[Music] good evening everyone it is Monday March 3rd at 2020 uh March 3rd at 6: p.m. and I will call to order the Freetown Board of Select meeting please note that this meeting is being recorded and will be available on our Town's YouTube page uh
we will be going into executive session and then coming back into Open Session we'll be going into executive session for the following two reasons Mass General Law chapter 30A section 21 A7 to comply with or act under the authority of any general or special law or Federal
grant and aid requirement specifically General law section 30A section 22 for the uh purpose of reviewing executive session minutes for approval and determining whether such minutes shall be released in the matter of
approving not releasing the executive session minutes from 12125 and 21425 and to approve in release the executive session minutes from 2325 and second Mass General law section
30A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respects to col collective bargaining with the Freetown Police Association and educat Educators Association of Freetown in Lakeville because an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining
question of the public body and the chair so declares and I do so with that I entain a motion to go into exec session Mo I will second it all those in favor I I slman Lopes yes slman zeger yes all right we are now in executive
session we're going to move on to our regular agenda so uh discussion three discussion vote on who will uh access the newly installed cameras at the transfer station Highway and libraries so we have these cameras that
have all been inst I think they're all up and running I'm not sure the annex also has cameras um so we have the cameras that have been soled uh pretty much at all of the Town buildings at this point and in the past
the department heads have had access to the cameras we haven't given anybody access to the cameras as of this uh date but there are reasons that the department heads at times need access to the cameras to view what whatever they need to view I know sometimes like the
highway they'll just they'll just check in to make sure the staff is okay there um so we are just looking for uh a discussion on who should have access to this and cameras and you know I think
did I ask someone to drw a policy on like what the the information can be used for because it should only be used for like the health and safety and the employees and the and the the residents um no other no other use for it so
that's really all this is about yeah yeah I agree with that I think you know how sometimes you got to document it's only read only and this is read only and that's what I would want read only for the department heads this is not a did you go to work let's check there at work this is for something
occurred we need evidence for safety or whatever it is right um that we need to go back in time and look at it right so can't delete anything because it's all public open to a foyer and everything else so whoever does have access it it's just read only
you know this is for everybody's safety and and awareness more than anything else right A camera is a deterrent right it's a passive security system we want to keep it that way we don't want people going in there go oh I didn't punch in in time that's not what it's for right um so if there's a policy we should
definitely yeah and then I guess my the other part of it is is to you point you how you started this off with department heads only right because what I don't want this to turn into is that everyone has access to the cameras um because that's not that's not the point of them so I do think that we might have to have
a policy in place for that that everyone signs off so that everyone is you know can say that they're aware of what it is so um yeah yeah no it's great that we have them all up there I'm I'm I'm happy to see all the new cameras up um kudos to
everyone that got involved installing them putting them up in in strategic locations I I know the employees feel safer uh I know residents look see them and they they know they can always use them as needed if something happens or occurs like you know accident or God forbid something serious happens we have
to fall back on that for evidence down the road but um yeah the new cameras you can see them clearly which is nice the old ones were just like what they were old and grainy and you really couldn't see them they were kind just a waste of money having them there so I'm glad that
they're updated so and the old ones we used to pay a monthly fee now we don't we don't pay a monthly fee we just we've paid for them and that's it m all right um so do do I want to do a vote on it yet
or do we want to wait until or do we want to draw the policy at first before I mean we can we can vote on that they can have it but then we'll have to have them sign off on the policy once it's in place yeah okay I think put that out I just can't remember who's working on the
Poli oh I'm sorry Susan Sergeant 32 North Main Street I would advocate for the safety of the people in the town and at the dump transfer station that they have
access to those videos so that if something happens somebody can respond promptly I myself fell at the dump two weeks
ago the dumpster was this far from the wall because there were supposedly ice on the track so they couldn't back the dumpster against the wall and when I went to fling something into the dumpster I fell against the dumpster mhm
and it took me a while to extricate myself so you if you look at the video you will see I'm laying there on the wall nobody saw what happened nobody did anything about it because they didn't see what happened so I would Advocate
that at least at the transfer station for safety of anybody at the transfer station that they have access they have a TV screen in their office and they're sitting there and they could have seen it but they didn't
see what happened yeah and uh I'm sorry right to hear that that happened to you and I hope you're doing okay at least you're here so that's that's a you know good sign but um my my only concern is is that a camera is only as good as the user so we can we can put something up
on the TV but if if they're not paying attention to it the same thing would have happened you know true so um although I I understand what you're saying I'm just not sure that it would have changed the outcome of of what happened you know what I mean as far as
the the delay in what happened with you versus um well if somebody needed attention sooner rather than later they would if they were seeing what's on the screen now granted if they aren't in the shed they're not going to see it but I
would imagine usually when I'm out there there's one or two people in the shed so that anyway I would just Advocate on behalf of having them have access to that screen to see what's
going on absolutely I I I think they do now right do they have access right now no one so no well first and foremost are you okay um that's my main concern right now is are you all right you fell you're recovering yeah okay I'm sorry that it
happened to you um but no that's that that's a great Point um so I think the vote stands let somebody were bleeding yeah you know that would you know they could see it perhaps sooner because they didn't see what happened I walk back in to tell them to
