of allegiance, please standyice for Okay, we'll call the meeting to order. This is a notification of a live broadcast by Chelmsford Tele Media. They are live broadcasting and streaming and this
meeting is being recorded for future viewing by the general public. With that, we'll start with uh public service announcements. Pat. >> Okay. Um first of all uh uh the town of council is going to convene the our 2026
spring town meeting on Monday, April 27, 2026. Any articles to be included on the warrant must be submitted to the office of the town manager at 50 Burka Road prior to 4 p.m. on Monday, January 5th, 2026. Um petitioned articles must carry
the signature of at least 10 voters. Um if you need any more information, you can call or email town manager's office. Uh for any homebound residents in Chumsford, if you haven't received a flu vaccine yet and you would like uh somebody from the board of health to
come and administer one, you can get in touch with the board of health uh Darcy Beal at uh 978-250-5241. And uh Chanc has launched a memorial tree program. Uh participants are can sponsor a tree um for to to honor
somebody in a meaningful way. It'll be planted in a public space uh to create a lasting living tribute that can be enjoyed for years to come. For more information and information about how to um submit an application for this, you can go to the um town website.
And we now have three um announcements that will be presented by Deputy Town Clerk Maria Companion. >> Good evening. >> Good evening members. Thank you for having For those watching at home who may not
know me, as Pat introduced me, my name is Maria. I'm the deputy clerk from the clerk's office. We have a few announcements out of our office. One being the annual town census is going to be mailed in just a few weeks to every household, hopefully no later than the
first week in January. And we just like to remind everyone that participating in the town census keeps our voting list up to date. Returning your town census keeps you active on the voting list and it eliminates the need to step out of line at the polls um where you have to
sign an affirmation that you still live at that address. Um so it makes your voting experience much quicker if you keep your your status up to date. And you can do that by simply just returning your town census. Even if you're not a registered voter, responding to the census ensures that
our office can provide you with a proof of residency if you ever need one. And of course, an accurate count of residents in Chumsford assists in providing better municipal services. And there will also be, as it was the last couple of years, there will be an online
response link on your census um so that you can respond online if you have no changes to your census form. And next is dog licensing. Every 2025 dog license expires on December 31st and
licensing for 2026 has already begun because we get the tag so early. Um, so you have the rest of December and January and February to license until late fees start to go into effect on March 1st. An up-to-date rabies vaccination is required. So just bring
it with you just in case or mail it in if you're mailing it in. um or you can upload it if you choose to renew online. New dogs, however, must be registered by mail with a check or you can come in and see us in person and bring your dog. And
also a reminder, the fees have gone up uh this year. So, uh spayed or neutered dogs are $20 and unaltered is 25. And those late fees that go into effect on March 1st um is $5 per month starting on
March 1st um through June 1st. And those get added on to the initial tag fees in addition to citations that will go into effect starting on June 15th for any dogs that remain unlicensed at that time. And again, that's on top of the
initial tag and late fees. And more information and that link to respond online um or renew online rather if you your dog has been licensed with us in the past can be found on the town website um under the town clerk page and
then the dog licensing page. And next, if you are interested in running for town office in 2026, um we have quite a few seats open. So on January 5th, nomination papers become
available. So if you're interested, come into the town clerk's office to see us and we'll walk you through the process. Um and we have seats open for the following seats. So for townwide offices, we have one select board seat, two school committee members, two
planning board seats, one board of health seat, three trustees for the public library, one cemetery commission member, one housing authority member, and one moderator position for our town meeting. And then of course we have our
town meeting, which we have five open seats for for three-year terms available in all precincts. And then we also have an unexpired one-year term in precincts five and six. Um, and additional seats may become available as vacancies may
arise, and those would be people resigning. So, if you're not sure if you want to commit to a three-year term, you can uh try out an unexpired seat if there's one available in your precinct. So, starting January 5th, come see us in the town clerk's office. We'll walk you through the process. And the deadline to
obtain nomination papers is February 12th, 5:00 p.m. And papers are due back to us by February 17th, 5:00 p.m. And we also keep a list that we call the poll papers list on the town website. And as
potential candidates pull papers, that list will be updated. Um, and it is currently available now on the town's website and will be updated when people start pulling papers. Um, right now our incumbent letters are coming back for all our town meeting reps whose uh,
seats are open. And so if they intend to run again, they return their letters and they um, automatically get their name put on the ballot. And lastly, I just wanted to mention the upcoming elections in 2026. So, for our
voters all year long, we like to remind you to check your voter status. And you can do that at voteinmma.com. That's the state's website. And it has all kinds of information, including a little module where you can check your voter status at any time throughout the
year to make sure you're active. Um, and again, that's to make your voting experience um less frustrating so that you can quickly get in and out. And the voter registration deadline for all elections is always 10 days before
an election. So in 2026, we have three scheduled elections. Our local, which is always the first Tuesday in April. So in 2026, that's April 7th. And then we have our state primary on September 1st, and the general on November 3rd. Vote by
mail will be available for all elections in addition to in-person early voting which is required for all state elections. Does anybody have any questions for me? >> Nope. All sounds good and interesting and ready to go. >> Exciting.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Maria. >> Thank you. >> Happy holidays. >> Okay, next uh we have uh general public input. Um we have uh Chris Ferrer here. Chris, if you don't mind just stating your name and your address, if you
would. >> Uh, Chris Ferrer, 81 Revenc Road, Shamsid. Okay. >> Uh, good evening, select board Tom Maner. I'm writing. Um, I'm not writing actually, I'm speaking here today. Uh, in reference to the bridge on Gorm Street, it's being reconstructed.
I've spoken at the state house. There's a bill in place to name that bridge after the Ferrer brothers, which would be two of my great uncles and my grandfather. Uh my grandfather owned a garage on Gorm Street exactly where the 495 bridge was.
Uh because of the bridge being built originally in 495 being put in um they took the land under um forget what they call >> imminent domain. >> Imminent domain. There you go. And uh he had to move over to Riverneck Road in East and that caused a little hardship
for him. And um he also worked for the town of Chumps as a volunteer fireman and he also worked for the town for years as a weights and seals and measures man that went around for the town uh doing all the weights and seals and measures the gas stations and stuff. Uh not only that, he owned a business in town that worked uh without the
community and worked for the municipalities of fire and the police department for years. I also my great uncle John C fought in uh Normandy in World War II. Um, John C came home with a Purple Heart and uh, he was wounded in
Normandy and I I will tell you one thing about that. I never really knew much about it growing up. He talked about it a lot. My uncle Emanuel and after I saw a documentary on TV, I was blown away at what at that time were kids what they did for this country and on that beach and stuff like that. It was it was
unbelievable. It was unbelievable. Um he also my uncle John also worked for the highway department in the town of Chumsidood for years and uh gave back to his community tremendously. Um I also there was my other uncle Manuel my great uncle Manuel who also fought in the war
in Normandy. He came back after the war. Um I think he became a sergeant um in the war in Normandy and when he came back he went to school in Massachusetts radio and TV school and then he worked as an electronic test technician for the US Army at Fort Evans until he retired.
