##VIDEO ID:VYq-U0aNEaI## meeting to order at 6:00 have a full forum tonight uh if you would uh join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the 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 uh first thing is um A 6:00 appointment with attorney Capa and uh Linda McCarthy our uh Treasurer and how do you want to start this yeah so Dave maybe um if you going to give an overview of what the Board needs to decide tonight and some of the the reason why we're here the recent changes just high level I think so the board is able to make an informed decision sure absolutely um um so we're obviously here uh regarding 15 Ocean Avenue um and that was recently foreclosed on um in Lan Court through a tax Lan foreclosure um unpaid real estate taxes uh and uh the town filed a foreclosure case in 2019 it took approximately 5 years for it to be completed because of the number of people that were involved in the case and um the court just issued foreclosure judgment in um on November um 7th I believe um and the reason why uh the board uh is involved at this juncture is because there was a re recent change in the laws um that requires immediate action on the part of the municipality after uh the town becomes the owner of a property through foreclosure and that involves uh making a decision uh whether to retain the property or sell the property and that essentially needs to be done uh 44 days after the Foreclosure judgment issues and the main purpose of that um is in order to determine or generate uh a surplus over and above what the town is goed on the property that would go back to the former owners of the property so this legislation uh that has gone into place went into place on November 1st 2024 so about a month and a half ago and prior to the passage of this legislation once a town forclosed on the property uh they would retain all Equity they would Own 100% of the property and if they sold it uh for a profit over and above what they owed uh they would retain all of that money now the laws recently changed on November 1st where anything uh that is generated through a sale or an appraisal of the property in the situation that the town would retain it um would need to go needs to go back to the former owners so that they uh have the ability to collect um over you know they they're not losing uh more than what they owe to the town at this point um so that's basically um it stems from a Supreme Court decision in Minnesota stating that when you foreclose you can't keep all equity in the property and Massachusetts was one of those states that um extinguished all equity and now their laws have have subsequently changed so the laws that are now in place are requiring immediate action from the town after they foreclose on the property um to make it decision um to either retain the property or sell the property now once that decision is made that the town has uh a little bit of leap time to execute retaining or selling the property uh but for the purposes of immediate action uh the decision needs to be made and then notice needs to go out to the former owners um of of the board's decision and it's within the the um jurisdiction of the board to make this decision because now the property is Town owned and it's within the care custody and control of the board to dispose of it or retain the property okay uh the decision has to be made by what like tonight this is the end of the line or what well essentially uh notice needs to go out the deadline to send notice out to the uh former ERS of the town's decision is December 26th okay all right so um essentially I I would say unless the board is meeting um between today and the 26 um the decision should be made tonight in order for notice to go out to those parties just for my own edification not that it matters here tonight but how many states have similarly extinguished their rights for Equity like Massachusetts has uh um at the time uh this this Supreme Court decision was issued in the summer of 23 there were about 13 states that um that retained uh full equity in the property after foreclosure okay uh Linda can you tell us uh anything about the property and is it that something that we could find a use for what what can you tell us about it it I actually don't know what the what it looks like I can get you the property what's own on it but what it physically looks like okay it's it's overgrown um dilapitated it's less than a tenth of an acre um I don't I don't see any use due to the small nature of it I can tell you if I did speak with our insurance um provider they do not provide coverage for residential Parcels so any if if we were to retain it we they would um they would basically assist us with getting an additional policy but it it would come at a pretty high cost just because we're a municipality owning a residential property and it's also not it's not in the best of shape um which opens up additional liability who maintains the homeowners insurance Hazard Insurance in the interim if we do decide to sell we have it now and our insurance company will um cover Us in the interm as we're in the process excuse me in the process of um selling it which is subre upon the sale to reimburse us for cost paid yeah we would right uh we would be able to U get all those costs back Dave right correct um if if you were to sell the property um then you would determine at the time of the sale essentially at the time of closing what your total Cloud costs are and that would include all the taxes and interests that have accured on the property and then any cost that the town has incurred after the Foreclosure judgment has issued in preparing the property to be sold um um such as um you know any any I guess cleaning out of the property or uh cutting down the property from overgrowth if it's not occupied it's my understanding that it's likely not occupied um and obviously the the cost of that go into um hiring a real estate broker to to Market and sell the property and that would include Force Place Hazard Insurance on a vacant home uh yes you know that's that would be uh that's a that's a bit of a gray area but I would recommend in those situations that you would include that