report it right okay yeah and that's how I know about the fact that videos yeah they're there they're definitely pointing in that direction now so huh yeah that's I think the vote stands given the department has the access and then with the subsequent adding a policy
to it make sure that's reviewable and everything else you know you may want to give different people access you know to those cameras yeah and I mean maybe would there there's something to be said if we have a screen up that has a couple of the cameras and um yeah I mean we that that's a a
further discussion I suppose but um you know at least this gives us this guidance on this and I'm I'm glad you know thank you for for standing up and you know telling us so yeah um so all right so you you're you're good I'm like
okay thank you all right so with that uh I will entertain um a motion to um give access uh to the newly installed cameras at the transfer station Highway
and Library um to all department heads I concur uh motion made I will second all those in favor I I agenda item four discussion vote whether to approve the proposal from vertical Communications for the police
station phone system upgrades um so this is um through vertical uh which is what we're currently on with everyone else right this was the funding that just got approved the last town meeting yeah so it looks like it was about uh
$2,313 and then some reoccurring charges um everyone's good with it right and yeah no this is this is great this there's definitely a cost reduction over the years as we're now reducing the amount of bills we have and
the communication lines it costs some money up front yes like most things do but long term this will begin saving us money um so and not to mention it's it's a better system absolutely so um all for it cool all right so with that uh I
entertain a motion to approve the proposal from vertical Communications for police station uh phone system upgrades motion made I will second all those in favor I I agenda item five discussion and vote whether to approve uh Fitness in the park classes at hathway Park every
Wednesday uh 4 so April 23rd 25 through June 4th 2025 from 5: to 6:30 p.m. with a rain date of the following Thursday Kylie welcome thank you um any anything that you have that you want to
add to it or no no uh these would be like Zumba type style classes um I found an instructor her name is Maria she's actually um subbing at the Council on Aging and she's been working really well she's a fantastic woman and
um the older adults over there they welcome the challenge so I'm excited to to get this rolling I figured something new other than yoga try to switch it off yeah is this the the cheer yoga the person that has the chair yoga no this is a totally
new instructor um they started with Zumba I think this month but um the original instructor got hurt um so they had to find someone and it just happened I was look I was looking for someone immediately like oh my God I know someone that's free on Wednesdays so it worked out perfect oh
good GL to hear it no I it's been great and we love you know what the energy you're bringing to the town with with all these things so this is the same and remind me right last year we did this as well right yes between this and hathway and the beach correct I think there was no Beach originally I wanted at the
beach but I found the the geese to be an issue I went over there with my niece to just scout out the area and they were looking at me kind of menacing all right East go where they want to go yeah what were the numbers last year did he get some a good amount of people it was
around like 20 to 30 people per class oh that's good numbers yeah let's increase those this year now they have more people knowing about it I think that should hopefully double yeah yeah cool all I appreciate it all right so with
that I entertain a motion to approve the Fitness in the park classes at haway Park every Wednesday April 23rd 25 through June 4th 2025 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. with the rain date of the following Thursday I make that motion I will
second it all those in favor I I thank youc thank you um agenda item six discussion and vote for the approval of the community program director to create a parking M for the summer concert series in collaboration with the police department so obviously we had uh you
know some success last year and obviously with success is it's a great thing but you know there's definitely parking and stuff so I I like the fact that you know this is being thought of being proactive so yeah I was looking at something similar to what PR and
fireworks does just as streamline things I like to keep like the front of the Band Stand kind of for handicap parking um just because the area is not totally accessible um just so something that people are aware ahead of time so there's not as much confusion day of mhm
yeah absolutely and it gives awareness to the to the public ahead of time right so yeah now you is the plan um I'm sure that's not next one up is the plan to have the console series once again at the Band Stand um I was going to say are
you changing locations I know the hathway park has electricity as well but not the stage so so location for now unless if it gets like totally packed then I'll be back here perfect okay let's hope we have to have you come
back all right so with that um I entertain a motion to approve the community program directed to create the parking map for the summer concert series in collaboration with the police department motion made I second it all those in favor I I thank you so much thank
youcome agenda item number seven discussion and vote whether to approve the mixtape cycling event to utilize town roads on 4625 so um this is something that they've done in the past uh looks like they have all everything's in and signed
off and furthermore there very little impact to the town roads this is pretty much an off-road event um so it's it's quite straightforward really I'm not going to lie when I first saw this on the agenda I thought we were making like a mixtape right like the old school you know so I'm glad this is something that
we do every year yeah yeah know and like I said if you look at the map it's 90% of it is and he even calls it out is that it's really just the crossroads and stuff so um very little impact to the town so uh with that I entertain a
motion to approve the mixtape cycling event to utilize town roads on 4625 I'll make that motion I will second it all those in favor I I agenda agenda item number eight discussion vote whether to approve the request from the Tuesday club to host their annual
Strawberry Festival at the Bandstand on June 15 2025 so obviously a long-standing event in town and very well known uh they do a great job of publicizing this everywhere you know you see that how far you see the Outreach of their signs is is quite
incredible so um they do a good job so it's cross no rain this year yeah you know no no you're right I never get the chance to go because it's on Father's Day usually U but I always drive by on the way to Father's Day events and it's I always want some strawberry shortcake so this year they have to make a
conservative effort to get there get some shortcake then go to Father's Day activities that's my plan um but yeah no beyond that obviously everything else is uh yeah that's all in place stus quo and in place so they they've been doing this for a long time so they know what
