[Music] all right it is now 6:32 I will call the meeting for March 3rd the select board meeting sorry for March 3rd um to order
if you can please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pled Ali to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty
justice for all thank you okay first on the agenda is to approve the contract for the New Town Administrator so did everyone get a chance to look that over I did okay so I did send um so that the board
knows I did send this to labor Council Jack Collins just to take a look at it um and there was a couple things that um that we reviewed or went over from our last ta contracts that we were doing
and I did notice that there was one thing not put in here that um we had discussed as a select board in previous meetings for the duties of the Town Administrator so if you guys look on page five right underneath Q it says
notify the select Board of all this should say here Union and non-union contracts and then it should say an r or another letter that says to conduct all Department departmental supervisor
performance evaluations annually and provide a copy to the select board for review so that was something that we discussed because every single department head has a performance evaluation that needs to be done annually and the Town Administrator in their contract is the one that does it
but it's not under the duties here so that was the only thing that I noticed wasn't put on here okay and because the select board is could possibly change every year we're not going to know when the deadlines are for the contracts whether they're Union or non-union so hopefully
the TA is continuous year after year after year that that is our hope so that they would have an idea of or have a document that has all the deadlines laid out for us so if the board is agreeable to that I would like that added to this contract
because I noticed it was missing I would agree to that I agree just I mean always too you know some of the things that aren't in the contract the select board can delegate later delegate what they need to do too everything's not going to be
in the contracts but they we want okay this is the I think really the basic the job duties okay the things have change but I agree with it it should be in the contract as move people move on they refer back to the contract oh I got to make sure I'm doing this y then on page
one I'll bring you guys back to there it was just a typo it says on July 1st 2027 to June 30th 2028 she will make $130 N5 so I don't think she's going to agree to
that so it just needs to be a comma there okay and I think um did anyone see anything else that needs to be changed there were a couple of references to Tammy as his um do you have a page Dave uh
under category 11 professional development the second paragraph page six page six yes um that in his reasonable judgment I don't know if I'm pretty sure it's not him it's her
okay um and then in the next paragraph down also the same thing administrated administrator for his continued participation should be changed to her we had them all at her one time I know
yeah I didn't I yeah I didn't know if it should be his or her SL you know um but I noticed it was just the one so [Applause] and and also uh heading number three hours of
work uh in recognition of those weeks where he must devote where's that um page Category 3 page two hours of work okay I see it now in recognition of those weeks where
he must devote a great deal of time Fifth Line down yeah yes and I think that's all I saw Dave back to the previous page what was that page six page six yeah I saw
one of them what in the second paragraph line two line two got it and in the third paragraph also line two thank you [Music] [Music] should we add I know a lot of the
places at some places says Town Administrator some places says administrator just be consistent with Town Administrator throughout oh so like in the page one the last paragraph it says the administrator's salary right and then I
mean there other spots it starts off as the administrator when there's other spots it start off as the Town Administrator uh Sometimes some contracts will state the first one right well it'll start off as uh
you know the Town Administrator from here known as the administrator or you you have that in the right at the very top third line simplify by just putting T in all those spots you don't have to worry here and after refer to as the administrator
but then like Glen was saying but yeah right here the duties of the Town Administrator consistent you call it Town Administrator or admin just take out the administrator yeah well we piece yeah I think I agree with you Glenn because it
says we're going to ref refer to it as administrator so we should just keep an administrator throughout so on page 2 D cross off Town page three F cross off Town oh well E and [Music]
F so since there are several like call them scrier errors in this if you'd like I can just tomorrow Kathy or I or both we can go through this and just do a search and sure that's all
done but why we go over just make sure we have all the changes that we want and I think we can approve it as as amended the changes that we want and then the last page if there's no changes to the last page we could sign that tonight yes
and then just clean up like you said this um scriber what did you call them scrier scrier s okay yep a couple spots town on page four there's actually quite
a few page eight couple on page8 too so but he can do a a control F and look for that's fine look for that so we look for all make sure we get all the his to hers and Town Administrator
take where it's administrator yep does the board um want me to go over just an overview of what the contract entails um probably wouldn't hurt for the people at home that would like to know all right so there is for this one
let's start off at the first [Applause] one so there's a six-month probationary period um it's a three-year contract $118,000 the first one to be prated
based on the start date um that would be from uh the date that she can start till June 30th 2026 and then year two would be July 1st 2026 to June 30th 2027 for uh amount of
$13,900 in July 1st 2027 to June 30th 2028 13 $95 the contract is um is said unless either party provides written notice to the other of its intention to renegotiate and or not to renew this
contract uh no less than 12 months prior to the end or its initial or any extended terms this contract shall automatically extend on the then applicable terms and conditions for an additional one-year period hours of work are 4 hours a week Monday through
Friday there will be a performance evaluation done by each of the board members annually and then the chair of the select board will meet with the Town Administrator to review the performance evaluation goals will be set with the
board and the Town Administrator each year I'm just trying to recap it so we're not reading the full nine-page document in January the board um will meet with the Town Administrator to set the goals and actually I wanted to talk to the board about that shouldn't that be done
at the beginning of the well I guess in January for the next fiscal year right is the way we looked at it never mind that makes [Music] sense should the the Town Administrator um put in their resignation it is a
90-day notice professional development will be offered totaling the amount of $2,000 pending um the budget at town meeting so that will include any courses institutes seminars and any associations
