Uh, good evening everybody. It's Tuesday, August 19th, 2025 at 6:03 p.m. And with a quorum being present, I'll call to order the Freetown Board of Sucker meeting. Uh, tonight's meeting will be on Zoom as well in person. Uh, tonight's meeting will be recorded and will be available on our town's YouTube
page. Uh, tonight we will be going into executive session and then coming back into open session. We are going into executive sess session for the following three reasons. First, Mass General law chapter 3A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective
bargaining with the Freetown Police Association because an open body uh open meeting um may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the public body and the chair so declares and I do. Two, Mass General law chapter 30A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with
respect to litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the bug body and chair so declares Mrs. lawless versus the town of Freetown and I do. And number three, master law chapter 3A section 21 A3 to
discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if a open meeting may have a detrimental effect on litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares and I do and this is for the water leak at the police department. So uh with that I'll entertain a motion to go into executive session. Motion made me second. All in favor?
I sleman Lopes. Yes. Sleekman Zagger. Yes. Sleman Matthews. Yes. All right. Okay. We're now back in open session from executive session. Uh we're going to move on to agenda item four. This is discussion of vote whether to approve
open session minutes from 78 2025 and 84 2025. 728. What did I say? 78. 728 2025 and 842025. Thank you, Deb. So with that, I'll entertain a motion to approve those open session minutes. Uh motion made. Second. All in favor?
I I Sleman Loops, yes. Zagger, yes. Matthews, yes. Okay. And then now uh agend item five, discussion and vote on request from the PTO organization or parent teacher organization regarding the fence at the Fretown Elementary School. Got
some folks here to join us for this discussion. And I there's some folks at home as well. Correct. All right. De want to kick this off and kind of just lay out groundwork here. So, I I think apparently the PTO would like to add a fence to the school for
the um preschoolers um in different grades and they are looking for some help with that. Originally, I think they were looking for, you know, some help physically if if the highway department could install it and install some um playground
equipment. We we weren't comfortable or I can say I wasn't uncomfortable and I did talk with the town council about the liability that that might entail. Um, so I think they're looking for some financial assistance with this project. Um, and I said maybe, you know, possibly
we have some funds that we could put towards the fence at the elementary school. Okay. And then this is the fence that is So obviously the fence along Memorial. Was that memorial? Whatever this road is right here, right? Yeah. Memorial. Uh, that one's fine cuz it's not like
it's it's the one abuing the woods, right? which makes sense that we don't want toddlers and young children going out into the woods. And the total cost, estimated cost, I know that the um the quote is now expired, but that was around what 17,000.
Yeah, that's what the Mr. Matthews, may I interject for one second? I just want to make sure we're clear on the playground because there's two different playgrounds at Freetown Elementary School. The one on Memorial Drive, we call that the big toy, which is usually grades one through three. Yeah, on the back side of the building is
where the prek and kindergarten playground and that's the playground that they're referring to to have the fence placed around not the one that you drive by and that's what I made sense. Okay. I just wanted to make sure I was also clarify that initially like I was just thinking like is that fence to like the fence that is
there is that in decent shape you know um currently I mean just makes me think like is there opportunity to do you know do is there economies of scales in fence and if we're going to do one fence is it makes sense to do all the fences if they need
to be repaired you know so I don't know is there any fence there now at the on the prek side yeah near the woods He said just what's No, there's no fence. Not the prek kindergarten one. No, there's not. Is there any road traffic that goes there? Any vehicle traffic
in that area? Not not during the school days of best ways, but at the end of the day when the playground would we would call it off limits, children are not there because vans will actually come there on the backside to pick up children um from
there. Um so there is but please note that is not like traffic that is vans that are uh by the district that are used at that time and it is a scheduled time that they come through. Trying to think this a request from the PTO right not the school district
correct. Okay. Is there anybody from the PTO? Sarah we can't hear you. Someone's camping. Nothing yet. Maybe John needs to turn it up.
Doing audio. There you are. I over here a voice. That was me. Sorry. Oh, that's okay. We can hear you. So, we at least know that someone's working. Can you identify who you are, please, for the record? I I am Stacy Shamuzki, uh Sarah's PTO
co-chair. Well, thank you for joining us. Thanks for having me. I guess my question is, do you have any funding at all for this fence? Hi. Can you hear me now? Yes. Yes.
Okay, good. Sorry about that. Sorry. Uh Sarah Dudley, uh co-chair of the PTO. Yeah. So, I just a little bit of background, I guess, that um where the request came from. So we um as a PTO had reached out to staff members to ask
um you know if there was anything in particular that they would like us as a PTO to purchase for the school for their rooms um things like that. And one of the requests that came up was um this fence. So from some of the recess monitors from the kindergarten teachers
and the special education teachers who have students on that back playgrounds that Mr. Ward was just mentioning. Um so you know while it doesn't abut Bulock Road per se theoretically any student if they were quick enough you know and these are the little prek kindergarten
um and our special education and south coast collaborative students are on that playground. So you know the teachers as they described it to us kind of have to form a you know they'll they'll stand in between where the road is and where the playground is so that students cannot run in that direction. Um but it
theoretically the students could either run into the woods or towards public road um where there is high traffic. So we just felt as a PTO we weren't sure if it was our place to be purchasing a fence. It felt more of like a I don't know um appropriate for the district or
the town um being town property like we just didn't know where we fell into it. Um, so while we do have the funds technically um to purchase the fence, we just weren't sure where we where our role was as a parent teacher organization if it made sense for us to
be purchasing a fence. Um, and just to touch on the other question, I think so there is a current chain link fence on the other playground that Mr. Ward mentioned, but it does not fully wrap around. Um, so it does kind of keep kids off of Memorial Drive and keep that safe
because that is obviously a higher traffic area. Um, but I would just say from a personal standpoint, it wouldn't be a bad thing maybe to look at kind of the the bigger project. And I know the gate um going in could use a little bit of uh repair on that where um from the parking lot in the back of the school
going into the playground, that gate is a little cumbersome to use. Um so so when this came up from the teachers, you know, we kind of took the initiative to work with Mr. Goodwin um with the school district to ask him to get some quotes. Um the quote that he did receive was from Southeast Fence Company, who I
guess the district works with. And so that's where um that document that I sent over came from and that was like um you said, Dev, it was $17,000 and change um that that came from. Um so yeah, and that was over a year now. So you I'm sure would have to get an updated one.
