[Music] all right uh so we have a quarum uh we're going to open the meeting um our first order of business will be an executive session so I will make the motion that we move go into uh executive session uh to discuss count accountant pursuant to generaliz chapter 38 section 21 A2 to conduct strategy session in preparation for negotiations with non union Personnel um we're not going to do uh Collective arguing um so uh that would be my motion I'll second that all right and we will adjourn and then come back so Mr NE yes uh Mr cely yes I go yes also so we'll and we'll come back and sounds good back into public session um again this is being recorded by area 58 if you would join me in saying we Pledge of Allegiance Pledge Ali flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands nation under God indivisible lice thank you um all right uh let's see our first appointment isn't until 6:15 so if we want to take uh building department fees first that's the first item here that's what we have for oh okay oh that's why you're here okay yeah all right so let's go right let's go right to that so we have um a proposal to uh change our fees for the building department yes so just to give a little bit of background the finance committee had asked that all departments annually review their U fee schedules just to make sure that we're um in line with comparable communities we're obviously not looking to charge anymore but we want to continuously review those to make sure that they are in line with where they need to be we brought it on board it was one of the first discussions that we had I had asked him um you know after he got settled in if he could review uh other communities and take a look at our existing our existing fee structure and then if there are any recommendations to bring those forward uh and then bring them to a board meeting for your review and approval so that's exactly what he did he did a very nice job he was very thorough um in his review so um I'll let Ed get into the details but in your packet is three separate sheets uh one of them is for building permit fees one is for gas and plumbing and the other is for electrical um and then the other is the building permit fees is a 2022 version which is the old fee schedule and then the 2024 version which is the um proposed new fee schedule just so on these uh new proposals is the red the red is the old amount uh and then the and then this for the building there's a 2022 version but I'll I'll like get into it give a little bit of a background any place specially you you'd like to start uh just your general uh recommendation and overview I think would probably be all we need so we took the uh took and went through 10 different towns of comparable size shape and makeup and we found that you know we were on the lower end of average and then digging into a couple of these towns I spoke with some of the other Commissioners they've not had a fee restructure in a few years so it's it's a little bit of a skewed average but um we put together some numbers that put us to I would say average just on top of average essentially and put those numbers together for the new fee structures okay um on the Excel spreadsheet you can see what we were at and what the proposed is and then the last panel is the average kind of a two sheet I tried to convince so so what Ed did was he put basically scenarios in there yeah I have that little more readable a little longer but a little more readable all right you guys see this yep I have aage here oh so compare to all the towns you know I looked at some of the prices and we had uh deck perit for $50 I can't start out I can't start the inspectional vehicle for $50 to to drive it out around town so we're we're losing money on some of these permits and uh my idea was just to bring it back into line and then kind of put all of the fees at about the same uh same setup so instead of having a fee for this a fee for this a fee for this everything's just based on contract price 12 per thousand just makes easier for the applicants that there's only one fee now they're not calling saying well I'm doing a shed plus a couple Windows plus it now it's just give give me the price of the overall deal here we go and that's that's what we at okay um we're looking to increase the price on the commercial permits they were at the same price obviously a lot more goes into a commercial building than a residential so that's fairly typical throughout the Commonwealth to have a little higher uh higher price on those okay um do you want to highlight anything or we just go with what you have or because there's quite a few different changes I mean there all individual changes in here so yeah well that's I mean if there's anything you'd like me to highlight on I'm happy to um okay any questions from anybody on the board no I've looked through it and uh while I do agree it's an increase it's a it's a moderate increase we're not setting the market for increases here um just curious said do we know when the last time we've we've raised them I know you're relatively new to the town here so it looks like there was a new fee structure put in place in 2022 okay which actually somehow it the fee structure has changed and the permit price actually went down in 2022 oh