Um there was a another brother that um a lot of people if they drove through East Chet over the years would have noticed him. My uncle Alfred he got the measles when he was young. He's one of my grandfather's brothers and um it affected him a lot uh mentally and stuff but people he would go through the neighborhood in East Chumps and take
their trash out. All the neighbors he would take their trash out and he would wave to all the neighbors going by. He had an orange cap on. So he was another person in East Chumps but um I I did send a letter out to all the board of selectmen in the town in reference to the whole story about my family's
history. Um the we spoke at the uh state house like I said there is a bill in there to name this bridge after the Ferrar brothers and if um I'm looking for the board if they could support that. Um all the delegation from this area um Rodney Elliot Vana Howard uh
James Aero started the bill. It's also co-sponsored by Simon Catalo um and a couple of others from Lel have signed on to the bill. So if the town could uh support that bill um I'd appreciate that and if anybody had any questions about it I'd be more than happy to answer them.
Pat, any questions? >> Um, I was just wondering if we could put that on our agenda because we can't vote on it tonight obviously since not on our agenda. Maybe under reports or something and and for sure vote on it and send it to our delegation. Yeah. >> Yeah. And we can write a letter and so on. So, um, yeah, why don't we put that
on the uh next meeting agenda? So, um, any other comments or questions for >> I think this is welld deserved honor under the circumstances. Just my opinion. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Thank you, >> Chris. Thank you. We'll see you at the
next meeting. >> Thank you. >> Okay. The next item on the agenda is um well, staying on the general public input, is there anybody on Zoom? We're good. Okay. Uh, so the next item will be committee vacancies. Pat. >> Okay. Hey, as of today we have the following uh vacancies on committees.
The age friendly implementation committee has one vacancy. The agricultural commission also has one vacancy. Bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee has one vacancy. Clean energy and sustainability has one one seat available. Commission on disabilities
has a total of five vacancies. Um currently the community preservation fund committee has one vacancy. Council on aging board has three current vacancies. The historic district commission is has one vacancy for an alternate member. The holiday decorating
committee um has one uh one vacancy. The parade committee welcomes all applicants and vinyl square strategic action plan committee has one vacancy for a business representative. If you're interested in serving on any of these committees, you can fill out an
application online or through the town manager's office. Okay. >> Thank you, Pat. Okay, the next um item is licenses and the first item well actually the only item under licenses is a transfer of common victual license from Dod's Diner
Inc. DBA DO's Diner to Kitten Sam Corp DBA DO's Diner 7 Summer Street number 25 >> and she's joining us by Zoom this evening. >> Okay. >> Hello. >> Hi. Good evening. Could you state your
name and address for the record, please? >> Yes, my name is Lee Duchet. Uh my address is 159 Walker Street, Lower Master 1854. >> Okay. And you're applying um to transfer the common Victor license from Dodie
Diner Dod's Diner, DBA Dod's Diner to Kitten Sam. You want to tell us a little bit about um your operation and if anything's changing or staying the same or >> So, we're planning on keeping everything the same. Um me and my husband, we
already have a diner in Lowel right now and it's running. Uh but we're gonna have uh my cousins and uh everybody uh my family is going to come in and help with the restaurant in Lowel. So me and my husband could go and um stay at Dy's
Diner. Um we're just looking to have um expand another location. Everything's going to stay the same. the food, uh, um, the hours, everything. >> Okay. Any questions from the board?
>> It just begs the question, what's the diner she runs in the whole >> Yeah. What is What? Yeah. What What diner is it? >> We'll give you some publicity. >> So, it's uh, it's called Stack Cafe. >> Okay. >> It's uh, 7 724 Cherford Street. >> Oh, okay. >> Global mass. Yes.
>> All right. Great. Thank you. >> Across the street from Long. >> Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Um, questions, comments? >> I see all the licensing. It seems to be up to >> Everything seems to be in order.
>> Yep. Thanks, Mary. >> Okay. If there's no further questions or discussions, I'll entertain a motion to approve the uh transfer of the license. >> Okay. Um, I'll make a motion to transfer the common victual license from DO's Diner, DBA Dot's Diner to Kit and Sam
Corporation. again, DBA DO's Diner at 7 Summer Street, uh, unit 25. >> I'll second that. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? >> Seeing none, all in favor? I opposed. That's unanimous.
Thank you. Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Best of luck. Best of luck to you. >> Thank you. >> Happy holidays. >> Happy holidays. >> Okay. And the next item we have is uh we do have one annual license renewal. >> Actually, we have two. two.
Why do I let me see? Oh, okay. I'm reading this wrong. Okay. Um, so we have uh license renewal information for 2026. We have NAV Cafe Inc. Uh, DBA Tropical Smoothie Cafe at 55 Drum Hill Road for a
common victular license. And then we have Shri Veramal Shakra Foods DBA Masala Cafe Chetnad. Um 313 Littleton Road, unit 12. That's a restaurant
carrying alcohol and common victual license. Do we have anybody here for that? >> No, we don't bring them in for >> We don't This is just a license. >> So So that's the only carryon we have in town, correct? >> Yes. Okay.
Okay. Um, I will entertain a motion to approve these two licenses. >> Make a motion that we approve a common victual renew a common victual license for Tropical Smoothie Cafe and a
restaurant carry and alcohol license and a common victual for Masala Cafe on 313 Littleton Road. >> I'll second that. >> We have a motion and a second. Any uh further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? I opposed.