So that's just kind of the background of where the request came from and why we got involved. Um but like I said, we just felt like it may be more appropriate to have the discussion between the district and the town and understand the right path um for funding it. Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much. And so
and so the the district does just don't have the money for it. Is that kind of another part of this? Is that we're saying here? Well, I can tell you that I I started April 1st. So much of this had occurred uh before I came on board and the kind of the first I heard of it I was uh at a
PTO meeting toward the end of the year and the PTO mentioned that they had gone down the road uh asking for the fence as a result of a teacher request that came through uh when they were looking exactly what you heard tonight. Uh so I haven't had the opportunity we haven't had the opportunity really to do uh any
significant investigating uh around other needs associated with a fence. I mean, we do have some capital projects that we need to bring forward. Um, there's lots of priorities. I get it. Yeah. Tons, right? Am I going to say no to a fence, you know, that's going to ensure the safety of our prek and K
students? Absolutely not. But to say that we build this into the budget at the time, uh, we didn't. Understood. Um, and I know there was something also in the packet related to a potential grant from Aenquas maybe or somebody. I thought I read that. Well, originally when this first came up, um I
know Allan and I had the superintendent at the time discussed it with Senator Rogers. That's your question, but then that kind of funding kind of dried out uh from the Senate side of the house at the time. So, I'm not sure if we we reached back out asking for the same funds again. I'm not sure if we've done that. Um or even
South Coast Collaborative. I don't know if anybody reached out to them as well to say, "Hey, this is your your students in a sense or your children coming in." That was the discussion at the time. So I'm not sure if we went any further than that. Okay. Been a while. So I guess to address the first kind of
question that Sarah brought up where like is this the role of the PTO? I mean like this puts me like I have no problem with it personally like the PTO. I'm also I think as a board we have a kind of um a donation fund that I mean
we'll have to vote on it but I I'm interested in you know potentially helping some of the costs there. Um, and then I mean it's I I feel like I don't want to put the district in a weird position here where like I don't want you to have to sign up for something right now that you might not be able to
come through, but like from a money perspective, Sarah, like is do you guys have enough? Would this be a big um investment for you folks or is it something I don't know where you stand? Like how much money would you feel comfortable spending I guess on this? No, too.
Um, yes. I don't know exactly how to answer that. I guess we, like I said, we do have the money in our account. Um, we try to focus our funds on, you know, like field
trips and um classroom materials and things that enhance the curriculum and experience for the students. So, while I certainly agree that it is almost a necessary safety feature for the playground, um I just don't know how the
parents whose fundraising um yeah, would be paying for a fence. I just don't know if that feels appropriate. Understood. It feels very much right like a a facility project, not something the PTO
would focus on. I agree with that. So, you know, to that to that end, uh I think Sarah and I and the rest of the PTO had kind of had a bit of this discussion when I met with them in the spring and we do have a meeting coming up uh between central office staff and the uh PTO chairs and co-chairs in the
beginning of the fall. So, we can kind of outline whose responsibility is what. It seems like over time the PTO very generously has taken on some things uh that really aren't what I think the intention of a PTO is for.
Understood. Um, and I've been I'm now the grateful recipient of some of those things. Uh, but I really think we need to refocus to do exactly what Sarah's talking about. You know, have the money that the parents are raising go exactly to curriculum support and enhancement activities for the students and not
physical or capital projects that that should be the responsibility of the district or the towns. Yeah. All that being said, this is something that's been it looks like this is an estimate from 2024 and it seems like it was a conversation that was taking place before that. So, I would hate to change
midstream uh when we maybe have the opportunity here to put this safety measure in place and and support something the PTO did uh ask the teachers about. I I agree. I just do want to see that we do I'm a big advocate for doing
something once and doing it right. And I don't want to say, okay, we're gonna put up this section of fence and then afterwards finding out, well, you know what, we probably should have done this, right? So, do we look at this as as a larger scale, make sure that we do what we need to do
once, do it right, and be done with the project. And you know to select with Matthew's point I think you know we do have some funding and I I think it's a worthy cause to obviously it's our students it's you know young children and I you know so I would be completely okay with us you know giving up some of
that funding to to do it. Yeah. Um I think that um you know I think originally I thought that the request was to participate like uh give you know sort of a portion maybe $5,000 towards the fence but I'm hearing that the
request is for the whole fence to be paid for by the town. So, we have been working with uh principal ward, Jack Higgins, Superintendent um Greg Goodwin about capital needs for the Freetown Elementary School. And you know, we've brought to that to the town's people.