really charging less for a permit with an easier fee structure I don't know if that was mistake if it was you know on purpose but I'm not really sure what went into the thought on that one but the town started losing money from whatever the previous structure was to the 20 2022 perit structure at least on new houses and bigger alterations do you have a ballpark I know each year is different but do you have a ballpark on what this new feast would generate um compared to previous years or is that a little too I know it's nebulous it's hard to kind of figure the biggest the biggest increases here will be in the um essentially in the solar panels the um you know most of our solar permits come in and they're under $150 most other towns typical permit fees for those are 3 to $400 um this brings us a little closer in line to those um a lot of these for what we see dayto day here half of these fees will never even see the light of day they're they're kind of tucked in the back and they're there if we need them but not something that we typically use okay okay one of the one of the big things in Ed and I's conversation was like if someone um under the existing structure were putting in a know $60,000 pool or $100,000 pool our pool our pool permit fee is right now $100 right so it didn't seem fair that someone who's putting in a you know $5,000 above ground pool was paying a same permit fee as someone putting in $150,000 which requires much more extensive you know work on our end um really what we're trying to do is in the point of building permit fees is cover cover our costs uh what we found is yeah we're not we're really not covering our costs anymore so I mean on on the residential side it's a 2% increase okay you know so if you were to take that over over the course of the year that's that's what we're looking that's what we expect the the increase to be okay possibly a little more because again the pools and the solar panels do jump a little bit more but again well with the pools we don't see a ton of them the solar panels will be our biggest gain here great any other questions from the board have a question I'm wondering um is the solar panel fee for roof solar panels or the fields it's for both both so we've increased the price right now we're $5 per panel on solar panels for roofs we just increased that to uh $12,000 of the total project cost uh for large scale solar over 250k which would be your Fields it'll go to 16 $166,000 per megawatt which if you were to take the Spring Street project I believe the increase was spreadsheet it be about $5,000 for a project of that size and my next question would be um didn't 266 and 265 on pet Street have their permits weight know reduced we as part of the master development agreement it was a 50% decrease but this would see an increase right so that they would still also see the increase as well if we're increasing fees the idea would be the board approves saying it's harder for a smaller business and a small home time guy to do it but we'll give a corporation a major reduction on 102 apartments that by the way still aren't okay by okay any other questions no uh all right I'll make a motion that we approve the new schedule I I will second that just do effective July 1st we want to give people time to get these up and let people know they're coming effective July 1st I'll I'll second discussion all those in favor say I I unanimous I thank you 6:15 and we have a poll hearing scheduled is anybody here for that are you here for that you want to come on up front maybe all right good all right let me uh make sure we [Music] follow actually in that packet to right John well this here's got what to do right yeah then that next page should have the uh right okay on next page oh yeah yep the notice okay all right so uh we'll open the public hearing uh we'll hold a public hearing on Tuesday April 23rd at 6:15 selectman's meeting room Town Hall 499 Plymouth Street for the purpose of hearing the joint petition submitted by Mass Electric company and Verizon New England Inc to replace polls 13 and 14 with pole 13- 50 and um this looks like it takes place on Home Street all right um you want to just tell us who you are so we have it on the record and what you how you fit into all this my name is Mohammad I'm here on behalf of National Grid um and the job that's going on is we're actually replacing po 13 and 14 and we're not like replacing them for a new pool we're going to keep those pools but actually install a new pool po 13 -50 so we can put up a recloser on that pole um General description of what a recloser does it's kind of like protection if something were to happen to the grid tree fell on the wires and such it would cut power to a specific area of people instead of causing a lot of people to lose power mhm okay yeah anybody else here for this so I don't see any public comments do anybody from the board have any questions no so you're not getting r of 13 and 14 you're keeping those you're just adding 1350 so it has that new new uh system on top yes and we're replacing 13 and 14 I think just just with new poles same uh bigger poles yeah yeah and the only thing I saw was uh the town um Steve head don't drill into the if you do drill into the walkway try to seal it up so it can