they're doing by now so uh would that antain a motion to approve the request from the Tuesday club to host their annual Strawberry Festival at the band stand on June 15 2025 I make that motion I will second it all those in favor I I agenda item number nine discussion and
vote um on assigning offices at Town Hall May you want to yeah so you know that we have the annex up the street and that we moved the building and the Board of Health departments up there um with
the anticipation of renovating the second floor offices which have now been renovated uh and completely um ready to occupy so I would like to move two of the Departments from downstairs that don't have a lot of um
customer uh front-facing access to the second floor to make room eventually to make room for a clerk who um really run out of space so I would like to move the planning department
upstairs to the old um Board of Health office and the water department to the um old building department which is the front you know the front of the building I have spoken with boards and employees alike and they're all um you know
Chandler was wish wishes he doesn't have to move but if he has to he's on board with it um other than that everybody else was 100% in favor of the move MH so I'm just asking for the selectman to for permission to move those offices around
and then um we will do some Renovations downstairs not a whole lot but I will be there's a door between the tax collector's office in the water department that's been sheetrocked over but I want to open it back up because they need access to each other throughout the day and then um the
planning office Patty the treasurer will go into that so the treasurer and collectors will be all the first three offices on the left and dena's office will then become part of the clerk's office and Patty's current office which is is quite small will just be left uh
empty with a table in it for those times when you need to have a private meeting meeting or if you're having a conference or you need a place to meet you know um I know Cheryl has election workers sometimes come in that she needs a flow spot for them it's not that big but
hopefully it will accommodate what she needs because we're just out of space there well yeah to you point is I don't how many times I've seen them out there testing their equipment and they have all this different stuff that they have to do and they're having to do it in the hallway so it'll be nice to be able to give them a place to do it and that they can sit down and do it and whatever so
um um so you know as long as we're moving them upstairs and then we'll obviously renovate those offices that are downstairs right so we we can just take it from we can do it from uh building improvements can we yeah there's not big
Renovations so yeah kind of the same thing we've already been working on offices so it's just moving opening a doorway which is the door was there on one side they just sheeted the other side of it so I just have to take the sheet mark down and clean that up and then um there's a little wall that needs
to be built to block Cheryl off from where Patty is but that's minuscule it's really if I have to say I have spent $2,000 on all of that that's about it and it will come out of facilities maintenance yeah and this this is long overdue as well right so for those at
home and sitting here as well this is a unique Opportunity by moving the offices upstairs down the street we're able to renovate things that haven't been touched in years sometimes decades so this allows us to update the building so we don't have another red building in our hands 30 years from now because the
building has been touched so rearranging upstairs and downstairs just makes complete sense and it buys us more time with especially with the new windows the HVAC going in now is it perfect no we we've let's face it we've outgrown the town hall as far as bodies and and people coming in however this is
essentially lipstick on a pig it really is it buys us time to for public facing offices to to get expand and allot more people to come in so this is nothing but good news for that building and for town hall employees and I think that you know
it was kind of started with the um to your point before was starting with the least amount of public facing um obviously we are not handicap accessible upstairs so this uh helps limit that on you know based on what departments we
move upstairs so yeah I'm I'm completely for this so um we're good yeah we're good yeah all right so I entertain a motion to uh move the water department and planning department upstairs at the Town Hall I
make that motion I will second all those in favor I I all right agenda item number 10 discussion and vote whether to approve the annual town meeting and special town meeting to be held on June 2nd 2025 at AIT Regional High School
auditorium so I'm assuming we already got the okay from the schools that they are open um should I read through the timeline of all this that's the next one oh yeah that's where that's where sorry all right never mind I apologize so now June
9th is Levi's town meeting mhm does it make sense for us to have hours after Lake fi's town meeting because it's it going to be yeah it's by law byw by law that we have at the first Monday in June we don't have a choice Oh by law it's by law you got to follow it yep so yeah I
mean I mean based on that I don't as long as the school's open and obviously she said we already checked and it is and you know so okay cool all right so would that antain a motion to approve the annual town meeting and special town meeting to be on June 2nd 2025 at the
Aon quit Regional High School auditorium all right I make that motion I will second all those in favor I I agenda item number 10 discussion and vote whether to approve the proposed timeline for the annual town meeting and special town meeting on June 2nd
2025 um all right uh so so uh tonight will be the timeline for the board of selectman agenda to approve the timeline uh March 4th tomorrow uh physical
posting at Town Hall police fire Junior's convenience store and librar announcing the meeting also tomorrow Facebook and website posting uh posting will state articles submitted by citizens requiring 100 uh signatures for
the special town meeting and 10 for the annual town meeting uh from free Town voters to be added to the warrant uh posting and closed uh also today uh on board of selectman agenda to open for submissions for the warrant for tomorrow uh from
8:00 a.m. till April 2nd 2025 at 11:00 a.m. April 14th 2025 warrants on board of Select agenda to approve and close warrants for submission and be sent to Town Council and the finance committee
on April 28th 2025 the warrants on board of selectman agenda for discussion and vote uh to approve finalize and close the warrant on April 29th 2025 send the final versions of the warrants to the fin
committee April 14th and April 28th 2025 combined meetings with the uh finance committee and budget for review budgets and warrants May 5th 2025 Board of selectman approve make res recommendations finalize and close the
warrants uh warrants given to town conal for posting on May 14th 2025 warrants get posted publicly no later than May 16th 202 five so
um yeah so yeah that motion so yeah so that's you know that's really the the timeline I don't it's kind of standard right what what we've always had to do and I don't see it so um all right so with that I entertain a motion um to
approve the proposed timeline for the annual and special town meeting on 62 2025 as just read I make that MO motion I will second it all those in favor I I agenda item 12 discussion and vote whether to open the annual town meeting