We've been voted for money for repairs. We are going to be coming back before the town, my anticipation anyways, a next meeting in December to ask for funding for the boiler to the tune of about a million dollars. So my thought
process might be to include in that uh language that would open it up to the boiler andor other repairs such as fencing. Um, and that way we can incorporate. That's what I was thinking too like like the whole 20,000 or 25,000 because
I'm thinking like you say if we're going to fix it, fix the gate on the other because that gate has been defunct for some time in my opinion and that's just from me going up to the school. Um, and get the funding incorporated into the funding that we need because I'm hoping that the boiler
doesn't cost a million dollars. We set aside a million. Maybe it's 950,000 and we can use the other 50,000 for repairs. that are necessary because that school is at a point where it needs it's going to need some ongoing work as we've discussed. We just got the funding to do
the roof repairs. So, um I think while I'd like to see it happen sooner than later, I think the the opportunity might be to roll it into the next request that we have coming before the town in December and let the people know that that'll be if there's money left over
after the boiler, it'll be used for the fencing. Or could we could we just do a different article and try to get funding? You could do it separately too. I feel like that you know because in transparency. Yeah. Just like you know and and it's one it's one extra article say I think that in the short term you'd want to get
another quote that will be valid during you know December meeting. We know exactly what we know what it is and then add like a 15% buffer on that because we know things are going to you know nothing hurts what you think it's going to cost. And then we just ask and I I I can't imagine our voters, you know, not
supporting this measure, right? And the this layout and I keep going back to the layout, but would this was what was agreed upon with Greg and team as to what should be done or was this just like we this was the immediate fix. We need to put this here to block the
students into this area, so to speak. Was was that how it was looked at? because I get nervous when I heard Sarah make a comment about well on that side they're not really 100% blocked in and then oh this gate is you know not working the best and the fencing I know
along Memorial Drive isn't the best right so I think that I start thinking about all that and to to Trevor's point is like let's if we're going to do it figure it out do it once do it right and I can't speak to what accredit those meetings um it seems to me like this is an
estimate just to meet the need that was conveyed to the PTO on the survey that they sent out. I don't think I I didn't get the sense in my brief conversations with Jack Higgins about this or with Mr. Ward about it uh that there was any thought to look at any
other areas of fencing at the same time. Yes. So Sarah, just a quick question. Do you feel that the PTO, you know, uh would be, you know, okay with us potentially waiting a little bit longer and um and getting some funding
from the town to actually, you know, do a more, you know, uh all-encompassing kind of fix here to the fences fences at the school. Yeah, absolutely. I think just hearing that we have the support of Well, you you kind of faded off there,
Sarah. I can't hear you. Sorry. I think that would mean a lot to Anyone else? Am I just make sure I'm not going deaf? We can't hear you. It's weird because it like we could hear you and then it like slowly trailed off. This is a This is a new IT issue that I
haven't seen yet with Teams or whatever reason. I'm sorry. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. But a thumbs up if you agree what I said. Okay, that worked. Okay. So, I think that was a definitive thumbs up.
So, is and has that work for you folks as well? I think that makes sense. I mean, I see this is it is a town building. I know it's kind of, you know, weird being in the uh school district. It's kind of a weird situation, but I mean, I think this makes sense. And also like it that
playground probably is also used by, you know, it can be used by, you know, kids in general. you know, it's not just always for the school, which I'm not sure if that's true, but originally I thought it was just to contribute towards the fence, but if we're going to pay for the entirety,
um I think it should go to town meeting on an article and we're going to be looking at doing that in the fall with hopefully some free cash, but also some other big ticket items that the school, you know, as you know, we've been meeting trying to
plan what we need to fund the school. um repairs that are coming our way, the roof and doors and windows and the boiler. The date of the December town meeting is I think December 8th,
correct? 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6. Okay. Okay. So, we no votes now needed then, right? I think so. Well, thank you very much. Appreciate everyone's input.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We'll make sure we have uh everything ready and in order and to you well before December 8th. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So, now we're going to move on to agenda item six, discussion and
vote to award the contract for the South uh Main Street Bridge Preservation Engineering Project. and Luan was able to provide me that that was today was the um ranking the bids, right? Mhm.
And it looks like of the three firms that we looked at um Mccclure got the highest score of 124. Is am I allowed to say that? Yeah.
Um okay. So, I don't know if we're going to award the contract because we haven't negotiated the contract. So, I think I was just going to award the work to Mccclure as the um the
uh the firm that we chose to work with on the engineering based on their Okay. So, so how how am I going to phrase this? Uh it's going to be that we select Yeah. Select select them to move forward with. Yeah. Okay. So with that, I'll entertain
a motion to move forward with Mccclure for the South Main Street Bridge Preservation Engineering Project. Motion made. Second. All in favor? I. I. Sleman Les. Yes. Select Sager. Yes. Matthews. Yes. Uh then this is just to authorize Deb to negotiate and sign the contract.
So with that, I'll entertain a motion to authorize town administrator to negotiate and sign contract for South Main Street Bridge Preservation Engineering Project. Motion made. Second. All in favor? I. I. Sleekman Lopes. Yes. Selectman Zagger. Yes. Matthew. Yes. And that's funded by federal grant
money. Yep. Okay. Agenda item eight. Discussion to vote. What which selectman will participate on behalf of the board of selectmen for the Main Street Bridge Preservation Project? Any takers? Yeah, I I wouldn't mind jumping on it. Yeah. Okay.
