[Music] all right it is 5:31 on Monday March 31st i will now call the select board meeting to order if you can please join
me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you so our first appointment is with John
Matthews but he did email myself and Kathy and say that he couldn't be here till 6:30 so if the board is okay we're just going to table that until he gets here um he had some questions for us uh but he had a prior
engagement that came up so next which we only have about 3 minutes before that meeting but at 5:35 is to approve and sign the 2025 2027 MSBA statement of interest so did everyone get a chance to read
them i did any questions for the superintendent or the business manager they are present for that letter none for me i think my only question was does the because the kitchen project has not been finished that doesn't have to be on there right
as an update it's once the update has occurred then you add it on there yeah okay so this was actually last year so hold on one second she has a statement which I don't know if the statement has changed or not so this is the statement for this
year when we make the motion sorry this is the one I don't need okay to whom it may concern having convened in an open meeting on March 31st 2025 prior to the SOI submission closing date the Graanby Select
Board excuse me of Graanby Mass in accordance with his charter by bylaws and ordinance is has voted to authorize so let's hold off on that chris would read a vote first to authorize it and then we read the letter
and then you guys give me permission to sign it on behalf of the select board well he can read what's going to be done just Okay this is what you're going to be considering so in case anybody has a question uh in the audience as you get through it as I get through it okay
uh has voted to authorize the superintendent to submit to the Mass School Building Authority the statement of interest form dated March 31st 2025 for the Graby Junior Senior High
School located at 387 East State Street Grammy Mass 01033 which describes and explains the following deficiencies and the priority categories for which an application may
be submitted to the Mass School Building Authority in f in the future replacement renovation or modernization of school facility systems such as roofs windows
boilers heating and ventilation systems to increase energy conservation and decrease energy related cost in a school facility replacement of or addition to obsolete buildings in order to
provide for a full range of programs consistent with state and approved local requirements and hereby further specifically acknowledges that by submitting this statement of interest form the Mass
School Building Authority in no way guarantees the acceptance or approval of an application the awarding of a grant or any other funding commitment from the Mass School Building
Authority or commits the Graanby School District to filing an application for funding with Mass School Building Authority so this just keeps us in the pool in case we want to do any kind of renovations or get any funding from the
state i'm going to choose a good one year starting this year okay if you don't have any questions I read the report it looks pretty similar i I don't think anything actually has
changed from last year cuz I haven't done any renovations so So I will entertain a motion can I ask one question yes absolutely sure uh as part of the if we do get into the pipeline what is the projected possible
feasibility study at this point you don't have that because I know a couple years back was like $3 million to conduct a feasibility study for so the only concern I have is is the town willing to go
forward and make a commitment towards schools to conduct that level or that cost of a feasibility study prior to being able to receive funding from the MSBA but that would be something that would have to go in front of the taxpayers right to decide it will but
I'm just letting you know that there could be a potential $3 million cost upfront before you could even be considered in the actual funding sequence good and I think when I read if I read it correctly it just keeps us at
the top of the list so that we don't end up at the bottom of the list so it's not it's not guaranteed like it says as far as funding it just kind of keeps us in the pool but I understand what you're saying too Chris but that would still require a special town meeting in order
for us to allocate the funds even if we do so if we get that opportunity and it's something that the taxpayers want to move forward with they would have to or we would have to have a special town meeting for it just putting out the financial ramifications and then the special town
meeting is 2,000 and a half right what how much is it to have a special town meeting because I think when we talked about funding Oh the cost the cost of a town meeting between $2 and $3,000 okay until I know we didn't get to speak
to Mr matthews yet about it but until we develop a charge for the high school options and redevelop that committee I think I don't want to get rid of our options i want to keep our options open i don't know how the other two board members feel i agree with that
no I think it's important to keep our options out there right now and you never know what the future's going to hold so we plan for it and I think this will part of keeping everything on the table as I go
forward that's so ready for a motion yep i will make a motion to approve and sign the 2025 to 2027 MSBA statement of interest
i'll second the motion any further discussion no discussion all in favor i so I did notice on the letter that we're signing it's all three of us but on the packet you need one signature they're going to send that
electronically okay to the chief exe the chief executive officer would be our town administrator they have to be from him you and I believe um the school board chair okay but that will be electronic once once
all changes are submitted they will electronically asking signatures okay so Chris do we need to make a motion for you to authorize the town administrator to sign on behalf of town and the I think it's the chair of the board i thought it was the superintendent chair
chair of the school committee superintendent and then the CEO of the the town the town which would be the town administrator so you're going to authorize the town administrator to execute the SOI if you um you can make that motion Dave
if you want to i will make a motion to authorize the town administrator to electronically sign electronically send the SOI to the Mass School board authority school building authority
excuse me to sign on the to sign to sign on the town's behalf along with the school committee chair and superintendent we're just approving for foration yeah yes
and I'll second the motion any further discussion no discussion all in favor i I Do either of you need a copy your copy of the letter now or are you going to pick it up later from Chris i think we
need a stamped by Kathy tomorrow well he's doing the electronic one yeah we did the letter he's doing the electronic one tomorrow i'm sorry okay thank you thanks
all right so I don't want to cut you guys short did you have anything else for the MSBA or anything we're good okay all right so we are now 8 Well it's 5:43 our next meeting is at
5:45 for the select board select board sorry to hold a continued public hearing on Monday March 17th at 6 PM so that's supposed to be say 31st well it's continued from that time okay at 10B West State Street Senior Center Building
to cons one to consider the transfer of retail section 12 wine and malt beverage on premises license from Martis Pizza Incorporated doing business as pizza palace to a more incorporated doing business as pizza palace two to consider
Morat Kant as manager for Amure Incorporated premises described as follows one-story building with two bathrooms Main entrance in front of building exit and rear located at 31 West State Street Graanby Mass
01033 is Mr mirat Kier hi hi uh welcome can you come and have a seat at the table go first thank you hi how are you how you doing good how are you good all right so you're the new manager of
Pizza Palace i am the new owner and new manager oh nice welcome thank you very nice all right so this was not sent to us electronically so if you guys want to take a look at it So we're just transferring the license
over from one owner to another yes motion yep i will make a motion to transfer the license to Mirat K for Pizza Palace uh yeah address
31 31 West State Street Grammy Mass 01033 for wine and malt beverages on premises licensed from Martis Pizza Incorporated doing business as Pizza Palace to Amore
Incorporated doing business as pizza palace and to consider Mirat Kant as manager for a more incorporated one-story building with two bathrooms main entrance in front of
building exit and rear and located at the 31 West State Street address okay I'll second the motion any further discussion any discussion
all in favor i I Congratulations on uh taking over the business thank you very much i know it's like big responsibility you know it's not it's not that easy no it's not easy while you're running um how many weeks
have you had it so far uh it's been two months months oh okay two months then I like I got robbed recently i don't know if you heard or not yes it's terrible that is terrible hopefully that never happens again I
hope so pizza Palace has been around many many years in the town of Gravy i I heard a lot of stories about it you know 50 years 50 years yeah 50 years since like the 70s
i remember going there when I was much much much younger all right so Kathy will print up the license for you and have it for you later this week abc students yeah okay all right am I all set yes you are i got
to run the store should I wait here or like do I need to wait here or No no you're all set all right yeah you're all set sorry i'm sorry thank you very much i'm going to have a good night you as well thank you do we have any citizen participation
tonight nothing was filed no and do you have anything for us tonight uh just a couple things um first is uh I did attend a Zoom
meeting with Mass and DOT uh they are already starting to plan the next phase of the 202 project uh they're looking at April of 2027 to start work in front of Dorrain
Park now the only concern I have there is charter day if we're holding charter days is that going to affect us and the ability to do traffic control if they have the area going up so we should
probably keep an eye on that project and relay our concerns to them well at some point during the process when you were on the Zoom meeting Chris did you get a DOT number or a contact of the lead person in charge uh they gave me a link
to go back and if you want I can forward the link to you and then we can go from there yeah cuz just to keep the whoever's in charge appraised of when the town annual fair is so they can plan for it now because I know once they get too far in the project there's no
working around any of that it's it is And and that's and that's the problem that's why it's a concern of mine because I believe they're also going to be replacing guard rail down Kendall Street where it connects to 2022 too so
because they were also going to do a cross there right with the lights yeah so it's just you know it's very uh it's a project that we should keep an eye on yeah it's going to cause a lot of interference there yes they haven't discussed but they're going to finish up
the project well there there's a sign out there on 202 i think they're planning doing paving April 7th to the 11th there's a sign that's up on 202 i saw it uh this afternoon when I came through oh they just put it up recently yes I think it went up today it wasn't
there this morning it wasn't there this morning when I went by but this afternoon it was up correct okay so I think that will be the Ammer Street coming on i think they're they're going to do all the paving get that all taken care of okay well hopefully that pro