That's unanimous. Okay. Um, next agenda item is reports and presentations. And this evening we have a report, an audit report um from Matthew Hunt, who's a CPA uh on the town
of Chumsford fiscal year 2025 financial audit exit conference. And >> he's joining us on Zoom. We will wait for Matthew Hunt to join us and >> I'm here. >> Oh, there he is. Welcome, Matthew. Um,
I'll turn it over to you and um we're uh looking forward to a great report here. >> Okay, wonderful. Um, there you go. I was just going to say, do you have a presentation here? Uh, again, Matthew Hunt uh with Clifton Larson Allen uh the town of Chumsford's audit firm. happy to
be here tonight uh to present a summary of the results of the audit. Uh if we want to move to the next slide. And so our agenda here uh tonight is uh just to go over sort of an executive summary, sort of a 30,000 foot view uh of the audit, go over some of the the
highlights in the financial statements uh and also discuss the single audit. Uh there is no single audit report, but I'll explain that uh when we get to that portion of the presentation. So from an executive summary perspective, um obviously when it comes to to the audit of the financial statements, uh our part
is to uh based on our audit procedures to opine on the town's financial statements. Uh happy to report that the town's financial statements contain an unmodified opinion. That's the best opinion that's available uh in a financial statement audit. Uh we also as part of our audit evaluate your internal
controls. uh happy to also report that there were no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies uh related to an internal controls of financial reporting. We also did not identify any material non-compliance uh with laws, regulations, contracts or grants related to financial reporting.
Uh there were also uh no transactions lacked authoritative guidance. All transactions uh had authoritative guidance. All your note footnote disclosures are neutral and clear. We did not identify any significant unusual transactions uh for the town in FY25 and
during the course of our audit we did not have any disagreements with management. So getting into some of the financial highlights uh your financial statements uh have it's sort of a a multiple set of financial statements. The first set of financial statements uh what are called
the governmentwide financial statements. That's your full acrruel financial statements. So, it's going to contain all your long-term assets, all of your long-term liabilities. The real highlight of this particular set of financial statements, uh, which is on page 10 for frame of reference, uh, are
your long-term liabilities that really stand out. There's three of them, uh, that really stand out in terms of the volume of, uh, the dollar balances. uh you have liabilities of 262 million, pension liability 116 million, your OPED on the post-employment benefits
liability, uh which Parker's waving, he'll be talking about later, uh that's $80 million. Uh long-term debt, uh of about 57 million. Overall, you do have a a town does have a positive uh net position at the end of FY25 of 34
million. always do like to point out in case anybody does see it uh and is uh maybe uh finds it unusual, there is an unrestricted deficit in net position of 155 million. However, that is strictly
the result of your pension and OEP liabilities and that is a very common thing uh for municipalities in Massachusetts. Most municipalities do have that unrestricted net position deficit because of those unfunded pension and oped liabilities. So we'll
move to the next slide. Your next set of financial statements are what are referred to as your governmental funds financial statements. The real highlight of this particular set of financial statements is your general fund. So I want to sort of highlight uh some key numbers related to
your general fund. General fund at the end of FY25 was approximately 27.6 million. You'll see in your balance sheet on page 13 that there's various categories within fund balance related to various constraints that might be part of fund balance. Uh they're called restricted, assigned, and committed.
That's about 1.6 million. The most of that is budget carry forwards. It's amounts that you've voted as part of your budget. They haven't been spent yet, but they've been obligated in some fashion. They're moving forward into the next year. So that leaves you with an unassigned fund balance of about $26 million. Uh for frame of reference, that
includes part of that $26 million includes $20 million of stabilization funds. And we do like to sort of look at that unassigned number. It's a number that your bond rating agencies look at as well. We like to take that number and divide it into your total expenses to give you a ratio. I think it's a good
measure uh of that unassigned fund balance. That ratio is about 15% at the end of the year. Pretty consistent with the previous year's ratio of 15.1. And that is a very healthy ratio in terms of your general fund performance during the year. Uh you did experience an increase
in your general fund of about 743,000. A particular financial statement that can sort of help you uh understand how the general fund performed during the year is your budget to actual financial statement on pages 54 and 55. You'll see on that particular financial statement that although the town did use uh about
$6.5 million in uh reserves to help fund the budget, you did have a positive uh revenue variance, meaning your revenues came in higher than budget by about 500,000. Your expenses came in lower than budget by about 3.3 million. So because of those uh two factors, uh you
were able to experience an increase in your general fund. You'll also see in the same set of financial statements where you see your general fund, there's also uh various columns for other funds within the town uh that are considered quote unquote major funds uh including your community
preservation act fund, seweriments fund, and co 19 grants which essentially at this point is your opera fund. Uh there's really nothing significant or unusual to report in those funds. Then the last set of financial statements, then we'll give you some highlights in your footnotes uh to the financials.
Last set of financial statements are called proprietary fund financial statements. So this is where your enterprise funds are. And so looking at your sewer enterprise fund, positive net position position of 3.9 million including a positive change in net position during the year of 1.3 million.
Your other enterprise fund that is shown separately in its own column is the stormwater enterprise fund. uh also a positive net position of 2.5 million and a positive change in net position uh during the current year during FY25 of about 350,000. Your other enterprise
funds which are your golf course uh cable and uh rink funds uh those are all combined into one column and again nothing significant or unusual to report with those funds. So last set of financial highlights that we want to talk about your footnotes to the financial statements contain a lot of
valuable information. Just a couple of footnote highlights. Notes eight and nine relate to your long-term debt. Your total long-term debt at the end of the year was about 57 million. During the year, you issued about $13 million of bonds and premiums and redeemed about
$10 million worth of debt. So overall, a net increase in debt of about $3 million. Do think it's good to point out how much of your debt service is a percentage of your total expenses. That percentage is 6.5%. That's a very healthy percentage. When you start
getting into the range of maybe 10% or more, uh you might want to sort of re-evaluate uh the level of debt you have, but a 6.5% uh is certainly very reasonable. OPED again, Parker, we'll talk more about that after me. Uh Note 10 is where you get some information related to your
retirey health insurance. Another uh poster of retirement benefits. Uh net op liability at June 30, 2025 was about $81 million. It was about $75 million in the prior year. Uh an increase of $6 million. The main reason for that is as
part of what uh Parker and his firm uh does, they have to apply a discount rate uh in order to get the present value of the liability. Um and that uh discount rate uh decreased during the year. So when you see a decrease in your discount rate, there's inevitably uh an increase
in your liability. Uh the town has done an excellent job of building up assets related to its OPED uh about $30 million at the end of the year. And again, you'll see there's some information about the discount rate of pocket. We'll get into that as well. Uh lastly, in terms of footnotes, note 11 relates to
your pension liability. So this is the town's portion of the Middle Sex uh county retirement liability. Uh at June 30, 2025, that liability is approximately 117 million. Uh just a slight decrease from the previous year. The discount rate used to measure that
particular liability is 7.15. And you'll see that the discount rate does have quite an impact on the liability. You'll see in the footnotes that if there's a 1% decrease or increase, uh it does have uh quite an impact on your liability.