a cost and then it would be a situation where if the former owners were to contest what the the amount that they're getting back um they might contest that that cost um one of the one of the steps that needs to be taken once you sell the property you need to provide the former owners an itemized list of what the town has owed and and what they are now going to be getting back as Surplus over and above what the town is owed Linda can you tell us how much is at stake here MoneyWise tax-wise I didn't get it for you can I didn't bring I should have brought it I didn't bring it right um okay uh I mean I looked at it on Google Maps and it looks it looked like to me like an undeveloped parcel or whatever not and probably not buildable or rehabit I mean it's right on the lake uh it's we figured it's 39 Square 3900 ft it's a little less than a tenth of an acre yeah and so probably valuable only to one of the neighbors really not really buildable I would think um it did catch my eye where it's on the water but I don't there's really not much you can you can do with it yeah know yeah the is only the previous property I believe the same side of the road correct there's uh front nothing in front of it because that's the lake one on either side and then there's the road people on the other side um okay um any other questions for Mr Capa no for um for the treasurer no um okay so um this I I I I would prefer before we made a decision like this that we had the opportunity to um um advertise this to the various Town departments make sure that no one else has a use for it I don't think we have that CH I don't think we have that time now simply because of the change in the law right I mean if you if that's what the board board would like to do you could you could say you could vote to sell the property contingent upon no um you know viable interests from a town department or board and we could notify everyone tomorrow morning and let us know they would need to get back to us by you know Tuesday yeah um and if someone expressed you know again viable interest not just we're interested but you know we think this would be a good parcel for X um then then we could hold off and that would be basically you you'd be retaining it we'd have to make that decision though like next Tuesday well no I guess we'd make it now yeah you make it now if your inclination is you want to you want to sell it unless there's a viable you know option you could make a contingent upon that yep and we would notify everyone tomorrow via email that they would need to notify Us by Tuesday and then Mr chair we me and you could be in um touch and the board's comfortable if Mr Bruno and I found it to be a viable solution then you would retain it if it no viable Solutions then you would vote you would sell it because that would be your vote I mean I my own that's my my thing I don't think it's useful I don't think anybody really wants it but it seems to me that um and again I think maybe in the future we would have a better policy to do this you know but obviously this is a special C I think where where it was new the law was new it kind of came down to us kind of caught us a little bit short-handed but but I do think it's always a good idea to at least make sure we don't have a use for it I maybe use the recreation who knows I there's only so many water properties in town you know and I do think it doesn't hurt to to throw it over to parks and just have them take a look at it and see if it's something that they might have a use for um I mean if you guys are uncomfortable with Cody and I making that decision I guess we could um just schedule a a zoom confer a zoom meeting for Tuesday um afternoon and then just cancel it if it if it if there's no interest that's Christmas Eve right oh is that Christmas Eve it is Christmas Eve I mean I like you I don't know if I want to spend Christmas Eve so I mean see the top you got the Grinch yeah right if you wanted to do a meeting you could do a Monday night as a quick zo May Monday would Monday night if that's something you guys wanted to do you feel that would rather do Monday Monday or Monday or Tuesday before noon it's fine Tom are you okay with that making that call Cody and John or would you I don't care one way or another I just want to make sure we do this you know uh I prefer to be evolved if possible to it uh and that' be available Monday or Tuesday before 1 1:00 okay so why don't we why don't I do this I'll make a motion that we um uh uh sell uh the property um um and but contingent on uh notice to all the department heads that if they what's today today's Tuesday they could tell us they could tell us by Friday if you think that's reasonable or we could give Monday morning for some of these boards you know for instance Park they don't really have a department head for instance I'd have to notify that commission right they have to notify and so it'll be contingent on no like you say viable interest from town boards uh that interest has to be uh back in our hands by first thing Monday morning or early Monday morning and in addition we will schedule uh we'll post them a meeting for Tuesday I mean Monday anytime particular flexible yeah okay sometime in the afternoon I guess and uh if uh if there's no interest uh it'll just be canceled to clarify that' be a zoom meeting on Monday afternoon yeah time what time just so I can what's good for you U let me just Monday uh I just I have a meeeting at 4:00 this four work I have a meeting at 3: 4 good yeah Four's fine Monday the 23rd at 400 p.m. so I will let the board know Monday by midday if we're going to have it or not okay okay I think that's good all right so that's my motion do we have a second I have a second yeah that's a second right there any discussion on that all those in favor say I I oppose it's unanimous like I said I I just would feel more comfortable if we before we made a decision that we we we explored all avenues and who knows I'm I don't consider certainly don't have all the answers and then if there's no interest no no need to meet you're satisfied selling it yep we'll just cancel the meeting okay good so that giv us plenty of time to post it too