Yeah, you want. All right. It's a pretty cool one. So, um, so with that, I'll entertain a motion to, um, have Sland Lopes participate on behalf of the board of Select for the South Main Street Bridge preservation project. Motion made. I'll second it. All in favor? I
I select Lopes. I recuse. Select Zar. Yes. Select Matthews. Yes. Okay. All right. So, I have to I'm going to recuse myself for this vote. I'll leave the room. Um, I just happen to be close
family friends with a developer related to this. So, I'll be right back and just let me know. All right. So, I'll I'll just I'll call everything out then. Select Matthews leaves the room. We can say whatever we want about him.
Only good things. That's right. All right. Agenda item number nine. discussion and vote whether as road commissioners uh the board of selectmen A intend to lay out road for Fbrook Lane and Al Gangquin way B refer this article to the planning board for their action
and C place an article in the next town meeting for acceptance of the road. So um we have some plans in front of us for a proposed subdivision. Uh, looks like I want to say this is mainly a procedural um a
procedural. I was just going to try and call out how many lots it was. If we say it, it's not that big of a deal, but it's a roadway, but um you know, we are the road commissioners, so we have to uh take acceptance of the road and send it on to
the planning board and let them do their due diligence and put their expertise on it. So, I mean, I don't see any issues with it. Do you? Neither do I. It's only six, seven houses potentially. Yeah, small area. Yeah. So, all right. So, um with that, I
entertain a motion um to approve the road commissioners for the board of selectmen as uh intended to lay out road for Fallrook Lane in Al Gangquin Way. Uh and then B refer this uh approval to the planning board for their actions and C
to place this article on the next town meeting for acceptance of the road. I make that motion. I will second it. All those in favor? I I suffer. Yes. Let me go get Sman Matthews. Okay, we're good.
All right, moving on to agenda item 10. Discussion and vote on the installation of the cameras at the bow ramp. Um I saw the two options that we have. Um the first option for actually you
know connected via um like a cell phone card pretty much right is that a way a data plan I guess would be the way to describe it. And that option was about if I remember correctly like 2500 bucks plus 40 bucks a month. Correct.
And then the other option two was just have a self-contained kind of um closed caption television system that can only be footage would have to be retrieved on site. So if someone broke in and took the equipment or ruined the equipment, then you wouldn't get the footage
anyway. Yeah. Right. I mean, and the other thing that the IT person that I worked with, Chris Mer from Netrospect, he did mention that with option one, that SIM card, if you were ever to have emergencies around town,
you can pull a SIM card and then put it into other devices and have internet in other places. I like that in the town, which I thought was a really good feature. Option two just doesn't really seem like an option to me. It's old school, right? CCTV is great if you have an enclosed facility that is monitored by somebody at all times. Uh, we would almost need
an alarm system for that system to protect it, which is just ridiculous. Mhm. So, silly question maybe, but like is this like a month-to-month plan? So, like we only really need probably video on that for the summer months, right? The boat ramp is active.
It is open year round. It is exactly open year. So, I did because of the recent jet ski, Deb had asked me to reach out to Doug Cameron at the state um the fishing game wildlife to see if we could close the gate at night. I've reached out twice, haven't heard. Um but we have had
problems in there over the winter months, but you just never know what's going to happen. What I think the real value we get for this is that when people realize that there's a camera on them, that they're going to change behavior dramatically. They might behave themselves. I like and
I and I I responsible adults concept. I saw some embarrassing body cam footage from an incident in Newport this week that Mhm. reminded me how, you know, you don't want to be you don't want you don't want to be put on film these days. Um, so
I think that that option one makes sense to me. And then I think this might also open up the opportunity for, you know, potentially other spots that we want to do this. And, you know, this will be a good kind of like this is, I think, our most pressing need, but there's probably
other, you know, facilities that we might need those. I agree with that, Sleman Matthews. I I think, you know, if we had another location, I'd like to see one at the bull ramp. A lot of recent activity there. Not the bull ramp, sorry, the the beach. Yeah. in that area. Um, a lot of recent activity there suggests that we may need
uh some eyes, especially at night um at Long Pond. So, I don't know if that's that's probably a different vote um versus there's also power issues and there's a lot of other things that we're working on down there which we get a grant. Yep.
Yeah. So, that's still it's already being talked about, right? We've talked about it, but this is I think too for us to just learn from for going forward, right? like to figure out if this is a good system. Um, does this system limit the amount of cameras? Did they say
anything about that? L, they were talking about one, but you can put as many as you wanted to. I think you one camera I think isn't enough usually, especially when you're talking about a space of that size and maybe having some different angles. And, you know, I think you might want two. I think you might want one at the shed and one down
closer to the water where the old shed used to be. Have to run power down there. Can we put solar panels? Well, look at a camera, especially at a high area like that. Those cameras won't capture license plates. So, if we got to put two cameras, I do
like the one next to the shed or at the entrance to capture license plates coming and going because the overhead view ones will not capture it. Um though, you can zoom in will get very grainy. And then if let's say something does happen lawfully, we have to go to court. Those won't be very very very
good for our court case. So a license plate camera at level although probably not as popular as other cameras would be if we do too that would be the way to go. Yeah. Well I mean I because I just think about it for angles if something god forbid happens but also for safety of
our employees that are there during the summer months right. So, yum. Yeah, I just think that there's there's some different stuff and we can talk about that down the road, but I just want to make sure this doesn't, you know, say we can only put one camera on it or two cameras.