And lastly, uh normally typically uh it's part of this meeting, we would be talking about the town single audit. Uh what that is is that any municipality that spends over $750,000. It's changing to a million, but at this point in time, $750,000 in federal funds has to receive
a special portion of the audit called the single audit in which we do some compliance procedures. We have performed uh a majority of that work. However, during the time that we were performing the town's audit, uh the federal government issues what we call a compliance supplement, which we as audit
firms use as a guideline for our audits. At the time that we were doing the town's audit, that compliance supplement had not been issued. So, we were unable to complete our work. Subsequent to performing the town's audit, that supplement has now been issued. So, that'll be something that we'll be doing
uh in calendar 2026 is wrapping up that portion of the audit and issuing that particular report. And the programs that we'll we've been auditing and we'll we'll finish off our audit is the OPA grant and also your child nutrition cluster, i.e. school lunch. So that's really uh from my perspective.
I feel like that's sort of the highlights, the key highlights uh of the town's audit. So I'm happy to open it up for any questions that anybody has. >> Thank you, Matthew. Pat. >> Um yeah, I have a a couple questions. The first one maybe is is just for Paul.
Um we're talking about the ORPA funds again, which we haven't talked about in in quite a while. Now, they have to be spent by the end of next year. Is that right? >> Yeah. December 31st to 26. Yeah. >> Okay. Can we get an update on, you know, maybe sometime in the next couple months just, you know, what the status is because we haven't heard heard much about it lately.
>> Um, and the other thing is maybe maybe a question for I don't know uh Matthew if it's you or the finance team, but on page 34 of um your report um at the bottom it talks about custodial credit risk and it notes the town does not have
a policy for custodial risk of investments. Um should we have one? Would it benefit us to have one? It certainly can't hurt. And when we say that there's no policy, what that means is is there's no formal written policy per se specific to that particular uh
topic. Um, but the town certainly does have a lot of policies and procedures related to that. So, it certainly can't hurt uh to come up with a formal written policy related to that. But I do want to point out that it doesn't mean that the town's not is dismissive of that particular risk. It just it's very
common actually that a lot of municipalities do not have written policies associated with that. >> We're constrained by the Commonwealth law on on investments. So that's that I think that's the reason I think that's the reason why the town has never adopted a formal policy is we're we're governed by state law in terms of the
risky assets or lack thereof that the town can invest in. >> That is true. And you and I think that you'll see that probably 90 to 95% of municipal financial statements have that same language where there's not a formal policy associated with that risk, but it doesn't mean that the town's dismissive
of it. Uh it's just that there's no formal written policy. >> Okay? Because I know we do have a lengthy finance policy in our policies and I know it seems to cover almost everything else you can you can think of. So, I just, you know, but if if we're if we're, you know, under other um
laws and whatever and it's not needed, then that's fine. But, >> yeah, >> and I'll also throw out there that the town could could easily come up with a written policy and could put that in writing >> and and put in some of the constraints that that the town manager mentioned that could be put in writing. So, that'd be fairly straightforward and easy to
do. But again, I just want to point out for frame of reference that it's very common that a lot of municipalities don't have uh the formal written policies. Okay. All right. Thank you. That's all I had. >> Jeff. >> Yeah. Ju just one Thank you, Matt. Just
one quick clarification. Back way back on slide five, you uh under the $34 million net position, we have a a negative 155 million as a result of the pension. OBM, and I thought I heard you say that's the unfunded
portion, correct? >> Did I hear that correctly? Okay. >> Yes. And so you have assets set aside, for example, for your OPED liability, but it's just not enough to cover what the liability is. Same thing with the Middle Sex retirement system. They obviously
have assets set aside for the pension liability, but just not enough to cover the full liability. >> Okay. And I just wanted a clarification on that. Thank you. >> Yes. >> Good bet. >> Okay. And I have nothing further. Um, Matthew, thank you. Um, we
appreciate it. And, uh, the next item this evening is, uh, from Parker Elmore from Odyssey Advisors, uh, on the town of Chumsford other postemployment benefits plan actuarial valuation as of July 1st, 2023 and a
measurement date of June 30, 2025. >> Good evening. >> Thank you for having me out. Um, yeah, you guys, I think have the presentation. Um, if not, I can put it up if you want. >> No. Um but yeah so if you want to b next slide so yeah we've been uh you know why do
you need an report in the first place um basically a cruel accounting you know the stuff that Matt talks just talked about acrual accounting versus pay as you go this stuff was started in gaz 43 and 45 back in 2004 gazby 74 and 75 came out in 2016 just really to create a way
in which we can compare town versus town city school district everybody's looking at the same kind of numbers so that's the reason why this exists it's We understand a cruel accounting because Matt just went through there's no real point belaboring the point. So we can go on to the next slide. So you know the question is you know
basically um is you know you know what happened over the year. So your total OPED liability from 101 million to 111 million and the assets went from 25 and change to 30 million and change. So your unfunded liability went from 75 million to 81 million. So up about $6 million.
Now the reality is Matt talked about that's because interest rates went down. Now your discount rate is really in your guys case really based on the expected future rate of return on your plan assets. And what people I think have a tough time grasping it at times is they
say hey the market's done really well. Why isn't this number going up? To which I would tell you is the market goes does really well that rate will come down. Because if you have really good years in the market, as a general rule, that means there's less available to be earned in the future. Now, these are not, you know, this is not just me
making up my own decision on this. This is a matter of we use survey data each year from about 30 to 35 different investment advisors around the US. And we can, you know, basically average out their expected future asset returns over the next 20 to 30 years by asset class.