professional associations or subscriptions they belong to or she belongs to there will be 15 paid vacation days the first year and then the second year it will go to 20 vacation days I think those are the
highlights Crystal yes so you you folks are the ones that offered the $2,000 fund for continuing education and subscriptions and those sorts of things correct um and so just to let you know that she was she appreciated that oh it
wasn't something that she was asking for but yeah yeah she said thank you very nice the other thing I just wanted to mention is there's no reference in here to you know she's going to come in and work some Fridays y prior to starting
full-time and there's no reference in here to what she'll be paid for that time um she's not concerned about it okay um so if you want to just negotiate that or figure it out after the fact that's fine if I'm doing
my math right I think it there's 234 work days just take 49 weeks you know 52 minus the three vacation weeks minus holidays legal holidays it's it's around 234 days which
comes out to 5 $4 a day um and I think Kathy correct me if I'm wrong uh you spoke to Tammy today and she's looking at working most Fridays for half a day 9 you have to
um factor in the vacation time because we pay for the vacation so it's based on 52 52 weeks a year that's what I was thinking too we pay for the vacation so that's right you can't take those weeks out and then divide the salary up that's we would be paying them more than their
salary if we did if we didn't account for their paid vacation time Kathy I mean when they do the payroll comes up at an allity wage right so we pay allity wage for the time she's here on Friday so we'll just calculate
yeah whatever that allity wage is [Music] so wouldn't you just do 52 take the salary divided by the 52 weeks divide yeah but Kathy has an hourly wage which she's being paid okay so that's it's whatever hours she works you just be
paid that hour so so we're not trying to figure the computer does all that okay and we close at noon here on Friday right so she would have an hour after that okay [Applause] anything else that catches your eye not
that I saw usually start at second one or yeah ready okay I will make a motion for the town of grany for the Town Administrator employment contract to accept
the contract as amended and discussed and also to believe allow Crystal to sign for the board and the contractors with uh Tammy
Martin I'm sorry all the members of the board sign the C yeah I think all of them sign it yes I'm sorry yep there are three spots yes I'm sorry wrong so it will be all three of us signing yes I'll second the motion any further
discussion in favor I I [Music] I'm just going to recommend why don't we wait till it's amended amended well I think we need to make it legal either way right with this the last page is the only thing that's not going to
change right but we're signing off something because other things in this could be changed before we before we review it again unless we're going to review it again after the changes are made we're signing a document that could be changed that we don't agree with when our
signatures r and if we don't sign it she can't give her 90 days until next Monday which means we're delayed another week we can approve the contract without signing it the contract's been approved at this point we don't have to sign it on this
date s our minutes is being being approved it's kind of six and one half a dozen of another you you've approved it uh subject to the changes that you've discussed yeah so there aren't going to be any other changes made made other than what you've
identified no I understand that but our signature is on the signature page and something could be changed in there and still our signatures already on it so the boards agreed to it so we they we can move forward with it we can decide on the contract when it's the changes
are made and we're going to get a copy of it after you guys make the amendments to it anyways right yeah can send it out tomorrow I I'm not I can't speak for her I I'm not certain that she'll give Noti
she's planning to give notice tomorrow assuming that it was signed tonight I can't if you'd like I can see see if I can speak to her I I think she might be in a meeting though her select board meeting in Barry well the select board
has has done an in public record that we have approved and agreed to sign the contract yeah so I don't I mean could you approve it pending final review it's already been approved yeah it's already the the issue that Glenn is
the signatures on it is just having the physical signature on there yeah I I'm just not sure that she will give notice tomorrow if your signature is not on the document that's all I I can't speak for her that's what I would be worried about
but so both of our signatures are on it she's got two out of the three so it's going to happen I'm going to put it right here pending Amendment or pending the well technically it's been like
said all right number two is potential adjustments to the interim ta administrator Arrangement all right so that is in the new business and I think you guys actually have it in front of you as well all right so the original uh pineer Valley oh do you know how I don't it's a
one page should have been in the is it that no that's my paperwork I brought this one okay thank you our original agreement was wither Valley yeah what's that so yes our original contract with
was with Piner Valley Planning Commission was effective uh services to occur between February 10 to March 28th 2025 um exceeding no more than
$2,840 at 50 50 hours right mhm do you want me to pull up to this chair just for sure if you want to Eric that would be great thank you if you could just state your name and where you're from my name is Eric
Weiss and I am Valley plan thank you so I did get the contract that um Kimberly had um just changed kind of the formatting everything is the same yeah everything's the same we just put it into our format basically that's
okay there's no changes in yeah I read through before and after so and the board already gave me a permission to sign it so am I back dating it to the original date of the signature which is 213 right yeah what
the date was we approved it yeah [Music] y all right and Piner Valley has no problem stepping down from this relationship after that original contract it obviously makes sense for us not to be in the Middle with with what
you're doing that IR more than capable of what you're going to do so there was no reason to set up a contract and make things awkward and all that so yeah and it would end up being a higher rate anyways because you're a middle man you need somebody to kind of push the town to get things going and you know
get back on track for town meeting and all that stuff you know there's your guy he can do it so there was no he and I talked about it it just did doesn't make sense yeah and we're happy to help and we're happy to support the town and we're
happy that we're able to get you to the point you're at so all those things are good okay well this is the contracts through March 28th is that correct the other one goes to March 28th or 150 hours whichever one comes first so this would mean extension of
that contract oh it's dated March 4th I see what you're saying so you're not already at 150 hours between the two days and then last week and this week right where we where are we with ours so you know maybe about 60
okay the suggestion is that the pbpc contract just be uh ended oh as of right now as of now okay it's going to save you money yeah okay didn't we ad do we advertise for a