We can have the um the the guy that's been working on all the cameras and the security within the town that we've been doing over the last year. We can have them look at it and tell us. Yeah. He's gone out. So, if I just ask him about the second one, I'm just not sure about the because the power just goes to the shed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he said he could put one camera on
the shed and send it down and get the kiosk and get the whole parking area. Okay. It would be similar to like the when they come in on that pole at the transfer station. Yes. And that catches license plates. Okay. And stuff like that. However that I think I think at the end of the day we just have to be strategic about
or we could put the one and then if that doesn't meet the needs then we could always look into adding a second one. I just don't know about the power down there like you said solar maybe. I don't know if that's an option. Yeah. And so will police have access to that? felt like camera like they've only like they had someone who committed a crime
and went past town hall and they came to us to get on them. They don't have the credentials and stuff to get on any cameras. There would be a server there. You know how all the other cameras have servers? Yes. So, we're going to have to put a server in there. I'm going to have to ask him.
Yeah, because that gets expensive. Actually, it's part of the equipment was was a small server because it was such a small It was only one camera. was a small thing and it that should be included at 2500. If you wanted a second camera, it's probably like around 400 for the cameras now. Yeah,
the basic one. Yeah. We don't pay a monthly fee for the cameras though. We've been buying them outright and setting them up and we don't have the monthly because originally our cameras were all monthly. We would pay Comcast and they were down half the time and we just pay this monthly fee. The systems we have now are much better
than what we had under Comcast and we don't pay a monthly fee. We just have to pay for the internet. Mhm. Right. Okay. All right. So, I think we're on consensus here. So, I'll um I'll entertain a motion to go with option one in the packet, which is uh use camera
equipment um at other locations that can be viewed remotely and uh get a SIM card so that we can um store that feed in the cloud. Subject to funding. Subject to funding. Yes. Mo motion made. Second. All in favor? I
I that's a revolving account. I just don't know how much money we have. We might have to wait until we can put more money in the revolving account. But we and we can up our charges, right? We can't up our charges, but we have money in the the revolving account, but you know, at town meeting, we vote to move so much of that money and be able to use it. I just don't know if we're
going to run out. I know that the gentleman you were talking I have to roll call that last. Yeah. Sorry. Sleman Lopes. Yes. Sleman Zer. Yes. Sleman Matthews. Yes. that gentleman had said that we're already at like the highest of high, right, for
uh fees charged because it's it's owned under the state and run through the town. We have to fall under what the state Yeah. allows. So, we can't do I wish we could. I remember at one point we under the understanding that you know if our operating costs went up then we could up the fees to because we at one point we
were considering upping fees as a way to you know as a mechanism to maybe uh disincentivize people to to come but that that was deemed as something we couldn't do. I have not looked at the budget this year to see what are how many people
have come. The weekends have been beautiful so I bet it's been busy. I'm sure it's I've seen a few of the reports that come through for like the kiosk payments and stuff like that and it's I think it's higher than normal but and the kiosk is working. Y I get a report every day and it's tell me it's not. So,
but I check every Monday to make sure that it's um getting charges just in case. So, it's knocked down. Great. Knock on wood. Yep. All right. So, let's move on to agenda item 12. Oh, no, sorry. Agenda item 11. discussion to vote whether approved amless payments and write offs for July
in a sum of $344,63.32 62 62 so there was some digging in done on this one right it's a lot of money um I'm going to sit down with that and the chief and go over this
I've had some concerns for some time about the billing company and I want to sit down with them and have a conversation and dig into it a little bit further okay because yeah this It's probably the biggest one we've had. It's by far the biggest one that we've had. There's some old charges on here. That's why.
Okay. All right. Well, nothing we can do about it right right now. Not at this point. No. All right. So, with that, I'll enter a motion to approve the ambulance abatement right off for July 2025. A motion made. Second. All in favor? I. Sleman Lopes. Yes. Sleman Zagar. Yes. Sleman Matthews. Yes. All right. Agenda item 12.
discussion of vote whether ratifi to ratify this interest and approval of the agreement between the town of Freetown and contract corp for municipal fiber this project I it's I I tried reading through the contract and I couldn't I mean there's a
lot going on there I'm excited for this project it just needs to happen I know right can we just get it done here right anything like notable that we should talk about on the contract or is it pretty looked pretty straightfor for from reading it looks like once they start a
few months later this is done right this is just a ditch witch that just buries as they go right so once it begins I would think with even with some delays well within 6 months I it looks like right they're saying three three months or four months whatever it was but let's
say they hit some slate maybe a a box turtle has to be moved or wait for it to move I don't think that's the issue here these are all overhead but it's just timing yep it like I saw like it was c of the the contract consists of the
following together with this agreement and then strike out was performance bond and labor and material payment bond. I don't know why cuz they need a payment bond. So they they've got to give us that and we've gone back at them and said you have to and that was in the RFQ. So I'm not sure why they struck
that out but um they said okay. I think they they did say that. Right. They said he's asking some questions. We have to get back to him. Yeah. But I I'm going to go back at him with the payment bond based on procurement law. I have to have it. Yeah. I figure that's I'm not sure why they crossed that all
out. They did that. Yeah. Okay. So, unless you can't get one and then that'll be a whole another issue, but um I can't imagine why they wouldn't be able to. Okay. Okay. So, but I think we're feel comfortable moving forward though.
Mhm. All right. All right. So with that, I'll enter a motion to ratify the signatures and approval for the mass agreement between town free town and contract corp for municipal fiber. Motion made. Second. All in favor? I. I. Suckman Lopes. Yes. Suckman Zer. Yes. Suckman Matthews. Yes. All right. Agenda item 13.