So, what is long-term growth going to do? short-term uh I mean large large cap growth, small cap growth, value uh you know bonds, fixed income, international, emerging markets, etc. And then we apply that to your portfolio. So again, their forecast this
year has come down um based on what they expect future returns to be. Obviously, no one knows what the future returns will be, but that is currently what the marketplace is expecting going forward. If you want to bounce to the next slide, this is really an income statement type
thing. Not terribly meaningful. Um, I mean, the service cost is really the one thing I'd probably share with you on the slide, which that's a value of benefits being earned during the year by your active employees. Very similar to what you see on the pension side. So, in your case, that's about $2,500 per employee per year they're earning in terms of
benefits. So, an example I always give is somebody say making $50,000 a year. They're also earning $2,500 a year in the form of deferred compensation payable in medical benefits in retirement. So that's the easiest way I can I can think of it in terms of what
it's worth. So if you put that $2,500 bucks a year away per employee per year, by the time they got to retirement, you would have no money to pay their benefits in retirement. Now the realities you saw before, you guys are about $80 million underfunded. That's because in the past, nobody set money
aside. So the town back in 1980 and 1960 and 1990, nobody was setting money aside. So unfortunately what happened is, you know, 15 16 years ago, you guys looked at it and said, "Oh my god, we have this huge liability. What do we do?" Well, that's great. And you guys have done far better than most. You guys
right now are at about 27% funded, which puts you, sad as this is to say, in really the top quarter of towns in Massachusetts in terms of where you sit in terms of your funded status. So only in this context can you be 27% funded and be considered doing very very well. Um but this is the world we live in. So
you guys have done a very good job of addressing the issue but as was mentioned earlier you guys also have a very unfunded pension plan. So under state law you guys are obligated to fund the pension plan. That's not a choice issue. That's a you get an appropriation and you will pay it. On the oped side it
is a choice for everything above the pay as you go cost. But you guys have been uh making responsible decisions to fund this thing each and every year which is why your guys liabilities is compared to where they would otherwise be are much better. You guys have done a good job managing both the liability side as well
as the asset side. So if you want to go to the next slide. Now this is what we call the interim year or the in between year roll forward year a lot of different things. What that means was said before last year we did a full valuation which is we get a whole new census file. We look at all
your medical plans. We look at all the people, all the retirees, and we figure out what happened year over the two-year period. This year, what we're really looking at is your assets and your interest rates. So, in your guy's case, interest rates went down, therefore, liabilities go up by $6 million. The
thing I always try and get across to people is assumptions are nice, but they're not really reflective of reality. And what I mean by that is if I change your interest rate to 10%, your liabilities go way down. If I change your interest rate to 3%, your liabilities go way up. The cost
of the plan is the benefits you pay out over time. That's the real cost of the plan. So nothing changed. Even though your liability went up by $6 million, nothing changed. It's still the exact same people, the same plans, the same payments. So I wouldn't lose any sleep
over the fact that interest rates went down. So if you want to go to the next slide, we'll talk about what are all these magical actuarial assumptions that actuaries use. the discount rate we spoke about, but there's also termination rates. What's the probability somebody you hire today is still here a year from now, two, three,
four. What's probably make it all the way to retirement age? Assuming they make it all the way to retirement age, what's the probability they retire at 55, 56, 57, and so on? Okay, they elect to retire. What's the probability they elect to take coverage for themselves and a spouse? And then once you do all that, what are health care costs going
to be in the year 2100, 2125, and so on? because we're projecting numbers out here for 100 years. Somebody you hire today at age 18, we are projecting them until they hit 120. That's when we end the model. So, we're projecting medical care costs now for 100 years. The one
thing I can assure you is I do not know what medical care costs are going to be in the year 2078. We make our best forecast as of today, but assuredly anybody who tells you what they know what medical care costs are going to be 50 years from now, um I would not buy into that.
So on the next slide, you guys offer to your retirees, you offer medical coverage. You al also thousand dollars of group term life insurance. The medical is 99 and a half% of the liability. So that's where the money is. Um your guys plans are slightly cheaper than the average I
would say on the active plan and you're modestly more expensive than average on the Medicare supplement plan. So you guys are right almost dead on where the averages are. Um, so there's really nothing. I mean, you're not giving away the store, nor you're being cheap. Your plans are pretty much right on the
numbers. So, um, I don't think anybody should really be complaining about that in either direction. So, the how do I stack up category, like I said, you guys are at about 27% funded. You guys can see the 25th percentile under the town column is 25.1%. So, you're a little above the 75th
percentile. You're not quite at the 80th percentile. So that means you are better than 75% of your peers, but you're not better than 80% of your peers. So you're in the call it the 77th percentile. So again, you're doing very, very well. Um, as you can tell, uh, cities don't fund
very much. So you're doing better than cities certainly, and you're doing better than school districts, which makes sense because school districts have to get their money from towns and cities. You know, if they're not funding, surely the school district is also not going to get funding. And the next slide, we, you know, I
don't know who you guys compared yourselves to. We try and come up with people who are either geographically similar or demographically similar. Um, so we came up with a couple of towns that, you know, for comparison purposes, and you guys are 27% funded. Lincoln's about 50% funded. So you're doing very well, but the statewide average about
15% funded. So you're doing far better than the average. and your per covered retiree cost about $4,800 a year is materially better than the state average about 6,000 bucks. So again, as I said, your retiree plans are a little bit better than average. Um, so you guys are have done a very nice job
of managing your liability, which again is part of why you're 27% funded and part of the reason why you're doing better than 75% of your peers. And you want to go to the next slide. This just breaks up that $2,500 service cost per person uh by function.
you know, even the smaller functions doesn't mean much. Just tells me they have younger employees. Um, the one I would point you to generally is the public safety. And I say it for this reason. Public safety employees generally uh work shorter careers and retire earlier. So therefore, that means
their liability is going to be higher when they retire because they get the benefit for more years. And they're also acrewing the liability over a shorter period of time, but they have a shorter working career. So there's nothing inherently wrong with that. That just means their liability has to be advertised over a shorter period. Very similar to what you see on the pension
system. So again, nothing is surprising about that, but some people find that interesting. And then the next slide is the what's going to happen in the future. When do we finally get fully funded? When do we make this whole thing go away? Um, as of right now, you guys get the full funding in about 2047.
You'll see the column there, the net open liability column number three. So you guys get the fully f in 20 44 you're still about 38 million underfunded and in 2049 you're about 4 million overfunded. So you you start to really make some some significant gains in
those years. Now the one thing I try and share with people is to look at the far right hand side. We put things in present value terms because when you look at the lefth hand side you see your liability from 111 million to 404 million. And your first inclination is to throw up your hands and say why even try? The numbers
just get to be insane. Why even look at it? But in today's dollars, as you go from 111 million, it dips up, you know, down to about 110, then back up to 114. In 40 years now, it's only 123. So, it's going up 10% in today's dollars over a
40-year period. So, basically irrelevant. Now, the claim cost numbers, the uh you know, the employer share of costs, that's going to go from 4.7 million up about 6 million over the 40 years. It's going up by about 25% over 40 years.
which is not great, but it's also minor incremental changes can solve that problem. But beyond that, you're also going to be fully funded by that point. So, at that point in time, you'll see up in column six, at that point in time, you're taking money out of the trust rather than putting money into the trust. So, that's going to help cover
your costs each year. So, that's really the point when you get out to those years, you're taking money out, not putting money in. So, again, that's really what I've got. The next slide just says questions. So, um, questions, comments, concerns, things I can help with. Um, I know there's a lot of stuff
there. Try and keep it as high level and useful as possible, but I recognize there's a lot of, uh, complicated stuff, so anything you have, just let me know. >> Thank you, Parker. Pat, >> you're very welcome. >> Um, no, there's a lot of information, but um, as you mentioned, there's a lot
of unknowns. You know, we won't know until it happens. So, that >> that is certain. Well, I think from being a town meeting rep from years ago, we've been pretty much responsible on this issue >> and it's showing it's paying off now, >> which is great.