inum Town Administrator though I don't know that we advertise for an intro I just feel like we're kind of just like missing a step here but the select board can also appoint their intro no I I I I get that I'm just I want to make sure we're not missing
something here we had an agreement with pineer Valley Y and it seems like we're we're putting that aside to hire an individual that they had working for us through that there there are two ways you can go forward with this one is to just go all the way through the 150
hours and then make decision and the other one is to say that you're going to move in this direction now for the sake of almost like emergency circumstances in the town you have a set of exent circumstances that you have to deal with cuz you have critical obligations
on behalf of the town that have to be met but I'm we're I'm just saying we're flexible to work with you either way on that so if you want to honor the 150 do the 150 then move on it's still a big saing down um however you decide to do
it the goal is not to mess you guys up the goal is to get like to continue our contract at this point till till it's done we budgeted that amount of money into it we know where we are with that I agree with that I would let the contract almost
come to the to the end and then we could address it and sign if we move forward that we can negotiate yeah I I would say we would probably um want to look at it a week prior to the ending of the contract it sounds like the hour accumulated pretty quick so I'm not particularly worried about it yeah I
know it sure changes hour a little bit and I'm not trying to negotiate my way around that either I'm just whatever you guys are comfortable with this that's why I'm here tonight what how many hours being put in right now for something you mean how many have SE
worked so far yeah just well no on average a week how many working I know it's been off because we've had a lot of meetings lately it's not so much yeah I mean there's the meetings there's a lot going on right now my expectation would be
that I mean I'm certainly over 40 that I'm actually working every week right now that's going to continue for a while but as as this uh employment agreement says it wouldn't it wouldn't be an amount to exceed 40 that I would
actually get paid for you know without approval of the chair um I would think I would hope that perhaps in another two to three weeks or so we might be able to I mean I would prefer to not work 40 hours a week I'm supposed
to be retired but that's fine I'm happy to be here um but you know the original expectation was that you know we were going to be here for a couple weeks uh in the interim that new person would be
coming in to a few days or a week or so of mentoring and off we'd go but that's obviously not what happened the first day when I showed up I was informed that uh you know things weren't going that way so I just I you know I'm the one
that suggested that we look at this sooner than later um you know with pbpcs overhead you're paying more on an hourly basis than you know you might otherwise
so there's there's and just to to be clear there's no legal requirement there's nothing in procurement law that requires that if it's done one way or another way that it needs to be posted you know that any any of that needs
needs to take place it's completely in your perview to do what you'd like whatever you'd like no I I don't think there would be because it's our choice I mean just having a interum person but uh you know i' still want to wait to
this and discuss our options you know um nothing against IR at all but you know I don't know if Chris Martin's willing to step back in a rooll for a little bit um we do we have an in dat now hiring a
um uh a new Town Administrator and I'm just looking at as far as the transition and again it's nothing against Ira ir's been doing a great job but I think it's if we have someone that's been here and it's want to transition the new person that [Music]
knows the history of the Town Administrator job in grany I think would be helpful I don't know if Chris Mar I know before he was totally against it um wasn't didn't want to do it he you know just wanted to do his part but I'm just looking at we have a
uh a Town Administrator now I think that's in place um and I'm just looking at what what's best for the town that's kind of what I'm looking at as a vision what's the easiest transition the best transition for the town yeah it's unfortunate that we have
to wait 90 days for Tammy to be fulltime but I yeah but it is with that said we we hope someone have the same respect for us as well oh absolutely we completely understand that piece uh that's just where I'm I'm just trying to look at what's the best interest for the
town um so my question would be that this would go out to June 30th so you're anticipating the the 90 days of her notice and then a couple of weeks additional to help her to get through the training of
it is that you know it essentially says just not later than June 30th okay I you know it's at your pleasure whatever you need I just think we follow out the contract where we are we have with Piner
Valley currently our agreement and I think the board's got to discuss some options I think it's good to have all the options out on the table and see what there are um one thing that I I wish I get I guess
I wish I would have noticed in the Piner Valley is um the temporary Town Administrator shouldn't they be giving like a log of what they're doing each week to the chair or at least to the board for an update I just like of what
you're like what hours you're spending each day on the town itself self I think that would help us for accountability for the hours too so I didn't notice that in the contract thing add to a future contract thank you yeah I just thought about that like just to give the
board an update hey like on Monday I spent four hours dealing with this five hours dealing within the contract of of keeping track of stuff but not to that level of precision yeah because when we're at when we're signing on for 150 hours we would like to know where those hours are going or
when they're being spent because I know not everything can be done in the 9 to5 period right because there's things that happen afterwards that you have to take care of or phone calls that you're on with special town counsil and so forth that take um that take time away from so when people so say for example people
don't see you here in the building where you're still working so just writing down and keeping track of those hours I think is something um that would be helpful for the board yeah we I'm sure that Ira would do that and I'm sure that we could
okay are you asking for that between now for us to track that between now and the 28 yeah just so that we have a better idea of how much time um Ira is spending um each week because I know Kathy was yeah I know Kathy was on vacation so there was um a lot that was happening
last week um and I know I was on the phone with him quite a bit too and he was making phone calls to other places too so all right so is that what the board wants to do yes that's acceptable to me and do we just table this for now so
finish out the terms of the contract with pirer Valley Planning Commission and then we'll table this until we get closer to the 150 hours when do you want Ira to notify us when he's close to the 150 because we're going to need time to make I'll tell you right now I just did