Discussion vote whether approve contract between the town of Freetown and En Wow. K. Eric A. Kinerf. Kinshurf. Kinerf CPA LLC for municipal financing consulting.
This look pretty straightforward and I guess just really basically this is the consultant for the treasurer collector's department that um we really just need his services to help us automate and digitalize and
make more efficient the processes that we have there. And it's difficult to do that when you're doing the work. Yeah. The day-to-day work. So, and I think also it's helpful to have a different set of eyes on procedures and processes. So, we don't really need their services for to help us do day-to-day. We need
them to look at our processes and procedures and update them. And they have the like, you know, you know, they're obviously doing this for a lot of other municipalities and I think that's probably a great thing and and the rates seem reasonable. We met with him. I thought he was great. Um he's going to work with uh Patty and
Matt and um he's worked with some other municipalities. He's, you know, so I'm excited actually to have him come in and uh start working and and help automate really just automate that department so that you know things just we're we're
stuck in like 1970s with our our capacity. Yeah. No, I got give any kind of closer view as to what this potentially would cost because it just, you know, he gives it hourly rate, but then says not
to exceed $30,000. Well, that's Yeah, I'm going to keep an eye on it. Obviously, like I said, if you look at what he wrote, he's, you know, he's like to provide services for the Treasury. I don't need that, right? So, I'm just going to take, if you look at the A, B, and C on that contract, just C on that.
And I'm going to tell him that that's really all we need. Um, I think maybe originally when we met with him six or eight weeks ago because we we had a vacancy in that department, I w I asked him if he could fill in if we needed it. Um, but we're not going to need that. Patty and um hiring Melissa, they're all
they're doing great and they're all kind of caught up since we just had uh tax payments due. So, um they're they're all doing what they need to do now. It's just looking at ways to be more efficient with our resources and be automated. And like you say, he does a
bunch of other towns, so he knows, okay, so and so does this in this town. And um yeah, that what works, what doesn't work. I mean, I'm a consultant, so I I uh yeah, you know, sometimes it really is useful to bring in another set of eyes. I'm going to use the HR budget to cover
this for right now so that we're okay to move forward with it. Um I think it's important. I think there's just um we hit some roadblocks in that department every now and then and I I need to get them um like I said efficient, use the resources. Yeah. Future proof it right. So yeah, it
makes a lot of sense. Like we talked about before, if there's a time to do it, it's now. Yeah. Yeah. Before before we have a big problem, right? Yep. Okay. So that I'll enter a motion to approve the contract between town free town and Eric A. Kinshurf is what I'm saying now. CPI LC for municipal
financing consulting. Motion made second. All in favor? I I. Sleman Lo, yes. Sleekman Zagger. Yes. Selectman Matthews. Yes. And then 14 is related. It's just to approve Debbie to sign the contract. So without entertain a motion to approve the town administrator to sign the contract between town of Freetown and
the consulting firm for municipal financing consulting. Motion made. Second. All in favor? I. Sleman Lopes. Yes. Sleekman Zagar. Yes. Slman Matthews. Yes. Okay. Gen 915, discussion of vote whether to allow exclusive access to the
band stand for holiday decorating on weekends from um November 2nd, 2025 to November 30th, 2025 on Saturdays and Sundays, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. That's crazy. This is already coming up. I know. Mhm. This one hurts a little bit. I was thinking felt like fallout the
past couple of days. It really did. All right. I have no issues with this. Anyone else have any issues? Not at all. Okay. So, without entertain a motion to approve um ex exclusive access to the band Stan for holiday decorating on weekends from 11 225 through 11:30 2025 on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 a.m.
to 2:00 p.m. A motion made. Second. All in favor? I I. Sleman Lopes. Yes. Sleman Zager. Yes. Matthews. Yes. All right. Agenda item 16. Discussion of whether approve entering the lease agreement for two 2026 Dodge Durango Police Cruisers with All
American Investment Groups. The total amount is $165,000 for both of them. Yeah. Little little pricey for two vehicles, especially on a lease and I keep seeing these leases come up and I keep I I
don't I don't know. You talked about possibly changing away from leases, right? At one point and possibly going to buy out, but it didn't make sense when we really looked at Well, I think the thing is I this has been a longstanding program where we we have we lease vehicles every year,
right? Every year we lease new police vehicles. So, it's usually two on one year and then one the following year. So, even though the it's a lot of money for the leases, they'll be paid over three years and then we own them. So, it's a lease to own program. M um I had talked about it didn't make
sense necessarily to borrow money when we which is in essence what we're doing when we have cash in the coffers but I think the chief was hesitant to disband the program because it was difficult to get in place when we didn't have money right so I think and I
said well I'm not going to I'll let this ride um you know I was just trying to pinch pennies on some level why spend money any money on interest when we have money sitting in the bank. Um, but the lease program that's been set up for years is good and the interest rate
isn't crazy. It's not like it's Yeah, it looks like total like the debt service here is like a total of $8,700 on you know Yeah. of the $165,000 that we're paying. It's that is a pretty You could probably do the math quick. You're a math guy. But that seems reasonable.
So, I just kind of thought, let me leave it alone rather than what if I take the program out, right? and it's kind of all set up like a welloiled machine and then we we start paying cash and then we can't pay cash and then we're trying to start all over again. Like we're all set up with them.