project will be done soon so when you say they're doing in front of Drain Park are they going to do the sidewalks from here to the park or are they starting at the park and working their way back this way this is an initial uh meeting so I really don't have a a good feel for what
they're doing they're just bringing out like the area they were going to be working on yeah so basically I think it's going to be a continuation of this then up past two frames so okay um I know they were talking about moving telephone poles telephone wires things of that nature so and they were going to
be putting in the the bike lane sidewalks things and I do remember a lot of residents got the letter saying they were going to take a certain portion of their or frontage of their property i don't know what they're going to do because they really identify but personally I think they could if they
wanted to do it as sidewalk they could go up along Drain Park and that wouldn't impact that many of the residents because most of it is town own so you know we could make that suggestion along the way and anything else and the other item is
we did receive uh certified mail with another uh list of complaints against the White House that we I will be forwarding to the council special counsel to review the only other thing I want to report is
the FY26 budget is almost done um it's been a long arduous journey trying to get it done in one week um I am currently just going through the
final numbers and then uh I will bring the packet to the board i do know the finance committee is chomping at the bit to get a hold of it also so I will probably give it to you and the finance committee at the same time due to the time constraints we have coming up for
the May 10th meeting i think it is second Monday in May and I know so far we've only met with Dave from highway so the other board or the other departments will meet with in one night is I I was wondering if the
board wants to do a special meeting to meet with the boards or those two final departments or three departments and then myself present the budgets that are under the control to select them so you can have an idea of what's in the budget i think that's a good idea instead of
trying to put it in on a regular meeting because it's just a time to focus on that versus other things going on in the meeting so So I don't know what your schedules are like
were you thinking next week Chris or this week you tell me probably next would be better okay we have this special town meeting on Tuesday yep i could do Thursday next week
so you want to do the 10th and I think um Glenn you're gone on Monday right yes okay are you gone the whole week i can't remember i'm sorry no okay so would Thursday the 10th be okay or is that
I'm open on Thursday can we start earlier than normal you tell me what time you want to start ask a question um date i'm Yeah I can start earlier i would have to reschedule my daughter's
horseback riding but I could start earlier what time do you want to start you thinking like 4:00 4:30 5 like how early what time are you thinking i don't want to put you out got to schedule
something um probably the earliest I could get here is 4:30 or 5 between there yeah we'll just do five o'clock a little extra time so Thursday April 10th 5:00
and Chris that will be the police department so we only met with Dave so we've got the police department did you meet with council on aging by chance no we didn't all right so it'll be council on aging uh Jeremy can't make tonight so it'll be Jeremy okay maintenance then
it'll be the police department fire department and then until you get tired of hearing me talk my your your budgets okay their budgets are already set correct they're Which ones their budgets are
already set they're in the budget right now but if you decide to make cuts you can't we have to see what we have what we're working with from all the departments first yes but I like to see them before the before that meeting oh yeah we can I
can forward them to you okay so we decided on five on April 10th yeah got it great anything else no that should do it okay so next on the agenda is to accept departmental reports i will make a
motion to accept the departmental reports i'll second the motion any further discussion no discussion i don't know uh Dave if you got to see uh Jeremy's response back to the two questions that you had i did yep and so
I I mean after reading his response I think it makes more sense to leave the systems as they are yeah rather than trying to interrupt them and changing the uh energy management system essentially all around to
accommodate a little bit of lighting that would say on pretty pricey it would be pricey yes just for that one unit at the police department it was $3,000 correct and it was only for five five lights so I don't know that it's worth
it to do it and the library would be much more because it is in the energy management system already which they would have to separate everything so I think we should leave it as it is
i think so too i think it's just going to cost too much money all right all in favor i I next is to sign and appro to approve and sign sorry uh maintenance
forms okay yeah I will make a motion the town of Graanby authorized for payment warrant number 58s dated 3212025 with a total dispersement for warrant 58s of 203,2884
i'll second the motion any further discussion any discussion all in favor i thank you i will make a motion the town of Gramby authorized for payment warrant number 58 dated
3212025 with a total dispersement for warrant 58 of $272,55280 cents i'll second the motion any further discussion chris I just had a question on the
Friends for Grammy Vets is that something that we annually pay out to them no okay what that was is they had received a state grant first half payment was $5,000 we received that
but it comes to the town of Randy okay so what they're requesting is to have that $5,000 turned over to their control and that's all that $5,000 payment in is moving the funds that we received on the stakes grant they applied for and received to their control
and then uh we haven't dealt with them on the select board sidell Sidell is uh who uses Sidel is used by uh our treasurer okay he deals with any of the tax title tax
foreclosures any other type of things of that nature sorry last question and attorney August we're good to go on that cable i know he was waiting to hear back from the representative from Comcast last I heard
i believe we're close okay uh I had backed out when I Yeah officially semiofficially retired retired um I know he was supposed to be dealing with IRA i don't think he did so
I'm going to get back in touch with them i believe there was another offer on the table from Comcast that I think that I thought was going to be a good medium offer against what we were looking for but I just want to talk to him and see get his opinion on so okay i
will probably have something ready for the next meeting to uh to move forward okay and I know you're just coming back on Chris um as our interim uh but we never did get the um RFP from the old waste management to start our trash i
gave it to Kathy i thought she printed it out we have the old one for the RFP no okay so the as far as the next steps though we've not and I know we were working on the budget so we've been
doing the budget stuff but you said that that is an 18month process that we needed to get started back in January all right so I I didn't know where where you have done since I left okay for basically almost two months
so what I will do is I will get a hold of Susan Wait at D she is our rep for these for municipal solid waste in the western regional office ask her to maybe come and meet
with me and the new administrator Tammy to start moving forward on how we can get D assistance to get this contract out and awarded and signed and in place before July 1 2026
i do remember that now Kathy because you also gave us a pamphlet from Republic that wanted to come back and that was a while ago yeah they looked into the new truck yes they're showing us all their new energy efficient trucks
okay all right so possible assistance from D on that then yes all right thank you all right all in favor i I It had to have been at least a month ago if not a month and a half ago right
Kathy i think it just fell off with everything else we had going on you need another copy sent to you guys electronically i don't ever delete an email so I just have to control F and find it okay well I'm just curious if you want
i have it all also okay yeah we just had on our old business curbside collection um and we just wrote January on it so we'd never we got the paperwork we just didn't initiate
anything i will make a motion town of Grahamby authorized for payment payroll account summary town of Graanby warrant number 59 dated 325 2025 with a total dispersement on that
of $448,9123 uh and it is Hold on one second it's payroll warrant 25-59 i'll second the motion any further discussion
not discussion i will abstain from the teacher and the select board salary all in favor i I David and I will boy on necessity for the select board salaries thank you
yes thank you you're welcome i will make a motion the town of Graanby authorized for payment warrant number 60 dated 328 2025 with a total dispersement for warrant number 60 652,65
5.79 i'll second the motion any further discussion all in favor bye bye next is to discuss the special town meeting articles for April 7th 20 April 8th that should say correct yes okay
april 8th 2025 all right so for these articles we did already approved them so what are we discussing all right okay
if you notice out there on the article we just identify any and all available funding sources yep so in looking at our finances and looking at what's available what we'll be doing is taking
money out of our municipal building stabilization fund and our capital need stabilization those will be the used to reduce the amount required from debt service
okay when we vote this article at town meeting its passage or its authorization the authorization will be subject to the successful passage will be proposition 2
and a half dead exclusion vote to be held along with the annual town election i think it's May 17th 19th okay third Monday in May okay there's
been a lot of confusion where they think a debt exclusion vote's going to be held the night of town meeting we're not doing it all right i we've had a lot of calls into the office there is confusion so the issue is
is we will hopefully town meeting will authorize the appropriation subject to the successful passage of a proposition 2 and a half dead exclusion vote to be held on at the
annual town election now if the vote fails means the appropriation is null and void if the vote passes then we proceed forward to issuing a debt in the amount that will be necessary to cover
the cost of the project okay now for the for the article to pass on town floor does that have to be a two-thirds it's a two-3 vote because it's a borrowing article and then the second article on there is
to if article one fails to address the demolition the abatement of hazardous materials and demolition of the building uh again we didn't when talking with the finance committee chair we don't want it
to languish if it doesn't pass to do the renovations we don't want it to continue to sit there because as a vacant building that's costing me about 25 to $30,000 a year to
ensure so it would be better to knock it down level the site and then wait to see what the town wishes to do regarding municipal offices at that and the land would remain in our possession it's our possession it's our
land okay and if the town then decided to sell the property for whatever they could do that if they wanted to develop it they could do that it's that'll be a decision of the board of selectment as to how they want to proceed with that