get water and rot it out something I saw iation on that it'll be on the permit do that like if you have to go into the sidewalk unless you can go off the sidewalk no I think it's going to happen on the sidewalk it just part of this process with the residents in this area alerted to the meeting this evening or um yeah they should have been okay yeah we have to do that yep just making sure actually that's right on the permit here it's a the sidewalk seal you're asking okay any other questions discussion all right then in that case uh I'll make a motion to approve the um did you close the public hearing uh I should close it first yeah so uh first motion will be to close the public hearing do I have a second second any discussion all those in favor say I I opposed unanimous all right next we'll make a motion to approve the uh installation of the poll um as uh requested by Massachusetts electric company in Verizon I'll second okay any discussion all those in favor say I I oppos unanimous so sign this and um I think you can get a copy from uh Pam right Pam yeah we we'll send you over the when it's all set aw thank you for coming apprciate your time thank you all right all right uh we don't have an appointment now till 6:30 so we can go about um approving warrants and so on uh we're going to move uh the approval sends April 9th they weren't ready yet so move to the next meeting next meeting uh move to confirm approval of following commitment to warrant warant number 94 for $277,900 180 inits commitment from 41224 to 47 2024 for 61591 19 ambulance commitment from 48224 to 414 2024 for 46672 second any discussion all those in favor say I I opposed it's unanimous uh move to approve following commitments of warrants per warrant number 95456 $15.32 vendor warrant Number 96 for $1,920 58 with holding warrant number 97 for $157,700 Fee number four for $ 5,160 second any discussion all those in favor say I I opposed it's unanimous okay um going down here through aat the abatement yep so we have um first uh abatement from the fire department is for February 2024 and they're requesting an abatement of 14 24, 675 and 35 so I would make that motion second any discussion all those in favor say I I opposed it's unanimous the second abatement is for March 2024 uh 66232 second that motion thank you any discussion all those in favor say I I oppos it's unanimous uh water treatment uh contract here uh yes so as you are aware we are undergoing upgrades to our water treatment facilities um the process has been delayed as you know over the past couple of years it is officially underway the contractor has begun the work uh but with that the engineering firm that's serving as our project manager um has submitted a change of scope ultimately it reflects updated dates to reflect the actual contract term and also um expanded scope which will increase the cost of services by $31,500 the result really is just um more coordination and work as needed the scope has expanded so we do have the funding in place uh Bill Lindsay and the water Commissioners have reviewed signed off on it uh but we just needed to bring it forward for the board s to approve all right any discussion from the board of second all right then I'll move that we uh approve the uh uh agreement for engineering service with Tata and Howard second any discussion yes um chairman What's the total cost for the YMCA plan upgrade it's they're wrapped into two it's the both Camp UPG both upgrades uh and it's a little less than $3 million so this just for the YMCA Camp or for both for both this isn't for that though this is our engineer this is just the engineer serving as the project manager and that number includes this work as well in other words this isn't the company that's doing the work this is our town engineer we're hiring to oversee the work like I'm here with you like a project manager manager more okay so what is the total cost for the ym treatment upgrades I don't have that breakdown in front of me if you reach out to you can give me a a your best guess number I I I don't want to take a shot at it I just know the total amount I can certainly get that information though thank you okay all those in favor of the contract say I I opposed I here's a another paper to sign y okay we have a another contract with Ocean State pyrot Technics for the fireworks Mr C would probably know all about this WOW w yeah in fact it suggest to you oh no that's something different that's so the the contract is uh with Ocean State Fire Technics again it's a contract so it requires the board of selects approval um with the contracts being approved this is for the uh 4th of July fireworks scheduled for June 29th rain date of June 30th uh we're having an approved now because they require um a deposit this is all with donated funds so um no need for the procurement process or anything but just need to bring for the we have money in the bank to pay for it we do yeah okay and these are the ones that did this last year is that right if you know they been switching back and forth um I know the big overrider on a lot of it is the date you know everybody wants to be as close to the fourth as they can yeah so uh the good part is is uh we're we're at the 29th so we're we're as close to the fourth as we can kind