States and the stories that came out of it the artifacts that people produced the engagement the excitement the amount of time that we got to spend with kids and teachers and people who had lived through the history was amazing and I think to do something similar here would be just such a gift to the town and the people who live here the the um celebration of this country's beginning was not about the past and when you talk about the history you know people want to talk about the past but it was also about starting it was a new country in 1776 so we want to hear from young people about the future of Westport possibly but I don't want to come to you with everybody's answers I could I'm a senior citizen I'm a grandmother you know I I have all the answers but that's not what this is about this is about bringing our community together around something that's really positive and celebratory and our offer is to offer opportunities for our community members to come together organizations individuals the whole range will be invited we'll have two or three locations will'll record people's ideas will especially record people that show energy and want to be involved it will come back to you but before we start offering that because it is not our thing it is your thing it belongs to this community I would really like to know that you support the exploration and the development I also want to put this up for the camera to see but I think you all should look for this at the Historical Society this a phenomenal I think that was done in the 70s um story of this town and it has so much information it's such a wonderful book if anybody's starting to think about what we might do I don't know what cameras a book becomes another opportunity for writers but there's musicians in town There's painters there's lots of different people who live here and I would like to have the opportunity and your encouragement to begin to capture as many different interesting ideas so that's where we are no money tonight good well I think it's phenomenal IDE I you would like that Steve you were you missed there's the 200th um in the 70s is the selectman riding on back of an auto and then uh there's the fire chief in the back of a Chevy so West Point know is hard a party so you just got to put it together problem is with this parade is it was way too long it went across 88 and the beach traffic wasn't happy so they were cutting in between cuz the parade was really really long we had people from Somerset Swansea everything I was riding in the back of a pickup truck I was with a little leag but um yeah I mean it's a great idea I've been begging Sue to let us go on it and she said not yet not yet so you're going to talk to sue Brion um wa how was Sue Bron involved is there suon has the the funds for the for the celebration so she has there's a little bit of money there there's a little bit of money to little bit M we've been thinking about this for many years so there's you know's more money 250 days in a year that you could fill with activities and a parade certainly is one so that the the feeling is what is the energy what is the enthusiasm and the underpinning of all of that is how can we get people excited about being part of a community not separate little segments of feelings and thoughts but what are the core values and clearly a parade clearly a book clearly lots of things a play a story whatever but I am sure if we open this up and invite the community to participate we're going to let some new ideas too so we will not do it in secret if you help us cheer and tell people that this is their opportunity cuz uh that's that's what well it belongs to it belongs to everybody it's everybody's party and I I think the ideas will be phenomenal um it just reminds me of the the M I was just at the Museum of Science with 11 members of my family big and small and I remember the the tagline where it's fun to find out and I think this is all about it's fun to find out who did it how did it happen why did they do it this way and um it it just I think the best thing about living here is is getting to know the people who are your neighbors and it's a real sort of neighborhood Town how do we fit into the larger Community why did we leave Dartmouth um all those types of questions and and that makes us Westport but we're in a larger context of other towns and and cities that are asking the same questions so it's a perfect if you take a look at what the state has already produced um people are getting ready so do try and and take a look at it 30 some pages of wonderful ideas but we're going to come back here and we'll see what we can do and we'll be looking for you to promote the fact that we'll get once we get places and dates we'll make sure we share with Jim okay sounds great yeah sounds great any questions just try to I would try to keep it more uh about America than just just Westport because we had people dressed as a Statue of Liberty Sherman uh and it was it was all America based we just Westport celebration 225 I don't know 10 years ago cuz I ran it and that's where we did a lot of history stuff we had a big cake from Perry and whatnot but uh yeah I mean I think we're all I'm excited to see what like party so I guess we can do that and how does it fit into the the bigger jigsaw puzzle of all this was happening well the good part about you folks being organized now is if you want to get any really good acts I mean I don't think we'll get the bud was why is the CLS there all the halor but you can you can get like uh the the drum and bite fans all those things if you get it together early cuz they cost money too right well that's the other thing is there all there's 351 cities and towns how many of them you know clearly it's around conquer and Lexington that they're already ready to go um but how many will be wanting the same things but what are we doing I want to repeat this is about hearing from the town what does the town want to do it's not just coming from the top but let's see what's coming I think that's great and it's a good kick start to get the organization talking to each other like the parade committee and the scouts and the schools and like get everybody talking early on I really appreciate probably somewhere early in the next year which is fun to say talk to the police talk to the police first cuz they got to organize it don't if we need money you can talk to do you want to grab um Irene's book I don't want her to lose we're we're not we're not talking and I w't speak for myself or anything but I'm not talking about running this whole thing I'm just talking about finding out what finding out what commity was I have said that in public right now so thank you ladies we look forward to hearing more from so much there's a time capsule I don't remember to be honest with you on I know I asked when is that supposed to be open 2037 July 2nd 20137 we still got to wa oh that's the 250th birthday of of West um love so the next item we have is transfer station recycling center form imp position do you want to talk about that or do you want Jim to talk about it okay Jim you want to tell us what this is about if you want to