parcel now question Chris because this um I've had a couple of people come and ask me this so say the article one passes at special town meeting it gets to the ballot box and it fails then it's it's the appro the way we're going to word
the motion it's only it's only is approved upon the successful passage of a Proposition 2 and a half debt exclusion vote so if it fails at the ballot box then the then the
appropriation is null and void and then that article two because if article one passes then article two we're not going to address article two right so okay because we're not going to say bring it forward to the ballot box and then knock it down what we're going to do is say if article one
passes don't bring up article two because there's no need to address it because that's basically our our safety bell so if it fails to to do the renovation okay we are now having a
second plan of action for that site but I guess I'm not hearing correctly so at the town meeting if the first part passes if first article passes we're not going to address the demolition why
wouldn't we because when it comes up to the ballot box and it if it doesn't pass there because I'm not going to have enough money to do to appropriate uh stabilization fund monies towards a
renovation project and then double appropriate it for demolition of a building so they only have so much money in stabilization okay so but if it fails at the ballot box then what we will do
is come forth with a June special town meeting for demolition at that point in time it can't just be added to the annual town meeting no because the annual town meeting is going to be posted for May the second Monday in May no the whole
warrant has to be posted as one okay okay part one part two right so knowing that we're going to have a part two probably June 9th we can schedule a special town meeting to address the demolition at that point if it fails at
the ballot box and if the board selectman does not wish to bring it forth to a second vote which you can do you can hold the second vote within 45 days of failure of a first vote if you so desire right
ballot vote yes if it fails at the ballot box it fails on at the annual election you can then call another special election 45 days after that failure to try and run
it again by the voters but that's a call of the board of SL at that point i know it's confusing but yeah well it's not really confusing it's just we we just it the same it delays that it delays it we'll have to if it doesn't pass the ballot box then
we're going to pay to have a special town meeting after that just for that piece yes decide what we're going to do with the school yes or you can just wait until the next annual town meeting or the next time you hold a special town meeting but then you don't have to call a
special one just for that one topic right but then it's sitting there like you said being insured 30 yes in the summer you don't have to heat it but there's other costs that go into maintaining it and stuff too so well that would all stay in effect until if it gets to that point if the building is
going to be demolished i mean there's going to be a time frame bids and all that for that part anyway so okay okay so that's all I'm saying is we don't have to call a special one for a one article meeting we can just delay it until whenever you're going to decide a
lot of times you hold one in December but why holding it in June at the end if they're calling a second ballot vote oh okay they decide to go that route we don't know what the effect is going to be of a second ballot vote until after
the June special town meeting cuz 45 days after the other one is going to be close to July no time to hold a special town meeting in the current fiscal year so Chris on the May 18th um election
that's when this this is going to be a question yes on uh the ballot yes and then you said it needs to be posted for annual town meeting when the annual town meeting is posted 7 days before the meeting okay should be pushing it but you
could I'd be pushing it because no annual town meeting is held the second Monday in May oh he said May 31st no no okay no
the by by our bylaws our bylaws state our annual town meeting supposed to be held the second Monday in May i gotcha that was the last one we are holding the vote the third Monday in May yep so the annual town meeting
warrant will have already been posted it fails on the third Monday in May we can have a special town meeting warrant ready to be posted to be held in conjunction with
the second half of the annual town meeting which is going to probably be the second Monday in June okay okay again that option disappears if you're going to want to hold another
election called a second election 45 days after the May failure potential failure of the vote not an election not no okay so No it's an Well it's it is an election because it goes to the voter we
don't call it a special town meeting it's a special election because they're voting an article that will affect them it goes out to the electorate it does not It's just not held at a town meeting it would be May 19th not the 18th
because the 18th is a Sunday correct all right are you are you fairly clear on the process i think so yes yes but it comes down to this technically can't appropriate appropriate the money
twice correct so that's why you have to wait correct okay okay i'm just trying to clear this up for the for the voters out there because like I said we've been getting calls yeah no I I I think it was clear when we first started discussing it with what what the
process was that I think some people put out some misinformation and then got confused yeah people got confused and started asking questions but we first with this first started being discussed we went through the process exactly what you just said except the second vote
piece we didn't talk about that but it would go to town floor and the town floor passed it it would go to a to a a vote a vote at at the non-election time correct we discussed that that's been the case since it first came up for
discussion i think some some information got out there that started saying that wasn't the case so Mhm uh but it still is taking place all right any other questions or anything
else about the special town meeting no okay can I just know who's presenting it do you know yet who's presenting the motion we didn't discuss we did not discuss yet usually we um there's only two articles but we usually share who reads the
articles um well someone who reads it and someone who explains it i think it makes most sense for the committee chair for the West Street building to present it because they have the background knowledge to explain it
um Dan Hassen it's the moderator i was going to say is it the moderator or the police chief because he was the um he was before you right was he chair yeah it's just I can I can we can get someone on the committee to present it so you
want someone from the committee to even though the select we're an arm of the select but I think the select board can present it they could read it yeah I think you can read it as presented and there's follow-up questions i think the committee would probably Well the committee some the committee was going to discuss it anyway i don't know if any
of you were going to say something on behalf of the select board yeah you can let me know as a moderator okay so who would like to present the article i don't mind presenting it okay glad
we'll do it are you sure you don't want to go with that it doesn't matter to me i mean I do so much reading now and I know you're And if article one fails you're going to present article two yes chris I think it' be helpful to u at the
meeting uh to explain what was just explained here so everybody that's there does understand the process again I think there'd probably be people there that are going to have the questions just explaining how it
works with the first vote and if that passes what will happen if it doesn't pass what will happen there'll be people understand and I'm sure there'll be questions that people didn't get all the information before they get there and some questions will come up so
Oh I'm supposed to be on the stage yes as interim town administrator yes you're on the stage dang i don't know if that was explained to you already [Laughter] as I ask a question sure qu being used
to lower the cost to taxpayers which might be asked at that meeting on April 8th so he did um actually just explain that but it was the stabilization how much money is that oh how much about two million two million and how about free cash nope free cash
there's no free cash available for the meeting capital needs and stabilization second stabilization was 2 million and capital needs was about a million no it's a million and a million 2 million
total okay 2 million total i was going to say I thought we said at the meeting it was going to be 1 million 1 million from one from each at the info session and we'll know what for that meeting Chris how much will be how much is in each account so when we say we're
using a million we can say how much is left afterwards prior to the annual town meeting where those funds might be used okay well I do want to say thank you to you and your your committee um for the
message doing the info uh session i I did see it um and I it was a lot of information covered a lot of questions being asked a lot of different input from different people in the audience very active meeting or session
so u want to say thank you to you and the board you and the committee for doing that because I know it's not an easy task and and as you said when people get up there and they start asking questions um you know you're there to present the information not try to defend it just present the
information so people can go into a meeting being informed and it takes a lot of time uh to do all the leg work that you guys did and to collect all the information and you're doing it for free you guys are a volunteer committee so I think people
need to understand that too and the whole process of it you know you guys all came together you guys all um put a project together whether people agree with it or not it just stinks that it takes anformational meeting for someone to tear everything you guys did down
within seconds and I definitely feel like that pain so to speak for it because you put you you guys put your heart and soul in it and whether we agree you know people agree with it or not I think that work needs to be recognized and you guys did a lot of
work for it so I do really appreciate it thank you thank you all right next is to approve and sign the 2025 common victers's license okay make a motion the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts town of Graanby certify that Ray Rose Enterprise Incorporated doing business as Bruisers Barbecue at 125 College Street South Hadley Mass 01075 is hereby granted a common vic
license in town of Graanby charter days and that place only and expires December 31st 2025 unless sooner suspended or revoked uh dated March 10th 2025 license number
25-31 i'll second a motion any further discussion no discussion all in favor i I will make a motion in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts town of Graanby certify that Ryan Voiland doing business as
Redfire Farm at 7 Carver Street Graanby Mass 01033 is hereby granted a common bick license in said town of Graanby and that place only and expires December 31st 2025 unless sooner suspended or revoked
dated March 31st 2025 license number 25-32s i'll second the motion any further discussion no discussion all in favor i welcome so next is to approve and sign
2025 entertainment license i will make a motion the Commonwealth of Massachusetts town of Graanby to certify that Redfire Farm Ry Ryan Voiland 107 Carver Street Graanby Mass
01033 is hereby granted a license for entertainment to provide entertainment to customers as follows live entertainment consisting of a DJ or small bands 12:00 p.m till 6 pm