the math I so the first two days I was here it was 18 hours I had spent 5 hours prior to that just prepping looking at the Town minutes that sort of thing okay so 23 hours that first half a week
and then um last week 40 hours okay and then today I came in at noon so it's within a couple weeks yeah well that's a week and a half really yeah yeah I'm going to be I'm
going to be close weeks okay I see what you're saying we're we're going to be close to done by the time your next board meeting comes up next week March Time by The End by the end of next week it'll be completed
okay unless I just cut back and don't do stuff not recommended okay in a much better position you were than a couple months ago so well yeah we're definitely moving forward I mean it's been a process
[Music] um so does the board want this added to the agenda for next week since the 150 hours is anticipated to be done by the end of next week so on March 10th at our regular board meeting we can bring the TA um the interm TA position back up on
our agenda Kathy you can add that thank you we don't need a motion for that right because we were just looking at it potential adjustments so we're tabling the adjust adjustments until Mar okay all right to number three just and just
to remind you so I next week I'm not able to be here at the beginning of the meeting okay I could get here around 8ish okay if that is helpful so Kathy will be sitting in I hope we're done by
eish I know the last I was here last week I know but was there only one copy or well it's one on the back it's just one I thought thought all right so number three on the agenda is consideration of potential selection of new Building
Commissioner so I will open it up to the other board members on your thank you Eric very for glad toay talk about the track all right sounds good thank you thank you
care you all right we had four candidates so I'll wait to hear from he's he's coming back I hope so all right so we had four uh building
Commissioners is um any of the board members have a suggestion on who they would like for their next Building Commissioner I don't actually um after doing a lot of reading and a lot of
research uh um I feel as though there are at least two candidates here who are qualified for the position um I think that there's a couple of critical pieces that they are
missing as far as computer skills Andor communication skills um with the notes and the conversations that I took from the meeting yeah uh I have concerns that we may not have
exactly the right candidate here um so I really don't have a recommendation at this point to push forward I I don't want to rush into it and just appoint somebody or hire
somebody um knowing that they all have certain things that they need to get better at so to speak okay um it would have been nice if we had a few more candidates to look through to
see what they had to offer to compare to each other um I think again we had two that excelled in some categories and two that excelled in other categories but I
don't think that anybody was completely rounded off well rounded enough to for me to make a decision on who to put there F do you have anyone that you want to know um suggest yeah I I guess I
mean um I look I think there's three that had experience before as a county commissioner and one gentleman that I thought didn't really meet the qualifications I what we're looking for um I I like uh Thomas quinland um he's
worked for us before um to the point where the board had offered him a position and I understand the piece where he went somewhere else because they offered him more money yeah uh we just had the same thing with a some we
offered a job to as a town administer I think when you get into these type of jobs and positions I mean unfortunately becomes uh uh who can give the most it does it comes that way and I think we've noticed that um I've noticed that over the past several years especially with
the um the Building Commissioner um it seems that you know we're either someone is taking them from us or we're taking them from somewhere else I mean had M Damian we took them from somewhere else to come
work for us and taking them from yeah so so uh when I when I look at it I mean I I lean towards him and I reason be because is like I said he's he's worked here before there's some history there he knows parts of Grandy um and he's
also um done the type of work in in small towns as far as a Building Commissioner like he was in Southampton I think and now he's right now he's in Hadley just whatever reason something's not working out in Hadley for him um but I you know from my understanding
when he had his interview with us it was something that he was in the right about that he stood his ground and he was he was actually in the right yeah you know so and I look at that and I guess you know again some them look at at a Building Commissioner is going to say
yes this is what the law is this is what it says I'm standing by this and it seems like and I I I respect that part of and like I said that when it's all had it done again I don't know if for factual but according to him he was in he was in the
right that's where I am with that so I did also have Tom quinland as my Top Choice as well between the building Commissioners um I think his personality will fit the town of Gamby um as far as also working in the town but I also feel
like your computer skills can be taught so I know right now in Hadley has a secretary so he definitely I think would need to either take a Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel class or both actually when I talked to Damie and I kind of
asked him what he feels are the most the skills that are needed to do that job secretary secretary wise uh daman's done a great job getting everything on the computer and electronic and I don't want to stay I don't want to go backwards from that I
really don't um he it took him many many weeks weeks to get it to where it is now and I don't want to see piles and piles of paperwork stacking up like we had before when we had interims so I think um Tom quinland um has the personality
um and he's good with communicating I think he just might need some help or support with Microsoft uh word or Excel and keeping those um files electronic so that was my only concern with um Tom and I think as far as what
he was asking for I think that can be negotiated I don't think that was like his hard line that he was asking like he would only come for that amount I think we can negotiate that amount that he was asking for and he also stays up to date with the code and um continuing ed which was
nice to hear as well and I would agree I me we're not going to find the the perfect candidate yeah they're working somewhere else and they're probably going to stay there so like you said we hire someone that we feel is the best choice for us at this point in time and if there's things that
we can work on with that individual to get to where we actually need that person to be I think yeah will be helpful but that I mean it's just where I see I don't I just don't know waiting where
that was going to end up with us right we move you know two three four five months down the road two months we getting into the building season yeah a lot of permits going on things like that so and when I did have a conversation with Damen too he said at first it might
be a 40h hour week but when you're not in the building season like you're saying it might be a 30 you know because you're not having all these permits being pulled and all these inspections being done and once you streamline it and keep everything electronic everything will work and um Damien went for that