It's it's it is a lot of paperwork, but it's it it's all done and we just have to sign some things. So, I thought I would leave it alone. It's one of those things I think sometimes you're better off leaving things alone than upsetting the apple cart and this is one of them. And Carl, your point like that does look
expensive, but I think that's just how much a cop car costs. Well, no. Yeah, with all the decals, all the special equipment inside of there, all the electronics. Yeah, it makes sense that it costs high. It's just I'm looking at it going, we don't need any new vehicles. All the vehicles we have are fairly new.
There's no need to keep buying these every couple years. They don't need new vehicles. They need a vehicle that runs, and the ones that they have are running. So, I'm I'm looking at this going, why are we doing this again? And at least wait a little while to get other vehicles. I I would disagree in the fact
that I think that something like this is emergency vehicle, right? So, they should always be new and um you know, we we need these guys that are being called into emergency situations. I want to make sure that that vehicle's running to the the utmost and
Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think that that's why what what she's talking about, they looked at and said, "Okay, here's the amount of cars." So, we do two this year, one the next, and it'll always happen that way. And it would be the the quickest way to keeping the best way to keeping the and then like whatever. So like how many
cars we have in total? I don't know. I think it's like 18. Do you know? So then there's ones rolling off. So like like what's the like I guess what? Right. It's 18 vehicles but three people are driving him per shift. There's three vehicles out there per shift. Well, there's certain vehicles and you
have like the chief's vehicle, the detective. The detective's vehicle. Lieutenant. Oh, wonderful. And but then you also have like I know that some of the vehicles it's not just the mileage, it's the amount of hours that they've run, right? Like that's some of the things we've talked about. We've had some of the vehicles that
they've gotten rid of because it's like some crazy amount of idling hours that they're sitting there. So I listen, I'm I'm all about saving money. I mean, but I think I think what we should I cool I'm go with this, but maybe just talk to the chief and be like, "Hey, like should we reassess what
the schedule is? is do we need to do two in one or maybe is it one a year like you know we can have those discussions right I think right you know that's how I look at it it's we've been doing it this way for x amount of years and it seemed to have worked prior to that but we're not getting any reports that things are broken we're not getting any reports that the maintenance are overdue or that
things are breaking down so there shouldn't be any issues why they can't come to an emergency on in a timely manner uh definitely have the electronics so to keep buying I know it's 156 grand but our job is to be as as frugal as frugal. Yeah, exactly. You know,
question things and I and I guess that's why and I but I do now that we're talking about this I feel like we had and I'm sorry I didn't mean to cut into what you were saying that this conversation was had with Gan at the time, right? And he had talked about some different scenarios and saying that this is really the frequency at which it
had to happen. And I I I don't want to put words into someone's mouth who's not sitting in front of us, but I do feel like that now that we're talking about this a little bit more, I do remember having this conversation with him in the frequency Yeah. of the buying of the vehicles more than using the lease program, but the
frequency that we buy the vehicles. Yeah. And I don't think it's it's crazy for the number of vehicles that we do have, but I can certainly during budget season put have him put together a presentation for the board so that you know you can answer that he can answer all of your questions about the number
of vehicles. I how many years I mean it's like the ambulance, right? I know every three years we have to replace an ambulance and that's just the way it is. And every three years we're going to have to spend a half a million dollars on a new ambulance because we have two and that's a sixear span from the time we buy it. And it's that's just the number of miles they put on. He can give
you that information. I just don't have it for the vehicles. Yeah. And another thing to think I just thought of this like I bet if we sign this lease agreement today like we probably don't get the car for another year, right? Like so it's like you know then that's another year of wear and tear on the other vehicle that's getting sunset.
Like it's it's it's always a delayed thing. All right. I think it's a good conversation and I think that something we definitely push back on or just at least have a conversation about. Oh, right. all say all three of us are pro police. This isn't a oh the police is getting too much or we're spending too much on it. It's not that at all. So
for those out there listening in, that's not what we're saying is our responsibility is to be responsible to the town funds that we have and this seems a little especially since we just did one of these not too long ago. All right. Probably a year ago. Yeah. So it's it's it seems like we bought the truck
like I would love a new car every year. That would be fantastic. That's not the facts, right? It's I can't do it. Um I just got to look at it again. Okay. All right. So, with that, so I'm going to I'm going to um issue a motion to approve entering into lease agreement for the 2026 Dodge Durango Police Cruisers with all investment all
American Investment Groups LLC. Motion made a no. I'll second it. All in favor? I I selectman Lopes. I'm no Zer. Yes. Selectman Matthews. Yes. Okay. And then this is just for Deb
to uh enter into the agreement. So agenda item 17 discussion vote whether authorize or sorry let me back up. I'll entertain a motion to authorize town administrator to sign documents relating to the lease for two 2026 Dodge Rango Police Cruisers from all American Investment Groups LLC. Motion made. I'll second it. All in favor?