only for August to be determined 2025 Tomato Festival to be located at 7 Carver Street Graanby Mass this license is granted in conformity with the statutes and ordinances related
there too and expires December 31st 2025 unless sooner suspended or revoked dated March 31st 2025 license number 25-10 can I just see the times on that again
i'm sorry uh 12 to 6 thank you i'll second the motion any further discussion all in favor i sent you Do you have the contract for the
building commissioner let's just here there we go right next is to approve and sign the contract for the building commissioner [Music] i will make a motion to approve and sign
the contract for our new building commissioner Tommy dated 31st day of March 2025 [Music] uh commencing on April 7th 2025 and
ending June 30th 2028 with a 90-day probationary period starting April 7th 2025 i'll second a motion any further discussion discussion all in favor bye
bye uh so yeah but you sign here and there yeah yeah it's for all three of us do both of them together here all right so next was to approve and sign minutes uh Kathy did give us a stack of
minutes that she wants us to review and then um we will address them next meeting so we will table those minutes until next meeting agreed i will make a motion to table the
minutes until the next meeting i was going to say I don't think need a motion well it's really official now all right and then next is to affirm and appoint um Aaron Kurdavid to the opioid
task force committee so originally we were going to have um deputy Tyler Tyler Ivon thank you we were going to have him on the opioid task force to represent the fire department but um he is unable to join
us on that committee uh due to other obligations so Erin you've heard David joined us for our first meeting last week uh for the opioid task force and she would like to represent the fire department okay so I will make a motion to appoint Aaron
Kirk David to the opioid task force committee i'll second that motion any further discussion no discussion all in favor all right i All right so going through old business I know Chris you already gave us an
update for Wine House and uh that the complaints will be forwarded to our special town council so we don't really have anything further on that for Forge Pond uh Dave Leonard was still working on it and he had till June 30th of this
year um he did come in and present to the board what he was working on so I don't know if you can just check in with him and make sure he's good to go for June 30th or if he needs anything from us just to make sure we're on track with
that because that was phase one and then phase two would be funding okay and then we did receive goals from the highway department but we are still waiting for goals from the other committees and boards i know Kathy sent out another email to them just
requesting them um so we have we can put a 5 to 10 year plan together um so I think she just put out another email last week for that and I'm still working with DCR and um for Draane Pond dredging they
originally thought we could use the municipal vulnerability preparedness grant but they said they don't do inland dredging with that grant it's strictly for flooding of roads and stuff like that that they've never done that before so he gave me another name or another
contact that I've reached out to and I haven't heard back from her yet so I'm waiting to hear back from that because that was estimated from our feasibility study to be $1.5 million to dredge that pond so that's I would probably add to that due to the fact it's probably a
couple years old price might probably look at more like 2 million probably just just as a word of caution yeah especially with all the permits and everything that they're going to have to pull for it as well so on another note we did have a
meeting last Friday for the parks and wreck department and that was one of the papers that Kathy handed to you guys today so myself Jim Petus and Glenn Durham met to discuss the proposed Grammy recreation
department and the paper uh Jim did he email the notes to you i've not seen one okay cuz he just emailed them actually Saturday night I believe to me but I only saw Kathy attached to that email so I wasn't
sure if he gave you a separate um print out of them but he typed up kind of his thoughts and what he was thinking Glenn when he went around to get different pricing and stuff so the annual salary um if you look online which he used Zip Recruiter
is $77,947 for a parks erect department um head one of the um and he he had said um and we did discuss that we are a smaller community so we're thinking that it was be closer to 50 or 55,000 a year for
that position with benefits and one of the questions was whether or not we could afford this um it's not going to have standard hours it's not an 8 to3 um 8 to 3:00 p.m job uh Monday through Friday so it will include some evenings
and weekends and I guess where we were going with the meeting just to give the board an update is um GAA is facing a time where a lot of the parents are too busy to do the background work which would be on the parks and recck
department so a lot of these parents are you know working out of their basement and they're trying to schedule all these games and everything else to keep programs going for their kids and they just don't have time we would still have volunteers for coaches but we would need
someone to head the um soccer leagues the uh baseball leagues basketball leagues and so forth so one of the questions that Jim and I had asked was whether or not GA was willing to give up that to the parks and rep
so wasn't very clear i don't know Jim if you felt that it was very clear on whether or not they would give it up but he did say there was a a decreased amount of people being able to help i think they would give it up I
think but question he brought up was the funds that presently have Yeah would stay where it is and would not come over to a park and recreate funds or whatever okay but I think help is needed because there's more that can be done they've done an awful lot been done a lot for 50
years so yep okay i also noticed that in the town classification pay scale there is a recreation on the scale if you knew that or not i assume that's what it meant to be is that right Chris does the director of recreation a pay scale for
town yep that would be a recreation director yes step seven so those are I guess they're hourly rates but Okay they're already in the town pay scale and that was from the prior one that we had Chris right because we had that was
from Yeah way back when we had Okay a director probably a good 20 years ago 15 years ago so I assume though that the numbers there are hourly rate so anybody on there are paid by the hour that scale is
Well everybody's paid by the hour everybody has an hourly weight rate attached to their pay right but most some people's salary rate hourly but still it's still an hourly rate you take it and convert it to hourly rate technically no one's salary they're
paying by the hour step to the select board on step seven pay because we don't know if it's maybe it's a 20our week maybe it's 30 hours probably something to look at well
I think you want to at least 40 at the end of that so I think what Glenn focused really on was summer programs um to get the person the parks and recck department person started in which it would be offered from children in first grade through
sixth grade and um he estimated looking at other towns around us $150 per child for the week if they're in town and higher for out of town rate for students um only um maximum of 50 kids so he talked
a lot more about a summer program but I think what Jim and I also wanted to focus on is not just for it to be summer programs but for them to take over the soccer program um from GAA the basketball program and um it's going to
be a process because GA's been doing it for so long so they would have to work with um say I don't know Glenn I know is in charge of spring soccer but say he's in charge of that he would be working with the director in handing over what
he's done for the program so that the program doesn't die and the program continues and stuff so I think that was one of mine and Jim's concern is just he focused a lot on the summer programs which is great because we used to have summer programs at Drain Park but we also
wanted to stress that it's not just for that there's a lot of potential in this um besides doing just for students um there could be senior activities that they do bus trips uh to certain places music on the common concert so he gave a
bunch of different activities that this person could be responsible for and again we were kind of looking at the neighboring towns around us and what they do their parks and recck department i did reach out to the South Hadley parks and recck department Andy um because my kids were part of their
program for a couple years and he does a really great job there and he's willing to help in any way that he can with us getting off the ground but we just we need a starting point so I think this is really something that we
should be working into the budget to get it the program started um so we wanted to I wanted to bring it back to the board and see what your guys's thoughts were on it because I think it's something that is definitely needed the parents are getting tired they're still helping with coaching they just can't do
the background paperwork and the organization and stuff it's just getting to be too much with all of the other responsibilities that they have i I Oh sorry i agree um you know having two children now that I've raised in
town one that's gone already but when they did have summer programs it helped us out a lot um and the cost is actually not that bad for those summer programs so that's that would be a good thing i also agree
that you know people in town do have a lot on their plates already so running all of the GA like I see Glenn run around like a madman constantly um he's he's never stops he's always on the go so I think it it would be a good plan
to have somebody in place to run this these programs and help them to move forward so with that said Chris I know you are finalizing the budget for fiscal year 2026 i think there's money available for
this year it's a tight budget as it is now but being run by the new administrator but it would have to be before we approve the budget right you're going to be doing something like that at some point if you want to
do you think it's something that could be done part-time could because I see you have an option here for possible part-time to get the position started jim do you think it's something that could be started part-time could be but when you're starting from nothing it's
it's hard part time is short and really you know like Bob said before it's only GA and the kids are nice but how about everybody else in between right which takes care of other recreation for the rest of the town agreed which is I think an inviting
thing to that our community should have people who would do an Easter egg hunt you know community building things that someone needs to do i think a person like that with the experience would uh be a real plus for
maybe you'll find maybe you'll find some money in between when you look at the budgets carefully or something i mean you can always look at it for the future and you know see how much money is in the current budget for it and maybe as
time goes on we still have to come up with a a job description what that person is responsible for as well uh there's a lot of that still I think there's a lot of things that that going to go with it i think that the the board's in favor of uh saying yes this
is the position that we want okay let's come together with a job description what this person's responsibilities would be uh to start off with and then look at it is it a you know 35 40 hour a week position okay we