dlta Grant as well right to do um everything digitally including permits and everything so um I don't think we heard back whether or not we got that right also put it in just in okay so as a backup okay and that's the future I
think that's the way we know regard regardless you know who we uh hire that's that's right that should be the future for what we want to do you don't have that a lot of towns or cities have everything online right now already yeah so is that an IT Grant through the
community comp yeah it was a DTA it Grant and you're only allowed to go for one per year right yeah so that's not DTA DTA is no that's what comp commun Community compact okay Elta is the funds that come to the
planning agency okay so that's thank you yeah so that and just so you know Community compact okay yeah it Grant and just so you know they had uh $14 million in requests they've got 5 million to spend so oh
really yeah okay I'm involved with another I I just know that because I'm involved with another Grant application so Johan Cronin reached out to me and asked if about partial funding so it's possible
that we'll get parti Damien may have received a similar uh communication from him okay it'll probably be in his departmental update [Music] all right any other discussion about the
other candidates no discussion okay I will now entertain a motion anyone wants to give a motion I'll make a motion that the town of Grandy U makes an offer to Thomas
quinland for the um building commission or position okay do you have a second I will second that motion any further
discussion all in favor I I any oppose I any abstain all right so can we put on Monday night's um um executive session for negotiations for the Building Commissioner
contract well that's offer the job first to see if he wants it very true can you notify him and see if he wants it very true um and then for our starting point do you want to start off with um the one that we just negotiated a year ago and
use that as a reference point for our negotiations on Monday night I think so okay so if you guys if Kathy if you don't mind having that for us on Monday or prior to Monday would be good okay thank you and number four is to award
the award of general contractor contract for mechanical upgrades to the Grammy Junior Senior High School kitchen so in the paperwork was a letter from the architecture project
architect so this was put on Town floor last annual town meeting right or was it two Town meetings ago I think it was two yeah and they put it out to bid a couple times with no hits for um a while actually so the town had uh the
taxpayers had approved the kitchen renovations since the high school does not have a working kitchen they cook um all the food at East Meadow and they walk it over through a cart um to the high school to feed the 7th through 12th
graders so um I do believe two years ago we approved a million dollars for this project correct on Town floor do you remember if that was the amount I want to say it was a million dollar correct yeah it was right so we approved a million dollar for this
project so the bid that stands or the two people that came back with bids were Baskin Builders Incorporated and general contracting Solutions and the architect looked over both bids
for for [Music] any questions question I have there's been talk or discussion whether you know is about rizing the school and I don't know that's I guess
my concern is that I don't know where we are with that if it's even you know I know it's been mentioned by um the gentleman that came in well he he mentioned not just regionalization but what what to do with the school right and I guess you know
this is a lot of money that put into a building that we may not be using so I guess I I just want to make sure that we we know moving forward what we're doing before we spend you know $661,000
I think also Glen to remember that it is our emergency shelter for the town and we currently do not have a working kitchen for our emergency shelter we also don't have running water or showers in our emergency shelter for the town so it's something we don't have anywhere
else to put the people if we if there is an emergency so we at least have to have a working kitchen to feed them and whether like you're saying no matter what we do with the high school if it's regionalization or not we very well could be using that building or not we
don't know and that's a major what if years down the road oh I know that's I'm just thinking you know again trying to you know plan for a future with while we're spending money I mean that's that's a good portion of money to spend um but I agree just what you just said
if it's you know it's being the emergency place for uh people to go I mean that that I guess we always be the case unless it's unless it well the next question is I mean is that something we
look at um for the elementary school do that become the emergency shelter shelter they don't have they have one shower in the main office it's in the main office right by the principals I think I think I think whoever designed it their idea was it's
right next to the nurse's office so should a kid get sick and need a shower or something they would just have to bring them there right there I think that was but does this bed cover doesn't cover the shower no it doesn't this just covers the kitchen for ventilation cuz
once Co occurred um the kitchen got shut down cuz it wasn't up to co and it didn't have the correct ventilation I remember correct too that the the bathrooms and showers need uh the locker rooms being complete kind of like renovation renovation completely
yeah so I I think you know I'm not opposed to it I just again I just want to make sure that we're planning correctly for the future um and again we talk about making sure we're making the right decisions uh for the town but also for
future board members some of the things that they're going to have to be responsible for as well so but I agree it is something that need to be done because we don't have a work kitchen right now but so this is kind of new
information to me I do remember the town meeting a couple years ago but this is all new but thank you for your explanation on it because it makes a little more sense to me now just after just reading what's in front of me yeah um I do agree it is our shelter and for
emergencies and I believe that we should have a kitchen in it also it would make it easier for the cafeteria cafeteria staff rather than to have to run food through the parking lot in the dead of
winter this one was kind of brutal yeah to have a functional Kitchen in the high school not only that but then it's possibility that they could get back to fundraising by using the kitchen the way we used to as an example
men who cook yeah for the music for the music program um there are other things they could do and if we have an operational kitchen I believe that would be huge um regardless of the talks of regionalization or building a new school
or whatever it may come to down the road I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon considering the investment we might be making in the West Street Building I think this is kind of a drop in the Hat in comparison and I really think that we
should have an operational Kitchen in that building I agree there's nothing we have to sign for this we just make a motion okay or approve it by a vote obviously
but motion to award contract to General Contracting Solutions Inc for 66160 okay is that your motion well that's that would be the motion to make yes any more discussion or you all set