>> It it also helps the town's bond rating too by the creditors and that's why we we've got to stay in this course and we will. >> Yeah. >> The other thing >> that's correct published a piece on bond ratings recently and the thing is you know S&P has increased debt as a portion of their rating. So, the fact that you
guys are doing a good job on this is actually helping you guys compared to some of your peers who are not doing this. So, you know, the fact you guys are managing your debt, pension, oped, and long-term debt is a is a great thing for your bond ratings, >> which saves the town money because you're getting better interest rates. And the other thing we'll note, and
Parker mentioned this comment is at the end of this month is will be the cut off for the next valuation for both OPED and for the pension system. So, basically over the next several months, these, you know, the reports and everything will be compiled and everything. And so the you'll get a key report a year from now
that'll be updated um you know because they do that in two-year increments. >> Yeah. >> Anything else? >> Yeah. I the one question I had the first question I had was on uh when when is it fully funded and we got to that at the end there. Um so I'm good there. But but
can you point out again on that chart again where is our our it's an eye chart for me there and on the slide too. um where we uh what our our funding values are. And I'm not sure if it says it there, but what what we need to fund every year to kind of get there.
>> Well, yeah, you guys are funding right now. Um you know, you guys were at $2 million this year. You're going down to 1.59 for the next few years and then you're supposed to uh by 2034, you're going to kick it back up. It starts at around five years. It starts going back up slightly by a few percent a year and
then so yeah, you guys are I would say taking a pause. That sounds like you're not doing anything. You're just stopping the rate of increase for a few years. Then you're going to pick it back up again in 2029. >> Okay. I can I can see that now. All right. >> Yeah. >> Colum. It's all I had. Thank you.
>> Oh, you're welcome. >> And uh I am all set at this point. I agree with Pat. >> See what the future holds. >> And Mr. Chairman, before we close this, I just want to thank Parker, thank thank Matt for their reports, but I also want
to thank John Suser and Charlene Lucy, our town accountant. This town is so well served by their financial stewardship in this community and for almost two decades, and that's what brings you these outstanding reports that you're you're receiving this evening. And uh I just, you know, don't
want to to let the night go without, you know, thanking them formally for their work. >> Thank you. >> And without them, this stuff doesn't happen. I mean that's you know all the data we get comes from them. So it's uh it's not a one person or one company operation by any means. >> Uh I would echo the town manager's uh
sentiments uh about the talent and capability of our financial team but I also would include our town manager in that uh grouping as well. So um thank you Paul, thank you John and thank you Darlene. Much appreciated.
>> Okay everyone, >> you too. Great John. We've come a long way since cutting lawns at the cemetery at 15. Huh. >> All right, Parker. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. >> Happy holidays to you. >> You, too. >> They can both defer taking any of that
pension stuff, too. >> Okay. Um, thanks everybody. Um, the next item this evening is signed conservation restriction for 255 Princeton Street. I'll turn that one over to the town manager. >> Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Madam Ch Mr.
Chairman. Yeah, I got back to this now. Um um I just got distracted because they're shutting down the Zoom for the night. Thank you, Christina. Um basically what you have before you this evening pertains to the development at 255 Princeton Street, the former UMass L
campus, known as Lexon, you know, the luxury apartments that are constructed there. Part of the planning board approval for that project required the uh issuance and and entering into a conservation restrictive covenant that preserves that open conservation land in
the front of the property. So again, as the property is now moving towards final completion, the U property owner and the conservation commission have with the assistance of our town council and obviously their legal counsel have agreed on the restriction that covers the uh 6.75 acre portion of the
property. And under state law, not only does the conservation commission have to approve this on behalf of the town, but you as the appointing authority select board have to also vote to accept this um this restriction. So what the action this evening is for you to vote to
accept the uh uh covenant as presented. >> Thank you Paul. Um questions. >> I have one question. Sure. Um under pre-existing public rights are there any?
>> No. >> Okay. So the public is not allowed on that or >> No, it's private property. I mean they Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. But it's per it's protected as permanent conservation land. >> Okay. Now, what about the residents there? Will they be able >> Oh, yeah. They that's between them and their and their association. That's, you
know, the owner of the of the real estate. Um, but no, it's not a it's not public property. >> No, private. >> Any other comments, discussion? >> I would entertain a motion to approve the sign conservation restriction.
>> Okay. Okay. I'll make a motion that we um approve the conservation restriction covenant for uh Alex Jonesford at 255 Princeton Street as presented. >> I'll second that. >> Okay. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? I
>> opposed. That's unanimous. Okay. >> Thank you. >> U next item is Tom manager reports. >> Okay. Thank you. Just couple brief reports this evening. first and they basically have to do with um grant awards to the town. The first one is
from the Massachusetts Office of Disabilities. The town has received a $65,000 grant award for under the municipal assist ADA improvement grant. Uh again, this grant was submitted by our public works
director, Christine Clancy, and this will fund the improvements of making Hart Pond Beach accessible uh fully accessible. Um, and again, that work should take place in the upcoming construction season. Um, so that's good news to report to the board. And then
the other one is a Meer risk management to $10,000 grant award and that provides for public works safety equipment as was listed in in your um in your packet. So again, um we're we're as you know, we bring these to you to note that we're
not only looking, you know, for funding opportunities within the town, but also grant opportunities that arise u that can again enhance either in this case accessibility or in other cases um u safety in in the case of the public
works operations for people operating chainsaws and and you know flood protection efforts and so forth barriers. Um, and then the next on my report is I want to report to the board formally, but also let the public know because we occasionally get questions about, well, what's going on with the
replacement of the boat launch at Southwell. And as I place on the agenda and as you see on the screen, the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game has the project out to bid. Bids are going to be received um by January
15th, I'm sorry, January 13th um for the reconstruction work. And the most notable thing about this notice is the work has to be completed by December 15, 2026. Uh and so finally after years of of inactivity uh and and and obviously
environmental permitting both the core of engineers and state and so forth, this project is out to bid. We expect again a bid award after the first of the year and then once the conditions in the river allow which will probably be after the spring high water season
the the boat ramp will be replaced and again will be completed by the end of calendar year 2026. So Paul, who actually manages that work? >> That's done by the state. Yeah. You know, and Representative Elliott was very instrumental in trying to help us
to push the state to move this project along because we know the state has financial limitations as well. But we are only the property owner. Uh and um and we're responsible for maintenance once it's completed, but we have we don't have a role in the actual construction uh of the of the project.