of get so I know that was one of the deciding factors on why to go with with these folks that's great just so we put it on the record it the proposed date is June 29th 2024 for the uh annual uh Halifax fireworks display with the rain date of June 30th I that's Saturday and Sunday okay um so do we have a you want to make a motion Mr Sure I'll make a motion to accept the just me I'll make a motion to accept the contract with Ocean State pyrotechnics for the July 4th celebration dated June 29th 2024 I'll set any discussion all those in favor say I ious and all signed off thank you all right next up is uh reappointment of Barbara Curtis to the U old County Elder Services representative um so the town has a um every member community as a representative to Old Colony Elder Services Barbara is our Outreach coordinator uh at the Council on Aging she you guys had appointed her to this position when she started it's an the Old Colony requires it to be an annual reappointment uh so she just asking to reappoint Mar okay and you were the one who thought idea no I think it's a great idea because there's a lot of uh Insider stuff with uh with that job and as far as coas go so it makes total sense to have somebody that's in it on a daily basis so so I think it'll be good for Halifax to have Barbara be our representative all right we have a motion I'll gladly make the motion to reappoint Barbara Curtis as our old colony Elder Services repr any discussion all those in favor say term ending June 30th 2025 uh any further discussion all those in favor say I I it's unanimous let sign up all right we have a uh a letter from the highway surveyor um just um I am writing to let you know that our department received a generous salt donation from J McKinnon company located in Hansen Massachusetts we received 130 tons of road salt this spring with an estimated value of $70 per ton um so that's a good thing so I suppose we should I would recommend that we write a letter to uh McKinnon J McKinnon company thanking them for the donation and copying uh Mr Hayward and congratulating him on a on a uh job well done I'll second that any discussion all those in favor say I I opposed Chan all right um we have a memo from the highway department we can we're skip it over that skip over that to next meeting just because we're going to talk about funding different ARA projects so I thought it would be more beneficial to tie that in I noticed that was on that list of Capital Improvements yes exactly so we're going to skip uh let's see I don't don't have the paperwork we have a have it right [Applause] [Music] here so this is the 98 Home Street okay let's see here I'm just contingent upon approval from uh conservation cuz they're meeting tonight all right um so we have a uh request from eversource to um open a uh 4x6 Road cut for to abandoned gas service line for it must be an abandoned gas service line to demo at 98 Home Street um the stipulation is it has to be um uh approved by the Conservation Commission otherwise uh the building inspector Police Department Highway um have already um have already approved it so um I'll make a motion that we approve the uh Road permit or Road opening permit also any discussion all those in favor say I I opposed it's [Music] unanimous we have another Street same thing with contingent on approval from conservation and Highway this is again for ever source to uh to open a 4x6 Road cut uh and a 4X 15 foot Road cut trench to install new gas service at 203 Oak Street again the uh this will be contingent on approval from conservation and Highway building inspector police water and uh everyone else the highway Department's already highway department has improved but everyone else has um so I'll make a motion that we approve this um opening also I'll second that okay any discussion all those in favor say I I opposed she uh 630 two more minutes got one more minute all right so uh since Jeremy's oh Alan you're here good all right we don't have you on as a schedu date but we do have your application here so this was put on because um we received the talent Bank form the when the board approved the charge for the um aif restoration committee you only did it as three members so we wanted to bring It Forward on how you'd like to proceed I know Jeremy's here so but um if you wanted to expand that so if you were looking to expand it you would just need to vote to um amend the charge to x members whatever your decision is and we can do that and then if you were to vote to um appoint someone then that would be two separate motions but just bring it forward to see how you wanted to proceed Jeremy you want to tell us uh what you think well we have three now three four would be better should we do a um uh like a like raise it to maybe five you could do up to five and then if it's filled great if it's not that's okay this just better you know okay um what's the board think I think we should just increase it to five gates depart up to five if necessary yeah no I think that makes sense J's Point let me make that motion first that we uh the air wife restoration commission up uh will change the makeup of it to up to five um uh members I'll second that all right any discussion all those in favor say I I and uh now Alan how did you get how