I'm good I will make a motion that we award the kitchen mechanical upgrades to general contractor Solutions Incorporated in the bid amount of $661,000 second a motion any further
discussion all in favor I I so we don't have anything else on our agenda unless you have anything for us Ira well I sent you were part of an email that was sent out to town department heads as well as the chair of the finance committee and chair of the
school committee with a proposal for uh the quote major department heads to meet with uh one member each of the three those three boards um next week
um for for two reasons really one that you've got a interim Town Administrator here whether it's me or somebody else that's not here for the long term and and you know it's really not it it should not be that per whether it's me or somebody else that person's call
to sort of unilaterally decide certain things with regard to budgets and preparation for your annual Tom meeting and uh and secondly I just think it's a good idea for people to talk and I've had uh meetings Now with uh school
superintendent business manager the police chief fire chief buildings facilities and uh highway department and there are issues and things that I think it would be helpful for everybody to talk
about to hear about what's going on between departments uh things that maybe they are not necessarily completely up to speed on and aware of what's going on um and you know perhaps to talk a bit
about how departments could potentially work a little bit closer together provide uh improved service save money for both but just just to have that conversation and it it became very apparent to me I was told pretty much by
everyone that those sorts of meetings were not a have not been a regular occurrence here so I spoke with Crystal um I spoke with uh John labera suggested that
idea everybody seemed to be on board so uh with that said um this is a pre unveiling of a first draft round round draft budget that might come in a couple
weeks um but before that to have a not public meeting with those department heads and with a representative from each of those committees just talk things through and see you know where things stand and what enough set on that so
is there is there a department that's concerned right now with their budget that's having troubles with it because I just just I mean most I just one because most of our departments have been in placed uh for several years not the fire
chief I mean the police chief U Highway Department so I think unless they need I think the fire department I think is a you know something we need to look at uh with interim Chief in there right now trying
to figure out where everything was and doing a budget but I got imagine uh the police chief um is pretty much squared away I got imagine uh the highway department might be squared away as well they need well I think it
remember Glenn a while back we had said that we wanted to have collaborative meetings at least quarterly um and those haven't happened so you're you're saying that the budget meeting is separate from the quarterly meetings yeah yeah cuz I don't think we the the budgets are are something different the corly meeting is
that hey get people together to start talking about what's going on in your area you know oh we're doing this oh can we assist you with that or something like that the communication piece there I think they're two separate um yes but there is some overlap between the highway department
and the building maintenance as far as equipment that's being allocated to each department where they could be utilizing each other's equipment instead of doing double the equipment and so forth so I think there's some overlap within those two departments I don't know that there's overlap with the other
departments because I haven't sat down and looked at all the budgets um because they haven't been presented to the board yet but I think what Ira was trying to do is trying to figure out where we can be more frugal and where we can like streamline things
a little bit more in town instead of having everyone doing their own thing and not working together on the duties or the tasks that need to be done within the town so I think correct me if I'm wrong I so I'm not I'm not suggesting one way or another that the budgets are
appropriate or not appropriate I you know I've been meeting with folks and everybody's in in my estimation is doing their due diligence they but that doesn't mean that there there you know shouldn't be a
reason to meet so this is you know I just came on board board um you're behind schedule in terms of crafting a budget yeah and I thought it was a good opportunity to start to get folks meeting together um as I said some of
the department head all of the department heads have said yeah it's a good idea some have actually requested it and it's it's nothing more than that yeah you know an hour hour and a half two hours max just get together and talk
um and if there's something that immediately comes out of it that is relevant to the FY 26 budget or what's going on even with the fy2 budget wonderful if there isn't that's okay too
it's a you know in my view it's a small investment in time for just folks to get in a room together and talk it's not nothing more than that I agree yeah I think it's so that being said someone from this you know Dave I know you're the
liais on to the specifically to the schools Crystal chair of theam of the select board Glenn you've been around you know a long time so I you know I'm just the the email was essentially would would you folks like to participate in that meeting and would you like to
select a representative to to come and and be part of that and it looks like it would be next Thursday the 13th okay so I originally said said that I would meet with them so I don't know if it's just one of us that's fine it would be one of us it would have to
be one otherwise it would be posted public media I I guess my concern is what is being discussed at these meetings nothing more than what I just described [Music] so it's then it's we have one person for
the board hearing certain things that are being discussed it's not being not being videotaped so then that's that information is going to come back to the rest of the board and it would come through Ira right would the information come back to the other two board members
yeah I would I would report back to you on uh what was discussed Prov I do with the or an agenda or do we eliminate ourselves completely so yeah we we release ourselves from that liability
let the boards do what they let them discuss what they want to discuss and then the Departments yeah sorry and then you could feed it back to us that way I don't know if that's a better suggestion well I I guess where I am if
we have Town departments that are having issues or problems they should be should coming in front of us right or the Town Administrator at least yeah come in front of us that's they they work for us and I I don't mean that in a negative way but we're responsible for for the
town as as the select board so I mean I think it's I think it's it's a great idea that they get together and start talking about certain things and maybe shared services and stuff I'm just want to we're looking to accomplish I'm sure that U the police
chief past several years has brought a budget forward it's never been anything out of the normal It's usually the same thing looking and I guess to kind of start moving that process forward I mean some of these