lead it I if you if you want to stay there we can maybe move the mic look at that how about that try to be accommodating here got bring every Board of Health meeting now oh that's okay you project okay um so uh this is Tanya Ryden she's chair of Board of Health yes Tanya Ryden chair of the Board of Health um um and Matt was unable to be here the director of Public Health um uh Tim Burns uh is a retiring effective December 31st of this year from the transfer station he is our only CDL driver which means he does all the um uh hauling of uh trash and recycling to the various facilities that we uh contract with um uh we are looking to see to try to create a transfer station Foreman position um right now we have attendant one and two um uh and worker I think at um levels um the foreman would have some additional responsibilities uh but would also have a be required to have a CDL and hoisting license that's yeah that's it's too sorry I don't want to create static but [Music] there you go thank you um thank you um the with the goal um for us currently um the driver rate is 25 something an hour um we don't think we can uh higher at that rate that is uh way below market rate this is a position that um also has to work Saturdays and Sundays uh so um by establishing a form and position we could um seek a a higher um hourly rate in order to attract a position a a person to fill the position um we've tried hiring in the past and have been with that those qualifications have been as abysmally unsuccessful um uh if we're not and because we now we used to have three CDL Drivers we now only have one we're up a creek without a driver and we would have to go to contractors uh contractors are of course much more expensive um you yes you don't have them 40 hours a week but their hourly rate is is substantially more we estimate it would cost $85,000 more a year to have to use contractors um so that's what we're looking for is to permission to establish a form in position at a um salary of 2750 an hour um to start so Jim can you just talk about the mechanics of this because that's a union position right so if we were to go forward like what would the steps be I guess the first step would be to authorize me to discuss with the Union um a new position with a new job description in a new rate um I'm a little concerned about how high we go with the rate because there's other positions here in town um that require similar licenses that may be below that rate um so I need to we need to kind of balance that with our existing positions in town um what I'd like to do if the board's okay with it is if if you authorize me to talk to the union and see if we can come up with a agreed upon job description between the Board of Health and the union and um an agreed upon rate may not be as high as um being requested but I'd like to compare it with the other salaries the other rates here in town and see if we can come up with a rate that's comparable to other positions with similar responsibility and similar licenses I think in general it would be good to have a foreman at the transfer station somebody that could kind of give direction to the other employees there um so it's a good thing I think we just need to finalize a rate that works for everybody and we did that salary survey I don't know if these types of positions were on there this is and we can we can check with that as well um all right but right now the the step would be have talked to the union about it first right because this is okay and I can do that over the next couple of weeks and see if we can get a recommended rate to the Board of Health and to the select board so so you just said personnel would Personnel bo be involved because the union yeah they they get involved in the non-union position okay make it sure all right so I think um I mean I think you should go ahead and anybody have any any guidance we want to give Jim other than his normal good sense I think we do we need a motion or just to just so it's under discussion so do I mean do you want us to vote to authorize you to do that or I'm okay with the general I don't need an official vote anybody have any problems with Jim doing that any um is there any direction so so we have to talk to the union first that's like the first step and and we would want a salary survey before we talk about it is there anything else we should know that you didn't already mention um again I would just say um I understand that there are other positions in town that require a CDL but they don't work Saturdays and Sundays um and and that's that's part of the challenge of of um uh filling this position um we had hoped that Tim Burns would be willing to work part-time after um his retirement but he has uh since indicated to Matt that he will not um so um we Face uh we have to do something as of January 1st because otherwise we have the trash accumulating um and um so urgency there's some urgency to this um and um you know whatever we you can do to support the transfer station um you know we'll we'll move forward okay all right so I think that's the next action there m is there um all anything else from anybody anything else on that Jim no okay we can really authorize the post until he comes back well we can't post it yet because the union hasn't even agreed to it that's what I'm saying I mean I don't think it's going to happen fast so I think um you'll have to look at Matt and Jim I guess I'll have to look at whether they're going to need a reserve transfer or something like I mean you're going to have you it's not going to be fast right we we'll have to rely on contractors and or temp help um come January 1st and um that will definitely eat into the budget yeah yeah so maybe help coordinate that okay all right thank you thank you Tanya thank you anything else you wanted to say before you uh no okay thank God yet yeah thank goodness we're not in Buffalo yeah watch out for Thursday okay um the next on the agenda is the Town Administrator report there is no report tonight okay that's fast we have the meeting minutes of November 18 I have reviewed them and recommend approval second any uh discussion all in favor I I I that's unanimous um report on the bill warrant M chair the bill warrant was uh done last Monday um I did put the correct date on at this time but anyway it was $2.8 Million which is U about average and everything was in order and signed off on so that doesn't need approval just information all right thank you so we have leaz on committee reports or suggestions for future agenda items to Craig yeah I'll I'll start with the affordable housing trust we did meet since our last meeting um one of the items that had come up that there was a a parcel of land that was uh recommended uh well it had been donated to the town and that the board had then referred it to us for consideration uh the value of that piece of land would make it impossible possible to create affordable housing with that land so we declined the offer um at our last meeting um for doing that we also did weigh in a little bit on the discussion uh with respect to the uh long-term building committee and um we we waiting for I think that project to move