>> And it is scheduled to complete by the end of 26. So, a year from now, we should be we should have an open boat launch, which would be great. Um, because it has been tough on on our side of the river to launch. Um, and then last thing on the one question about
that. So, so they they do they award the the contract? >> Yep. Expect, you can see it's Yes, they will. It's expected to be about $600,000. >> And do we have any input on that or No. >> Okay. We don't even know who the bid >> Well, they'll tell us. It'll be public once it's awarded. >> Yeah. once it's awarded. But no, we
don't have a we don't have a say or anything in this process. >> Okay. >> Is it >> and do these things over the last 20 years? Have they always taken this longer? Is this a relatively new >> problem? And and part of it is it's it's
not the Rock Bridge. It's not in 40 years, but but it is lengthy. And the part of it was the environmental permitting because you're dealing with a navigable waterway that goes into the ocean. So again, it's not only the state environmental reviews. We had to get the Army Corps of Engineers uh and get onto
their schedule and their reviews um for again for a simple project which the state chose to go with an on-site construction. You know, we often wonder why not just drop a ramp, right? >> You know, a concrete ramp, but again, it's out of our call. And then again,
then like everything else, we've seen this with the fire station, other projects, they start digging into the file and say, "Oh, the discrepancy." Because if you look at the original plans that were on file, it it the ramp isn't actually where it was shown to be on the original plans. It was actually supposed to go more, you know, towards
the low side as opposed to the New Hampshire side. Uh in terms of facing that all got straightened out. They approved the design plans and uh again got environmental the biggest challenge was environmental permitting. I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only one in town that's watching these two
>> the two bridge replacement projects, which thankfully we got those, but >> most days you don't see anything happening. Yeah. And it seems like things are taking longer and longer and longer, and I was just looking for >> some historical reference. >> I appreciate that. >> And then the last thing I have is the
monthly double pole report uh with Verizon and National Grid. Uh good news is our double polls are down from to now 50. So was we lost four double polls in the last month and that seven were removed and three were added. But I think the encouraging thing is of those
50 22 of them are in the hands of Verizon which is the last to act. So again and I know I say this repeatedly the good news is is you can see National Grid has nothing on their plate. They're first to act. So you can see we're pushing them through. Um and um you know
the town obviously we're on top of our stuff but you know we really are always on the case with Comcast and Verizon to move these along and so I'm hoping to come back to you. Obviously the winter conditions can be tricky because if it gets too bad out there they won't do anything. If it's nice like it's been
now they can get out there because they're not doing too much other activity. So I I just wanted the board to know we're keeping on this and again trying to push this number down as as legislation moves to the legislature we hope on double pole enforcement which
really will solve this problem because you know we we tend to focus on some of the longer term ones and it really is discouraging when you start seeing a prior year number you know on a double poll that you know says 24 or 23 or in some cases 22. So that's where we're at.
Yes. >> So, some I don't know some of these the addresses confuse me. Like there's there's four polls here that are listed at 29 Gorm Street. I mean, how how does that happen? >> That has to do I that has to do with the bridge project. That's that's what that
is. >> Okay, that makes sense. >> Yeah, that's that's what's going on there. >> Okay, but there is another one on the the fourth one down. It's it says 318 Actton Road. >> And then if you go about twothirds of the way down, there's another one that says 318 Actton Road. I know where that is because it's right near where I live
and there's only one. >> Okay, then that could just be a data entry error. That's, you know, we're we're relying on this system. So, okay, >> that's the other thing we we look at is we also look is is is what's on this list accurate? And then are there are there double polls that aren't on the list? >> And that's why we sent out that public
request, >> you know, for for double polls. And we'll we'll do that again once we get out of the winter holiday period as well. >> Thanks. >> Okay, that concludes my report for this evening, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Paul. All right. Our next
item uh this evening is um town manager appointments. And we have one appointment for to the board of assessors. >> Yeah. Um Gabriel Francisco has stepped forward to serve to fill the vacancy on the board of assessors. As you can see, he has just obtained his law degree. Um
and um he's expressed interest in this position. And I I did have him speak to Sam Chase, the chair of the board, to make sure that he understands the requirements of the position and the certification and he's uh ready to go. So I I seek your confirmation of that
this evening and that would provide us with a full three member board of assessors and this term would expire on June 30th, 2027. So basically, he'll have a year and a half to see if he likes it. >> Excellent. Excellent. Good. Any
questions? Seeing none, I'll entertain a motion. >> Okay. I'll make a motion that we um approve the town manager's appointment of Gabrielle Francisco to the board of assessors as presented. >> I'll second that. >> We have a motion in a second. Any further discussion?
>> Paul already answered my question. Has he spoke with Sam at all? >> Okay. >> Okay. Excellent. Uh well, seeing no further discussion, we'll uh all in favor I opposed. That's unanimous.
Thank you. Okay. And the next item this evening is approval of meeting minutes. We have meeting minutes from December 1st, 2025 to approve. We have meeting minutes from the um select board, school
committee, and Tom moderator uh from December 8th, 2025. We have tri board meeting minutes from December 8th, 2025. And um we'll stop there at this point. And um
do we have any uh questions, comments, or anything of the like >> um on the the uh the meeting with the school committee and the town moderator. There's just a spelling error that I didn't I didn't catch when I was reviewing them. Um, in the body of the
uh the minutes it says Nishoba Valley Technical and Valley is spelled incorrectly. It only is one L in the and there should be two obviously. Okay, >> that's all I have.
>> All right, seeing nothing further, I will um entertain a motion to approve those three sets of meeting minutes. Um, okay. Except on the first the first one, the tri board one, I mean the one with the town moderator. Were you
present for that one? I don't I don't I didn't think you >> on Zoom, >> but did you come on during that part or the second part of the actual Were you did you did you vote, I guess, is is the question. >> I only voted to adjourn. >> Okay, then. Okay. Because I I noted that
you were not there for the first one when we appointed the person to the Noah Valley. >> Okay. So, >> we can do them separately. >> Yeah. Yeah, we'll do them separately. Okay. >> Okay. >> I'll make a motion to approve the December 1st, 2025 meeting minutes as
presented. >> I'll second it. >> Have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? I unanimous. >> Okay. Hey, I'll make a motion to approve the joint meeting minutes for the select
board school committee and town moderator meeting of December 8, 2025. Um, as amended. >> Okay, I have a motion. Can I have a second? >> A second. >> Have a motion and a second. Um, any further discussion? >> I appreciate you pointing that out, Pat,
because I was reading it. I was confused. I'm like, I was there, but I wasn't there, but I was there. >> Yeah, that was a two-minute meeting. Yep. Um so seeing no further discussion um all in favor >> I and I'll make a motion to approve the um
the meeting the minutes from the joint meeting of the select board school committee and finance committee uh from December 8, 2025 as presented. >> I'll second that. I have a motion and a second. Uh any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? I opposed. That's unanimous.