Dave Dr said they the two areas um maintenance and maintenance they may overlap well they should have a discussion between the two of them what areas are they talking about that that may be they can overlaping or something like that so when they come forward with their budget these are questions that we
can ask and what okay what any you know share Services you know we may they may say no we we don't need or we need you know big equipment or whatever uh I'm just I want I want to make sure that we're utilizing people's time
um beneficially I guess that's where I am with that and I don't want to that's what I want to make sure I guess I like to move forward the budgets we are getting close and close and close I think I agree with that
yes um I would reach out to our uh department heads and ask if they're ready to move forward with their their budgets I mean it's nothing is again it's not a surprise to them it's that time of the year if they know that and I'm sure I'm sure they're well prepared and it's all itemized so they must to
add just percentages and go from there but like I said in regards to the school I know at one time myself and Chris uh attended you know several school committee meetings to help them out and Chris was very helpful with kind of looking at what was available for fun
for the school and stuff like that sometimes above what they're looking to to budget for or sometimes less so it helped them out knowing the available money for them so they could budget accordingly I mean I know that's been helpful in the past with the school
committee and I've heard that directly from from the chair from the school committee as well yeah that was mentioned to me also I mean that's that's why we actually started doing that it was a really a real benefit to them um you know that's our that's our biggest budget in the
town like I say think you know you the other ones are pretty much I would say straightforward but they're almost straightforward unless there's something add the normal in their budget or like you say a big piece of equipment
that's needed or yeah right but those things are going to you know those includ the town floor mhm um and then again they they go through fin finance committee as well as some of those big ticket items too right and then you
know the recommendations sometimes comes from the finance committee whether they agree with you know purchasing some of that equipment or they don't agree with purchasing some of equipment in regards to the finance of the town have they given you any indication any of the uh
department heads how close they might be to their potential budgets is it something we just how close they might be to finalizing or well they've submitted them I mean they've submitted their requests and now it's a matter of
putting it all together and looking at you know what it all looks like with putting the puzzle together right so so yeah in my view you know we don't have to do it but in my view this is a good opportunity
prior to presenting the first draft budget to the public to take a look and get folks in the room together and and uh before they come to you with their requests or you know ultimately the town meeting to to just look at
that they might one person in the room might be able to problem solve something that someone else didn't think of when you could put them group together it just some people will I don't know it's collaboration I understand what you're
saying and I like that you also put in the email that besides just the budget for FY 26 you're also looking to discuss a fewer of the longer range issues and projects facing the town so that's one thing that we um haven't done um since I've been on this s board is have a
5year or 10-year plan like we don't have a long range plan I know some of the Departments like the highway is going to also be facing retirements I think one of their members is retiring this year and you know in the future Dave's going to be retiring too so we've got to have
some type of plan for this and that's one thing that can also be discussed at this meeting so I I would just begin to be discussed nothing's going to nothing's going to be solved WR in a two-hour
meeting yeah but it's a start to get everyone together and start that collaboration process that has been missing for so many years that's how I feel I think it could work as long as we're not violating any open meeting law and by having one representative of each
group you're not correct unfortunately both of those days do not work for me I have prior engagements so that's why I didn't get back to yet on it more are the dates I had a death in my family and we had the funeral on that Wednesday so sor I don't want to then schedule a meeting after
that um and then on Thursday my daughter has a stem night at her daycare that I already signed her up for so I could make another night work a simple H not available is fine you don't have to tell us why I don't know if either of the other
board members can what are the dates CST the 12th and the 13th is what uh was proposed based on the response I've gotten so far it looks like it would be the 13th if it's going to happen did they say what time um more or less any of those times okay
the I guess the preference toward earlier than later so I I am available if that's the decision we're going to go with and I have not heard the only two that I have not heard back for from are
the uh chair the school committee or or finance committee chairs okay I mean I did meet as I mentioned I did meet with John and um suggested a meeting like this so it's not a surprise to him
I'm fine with them I just don't know as far it's going how it's going to impact the budget piece of it um like I said you know the other meetings I'm I'm fine with I think there should be an agenda was going to be discussed at these meetings [Music]
I I've heard the chief at the time the fire chief the police chief Dave grer talking about having conversations in the past so I don't want I don't want people to think that there's no conversations or
things happening between the Departments because those are happening I remember at times the chief or uh Dave Dro makeing note of that in meetings so I don't I don't want that I don't want people to think there's no communication going on between the
Departments maybe we can bring it to another level when it's so you know maybe have a a monthly meeting and you know they talk about what's going on the town and a general thing again needs to be an agenda uh at that meeting you know they
can discuss things that are going on there with Town simple things like U you know when Charter days comes up I think it's helpful to have you know the stakeholders at the table right for that particular uh
event so Dave you said you could be there I can I'm open on a 13th if that's the rout we're going to go you on the 13th right so Dave you will be our representative on March 13th whatever time they have okay I put it in for 5:00
let me know okay great wa all right with that said is there anything else that the select board would like to bring up at our March 10th meeting besides what was already stated today um um
this I know Kathy has a a date for retirement so I think if we're going to look at asking her to remain on longer that should be a topic of discussion whether she is willing to do so I feel bad I'm not
talking as she's not in the room but again um it's all for discussion I mean again it's moving forward we got a a assistant position discussion and then down the road too we got be looking at a a job description and