look at it that way and what that person is going to do too we're going to if we're going to uh appropriate funds for a new position then we need to actually know what that position is going to involve as well and I think when we go over the job
description too Chris I think the not the town administrator besides the select board but also maintenance has to be involved too because they're going to be working side by side with each other on some of the fields and stuff and I I want them working collaboratively and not you know stepping on each other's
toes so to speak so I think Jeremy would have to be part of that conversation too board is something we we hire and we put that person into part of the maintenance department then do we need another director
but maintenance is really focusing yes they do help with the fields but their main job is to maintain our buildings and make sure that we're up to code and all the um inspections are being done and I mean he's got his hands full as it is with trying to maintain those fields
i'm saying almost looking to put that under somebody else instead a subdivision not under the select board responsible for another you know another position another director another department i'm just trying to think do we need to create
another department at this point that's why I said it's a little more discussion or is that something that can fall within another department that we already have i don't maybe not i'm just looking at as far as I'd like definitely like to have someone in there doing this work but I'm not looking to
pay someone $75,000 a year to do it right and that was just what we looked at on again what Glenn found on Zip Recruiter but we are a smaller community um so possibly could pay less depending on what but we are also asking them to
start get a program going to start all these initiatives to get all these activities and community building activities together so um it is going to be timeconuming when you first start until you do all of those things we're not going to build the program overnight
so it's going to take time to do that right so I know um Jim had asked if uh there was a committee that we want to start for this but do you want the select board to come up with the responsibilities in
the job description or do you want a committee to do that i guess is my next question i'm fine with having a committee do it and then they can reach out to surrounding towns and see what other places are doing no need to reinvent the wheel and
they could present that for the stock board all right so we had an unofficial meeting because we're not really committee so it was just Jim Glenn and I that just got together to have an initial conversation that we have to um but you're also going to have
to get the personnel board involved to rate this the position too well apparently there's already it's already but that was back way back when if job description changes but again we got I think we need to put together the
job description and what the details are and how many hours a week it is what that person is going to be doing and then present that the personnel but I'm just saying you have a whole new personnel board so yeah cars uh and then we got to make sure that we can afford it yes the other piece too can we
because it's not just the director was if you're from reading that you're talking camp counselors yep you're talking supplies you're talking there's there's a lot more than just hiring a director there'll be other ancillary costs well if people are
paying to go to it then the fees offsets the cost the question the issue is if you're talking $150 a week how many how many kids are you going to limit it to we said 50 okay so what's 50 times 150
7,500 a week you know I'm just saying well make sure But it's going to be for that's not going to be for all year it's going to be an 8week program six week program i don't know
okay you got to you got to look at all that too because if it's only at 7500 times 8 weeks that's 58,000 we're already in the hole if you're going using the 77 plus for counselors and supplies because you're going to have to buy supplies
well I think I I think that the money for the summer program would pay for the supplies and the can counselors if you will for the summer program so it would be a cost not going to support but you got to figure out what those costs are before you would say we're going to only
charge 150 well said we I I think we need to come up with the position first and it's not like again it's not something we're going to build overnight we have to this again if we could have a committee do it they'll uh put together a good job
posting for us to look at and that that's that's the first part of it is it's putting something together and then uh those other things as like a camp or something like that during the summer that's something that person can look at also too cuz you got need you got to see
if there's a a want or a need for it because it may or may not be you know people may not you you know be sending their kids to it you know we got to make sure that there's a there's a want for it so it is feasible at that point but like I said there's a lot of other things that
uh uh the rec directory will will be doing besides something like that a lot of different activities we're talking about department of GA be partnership with that uh again I think it first starting off with what we want that job
description to look like and be and then and then set a salary to that and then go from there i agree i think that's why I thought the meeting there that trying to push a summer program for this summer I think is pushing too much because people need
to make people probably making plans already with some too late might not be enough so I would think that be something worth looking at a year from now unless they do a one week sports camp in August or something right but I
think trying to do a summer program it's pushing it too much to get there a lot of work that goes involved to putting that together a lot of work so with that said Glenn you said a committee so who do you want so let me
back up do we have to appoint people to the committee because technically there is no committee right now well that's a point and then we would have to have the charge for the committee which is well we kind of already have it get a job description and a job posting together for the parks and
reccks department and I'm going to say director just cuz we don't know where it's going to fall under yet i agree um and then to collect information on how much it costs for each program like supplies and stuff like that from other towns if they're willing to share that with us you say they have
I'm sure they are and I think that's you know that's they said I wouldn't worry too much about that right now because that's something we're not going to do this summer that's something to probably happen in uh 2026 to look at okay but you
know we I I think we've said there's a need for this so like it's moving forward with the position and getting all that together and all the information together and then the next step would be you know we end up hiring someone for that that's a lot of the
work they're going to put together right you know as we go through an interview process we'll we'll probably get a lot of information a lot of feedback and suggestions from people that were interviewing as well so is there something that you have from the past as guidelines that we could
look at kathy said she had a very old one job description description and or Yeah yeah that's how we got on the classification yeah okay probably back like 2000 that's the thing so but any any any town that has public
records i'm sure they share with us South About Town any other you know have any other town that may have some type of Mhm director in or do you want to look also
try and get one from a couple of smaller communities like Deerfield and places like that or Gerson no I think we we we look at Exactly i think um towns are comparable to us and what they're doing
again we're we we we need to start somewhere and get the process going 5 10 years from 10 years from now you might have three people assigned to that department but we need to start somewhere we got to start now to get get the ball going so what would you name
like to name the committee parks and Rock Department committee or um search well no we're not searching yet we're just trying to collect information so how about a parks and recreation development committee
that sounds good and we need at least three to be on it plus we can put it out there for others to join so maximum of seven because you said I remember you saying there always has to be an odd number right it it helps if they're voting on things yeah
or five five five or seven so we need a motion to start that committee right and then So I will make a motion to start a committee for the proposed Graanby Recreation
Department parks and Rec Development Committee parks and Recruitment okay thank you second all right any further discussion no discussion all in favor i I and so this
will be a 5 to seven member committee and Jim would you be willing to be on it i certainly will okay and then um we can reach out to Glenn and see if he's still willing to be on it and I'm certainly willing to stay on it even after um my
term is done and then we'll see if anyone else out there wants to join the committee absolutely but I think it's it's even helpful too with some of the previous members from GA you know if they want to take part in it yeah that would be helpful i think that would be great if they were willing to be part of
it especially when we're trying to trans or transfer it over right thank you for that all right so the DCR tree planting pilot program is we got awarded the
lowland seats so I did tell you guys or I'm not sure if I told you guys last meeting that the tree planting will be on we're supposed to pick up the seeds on May 3rd and the tree planting will be May 4th but what I didn't tell you guys cuz
I didn't know is that we have to plant them all i thought DCR was going to help us we pick up the seeds and we plant them all ourselves so I have reached out to Mark Bale and
he is going to help out um I know he wanted to get the tree planting uh program done um back when we first did the forestry or the harvest I should say of that area so Mark Bale is going to help out um I'm not We also reached out
to the Boy Scouts to see if they would be willing to help as well why don't we just How many are there uh 30 30 department just assigned as the either maintenance or highway department is all I say because now we're going to have to volunteers we're going to have to have the the tools and stuff for them to use
and all that so So it's all the way up in the woods it's very hard to get to you can't just plant them in that opening going up the hill because it's not full sun and it's not moist soil so we have to go all the way back where they clearcut it and we walked with the
um Michael Downey we walked with him from DCR and he showed us different areas that we can put the plants based on where the moist soil is so that they survive they also are going to give us tubes to put the plants into so that the deer do not eat them before they can
fully um grow and um yeah and then they're going to have to be watered it's going to be a process i hope so that's a good question so we talked about a water cube getting a cube
up there and having a bucket and then watering the plants from there um so there's a lot that went into it that we did not realize because it's so far up in the woods and we would probably need an ATV or some kind of vehicle to get up
there with the water because there's no water in that area that you can use so it has to be brought up there so we're still working on the specifics of it now that we know what it entails so um more toward Lake Havens our one of