and special town meeting warrants on 6225 uh for submissions between 34 2025 8: a.m. and 42 2025 at uh 11:00 a.m. as just read in um you know the timeline we're now
basic we're now opening up um or submissions as of tomorrow morning at 8: a.m. so um we obviously both just say we don't have a problem with the timeline so I'm assuming that this isn't really an issue you're good I'm good all right
so with that I entertain a motion um to approve to open the annual town meeting and special town meeting warrants on 62 2025 for submission between 34225 8 a.m. and 42225 at 11: a.m. make that motion I
will second all those in favor I I agenda item 13 discussion and vote whether to approve the outdoor ramp fee uh waiver policy so this was talked about at our last meeting and um you know we had some
discussions um with Carl about uh possibly waving the fee so um we did get in some stuff back from Council and uh what what we you know decided on in that last meeting was is that this would be to approve anyone looking for a waiver
for any access ramp to a residential dwelling um which I thought was important that it was only residential um business is in a different position that if they need to put a rampen that um you know to pay for the the fee this
is not a a big Revenue source for us uh shouldn't be right so um I thought this was a no-brainer Council gave us their updates and and everything's good so um I don't I don't have any issues or concerns with it I I Echo what you just
said this is a a good thing for the individuals with disabilities that do need a ramp outside their homes um it's $75 you know for those out there counting how many ramps you put up there it's it's 30 cents a square foot or $75 maximum this doesn't break the bank this isn't like you said this isn't a revenue
Source this is just good common sense for our for our folks here in freet toown um those that are going to need this are already in position or in the need of additional help in some ways right this is gives them it makes a little bit easier for them to to get
this installed so all right so with that I entertain a motion uh to approve the outdoor ramp waiver uh ramp fee waiver policy make that motion I will second all those in favor I I agenda item 14 discussion and vote uh whether to host
separate special town meeting and uh for zoning discussions so I'm not sure that I'm ready for this um discussion this is the MBTA and whether we have a separate meeting for that but I I think we have to kind of wait and see where we're at and it might be um although we have to
relatively quickly set up that next meeting if we're going to have a separate meeting so I don't know what the boards um take is um I think if at first blush I think it's a good idea and then I think oh maybe not I just I'm not quite there yet
right right for those keeping track in the big Le C this is a July 15th deadline that that's updated that we to submit a new plan to the state uh it was overwhelmingly voted down at last town meeting um and to stay in compliance like we've been doing over the years we have to submit another plan uh our plan
is to essentially submit the same plan and and and take it from there we're going to make some small changes to the to the area but it's the same plan right so I I I think we all know where it's where how it's going to get voted on but it needs to be voted on so that we can set it up to the state and then take it
from there mhm um yeah and I I mean I guess at this point it's we're going to create more work within our office right and it's not this isn't on us this is on you guys and then every other people within Town Hall um that we're going to put more on so does it make sense to
just kind of do everything at once right do you think it will make it easier and clean cut I mean you know it's going to happen what happened at the last meeting it'll get moved to the front of the the agenda even if it's not there right so um it it
will cause a lot of people in there at first and then kind of dwindle them off uh so I mean I don't know would I mean do you have any special thoughts on it what I I don't like I said I'm not really I don't really have a preference
one way or the other if it will make the general business of the Town easier to address if this is not part of the meeting but um it will add a lot of work to us to have two separate meetings and I think I don't want anybody to think
we're trying to do anything sneaky because that's not that's not what's happening so that's always my concern because you know I think people think that would sometimes there's a few people that will think we're trying to do things so if they do they think that we're going to do it having a separate
meeting we trying to do something that is um ill warted I don't know so I'm I'm up in the air on this one to be honest with you um I just think for clarity it does make sense to do it at the regular meeting for that reason right that last stated one is the last thing we want is people
to think that we're trying to go around them to do something and sneak something by because that's that's the last thing I think anyone wants to do so um oh I agree with that and we have you know essentially we did the same thing with you last time promote the promote all the meetings promote all the war
articles let the people know the facts all of it the Good Bad and the Ugly whether you love it or hate it here's the information vote for what you feel is right um you know I think I know how it's going to get voted and it's I I it it is what it is you know uh let
the let the folks tell us how to make this work um but there you know nothing's really changed a couple things have changed you know we know more information now regarding some grants that have been pulled and things like that so but do I think it's going to change the vote probably not but I think
yeah keeping it together that way it's out the open we it's one message versus two messages and I tell you one of the concerns is that I have to the planning board has to have public hearings on the zoning and everything to get it on town
meeting I think that the proposal needs to be done relatively soon like the next week or two as you know we have nobody working in that department I've been trying to cover that I'm on vacation and so I'm concerned about deadlines and it may be that I I do come back and say we
do need to yeah I guess if you it's if it's unattainable then we have to bring it back up and do that because the last thing I want you doing is you know trying to figure out a way to do something and you know physically impossible for me to get it done right now in the next two it's just physically impossible there's just not enough time
in my day so that is the one thing I want to put out there that because of the process I it may be that we have to push it and we do have that extra we have to July 14th to get it approved I I mean we all know that the tone unless we can come up with um
something that makes sense and and it's not nothing's really going to change so the tone is there and we know what the underlying tone is um so we definitely have an uphill battle I was hoping to be able to quantify what it means if we don't get the zoning in terms of dollars and figures but we don't have that