further and because there may be some areas that would have some interest not with the old high school though with other facilities with respect to affordable housing development in the future um the problem with the um with the uh um affordable housing in the old high school is the uh size of the facility the the uh condition of the thing and again you've got to do uh affordable housing between tax credits subsidies as well as um uh cost efficiencies and and and so some of the the things that we've done uh in the past nooke was done with land that the town had taken through tax title so there's no acquisition cost to do that although we did take advantage of of of uh tax credits and and and grants that were available to that uh in terms of the projects that we've done with Habitat for Humanity they've taken advantage to they've taken advantage of the fact that uh these developers or developers like them have done similar projects nearby in the the same neighborhood so we could take advantage of uh the scale of that as well so um having said all that um that's where we are right now all right thank you and we do have RFP standing for open space we've been in that one uh we will be probably getting the proposals I think are going to be due uh this month sometime are are you also on the long-term building committee yes and I'm going to I'm going to punt because I brought my long-term building committee minutes I had them out but they didn't make it into my tonight okay so uh Evan um you can I think they're going to be on the agenda for the next meeting right yes yeah okay so we'll do a full and I'll have um but we did look at we we did uh select a a um we are going to recommend a proposal for um a contract uh consultant to do uh an inventory and study of town available building buildings um I think that there was a good uh just to say a little bit without going too far it was a good discussion we were able to take the things we liked about one one uh of the candidates and sort of transfer those things to the expectations we had for the other candidate um that was helpful and and secondly I think it it it it helped us clarify our thinking but again that study is is is currently underway good okay yeah and they'll be on the 16th right they've asked to be on good all right um dick uh the Capital Improvements planning committee has been meeting and we have another meeting this week and it's going going well it's the process of going through all the recommendations and requests which are extensive uh so that'll continue and at the appropriate time which is early February there'll be a report both to the select board and finance committee it's the usual process and it's it's going along well the audit committee hasn't met it doesn't have to for the time being because the audit is in the process of being completed we're paying attention to that it appears to be going uh as it should so uh we'll be probably reporting on that in early January uh and that's I was going to mention the long-term building committee because I watched the U presentations and I I thought it was very uh well done but you've already addressed that so I have nothing else to recommend all right so we did have a meeting of the school building committee I don't like I guess probably it was two weeks ago probably um the uh so the primary topic there is like how do we wrap up and finish the project um there is a we are in dispute with the architect about um the cost for repairing the roof um it is our belief that it was not designed properly between the roof and the water runoff and I don't want to go in details but um we believe it wasn't designed properly um he they believe it was and so um the it's a pretty extensive repair the remaining money in the budget probably would not cover the whole cost of the repair so we's slightly less than a million or there is less than a million dollars left in the budget um we did talk a lot about getting um the the whole punch list the whole value of the whole punch list that's remaining um so that we could prioritize um the work there and get whatever's under warranty fixed under warranty um so still some more stuff to wrap up particularly the roof the roof project is the is the bigger one um there were we did um I say we I didn't Jim attended a mediation um with the architect firm um a few weeks ago and so that process is moving moving along to try to reach resolution there um the um offshore wind committee is meeting on December 12th um they've had a lot of difficulty trying to get any response from anyone um from Vineyard wind specifically so we're continuing to reach out um to Vineyard wind to try to get them to talk to us so we'll see how that goes um I think that's all I had all right um bik walking committee met um they're still pushing hard they got the M Trails Grant we working on um I got a hold of Chris we're going to try to put up some of the bike path signs in town the new ones that say you have to be 4 feet away they're kind of big uh we want to do that we've got to get some shelters I got to get a hold of Mike burus for the um for the transfer station for recycling bikes um on the infrastructure oversight we reorganize that like I mentioned earlier Manny will be chair now Bob Dale is staying on at secretary Murray's moving on from from secretary he's been doing that for years so we'll have to find somebody there um I'd like to move on from that committee we discussed it um you know if anybody wants to come forward uh I'd like to see some diversity on there it's like eight males and no females or a bus another business person on there uh so if anybody's interested in the infrastructure oversight committee we have a slot there as I move on is that slot specific for a select board member or is it I believe this if not there's an open slot either way um of that large we'll double check that can you check mine and see if commit actually one person over oh it is all right so we might have to go go down then all right disregard my previous uh I didn't think we I thought we were going to talk about B one more so we're already over all right so it won't kill them if I have to move on then uh all right that's the gist of my committees from the last two weeks okay um anything else that somebody thought of last minute um do you have any comments and statements from the public we are going is there any topic within 48 hours we are going to go into executive session um there is no business that will be conducted after the executive session will come out only to adjourn I will entertain a motion pursuant to the revisions of Mass General Law chapter 38 section 28 where this chair declares an open meeting will have a detrimental effect to a discuss the reputation character physical condition or mental health rather than professional competence of an individual or to discuss the discipline or dismissal of or complaints or charges brought against a public officer employee staff member or individual and B approved minutes of September 23 2024 it's almost the Willet Rich brew a second I I st I shaa hi Richard Brewer I Craig Dutra all right we are in ex session moving on into executive