uh for that a good job as well so I did speak to Cathy a little bit about it and uh we didn't speak about um extending the time uh but we did speak about a posting so she was going to send us um the reading um or the posting for it um
for next Monday for us to discuss as well like you said if she is going to extended that's great that's fabulous for us but if not we do have to get it posted but again I and just with that same part I you know got get to post it
I think it's truly beneficial if we can bring someone in why we still have someone in our town government that's still here cuz if not we're going to end up with no one that was here 3 months ago we have two new people in in town right yeah um I'm thinking about the last
report I read from the chief there was another dog bite in town so can we can we possibly revisit the dog byock and maybe amend that again and see if we can yeah that's a good point because Glenn did bring that up um when we were talking about having a special town
meeting bringing that up which would mean that we would have have to have another hearing for it correct Kathy because it did get um shot down on Town floor so we'd have to have a separate hearing for that and it has to be posted how many days prior to it days
before you had the hearing before post just a oh okay for the hearing I thought it was seven days right special town meeting but we could put it on the town meeting right yeah so at least get a hearing we defin need to
and I think at the Town floor um there's something that one the concern was the wording on certain things as far as animals and stuff like that I think that was easy enough to to fix but again we have the the U the public hearing for it
and we go from there make the suggestions to bring it back do we want to look at a date for that now Kathy or cuz the 10th and the 17th or sorry the 10th and the 17th okay all right
[Music] I think we're looking at the 31st right March 31st which would be that Monday that's quick I know it could be the so the dates are could be the 31st or April
7th but I think um the town clerk said said that the 31st would give her a little more time to do all the mandated postings and stuff but she could also do it if we did it April 7th as well it would just be a little tighter yeah so the 31st just gives her a little uh
April 31st then no March Mar 31st or April 7th so April 7th is better than March 31st well better for us maybe but not for her when she's on time constraints for theal I get that you kind of just saying the opposite that's it that's why was getting confused
what's that that's why I asked that's why I asked was April 31st I thought it was March 31st no March 31st April 7th is better because it gives her more time to put everything together no no no April 7th is not better for her because she's going to be on crunch time for all the deadlines that she needs to make for
the special town meeting so March 31st is better than April 7 she prefers she prefers March 31st but could do April 7th she could make April 7th work right she just couldn't after right the absolute latest is April 7th
based on the timeline it's kind of like when taxes go up right so the additional week is bad so so just to be clear the crunch right so just to be clear the crunch is assuming that um the special town
meeting approves the request from the building committee for additional funds and a debt exclusion that then has to go to a townwide vote and in order for the townwide vote to happen on your annual election day April 7th would be
the the latest she could make that happen okay she would she would prefer March 31st but could do April 7th right and she wants as much time as she can so that she can get as many people whether
the early voting in the mail or whatever yeah printing ballot all of that I mean yeah I mean I'm okay with the 31st is okay with the 31st if that works for her yeah you don't have to decide that
tonight you can put that on the next agenda [Music] special time meting you mean okay okay were yes we do have to because that's on a deadline as well but that can also be
done at the annual right because as long as it done before June 30th we're good yeah I put that on animal yeah we'll do the storm um and then I think Dave was working with attorney UL right just to make sure so he's going to let us know if he needs us
or does that have to be a hearing as well um it own separate hearing the dog one and the storm water so if Dave's okay with the storm water when we are doing the dog bylaw we could
do it like Kathy said in the same night if it's ready yeah and I think he already had it drafted he just was having attorney O2 look it over okay April's meeting yes
so we would be meeting the 7th and 21st the 21st is a holiday is Easter Monday a holiday no but it's uh patri day I have I have a conflict that week uh is it is it patri
how come they don't have it on the calendar anymore isn't that weird because it's a mass because it's a mass H um state holiday so they don't put it on the calendars really yes okay so the
week uh Easter Good Friday Easter is the 20th right yeah I am out of out of town that week the whole week yes so am I till Friday and I'm not available the following Monday either so we could do the 7th and the 14th if you guys can do that or we can
do the 7th and the 29th which would be the Tuesday I'm open on all three days so I I I think maybe do the 29th I don't want to do the 31st the 7th and the 14th that's a lot yeah so 7 and 29
and then Cathy we would have it May 5th the select board meeting right so that would be my last meeting right cu the election will be on that Tuesday or is it the following week okay the
following me because the annual town meeting is before the election the first part and then the second part will be after something would be we'll try to schedule as many as many meetings as we can that last
[Laughter] week so would you have to have um a regular meeting for May that first week or no you you guys are just going to pick it up after the election the election is the following Monday yeah
right um so the fifth is town meeting Y at 7:00 p.m. right yeah do we want to do the 6 just so we can kind of I your
annual time meeting is May 5th 12th is May 12th May 12th okay I didn't think it was the 5th but CU again cuz I thought the election was it's the second Monday yeah the 19th the nth okay that makes so you'll have a meeting May 5th Andel
meeting on May 12th okay and the elections are the um 19 and we can decide this in May but I'd like to have a meeting after the town meeting just s c
i kind of bring the board together one more time before it's a different board member so we can discuss anything like for the future or anything that it wasn't Don I just like to have kind I guess like a more a debrief if you will
regards everything so we know where everything is that's after the town meeting you want to do that like a meeting at not that night no no after you know Tuesday or Wednesday can you know bring the three of us together
again going be helpful sure and we'll talk about that as we get closer which day yes okay all right you got all those dates Kathy and then you'll work on the dog byw and talk to Dave and see if he's ready
to go with the storm water yep okay all right so with that said any other anything else the board wants to bring up at Monday's meeting not that I can think about the moment okay so I will entertain a motion to adjourn I will make a motion to adjourn the
meeting I'll second the motion any further discussion no discussion all in favor I I thank you thank you