information the state really hasn't been forthcoming with that yeah so it's hard for me to say I need to be able to tell taxpayers if we really want them to vote for this we need to tell them what it means to them in dollars and cents and we can't do that right now so I think that will come a later date when we're able to quantify how painful it is that they're
taking away grant money and grant money is one thing but when they start taking away money for the schools that's really when we we're going to have to raise the red flag and say we're not going to be able to afford our school system if they're taking away Chapter 70 monies and funds to the school so but I need to be able to tell them exactly what that
means right we all want to know what's the pros and cons I can't give you the cons I can't I can't give you the pros the cons is we're going to we're going to grow our our community 25% and we're not going to be able to afford the infrastructure to do so police fire everything so I can't give them both sides of the equation which we all need
to make a decision absolutely and I don't I don't have that information the state hasn't been giving me that information so right like everybody else I'm sure they're all keeping an eye on what other towns are doing and everything else and and that's a good you know good indicator of what's to come you know I I think we maintain what
we've been doing give them all the information all of it right whether they want to hear it or not this is the information and let them make the decision right if they come back and vote Yes for it then we're going to go all gung-ho and say yes if they come back and no that's no it's um it's very simple to make um absolutely so and just
our job is provide you information I don't think it's going to change anything but it's we'll put it back in front of them and see what happens so one thing I do want to look at I know there's a waiver process right from the unfunded mandate that came out from the state auditor now whether that has legs or wings I don't know um that's
something that we can look at but maybe in this articles these articles well if we gets one gets voted down do we submit to the to the state what we have in place now right the eight per per acre versus the 16 that they want that we send that to the state and say hey this
is what we have we've had it since 2012 take it or leave it is that something we do something to discuss over the next couple months because give them something here's well I mean I think we we're going to create a bunch of work for ourselves so we don't need to at this point let's see how the vote goes
and then take it from there so I um I don't think you need to vote on anything with that right now yeah so I I'm I'm gonna say we hold on this and then if we decide that there's timing or you know we have to know more about timing wise and not stressing Debbie out and Lan out any
more than they already are so so we're just going to pass on 14 even though it says to vote we're just going we're not going to we won't do anything on that yet and 15 is a pass that's between the um the attorneys are negotiating that right now and I'll bring that back before the board okay all right so we'll
pass on 15 see those two went by well that 15 went by really fast uh agenda item number 16 discussion vote um whether to take any action on the request from the former owners of Independence har for a refund for their license renewals for
2025 uh so they they submitted a letter to us basically that they um they reapplied and paid for their uh alcohol license because they were still the owners and then at at the beginning of the year the ownership changed and they
didn't use the license so they're they're basically asking us to to to refund their money that the new owners have um now paid so they double paid well sold I think the thing is though that here's the problem is that license
needed to be had in order to transfer to the new owners so they had to pay for that license because the closing and the transfer didn't take place before the end of the year so they had to have the license in order to transfer to the new owners in order to get the sale to go through you you you they needed that for
the sale um if you get your driver's license on today and then lose it tomorrow you don't get a refund for the cost of purchasing your driver's license right they needed that license in order to effectuate the sale I I I don't have a vehicle to even repay this money um
was my next question is like is there even legally opt options legal options what I would take get out of what fund like we don't have a fund for refunds of fees yeah and then I also worry about the the idea of and I I mean I I get it it's an unfortunate timing part on them
and I think they're they're actually really nice people but I um I worry about them the next person right so we kind of set a precedence with by doing this right if we if we do it this time then what's the next time well I only used it for half a year we do it with everything I mean if you have a dog on
January 1 you get to pay for the dog license for the year if your dog passes away on Jan 2 you're still technically liable for that license and we get this all the time um it's really just like I said and they actually this wasn't even a separate license and the new owners
got a completely new license they didn't they transferred the existing license yes they had to pay a separate fee because they're a different owner but I I don't they you know they could have chose not to renew their license and have the new owners come in for a completely new license which would have
been a much longer much uh different approach so there was definitely a value to them to getting this license renewed and again I don't have a vehicle to repay this so I I mean I I feel bad saying it to him but I just don't see
how there also like there's three licenses you issued two of them the entertainment and the alcohol um the third license is a food establishment so I did give a letter of this uh copy of this letter to the chairman of the board of health so so that they could address
it as well thank you yeah so before we vote on is it beho of us to create a policy for something like this in the future if it could you know something just happen in the back pocket if it needed if need be we can refund things in the
future in the event something that needs to be refunded if it was a Mis payment or I don't even know but how many times does this come up not very often the first time I've seen it happen so so yeah well for today sounds like nothing we can
do okay f for Thought put on on the burner things to look into later so yeah I mean I just I mean for for the reason stated above I just don't like I said I I feel bad because I do I understand what they're saying that they
had the license for only a few days but to to Debb's point is they needed the license in order to make the greater good happen so um so with that I entertain a motion um to deny the request from the
for owners of independent Haba for refund for their license renewals for 2025 make that motion I will second it all those in favor all right agenda item number 17 discussion and vote whether to approve approve to declare the items
listed on attachment a as Surplus and what to do with them um [Music] um I have I don't see it either thank you all
right familiar so we have uh 17 miscellaneous radios two handheld uh Patriot radios um I should have mentioned the the 17 radios have an estimated value of around