I. I. Select Lopes. I select Zagar. Yes. Select Matthews. Yes. All right. Now I will kick it over to personnel. All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. All right. Personnel board item agenda 18. Acknowledge the resignation of Nicole Devyon.
as library director effective 10:15 2025. Nicole, thank you so much for everything you've done for the library. You will be missed. Um, and that's just an acknowledgement. So again, thank you. Item 19, discussion vote where to approve the library director job
description. So as you saw from 18, Nicole's leaving us. She's uh she she's following her dream. So we can't we uh I'm going to miss her at the same time. How dare she? No, I'm just kidding. Uh good for her. um it's the time to do it. It's it's right for her. So So all that matters, right? We we owe
her a great of um so much because all things she's done for the library. Yeah, she's been awesome. I will So we tweaked and updated and played with the job description. You know, hopefully you all had a a chance to look at it. So we're trying to get the most as as competitive as possible. What
we've identified, not just this position, but many others that we hire in town is we're all going for the same resources across different towns and municipalities and everything else. So, um, nothing extravagant in that in that description. It's just kind of makes it more attractive for somebody outside
looking in, especially coming into Freetown, which, you know, we're in the middle of potentially building a new building, right? Or we're in the middle of the contract in OPM and everything else. But, you know, there's some uh other things that, you know, they have two older buildings you have to deal with and everything else. So, it's pretty
comprehensive in a sense, especially especially all the events that her and Kylie have put together over the years. So, um, the description is there. If we have to adjust it, we can always come back later on and tweak it, especially if when it comes to benefits and salary
and everything else. I'm sure we'll have that discussion again. So, all right, that's good. Yeah. No, I'm okay with it. All right. Perfect. All right. I entertain the motion to approve the library job description. Make that motion. I will second it. All in favor? I I. Slew Loops. Yes. Slew Zagar. Yes.
Sleman Matthews? Yes. All right. Now, time administrator report. Yeah, I just uh just wanted to say a couple things. First, I want to say thank you to Nicole for giving us two months notice. Yeah, that's very helpful for the town to be able to get this job uh posted and
hopefully bring in a new director uh before she leaves, but at the very least, you know, at the same time as she giving it the fighting chance. Yeah. Yeah. So, I really appreciate that. Um it's not the norm and and it's it's extremely helpful to the town. So, I
just want to recognize that. Um, that's that's awesome. Sad to see her go, especially since she's the one that's been fighting so hard to get the new building and she's been intrical in that and now she's leaving. Uh, but I I wish her the best of luck. Of course, she's,
you know, she's going to do what what's good for her and I'm happy for her in that respect, but I did want to thank her. Um, the other thing is Excel Recycling. I know um you know they're doing their best to try to be a good neighbor and they did they they knew that the softball uh league that took
over for uh KR resendes there's some repairs a lot of repairs that need to be done there to get the fields up and running and in the best shape for the girls softball team and they donated uh substantial funds to help the softball
um free softball girls teams to do some of that work especially on the dugouts. So, I just wanted to to thank them for being uh good neighbors. I I've been on vacation for two weeks, so I'm a little stale, but I think that I I think they
had the COA Stop and Shop cookout, did they? They did. They did. So, that's always thankful to Stop and Shop who comes every year and brings um all the food and the supplies and usually it's a pretty big turnout and they love it. So, um, thank you to
Stop and Shop, who's also a really good neighbor, uh, in the town and does a lot for the senior center. They do a lot. They do a lot when, you know, for the town in little ways. They help us with the, um, the with the day that we clean the trash.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The uh, green Earth Day. Earth Day. They do I mean, they do a lot. So, again, thank you to Stop and Shop. Other than that, um, like I said, I'm just coming back in two weeks, so I'm just trying to get myself back into everything. Working on the, you know,
the fire station is we're hoping wrapping up. Yeah. Um, they they're provisionally into their new offices. So hopefully in the next two or three weeks that project actually is finished and complete. Not the new fire station, but the addition
to the fire station. So that's exciting. moving forward with the land and the engineering on the land. Um, and of course we're working with the the OPMS with the library and COA to get that moving forward. So, I think
that's where we're at right now. Um, awesome. That's all I really have for So, my son uh went to the U music event they had and and they had a great time and I got the cutest picture of him
playing a guitar with a guitar. So, I think that actually just maybe um you know increased my what I'm going to be spending for Christmas this year cuz it looks like some instruments are in the budget now. Um but yeah, that was a great event and they had a great time. So, I just want to shout out to um
organizers that as well. Yeah, I you know, I will say Kylie, Rebecca, and Nicole worked very well together. They put a lot of events on for the town and for all age ranges. It's it's I'm I'm I'm hoping we get somebody to fill Nicole's shoes in that
because like I said, the three of them together have just done a phenomenal job bringing a lot of events to the town and you can really tell the difference. I think I think there's just a greater sense of community. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think that's totally true. So, so we Well, you heard you you saw the contract. We're working on the bridge.
So, that'll be South Main Street Bridge preservation project. Um it'll take a couple years, so I don't want anybody to panic. The road will not be closed anytime soon. You will have ample notice, but that is coming. It is probably 2027 is what we're looking at
right now. I'm retiring probably in 28. So, I'm hoping we can push it off to then denied. Uh, that's all I got from now. Um, I like ending the meetings on positive notes, right? We got a sign and then
that's it. Tab, you just can't leave before me. That's fine, man. Yeah, there'll be a front project to get off the ground. Bridge project. Yeah, the bridge. I'm looking forward to the bridge project.
Yeah, the bridge project is, you know, I had a funny feeling you were going to walk that one. I was going to say I'll take it, but I had a funny feeling you were going to try and jump on that one. Well, it started like working with you know where it is. Congressman class, you know, getting the money and everything
else beating down there. And you know, you kind of take a like anything, you find a project, you're like, let's see this fruition. Supposed to get childcare coverage. Some challenges there from that bridge project. A lot of a lot of challenges. sign for
I should have that down what I was thinking there. Got to sign my name for a second. the least amount of sign. How do I do this again? Okay. I can't believe it's um and I know I missed a few meetings.
So, thank these guys for holding down the fort while uh you know some scheduling conflicts. Um but with that, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Motion made second. All in favor? I I I zagger. Yes. Matthew, yes.