our departments or more than one of our departments whether it's maintenance or highway someone involved in that again okay you know we're going to have volunteers i don't know if someone you know now you're talking about going up through there someone could fall we need
tools dig holes whatever um we have to have come up with a solution to to for watering it i think that the fire department has they have a drainage vehicle too don't they they do I believe yeah maybe utilize so I think
we just look at you know we have several departments in town that can partner together and you know maybe we get some people to be part of it as well as volunteers but I think it's important to have um some of our people employees out there as part of it
just to make sure things are going whatever way we want it to go you would be able to do it on that Sunday then so one of the um when you pick up the seeds they have to be planted within a couple days of taking them out of the refrigerator cuz right now they're in the refrigerator there so
they would have to be planted within a couple of days so I had said the fourth because Sundays I am off so I can help on the fourth but if we're going to get maintenance highway or you know other people from other departments involved they're going to want to do it on a day that they're working which is going to
be on the weekday we got to figure out a way to make sure we're going to water them too so and they're actual seeds not saplings must be saplings they are very small they are saplings yeah they're very small and they give you a 4ft pipe it's
like just so you know it's not going to like be like oh this big luscious tree that No it's going to be in a tube so that the deer can't eat it um but they have some really nice poppplers and a couple other trees in there that's Are they like marked where we're going to put them or just No he just walked and
said "Put it there put it there put it there." I took pictures okay yeah it's done i can reach out to him again because on the May 3rd um it needs to be picked up from
Lemonster so that's the closest um area that you can pick up the saplings from so he said he's going to try and figure out something alternatively where they can come bring it here and then we meet him and pick up the saplings that way um
because the closest one was an hour and 20 minutes away it's not much more on this table for I'm sorry for 30 of them right no I don't think so yeah you can put it in the back of your your vehicle but it's just not Yeah
so timing wise as far as when we can get them and stuff like that he's going to try and do it more locally okay so he said he was going to work on it and let me know i haven't received an email back from him yet but I'll just check check in with them and see where we are with
that all right and then Chris already gave us an update for mass dot store regulations will be at the next meeting chris I know I actually the storm water
regulations were with Brian Oul right our town council to review them he was working with Dave on that but that we're going to be at our annual town meeting you know I've been out of it for two months so yeah I
know i do believe it's with town council and him and Dave have been working on that but the plan was to have it at our annual town meeting then you're going to have to Well what part of annual town meeting because you have to hold a hearing if it's going to be a
bylaw for our regulations you have to hold a hearing at least a month in advance okay or I'd do the second part of our town meeting yeah definitely the second no no I'm just saying i'm just No no but I would I mean again by the second part of the going to July 1st
right they have to be done by Yes june 30th not July 1st june 30th the EPA I don't think is going to give you a day leeway well they can find us for 24 hours if they have to
we don't have the money to pay oh mhm all right so as far as when I guess I'll reach out to the town council on that and just figure out as far as a hearing goes and everything so we can move that forward for annual town meeting maybe able to
ask the town council's money okay yeah and then update on extending lease for the town annex so has the board members given that any more thought well I think well there's two things and
what's the cost involved in it um and I think we can make a decision as far as after the special town meeting on April 8th because that may may or not tell us what we need to do going forward
uh for some reason or if it doesn't pass to go to a vote then we need to look at other options at that point for West Street school or West Street build I mean for for I mean for the town we're going to do then right so as far as the
town annex though um regardless if we build West Street we still have to make the decision whether or not we're going to extend the lease and we're going to pave the driveway I don't pay the driveway I know and That's one of her stipulations so I think at this point
they need to be out by June 30th if we're if neither if none of us are willing to pave a driveway for $40,000 for a private property that the town doesn't own right and then we don't know if she's going to go up in cost
from the 2,200 that we're paying right now in rent then I think no matter what happens we need to be out by June 30th i agree well I don't think you're going to be out by June 30th no unless she
wants to extend it i mean and what what is She hadn't said no to extending it no she No she specifically said she'll only consider extending it if we paid the driveway that was the stipulation but if you can get it for zero rent
I rather pay rent than paying the driveway and I just I I say that because I think we're opening up something we don't we don't pay private property and that's what it comes down to uh and if we pay that and not pay rent we'd be paying
$13,600 more to pay it than to rent it because annually we pay $26,400 right now to rent that building to extend lease she'd probably go up on that also well so if we're not out by June 30th rent doubles it goes to 4,400
right and I mean and if that's the case that's the case i mean unfortunately it comes down to it's a cost of us to to do business and and come up with a you know where we have to have a solution we don't have a solution at this time because right now if you if you will
we're still in limbo and even if West Street building gets approved to do all the renovations still going to take time to do that uh you know I think we need another alternative now I think and I because we mentioned that
before if all of it fails and we don't Well the other alternative and unfortunately is is the library yeah that's the other building in town that we own okay and if it comes to that that and unfortunately that's that might be what we need to do that might just be a
transition period as the if the West Street building goes through that will probably be the transition piece if we can't work a deal with um with her regards to renting the space there at least the space there so right now in the town annex we have
the board of health one person full-time right we have the town the tax collector two people assessor is one person and town clerk two people so can we fit five offices and five people in that library
because we got two floors what are you going to do with the town accountant who's out there now and the maintenance director who's out there now but there you can do partitions right and do offices that way enough room put everybody in there they don't i mean the only other option
because I think the library is less square footage than they can exist the other options we'd have to look at would be what the cost of the cost would be but we rent some of those um trailers and those are expensive they
are expensive but again we're running out of options i mean you know we could put something like I said use the library well it's not big enough for the space well what's our other option can we can we say is here i was going to say can we juggle we juggle anything in here
and fit a a person or two and then fit the rest in the library or Carnegie Hall or because upstairs we have the building commissioner the treasurer Kathy there's no room upstairs anybody i was going to say because the rest are closets they're not rooms yep right so down here you
have to take part of this space down here looking at this room the most feasible space is where we're sitting and it's across means of egress means of egress how much space do we need well I mean if you put temporary Yeah
tightitions in you don't the spaces are we're not putting in any new walls so I mean that would see what we could design a library for as far as that is again these are just these could be just temporary solutions if the wet street
building goes through if not you know then I'm almost we almost may have to look at purchasing the um the building where they are now i think you're going to run into ADA issues with the uh with the hallways i
agree i don't think they're waiting so if we purchase that and because it's a town building we have some options to do things so but but I'm just saying Glenn I I don't think that's going to be a viable option when you look at the doors up there I don't think they're 3 ft wide
i don't think the uh the passageways are well are really wide enough to allow wheelchair correct i don't think you have the proper turning radius for a wheelchair no then again then we then we look at extending the lease with
them right now and what the cost would be for another year or 6 months because we have to have a plan they can say do this well this isn't going to work we'll do this that's not going to work those aren't options we need to come up with if it means that we buy a building or put up a building we have to come up
with a solution we can if we if we need to leave that building we have to have an option somewhere that's just it we have to have an option i agree so Chris if we rent it it doesn't have to be ADA compliant but if
we own it it does right correct okay there's a change ownership to it's going to be a change of use okay if we buy it it now becomes municipal use right now it's private use with municipal offices we're just renting it but its main use
is residential/private business commercial we buy it it's a change of use so we have to bring it up to current ADA standards this is what we ran into at the Westree building remember
which drove the cost up mhm we'll have the same issue at that place and I don't think there's really the ability to expand inside there to make it 88 no there's not no I don't think there is really i mean the offices
are so tight now and right I think the hallway going towards Kathy's office is probably only 30 inches wide and that and that's that's my biggest concern is we're going to get caught in that grinder and then it would be the cost of the building well plus all the
renovation plus searching that too not to mention that building is how old over 100 years old i think it's what 1910 or something like that it was built i don't know but I know it's not new but but the the point if it's not that then what is it
and it's going to cost us more money to build a building uh unless unless you have someone build a building for us and we end up leasing it from them because if not any building that we build is be it comes into prevailing wages it's
gonna cost us a not that you know I mean they is there any room in the high school you know I mean we'll keep it walking through I think our first option is is is have a
serious conversation with her and she is saying no that's it that's final I'm not I'm not budging on it then we need to look at serious options and that would be that that
would be the old library and who can fit there what can fit there and then what our options are here we only have buildings we own in the town are very slim and we got that's what we got to utilize unless there's another space somewhere in town that we can rent or