$100 each uh the recommendation would be to auction them off on munici bid the two handheld Patriot radios $100 each auction off on municibid and then an HP color LaserJet
Pro um estima value of $25 and it says uh ACO may take otherwise request to send to the transfer station um yeah I makes sense yeah makes sense is the is we got replaced through arpa Bristol County arpa right that was
a regular arpa um soy arper y perfect so so yeah no I mean um put them on munici bid put them at a a low threshold right I don't know5 $20 yeah I was going to say 20 bucks a piece and then that way
you know they they don't come back to us that they didn't hit minimum bid and we're wasting more time so um you good with that do want a minimum bid $20 yeah got it all right so with that uh I entertained a motion to approve to
declare the items listed on attachment a as Surplus and to send all the radios to munici bid and uh the printer to the ACO to otherwise request to take to the transfer station um with a minimum set
bid of $20 on all the radios motion made I will second all those in favor I I all turn it over to you for personnel yeah thank you all right item agena 18 Personnel Board acknowledge the resonation of a Ken Wilkins Kent Wilkins for finance committee building committee
as priny one resident in the Council of Aging Library community building committee effective 21225 Kent thank you so much for everything you've done for this town over the years we we definitely appreciate it and and love it thank you thank to you all right thank
you uh agenda item number 19 discussion vote on town beach and boat ramp Staffing litter uh police presence needs it's that time of year it is um so we
have um you know we um we uh Lan and I met with an individual and um you know we we kind of went through some different stuff and um you know had some ideas and now I think kind of back in front of the board ahead of the the
season and in the ramp up so to speak of people and you know see what um how everyone's feeling about it so you know there's obviously been no shortage of concern about um activities happening at the beach as well as you know littering and
other things so um you know how do how do we curb it and uh you know and take it to the right direction we don't want to just figure out how to stop things from happening we want to make things better yeah more usable yeah you know I think we started on the right path right
we added some lights to that to that street right two lights or soon to add them so that's the start I i' would love to see power down there someday right so that we can do more probably more sand make more volleyball pit areas make it more accessible for people to use um
yeah I like the pool noodle idea is a good idea but as the notes say potential triple Hazard trip Hazard and things like that but like well Staffing wise I know last year we discussed it or the well last couple years we discussed it I
know we do mostly Staffing for the boat ramp MH is are we thinking having them switch you know back and forth more rotations the the problem is is we're always struggling with staff just at one
place so it's tough to have someone jumping back and forth when we have the need of having people there so well I think that also you got to remember that this is the first year we're going to have we have an SRO officer
that that is new that should supposed to be helping with the beach and the boat ramp throughout the summer so we're going to have more police presence than we've had in the last two years so that I think will be helpful at least on at least at the beach where they took get the cars that are from out of town um
and just to be able to drive through the bat ramp parking lot and check on the staff there to make sure everything's okay uh We've also talked about putting a radio down there that they'll have a radio to dispatch as well we've gotten power down there which we didn't have in the past and some lights and whatnot
down there so I think every year we've made improvements um but the SRO officer which I'm sure we're going to have more discussions about moving forward but the plan is for them to spend some more time at those two locations in the summerh yeah and they have the ability to to to
fluctuate between both so yeah yeah yeah Nick Nick fello 249 middlebar Road I heard selectman Lopes talk about it briefly so I'm wondering if I can just quickly discuss the town beach one I want to thank you guys for what you've done at the boat ramp um I live very
close to that and it's been appreciative especially since 2020 it was quite difficult over there so I appreciate the gate the Staffing and that however I want the town beach um I think you were talking about getting electric down there I think that's severely
underutilized MH um and I saw what has happened at hathway Park with a pickle ball court and I think that would be something I'd like the town to consider putting over there for more use um I do also appreciate I know you talked about enlarging the beach um I think those
barriers certainly has stopped people from backing their vehicles in and I don't think it stopped everyone people carry their jet skis still but um I think by making that more of a spot for people to go like it was back in the day
um I think it would be great for this side of town I know they used to have the yoga there which I think was heavily attended but because of I guess the geese that was an issue um but it seems as though a lot of the activities happening in town happen in a Sona and sometimes it's tough for residents in
East Freetown to get over to the band stand for those kinds of nights um so I just wanted speak up to see if the select do something like that for the parks oh we agree we definitely agree I know we removed the the shed right the shed's gone by now I haven't been there in a
while so we removed the shed we've added some lights to those poles leading up to the beach um there are definitely discussions regarding Mo possibly moving those barriers adding more sand so that more volleyball pit areas things like that um working with Kylie and the community promo director and Jared and
everybody everybody we all want the same thing but I would love to have that as used more often right um not just for football or or or walking your dog out there or swimming let's get out there and and do things right so yeah we've
looked at the electric and um we got a quite uh because the price came in at $22,000 and then procure I have to do procurement and so we don't have the funding at that so something that we're going to talk about putting a warrant article together to do improvements over
there similar we were able to use APPA to do a hathway but we don't have any oper left but do similar on East ret toown side get something rolling over there because it is amazing how many people are using half park now and I it makes me so happy
yeah drive by I see it and it's kids young kids like eight nine 10 years old every day in there um and that's what the PX of four yeah and once you do that it you know you build a they will come that old saying right um but as it gets as it gets cleaner and cleaner more and
more people start going there right um I I would love to see that place used more often you know I know there was a discussion with the open space committee open space and Recreation committee that they wanted to do like a annual uh Festival there or and you almost like uh the Lakeside festival at the boat at the