did Jeremy hook you into this you understand talk to you about what he wants you you efficient with him again were you get the fishing guys well I am kind of like an IM naturalist I always have very interested nature for years for a few years I was a fisherman hman and so the for lman the cycle of the the haing is very important it's part of their process the DAT process whatever and uh the uh the hering qu has been in distress for a while and Not only would it be good for the for the town to uh encourage the the fish to to breed in the ponds again and everything would be good for the total Wildlife cycle you know so I think it's uh something that we can pay attention to it's easy to do people a lot of people won't even notice but um it's something that we can easily do to to help crisis that's here that we're facing okay any questions from the board and they answer you question about how I got involved yeah he on the committee with my wife on beautification oh that's right I forgot about that last old black man now I want you guys to see this button you see this button can you see that far dude yeah do you know what that is that is an original Earth Day button from 1970 so I've kept it all this time so my Bonafide as as an environmentalist they're right out in front of almost as old as you gave it to him when he was born seventh grade get you some waiters and we'll put you out sced all right so I'll make a motion to appoint Alan Palmer as uh another representative to the air wife restoration commit gladly second now any discussion all those in favor say I I uh unanimous I mean opposed I'm sorry that's unanimous sorry about that okay next we have um Mr Diaz Alan Diz uh who has an application for the Conservation Commission um how many uh openings are there on on there do you know right now we have one opening one opening I think it's actually three chatter set up for five members and two off my member is correct yeah they haven't had alates for a number of years okay so we have a letter from um Miss Salter Peggy Salter uh dat of mar an email rather dat of March of 2024 the commission met with Mr Diaz during their Tuesday March 26th meeting the committee voted 2 to1 to remember recommend Mr Diaz to the select board as a cons conservation board member uh member Martin plant abstained from the vote citing she did not have enough experience to make that kind of a decision uh please add Mr Diaz to your agenda for the commission commission's requested appointment of Mr Diaz to the Conservation Commission um we have gotten a email from uh at least from Mr Gillespie I don't have it here with me um and you you have something to say you may as well I mean I like my email into the record uh I don't one with on top is the one no that's there's a new there's a new one see all right well why don't you tell us what you uh why you want to be on the commission and and so on gentlemen as you're well aware I me everybody is familiar with me and what I've done in the town I've been a resident for 46 years I have watched the Conservation Commission meetings for the last year or so and the commission is a very important function of town and it's it's kind of missing what I think it really needs some experience um you got new members you got members that leaving you got new members that are starting and I think that with my experience um I've been contracted for 35 years I've been I've represented clients on this side of the table fromont of Conservation Commission meetings I'm familiar the wet protection act familiar with the uh stom Water Management sanitation code and I think I can assist the board in trying to get itself reorganized so that it functions as a good board and it's not just handling complaints okay I think my emphasis if you guys choose to appoint me would be on stor Water Management um there we've got some regulations they've been in effect for a while um there's nobody really out there to pay attention to that they don't have an agent um so if this board feels as though I can help that board I'm okay I did speak with Cher my goal is probably to be on the board for about a year if possible and and hopefully we can get that board organized with meeting schedule I should say meeting schedules meeting formats meetings are kind of jungle if you see this um and then assist St Water Management that will be my goal guess that's the email there so we did get an email today uh and I'll just read it uh it says Dear Board of Selectmen please see attached note and the following regarding zero Pine Street North Halifax zero Pine Street North Halifax Mass D confirmed that film material has been brought onto the property uh Mass D confirmed that additional clearing has taken place on the property Mass D confirmed that the property is located in a Riverfront area uh violation of River's protection act and wetlands protection Mass D confirm that the property is a wetland Mass D confirmed that the property falls within an outstanding res Source Waters uh and their tributaries uh outstanding uh when they get a whole bunch of citations here denight 3314 cmr4 for as outstanding resource Waters uh outstanding resource Waters include class a public water supplies and their tributaries uh and certain surface waters and other uh other