lease for a period of time there isn't there's not there's nothing left right so as far as like all the paperwork that they have in those offices is it like everything they have or does it get moved and stored over time somewhere
there's storage there too there's storage also because that's my other thought process is what do we do for storage we have to get out of the building so do we get a cargo box cuz those are you can buy them fairly inexpensively but the problem you're going to run into that they're
going to have to be climate controlled cargo boxes because of the nature of the paperwork sure they're vital records they they have to be in climate control and they can be but and that's going to cost you an arm
and a leg for those too probably be cheaper to pay and stay where you are than going buying cargo things so Chris we did um have a meeting with the owner um Mary Joe Met back when Ira
was here and this is where she kind of laid out what she was wanting and you know what she was willing to do would you be able to reach out to her and we can schedule a meeting and just let her know that the board said no they're not going to pay is there any other options and just kind of go through what are our
options cuz when we had originally mentioned that you know could we buy the building but then again I didn't know that that was going to be a change of use and then cause ADA compliance issues and stuff um but I think it's a conversation that
we have to have to see to see what our options are with her if she's adamant it's got to be paved then I bring it back to the board or we bring it back to the board and we let them know and we have a decision to make but I mean I was pretty sure that she was adamant that she wanted it paved because
she she's running into issues with her insurance company itself because of the condition of the driveway and the driveway really took a beating with all the traffic for for the uh municipal offices there's a lot of traffic that
goes up in there yeah you know because the phone company they just have what one employee who goes in and out with his truck or two employees at the most you know personally personally I I would that to give us breathing
room we're not raising new money for that we transfer money from the leftover money in the cemetery paving article when we try and negotiate free rent for up to a year well that's different now I I would
be okay with paying in in in little rent that would go that would be considered rent that's not my understanding is that she's going to charge rent plus she wants that again it's what you throw out
to her if you want i can throw that out there and see what she says and then I can report back to the board on the 8th at our meeting prior to town meeting that that to me that's something different that's okay we're going to do this we're going to pay it but we're paying we are not paying it for free
because we are receiving rent and little paying rent that's what we're going to do do you want it that's a little different for 12 months or possibly 18 months to give us a little breathing room so 18 months would still put us Well
well if if we talk 12 months it brings us to June of 2026 y we'll have an idea that'll give you breathing room to decide if you're going to get portable classrooms or portable trailers give you an idea where you're going to throw them uh be able to know where how you going
to do sewer power all the other stuff that would be associated with that and by that time you could potentially have knocked down the West Street building if we're they don't want to do the renovation gives you time to knock
that down and there's your spot where you could put whatever we needed to your your your trailer your trailers your portable building whatever you want to call it because you have power going there you have a septic system there
okay and you have water you have a well so so you're pretty well set with all your utilities you just have to pay for what it costs for the units and how big they're going to have to be but I think yeah I mean
I'm just thinking about cost-wise because right now we're paying 2,200 so that would extend it out to 18 months but I understand they go she goes up every year you know just like any July 1st yeah just like any rental property so say she goes up 200 like she did last time it' be 2400 we could negotiate 16
months because it would be 16.67 months if we're going to pay the 40,000 to um to pay that so we could negotiate save 15 months to pay the driveway because that still giving her the $200 extra per
month if she went out go even though it was going until uh January 2027 yeah i I you want I can try and get in touch and see if she Yeah i mean you just see what options that you know we're willing to talk different things
or do look at different options and what's feasible but it it's I mean again not I can't see the town you know paying rent and say okay we're going to use the town resources to pay for that which just is just adding value to that
property and then then a year we're we're out there's a brand new parking lot out there and we did you know we didn't really receive anything out of it that's Like I said my biggest concern with purchasing the is the ADA issues
okay but that's always something we can look at i mean those are things that can be looked at at a minimal cost someone can come in there and tell us what we'd have to do to be in compliance with ADA well it's going to be tough if the doorways aren't
30 3 ft wide i think everything would have to change i mean even a ba even a bathroom you need a five foot radius but but again we could it came down that we could have someone go in there and tell us what would what would need to be done and we can also give you know an estimate on what that would cost to be
done too you know but I think where we are now we need to to first off is just finding out um is there room for negotiation I guess at this point in regards to that
building because we need an answer there oh I'm sure there is so yeah I'm sure there and then that's you know where So if we could just finish up that and be done with that uh especially if we could put something together by you know next
next uh Tuesday would be helpful as well um so we have something to follow so do you want me to try and get a hold of Miss Monet yes please and go forward and you wanted to what january of 2027 or
through December of 2026 is that what you're looking for yes yes because regardless we need you know we have to have a feasible option in place it doesn't matter which way the vote goes because we need to we need to have
it yeah she says "No I want you on July 1st." And we have decisions a lot of decisions to make quickly yeah it's going to be tough moving somebody in two months basically but it's doable but it's it's you
know it's going to take a lot of effort to do it but I don't think she's in and hopefully that she understands that and you know it's guaranteed money for her i don't know how and when we did the market how valuable that building is to
somebody what it is what well where the housing market's going I'm sure it would go for a pretty penny and when we did discuss or have our conversation too Chris um Dave said that he could have it done by late June early July because vacations are already on
the books and stuff but he did say because he was part of that meeting too because we wanted him if he was going to be the one paving it to be part of the discussion so he said late June early July he'd be able to have that wrapped up if we did decide to pave it so that
she had a time frame and if we're going to go that route then we have to do an article to move the money from the other article to a new article which would be good to have for our town meeting yeah absolutely so okay right and I'm sorry uh Mr matthews you are here now do you
want to come up we just tabled your appointment until you were able to be here well I was just going to I was just going to give this to you but um those links are incredibly uh um daunting yes if you if you went through
one of them is like 67 pages and it goes into immense detail so I will actually let the board see what was sent to us so we had had the discussion about possible regionalization or starting that discussion so Chris had given us some
links to look at and Kathy printed it out for us it's basically a step-by-step guide on where to start um if the board decides or depending on what we do with the committee that Mr matthews is asking
but yeah the links are very intense there's a lot of information in them yeah what I was uh originally my thought was a committee to uh evaluate all options right for the school reading this here I guess you're
required to have a committee just on regionalization and going through the documents you really have to have people that are that are familiar with the curriculum the students the the testing
um the culture of the schools whether or not they match then there's four or five different models to choose from some of them are I think are irrelevant for us but the point is um lots of experienced people in the
education like in the in the curriculum and the teaching and the administration have to they obviously are on that committee and also the finance committee they mentioned you need to know the cost of these things whether or not it's worthwhile and then um the the uh school
committee also because they're very knowledgeable of their schools um And like there's I did have a a little outline that I was going to give you but you probably already have it
um about the five major questions that this committee should Yes I did read it in the Yes that but like I said the um the 67page document just expounds on
these you know um that was basically what I was going to give you Chris uh Crystal um but I wanted to also add that um I think it's important that the town
gets an idea about regionalization because believe it unfortunately most most people are getting information from social media right and there's talk about this re
what regionalization means and how it how you can do it and the dees said in the beginning of this that when you start your discussions please contact them and they have expertise to
advise you technically how to do it but what I wanted to suggest is that you could I'm suggesting you contact the DEAC and see if someone can come out to the town at some point and go through an
overview right not detail right an overview on the basics of the flowchart for how do you start discussions and how you might be able to fit yourself with another
district right and I think that would be important because um anything that involves a major change in the in the town Yeah um you have to communicate with um the
residents whether whether whether it's a West Street building or uh regionalization you really have to stay on top so that people don't pick up some information that isn't accurate or out
of context and then they go and start arguing like happened uh at the meeting here in the p in the back here um and it just knows it doesn't serve anyone's purpose but like I said if you could it doesn't have to be I'm saying a DEESC
person because they're technically smart on this uh and I'm not saying it no one here is but they know there's a history of many regionalizations in Massachusetts and these people know the ins and outs and they can easily like at
a half hour 45 minutes listen guys or people this is the process expect it to take up to three years right that's what Michael said but basically that's what I was going to tell you Chris Crystal okay
so I guess more or less being a charge from the school committee so I remember Glenn when we were originally talking about this you they had sent a letter out asking if anyone was interested in regionalizing and you had said it needs to come from the select board i I know