beach I think that might might grow some wings I don't know that I I would go right um maybe some events down there so so so basically what we need to do is we just need to get the the the revenue
right we put an article together for town meeting yeah deciding a dollar figure I know that the electric came in at $22,000 to bring it down to the beach what did we spend on the one and a half away was about had overhead power and everything so all we had to do was add a
pole and some lights and that was like four grand Oh I thought for some reason was more than that I mean overall at hathway we we put in a new fence we put the pick a ball court we got a grant for we part of that we put the light we put a new basketball um thing in so we
probably spend 15 grand to yeah maybe that's where my my mindset at the beach as well like it has definitely room for a basketball court a pick a ball court um even a place to put some kayaks right kayak ramp things like that um it's definitely it was I I hear all these
great stories from residents and everything else how how they used the grownup whether it was swimming or they went out there for fishing um little TLC will make go a long way um I want that I know people now go to the Lakeville Pond I forgot the name of the pond clear
water clear water clear water Clear Pond instead of going there we keep them in town and have them go to our own Pond and just all he needs is a little little touch-ups here and there m maybe making it sound a little simpler but it's got untapped potential and I would love to go there more often so and and but I I
do think uh to Mr volo's point is that we do and it's not there no disrespect to anyone on this side of town there is some stuff that's heavier towards the asson side right now so would be nice to give something on that side of town um
and that can be done I mean we just have to figure out placement right so we don't strangle ourselves down the road where we put it in a place and we get it in the way of other things but I do like the idea and it's it's something different there right because you have baseball and football there right now
and this is a little bit different of an activity um and I think it draws in different people and it might be something that the parents like to play while the kids are on the beach or whatever or or vice versa the the parents lay on the beach and the kids are playing you know so yeah and as far
as geese obviously we can't control that but if there's more people there in theory there's less geese there they're going to be moving them moving flying along like oh there's people there I can't sit I can't poop there they might but but the more we use it it'll stay
clean right longer periods of time then of course trash pickup and everything else is is come an issue but that's something we we can definitely solve um having a ton article I like I like that idea I think we there's we have money we can dedicate to that and make it better for the residents in East free Town not
just East free Town whoever all the residents all over town but it'll now be almost even on both sides my my only thing is is and I I 100 million per agree with that but I want to have a very clearcut idea of what we want to
accomplish ahead of going to the town because I don't want to go to to the town for funding to say oh we need $25,000 to put electricity there and then okay great well we want to put a pickle ball cord in so now we need to go back for additional funds so I would rather say this is the funding we need
and this is what we want to do and then that way we have everything that we can do it all in one clean swoop rather than doing it peace mail I'm working on that because I think we've also talked about upgrading the basketball courts at little friendway too that need some they need some attention as well MH and and
the good news is people are will U utilize them if you if you do it and I think that's that's the best thing and we had we just had Kylie in here right with her uh events that she's doing she's doing a great job with if we can update that area and do things then you
know maybe she can start holding more events there um yeah she can't do because of the power that's why that was been main focus is to get power there so she can do concerts she could do different things over imagine that having a concert on the water be fantastic people pull up their boats
right nearby or their jet ski watch the con it it's a fantastic idea um it's an untapped resource we've we've again I keep hearing from residents that have used it in years past right um and the new generation is missing out all they think about is goose poop right for for
lack of better things and it's not really accessible to them well let's make it accessible to them let's make it usable so they can go out and have a fence maybe you'll we yeah Power is step one next next question be what about bathrooms right we have por Johns we can put down there right it's not ideal for
that for those areas but cheaper than building a bathroom right we do put the portons down there we already put portons down there but I mean I do want because I really do want to do this I keep saying it but I want to do it once and do it right and know you know things
might change down the road pickle ball might be big now and then 10 years down the road be non-existent or blow up and and then we need more the good thing about pickall P you can use that as a as a almost like a makeshift stage yeah no absolutely I mean I'm just I'm using
pickle ball because that's what it was just brought up but I mean I really want uh for us to look at it on what do our residents say they need what what's going to be the greatest good for the
most residents um and you know we we heard a lot about pickle ball we put it in the haway and then lo and behold it's getting used right so it's there is a need for it so maybe that means doing it over on this side of town but what else beyond that well one
of the things we to your point before was we talked a lot about where right now we have this huge parking lot and a small Beach well we need to possibly push that back but then what do we do with that okay so we can fill it in extra 50 feet with sand but just to fill
it with sand to fill it with sand isn't going to do anyone any good right so um you know how do we best utilize that space and uh you know a great project for some of our committees like uh oak or even the cultural Council I don't
know reach out to people and say hey what ideas do you have maybe even do another survey I know we did one for for the community program planner and yeah the town planner as well so yeah no food for all absolutely I think that's um there's a lot of potential there and I'd like to see something
happen there so so timing wise um in order for us to put something when do you think we would be able to please don't I don't want you to strangle me um put in some sort of funding together for
the next do something in a special town meeting because then the money will be ready readily available so I already know what the electric bill looks like for that um we know roughly pickle ball we know what that is I mean my thoughts if you want to know my honest thoughts is to put something like $100,000 for
Park improvements and we start with and we do we pick what we the priorities and then if we have extra money we do some of the other things because like I said little fway the little Funway those basketball courts need some love as well and they get utilized a lot too and so