waters is determined by the department based on their outstanding socio socioeconomic recreational ecological and or aesthetic values it's my strong opinion Mr da should not be appointed to the Halifax Conservation Commission in addition to the wetlands and other violations ongoing at his zero Pine Street North property he's also currently personally engaged with the water department on a proposed construction development within priority habitat and which there's no current approved site plan uh additionally Mr Diaz owns many acres of wetlands in and around East mon ponsit though I've no doubt that Mr Diaz is a very intelligent and hardworking man it's my personal opinion that he has too many conflicts of interest to appropriate appropriately and fairly serve on the Halifax Conservation Commission please take this into consideration when deciding on how to vote all right so that's the email we received I I don't know if you have anything you want to respond to or you don't have to it's up to you that comment I want to make on Mr ph's allegations they've been well vetted they've been vetted by D mhm quite frankly he doesn't know what he's talking about okay do you uh fore you have any conflicts on the one of the issues that one of the questions I had at the conservation meeting is you know would how would I handle um where I'm still working I'm not fully working I'm trying to retire how do you handle that type situation um I know a lot of people in town if I have a financial interest then I would accuse it yourself mhm if because you know someone if there was the potential we' file disclosures I'm very familiar with the open meeting La so I have no issue with either accusing myself or fing a disclosure and I just I want to point out one thing about the Conservation Commission when you're looking at a plan and you're looking at weapons it's kind of like check the box if it meets that criteria then you need to allow it so some of the advances is reading the plans trying to determine you know just how much of an impact that's on Wetlands but you know that I understand I've been there um but as far as a conflict I'm very familiar with the conflict vs was and if it came to a situation where it was a close friend I accus myself okay anyone from the board of any questions you have another one there John oh no I'm just want to St Eddie Lan 82 allnut Street I'm on the Conservation Commission been there for a while I think his experience will really help with the process of more organizing meetings um he's obviously somewhat retired so he is in the area some of us on the board do work so we have really no way to get back here if something came up or anything like that and obviously we don't have a conservation agent which would obviously help but um I think it'd be an asset actually okay thank you think he says if he has a conflict of interest he would excuse himself okay thank you all right uh anybody else comments yes a comment uh Mr Lane was the one chosen to go do a site visit at zero Pine Street North when conservation went out there he was one of the the people that went out there I know Kathy went um and Mr L actually he lied uh at the Conservation Commission meeting he lied because he said I went out to the site no fill has been brought into the property nothing's been added to the property and if you look at everything I took you from Mass D which I obtained through a public records request they admit Phil was brought into the property you go look up you can go on anybody can go on uh USGS interactive and run liar on there and see piles of debris within 200 ft of stepson Brook which is a river so Mr Lane was not truthful in his statements regarding the site visit Mass D is aware and then my understanding is they're still currently investigating I mean you can't take a cranberry bog and just d a bunch of stuff on it next to the large you know step of Brook runs into East M that is a very important piece of water and he has not taken good care of that land within at least within 200 ft of that street and it's 200 ft okay these are facts anybody from the board has any comments questions um yeah uh this is this is a tough one this is this has been one of the hardest decisions I've had to make since being a selectman um Allan I want to thank you for your service to the town you've done decades worth of service I don't I know his integrity is being questioned I don't have questions with his Integrity I don't have questions that he's a hardworking good citizen Halifax um but I do think uh For Better or Worse it's uh gotten to be a little political you know you put yourself out there politically um and I know we as a town are trying to move past that a little bit so again um very very hard very hard decision for me um but I I don't think I I can I can go for your approval just based on past experience with uh the recent political things and uh it pains me because I know you're a very knowledgeable guy and uh I think you on that aspect you'd be great but um as a town we're trying to to move forward with things so I I hope you understand where I'm coming from here that I do and I don't think that the political my political views has any my political views won't make a difference when I'm looking at regulations okay