Um, also regarding meeting minutes, um, I'll announce that the of there's an announcement of determination of releasability of executive session meeting minutes. Minutes for release are from August 18th, 2025, and minutes not
for release are from July 1st, 2025. And with that, we'll go to select board member liaison reports and referral. And Aaron, we'll start with you tonight. >> Good. Thank you. Um, I'm going to uh wing the planning board one a little bit
because I left the um the notes at home, but again, their agendas continue to be um pretty packed and they're now getting ready for they're going to have uh several warrants for um Springtown meeting um which they had kind of prepared us for. So, if you're following
along, you definitely should um uh follow along those meetings where you can. So, that the Chums for Mall property um as everybody probably knows by now, they withdrew their request for doing anything with those two pad spots up above the drive-throughs or restaurants or anything like that. um
both the fire stations um I was there the both of the fire stations got the uh the approval to go ahead and um they continue to um uh hold meetings uh on the 133 Princeton Street which is the um
the new liquor store that's being built next to Princeton Station. So, at some point, um I believe they're coming back to to review their um liquor license with us. And then, um Progeneration Energy at 152 Sedman Street um is
looking to um put solar panels on top of that old Chumford landfill. So, that continued to move along. I don't remember if they voted on that one yet or not. And then um I was at the last board of health meeting and um there was
some uh citizens concerns regarding the uh old Best Westerns behind um the Moonstones over there. Um and the the discussion it was pretty lengthy. Um town council was on um with them as well
for the board of health. Um and there's the potential that uh that could end up on our agenda too. So, um, that was recorded. Um, so you'll be able to get that meeting if you want to follow up on that and just be a little bit more educated if the person does come to us.
Other than that, I don't have any other liazison reports other than to wish everybody a happy holidays. >> Thank you. Jeff, I reached out to all my committees. They're all on holiday break right now, so we really don't have a lot to report. But to follow up what Aaron said, I've thoroughly enjoyed this year
working with all of you, and uh, it's been an honor and a privilege. I look forward to us having a excellent 2026 together. Merry Christmas to all of you and be safe, please. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Um I do not have anything, so I'll just
echo um what Aaron and Jeff had said. Happy holidays to everybody. >> Okay. Thank you, Pat. Um I just have a couple of things. Um so the school building committee met last um Thursday evening. Um and um last Wednesday
evening there was the final visioning session um that was well attended again. So very happy to see that all three visiting visioning sessions were well attended. Um I will say that um it was noted that um there was a somewhat of a
poll taken at the visioning session um as to the grade configurations under consideration and uh the overwhelming majority um um voted for the grade four through six configuration for a new Parker Middle
School, which was um very surprising. I thought it might have been a little bit more split than that, but uh I think everybody seems to be uh well on the same page there. So um so we met and we're moving ahead and um there's been a lot of work being done on the
evaluations of existing conditions for the existing Parker Middle School. And I'll just say quickly that Mass School Building Authority asks us or or tells us that um we are to look at 10 options. >> 14.
>> Oh, 14 options. We were at 10. We're up to 14 now. >> Many of them we know that we'll never fly, but um but this is what they require us to go through. So, one of the things that we look at is just um existing conditions of an existing park or school and what it would take to get
that up to code. And then we look at additions and renovations to that building as well as um even uh taking a look at McCarthy school. Um so we're looking at various um locations for new
buildings um if that's the decision. And that could be on the same um Parker Middle School site. It could be over on the Graniteville fields or it could be directly in back of McCarthy Middle School. Again, very tight situation over there, but it's something that um the
state wants us to look at. So, we'll look at that. Uh the educational program update is being finalized and um will be reviewed by the school committee um coming soon. Um and um so the next meeting will be
January 15th. We'll have some uh preliminary budgets for the various options at that point. And then um the committee will receive a matrix from the OPM, the owner's project
manager, and um we will start to um kind of give our um overview and and um ideas of how we think we should proceed with the various options um and then we would um go ahead and move into uh more
conceptual design options um and so on. So, um we will have more visioning sessions that will come um starting after the first of the year uh to keep getting um public input, but uh things are moving along very well at this
point. And um so basically what we're doing now is just finalizing the um uh preliminary design phase which is really just trying to get to the point of okay making the the decision and getting the state to agree with us that this is the
great configuration that we want to do based on the educational program along with what makes sense financially and so on for the town. So um we're uh we're moving ahead very quickly on all that and um and you know start get u it'll be a lot more exciting uh after the first
of the year as we start to look at various options and um and conceptual designs. So that's everything on the um school building um just want to update everybody on the um capital planning stuff. I know it's
been mentioned here, but I'll just say quickly the capital planning committee has finished their work. The committee reviewed 30 projects totaling just over 9.69 million. 20 projects were recommended for funding in FY27 and 10 projects were deferred. The committee
voted to recommend the total amount financed to not exceed 6,428,890. Uh after deducting $149,159 of recaptured funds, the net amount to be financed through the municipal bonds is $6,279,731. And thanks to all the members of the
school committee, finance committee, board of library trustees, etc. for uh all their time volunteering to uh assist with that budget. Um and uh hopefully things get better in the future and we can afford to do more.
So, thank you to everybody that worked on that. And then finally, um I'll just um quick word, the um designers on the two fire stations in town have been given the authorization to move ahead into the construction
design phase. They had um preliminary uh budget estimates came in. They reconciled those. It looks like they're about $350,000 between below the control budget. Um, which is um the control budget is
20,500,000. Um, so they've decided not to do any value engineering or anything at this point. Um, although we we keep hearing about soil conditions and things like that. So, um um hopefully um
their good work will uh we'll move on and be able to get this thing on time and on budget. So, um that's coming along as well. And um other than that, um I will um echo what everybody else has said. Happy holidays to everybody. It's been a pleasure working with
everybody this year. And uh you I guess um happy holidays to the town and we'll see everybody next year. So, with that, I'd entertain a uh motion to adjurnn. >> I'll make a motion to adjurnn. I'll >> second it. >> I have a motion in a second. Any
discussion? Seeing none, all in favor? I >> opposed. >> Happy holidays and happy new year.