um I think that's that that would be kind of how I would approach it and just use the language all-encompassing that all at the discre of the board or whatever to to be able to do stuff but we put down what we know we want to do and then we if there's money left over
we can utilize it for additional things right utilizing our Outdoors that's you know as a father you know as as parents you know we always looking for something to do with our kids right um I know I see quite a few people walking around son and I'm always asking them hey what are you guys doing like oh there's
nothing really to do let's go do this go do that I can only imagine that's happening in East free town as well so let's uh let's get themit let's get them active and I and I also think that when we started this we talked about
the you know people that how how this beach is perceived right if we have lighting down there it might help with some of the issues that some people believe are happening later on at night um you know so this the security
benefits to having the electric there with some overhead lighting as well and Poss even some some cameras yeah yeah um you know I mean that's obviously food for thought but it's just just something else to call out that you know lighting
can be a security measure as well absolutely uh anyone else have do you guys have any other thoughts or no no I heard a lot I heard a lot more than I expected to hear so that was good good yeah think we you know as you know that
when we talked right there's there's always this uh timeline of stuff to go through right you've heard that a lot tonight so it's why I'm I'm thinking of things ahead and saying and it sounds like they already have but you know the really the funding is always the hardest
part right we can sit here with good ideas but if we don't have the funding it's just that it's just an idea and it's going to go to the Wayside so um but I do think what we need to do is and I'm not saying tonight but we do need to figure out the best way
to come up with a layout for the IDE for the because adding power down there will be adding power down there we don't need a layout for that right cuz we just getting the plls there and then can pull off of that but I'm just think from that point forward I want to be able to say okay this is we might only be doing a
pickle ball court first but what's the overall piece look like we need a conceptual layout so we don't put something that we then have to rip out later on yeah I think both parks are at that point halfway to I think that they need a second Court there but I don't
want to put a second Court until we make sure we we're talking about putting stadium seating there and maybe a stage there but I don't want to put any of it because you want to make sure you can maximize the potential of the park and you don't want to put something that then you're ripping out to move or
change around so I I I thought about getting quotes for um having uh conceptual designs drawn for both and and you would pull in the open space committee and different people to weigh in on what they think should be there and a town planner will be really
integral in doing that I can try to get prices so at least I know the pricing for for for those kinds of conceptual designs moving forward yeah as part of this but yeah because then if we can call that into what we're doing as far as with the with the funds right because
it's just and unfortunately that makes it slow down just a little bit more right we're doing it right that's you know overall we're doing it the right way you know putting the time and effort into it making sure we're doing it correctly the first time so we're not wasting any money down the road right um
like anything else in towns it it costs a little bit of money to do things right right but we Let's Do It Let's uh let's put our heads together and see what comes out so I don't know that there's really a vote that needs to be had on this right because there's really nothing to vote on we you know we kind
of talked over a lot of things but um short of having the warrant articles and stuff and know what we're going to do um I'm not sure right I Debbie you don't foresee I mean I don't know I would just I'm going
to bring back Staffing from last year and work on that bring back the manager or ask if the manager wants to come back you had two managers yeah are we asking they want to come back have we done that I have no idea I've done nothing on that
so should we should we should we ask the two managers to come back and one do one shift one do the other and then have uh two other staff members to work under them and cover that because we we need to have coverage there yeah oh absolutely yeah know we need coverage
and as so was St before right we don't have we're already struggling for staff so yeah and we we need them now so we we do need to ask we need to start working on that we'll put out um see if the existing managers want to come back if not we need to put that add out and then I
don't know how many of the staff members will want to come back but we we don't need as many staff as we had last year what do we have last year four or five five five yeah we don't need five we need four four is Max and then um see if they want to come back if not put the ad out right yeah know that works if you're
saying hey four is the magical number then and that's on a schedule that makes sense yeah if we need to adjust it we'll adjust it but sta at like Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday MH right yeah
whatever schedule we had last year seemed to work pretty well right I'm sure there's little tweaks here and there that we can make yeah I think there's some tweaks we can make overall you know like like the boers said it's the transformation of the boat rep itself right from when we started with the kiosk and then it really pays for it
pays for the staff essentially right all theone does kind of sta right and and now the the fencing's there The Sheds there they're more attentive um the shenanigans that were happening over the years have died down right quite a bit knock on knock on right but for for the
most part it's cleaner it's it's it's more rece more receptive to people going in and out um not really many things were outside of our control last year of course you get a knucklehead here in there that kind of excuse things but overall it was uh it keeps getting
better every year right and it's uh let's continue that Trend and making sure that we have more people there and not have our own staff there on a day-to-day basis yeah that can't happen all right so I guess then I will
entertain a motion um to enter to uh entertain the same Staffing level for the beach and boat ramp U for fiscal year 25 I make that motion I will second it all those in favor I thank you thank you we appreciate it
um so now we're just going to do some signatures so pick a b cour do we we know when it's getting painted I don't know I got work on that oh that's I'm sorry I'm just moving it out of my like slacking she's not putting her her posted on there sign this is going to just be
you I didn't me to say slacking either say two signes and and an initial an initial you should be yeah we take that usually we leave here with our wrist hurting there you go that's right all right so we're good
there so with that I attain a motion to adjourn all right make that motion I will second all those in favor I I [Music]