we have regulations you read those you interpret them you make your decision based on those regulations I think political views are for okay all right anybody else board um honestly with with with his background and everything um yes he's had some stuff in the past politically like you said um but with his knowledge and dedication to everything in the town for the 46 years he's lived here um and everything he's done to up until this thing with all the all his training and whatnot it's a lot more than the board that we have now and it like Mr Lane said it would help out because he's got experience and time and he knows how to read the plans um some people aren't going to agree with me and that's that's how we how we are um but with that being said you got different things and um he's got the knowledge and know how to do things and within the conservation I don't see I don't see the reason of not many other applications and um that's the only one we have I believe there is one more from what I've heard not that we've seen we don't have all we have before is Mr Diaz apparently that's the only one that's been there well I personally would like to add on to the fact that when I sat on the planning board with Alan Diaz it was a nightmare and he and his girlfriend sent a letter to the employer that I work for and told them in a lengthy page and a half that I was a racist so he does cause a lot of issue and my boss a broker of the office I'd worked for him for 18 years called me and said I just want you to know that I received this but I know it's absolutely stunningly not true so therefore I am letting you know that this occurred and then I would also bring you to the fact that if he told two other conservation agents that they were not allowed on his property that that would be also not a good idea to put him on the conservation when he already did prove of two people from the conservation board going over to his property and and had I believe that's in writing isn't it yes so I mean like that right there is a very very serious thing you took a board of people who were appointed to read the laws and regulations and said I'm sorry but you two can't come over they were appointed by the board of Selectmen to represent the town and and and they were not allowed to go over and assess his property he's got a lawsuit in Hansen going on due to to conservation and I will stand here and I will again remind you of the fact that why would I deserve a letter being sent to my broker and I can share it with you as public record okay um any other comments from the board um John so like I'd like to bring up something that you said one time to me okay you know we need to bring some new people in some younger people in on the on these boards committees Cody you know good hire I'm real happy with him he's he's a hard worker um we're kind of sick of the old Towny stuff you know and and you said that like the same people always on there you know other people will apply who have the the knowledge if he has such knowledge about the well protection act then why is he currently violating it or why did he violate it I mean I mean I'm just asking you to think about it because it's easy to appoint somebody it's more difficult to remove them conservation not missed any meetings because they didn't have Quorum they have Quorum I mean there was four people last time I went um I just don't think Mr Diaz and I'm not saying anything about his intelligence I I believe him to be very intelligent and a hard worker but I don't think conservation's the right fit for him and I think that we've kind of had enough of the same old folks floating around for a while it's a bad look okay any other comments from the board okay so um my view um is this um when when we appointed you to the um bylaw committee right uh and Mr Diaz came and he he said you know I I uh I I I I don't remember all the details but I didn't think you would be a good fit and I thought and and he said you shouldn't do that but we appointed you anyway uh and I think you've done an excellent job and my thought at the time was you know there may be there may be a clash of personalities uh in some of this and I don't know all this history and I know that some uh there is a lot of history between a lot of people um and I don't I I I take it into account but I don't give it as I don't make that a decision based just on that um personally I know Allan I've known him for long as I've been in town uh and was parents uh his father was the first Grand Knight at our uh Church the Halls named after him so I know them pretty well I know all his warts I know he's you know he's had issues up and down and so haven't we all so I'm not I'm not really that concerned about that but I I look at the um possibility here uh I mean the uh credentialing uh it's very good and know is this his business know his knows his business there's no question in my mind about that that's a problem well anyway uh and I I I don't I don't think that um I I'm just I just don't have that concern uh with this uh appointment um in particularly when we have the board itself who has already talked to him and they they they feel comfortable with him also so that would be my thought process on all of this um so unless we have any other