but I'm just thinking as far as there's got to be some type of agreement with us and the school committee but I think well because the school committee can now appoint a committee they can have a committee under them which they do have lots of committees under them right sub
committees yeah but I guess to look at I think they definitely need to be involved absolutely yeah i just I'm trying to think as to you know especially with Desi involved i mean I think uh the school committee just is a is a
major stakeholder in this just so you know when uh Dave and I met with the representation of the school this topic came up because Mr lobera was there mr laa and Jen Bartos both indicated a
desire to be on committee to look at the various options for the town of Graanby Ford's high school okay that's good okay so you have at least two volunteers who are ready one from the school from
finance okay so Mr matthews too I'm just letting you know that's Yeah no well I think well that's what I think again with the select board as far as the committee want to make sure that all all parts u the people that that need to be at the
table are on the table right so start to talk about this well that's why I just wanted to share with you that they they came up at our meetings and I would think the finance committee is a is a key player I think uh school especially the school committee the a key player select board is a is a is a is a key
player this as well but you know mental select board should be part of that committee and as well as have you know maybe one two three four five six maybe you know another three to four people uh
some of the talent involved in it as well you know like you said you have the stakeholders finance committee I think speaks for regards to the finance select board is going to speak for the select board operations for town and the school tree is going to speak for the school
tree so what about the superintendent or business manager or because if we're talking financing yes John Leair is the finance for the town but the one who does the finance for the school would be the business manager right
so if we want to take look at the financing of the high school and what it entails now and then what it would entail whether you regionalize or you renovate or I feel like well I think they they would provide figures to the committee that first one I mean they're
not going to know what it's going to cost to know it's cost to to run the school not know what's you know you may want the superintendent because the superintendent's involved with curriculum development for the schools y So you'll probably
want her I think you have a director of curriculum don't you i mean I mean it's an important we might want to just contact Desi and speak with Desi about it you know see who they recommend for the committing doing uh forming
committee would you suggest should be on the committee and I think like you said those those that I named off are stakeholders yep in it now we definitely want to have some representation from
uh you know from from the public as well you know maybe we put the committee together and then we have contact I get a rep from DESI that can come down and sit down and you talk to the committee what's the committee the committee I
think their their charge would be you know is regionalization what are well it's all the options right so what are the options for high school right yeah I wouldn't limit the initial committee's options no that's what I say
you got to give you got to kind of give them some ideas what to look at you know these are some there's got to be a charge as to what we want to look at and then Okay name of the committee you're good
at names what do you got um high schooler exploration committee um what do you got Chris i would look at the future of educating grades 7 through 12 it's too
long of an junior senior high school future futures committee that works as long as I understand that junior high is seven and so so that actually I was going to ask that too because some districts it's 6 through 12 i know here
it's 7 through 12 but some districts they regionalize if that is one of the options being put out on the table it's 6 through 12 but part of the problem we run into if we're going to go and say we want to build a new high school MSBA will not pay for grade six
again they they paid for it as part of the East Metal building what were to happen if that was separated would we have to pay a certain percentage back because six was I don't think they would include the kids and
the costs associated per pupil in the reimbursement rate so you would end up paying for them no matter what okay cuz I don't think they would go back and deduct what they paid towards East Meadow and make us have to come up with that i think they would just exclude
that grade okay from any considerations in the school if we want to include it we would have to pay for any building associated with any classrooms associated with that great okay i know I think you know right from the get-go I think is you know if we're going to even
consider to to regionalize you have to check like we did before in the surrounding towns and I remember doing that a couple years ago the the school committee did it and there wasn't an appetite from so but but there are budget constraints now and I think there
are discussions starting to occur surrounding communities and you know when regionalization came It was a great thing because the state was 100% behind it but as with any state program as you well know Glenn they fully fund it then
over the course of the years they slowly take away funding and it's left in the communities yes so we just have to make sure by regionalizing it doesn't cost us more yes because if we're if we're going to just do junior seniors say you still
have to have central office staff for the K through six kids or K through five kids here locally so you're not the reason reason for regionalization is to to save in economies of scale you're eliminating duplication of services and
if we can't eliminate that then it's not going to be fiscally advisable for this town to move forward i'm just being honest no and and that those are facts and I mean the only thing would come into play for us is that okay we're not you know we're not worried about upkeep
or continue upkeep of a building we're not going to be using because we know the future of that building is there's concerns and there's a cost relation to that um but I think we got to start somewhere like I said and they different towns are in different positions now
they were 2 three years ago 5 years ago but I think those conversations got to happen with surrounding towns And if people are not open to it other towns not open to it then I think we don't there's no sense to go down that road if someone's not say "Well no we don't want to do it." But if you have a
town that says "Yeah we might be willing to do something like that." Well at least we know there's there's a there's a viable interest out there for that possibility but if if they're not then why spend the time to go down that road which there was a select board member from Beluretown that reached out that I
sent the email to you guys so communities like you said are talking about it because they're not in the financial state that they were years ago and same thing we I mean and these are just options that we're talking about because we want to make sure that we we look at what's the best option um you
know for for our students and the taxpayers you know it's got to be the it's got to be the right fit and I mean because when you move into something like that that's you know that's that's not a big change it's not an easy uh like you said it could take up to three years before it even happens
and then we probably still run into problems of uh capacity so where where does it happen and how much capacity do we have and do we still have to put an addition on a building or you know how does that all come but I
think the point the first starting point is to form the committee yeah the committee start start looking at things right so I will entertain a motion to start that committee i will make a
motion to start a committee for regionalization of the school all options all options but the committee is made for junior senior high school future committee
i'll second the motion and their charge would be so any further discussion so I would just ask part of that motion be that the charge is that they look at all options for the high school not just regionalization i think all all options should refute to the high school in the
states any further discussion all in favor i I And then Chris would you be able to reach out to John Leair and confirm that he's interested before we appoint everybody i think pretty much I will see
him on Monday okay and then Jen Bartos make sure she's still interested because I know that was your original conversation you guys are school she was she was very passionate at the meeting so I'm pretty sure she was and
then Mr matthews are you still interested in being part of that committee yes okay thank you so we have his so at the next select board meeting if we hear back from everyone we can appoint them to the committee and have them get started on that we also have um
well it says select board but I assumed as the school leaison that that would be you yep okay so Dave Levante for the select board superintendent Mary Jane Ricken okay and then Susan KGO for the curriculum
director i don't either superintendent nor her i'm sorry okay and then we'll reach out to Destiny and just see if they um suggest anybody else for the committee this is just a starting point but that would be the
starting committee and then we did want to have a couple uh besides Mr matthews we did want to have a couple community members too right yes so again if anyone's um interested in joining that committee please call the select board office with your
interest all right so does the board have anything else they wish to talk about next time are you having a meeting before the town meeting on the ACE i put it in my phone that we were but I
wasn't sure if we were i just marked off five and on do we have anything that needs to be done well I probably would like to have the board at least look at the proposed ballot question for the Proposition 2 and a half okay vote uh
and there may be a couple other things for housekeeping type of things that you may want to So do you want us to be there 6 5:30 i'm I'm just asking if if you don't that's fine i could just get it out to you and
when's your next meeting after the 8th that would be the because we're coming up on April vacation again yeah we talked about all that so the 29th is the next one that's a long time why don't we Can we Well can we meet here before that
and then go up do you want we can yeah i see like they're way up there we're trying to set up and stuff like that yeah and it's hard to hear so 5:30 here does that sound good 5 5:30 whatever we want to do meeting though at 7:00 i mean at 5:30 gives us a solid hour before we
go up there sure all right sounds good chris do you need us to have a meeting prior to the 29th because that was just what we had come up with um based on availability i don't know i'm still trying to get my feet wet to be honest yeah so we'll
figure it out on April 8th and then if you need to have another meeting we can have another meeting okay all right so I think we had a pretty packed agenda today i can't think of anything else I need to talk about next time besides just keeping the conversation going with
everything and Great i agree so with that said um we will go into executive session 38A-21- A5 to investigate charges of criminal misconduct or to consider the
filing of criminal complaints followed by another executive session for 38-21- A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the P public body
and the chair so declares with that said we will only come out to adjourn our original meeting roll call vote drain i labe saxton i thank you