comments I'll make a motion to appoint Mr Diaz uh to the Conservation Commission when is this expired I don't know me that uh let me get let me see if I get a second first we have a second no second all right can you please read the the I'm sorry you have you approve in an email of D stating issues an email from D no there isn't there yes an attachment yeah we have the well we have the attachment so you're going to appoint somebody the Conservation Commission that clearly violated the weather protection act okay I heard you I mean is that what you want to do Mr chair point we heard you okay we heard all that seen it it's in the record we don't we don't really need to go but it's also in the record you're representing us and seeing this I hear that and not doing what's right by the town I hear that that's fine we've heard that already thank you all right any further discussion from the board all right um all those in favor say I I opposed right uh so it passes by majority vote and I'm sure you'll do a good job and we look forward to Alan we'll um we'll send a letter Pam will contact you and you'll just need to get sworn in at the clerk's office but she'll re she'll reach out to you only because I have to see Mr that's fine and I can't remember when his ter would have been up so I by his he's whenever you'd have it just have John sign the card and then just just send Al an email I will this letter anyway the ter exp that's they only take a little maybe your skills could come in handy we could we could use a little of you my black belt skills yeah both of them um am I supposed to do anything with this is this just know all right so that brings us to I said um that brings us to updates uh MBT action plan no updates Morse Brothers no new updates training for boards and committees no new updates as far as Staffing and operations uh warrant went out people should start receiving them today I think actually received his today so um those will start coming in the mail we officially launched our uh Community Forum Halifax so um that was posted on our Facebook page um we had any hiccups with that no it's been uh it's been a good system uh we've received one or two comments so far and we've been you know pretty quick to get back to them but um you know we really want to emphasize people to utilize that rather than social media as they can get the accurate information uh and then the only other thing was uh today selectman seel and I continued what we've done in past Town meetings we did a town meeting warrant preview so we filmed that with area 58 uh we had received good feedback in the past so we went through each article gave a brief explanation uh and touched on some of the points so that should be uh getting um sent out by area 58 by the end of the week as well so residents can watch that and get a little um some more information prior to town meeting based on that and then just a reminder town meeting is May 13th um I thought I saw a letter from representative latra of the MBTA um and I think did you guys get so um it's somehow it's part of our record um I I I appreciate the fact that she responded that's that's good um but I don't think the point that she got the point um our our point is that um her her constituents and our constituents which is the town of Halifax uh oppose and don't approve of and don't like this particular law and as a member of the um legislature uh the changes to that law would have to come through the legislature and as our representative we would ask her to do that or at least to figure out a way to mitigate the issue but we can't really have her do that if she won't come and talk to the town so ask sending us a letter saying well you can call me anytime and talk about about it is really I mean that's nice but I'm not going to I'm not going to take up her cross you know they the state legislature has to defend this to the people in town I'm not going to do it because I don't agree with it so with that being said I wonder if again I should write we should write another letter say thank you for this one uh but what we really would like you to do is come into town and hold a forum and explain to the people what this law is or what it's not or why it can't be changed or why it can't that's what I because that's what I really want out of this again we we sat through the meeting with a whole room full of angry people and like well you're mad at me but I I never anything to do with it right sure and I I and I and I can't fix it so why don't we have the people that can fix it come in and explain that's what I would like to do okay yeah I definitely think we should acknowledge the receipt of the letter at least and then U appreciate that yeah and appreciate that she's reached out to us and uh yeah I'd be okay with asking if uh she would like to come in and have what you're talking about okay can you I can draft something the end of the week y I'll send um so that being said I guess that's it um yeah anything else to come before the board Mr cing has an appointment so we have that's it I have softball pictures in 20 minutes in uniform yeah it will be let dress softball coach in Halifax we'll move to a journ we have a second second any discussion all those in favor say I opposed it's unanimous for