we going be able to post a meeting in y we going to post it tomorrow Thursday Dave does that satisfy uh the board's requirement thus far that does yep uh so I would um I'll send out the notices one way or the other whatever the town decides um and I as long as I get that on Monday at some point or or Tuesday I can get those out on the 26th which would be the day after Christmas okay yeah either Linda or I will be in touch with you on Monday evening to let you know which way let's hope in the in the essence of the holiday week we could try and get it to you as early as we can I appreciate it yeah I mean if we get answers by Friday that everybody says no Then we we cancel the meeting and we're off and selling this proper leave them hanging to dry on the holid so okay very good all right um I think we're good thanks Dave thank you thank you happy holiday happy than you are you all set with us too I'll get all the tax that yeah just so that'd be helpful to know anyway yeah just okay great thanks for coming in thank you thanks Linda all right so we're only a little bit behind uh Steve Littlefield accredited claims agent that's something that Tom might know about claims guy claims you don't have to stand up for that I think they'll catch just on the mic because we want to catch it on the okay all right y um I just wanted to talk to everybody tonight about some changes that have been going on with the world of veterans and the executive office of veteran services uh mainly this accreditation process that has been in discussions for a few years now they've been kind of kicking the can down the road um essentially this year in June they came out and said that in order for any vso to be able to do a claim with the VA uh a disability compensation claim or a claim for healthcare we have to be accredited through the executive office of veteran service so it took them a while to kind of put a plan together which they ended up doing which was a um like a a basic training course they call it through the national veterans legal service program which is about a 40 hour training program that I did complete um however the other requirement that the VA put into place was that the vso must work a minimum of a th000 hours a year which essentially comes out to about 20 hours a week um which I am not scheduled for currently so basically everything else is in place I have the training um we have access to the program called vetraspec which allows us to do the claims and send them up to the VA Regional Office in Boston um the only thing we're missing now is the hours so I wanted to explore any ideas about how we might be able to get there uh Cody and I also talked to the Hansen um Town Administrator today their vso just resigned so exploring maybe ideas about we talked about mostly a short-term solution to help them out for now but possibly a longer term solution that could benefit both communities um and that's kind of where we're at so just some kind of Statistics that I've been dealing with a bulk of my work has to um go to the chapter 115 recipients which is a state uh Aid that we Supply the check for and they reimburse us 75% of all authorized benefits which usually most of that is authorized um we have about anywhere between 15 and 17 recipients on a monthly basis most of them live in the mobile home park a lot of them are elderly widows of veterans who are eligible for those benefits um so that's a bulk of the work and then the claims is also a big part of it so the problem being that if we don't meet these requirements and I'm not able to get accredited um we're in kind of a grace period right now where I'm able to do them for now the um downfall to not being accredited would be that I have to turn people away which is not only would the veteran in town not getting the services they need from the town but then we' also be placing a burden on other Vos and other local communities so that's kind of where we're at that's kind of why I'm here tonight and wanted to discuss any ideas that you guys might have so you're um the bottom line is that uh you need to increase the hours that the Veterans office that you work at the Veterans office that's what is and so right now uh you have to get up to a th000 to be accredited what what what do you at now uh I think we 12 hours a week is what the the stien accounts for okay so you know we when we did the reclass that study we included the veteran position although the town historically had done just a set stien and if you take what you know the hourly rate should be and you divide it by what we're getting for this stien it's about 11 and 1 half hours excuse me a week okay so um you know like Steve said we're in a little bit of a grace period right now he's undergone the training which is you know we're exploring options to potentially partner with other communities but um you know we've discussed it before regionalization sometimes works but you have to have the right Partners you have to have the right communities so we're we're trying to explore that but also I think you guys all see everything that Steve does kind of with 12 hours a week isn't a lot right and and the way the Steve's position works is there's some weeks he might put in 30 hours and there's some weeks he might put in you know six or eight um it's really depends on on what volumes needed but considering the the little amount of compensation for what he gets done I mean the fact that we have that many uh benefits in town we just met with Hansen today they have two right two two monthly benefits we have somewhere 15 to 18 every month they used to have a full-time position in Hansen they cut it down to 20 hours a week in ours is 12 and we're doing you know substantially more um so I think you know the while we continue to explore OPP unities for collaboration I think um you know we just wanted to make the board aware of it you'll see in this year's in that fiscal year 26 budget you know while we're cognizant of we needed to make Cuts I don't think this is something you know we can't ignore we need to be able to provide the the claim services to our veterans so um I anticipate recommending an increase to the position to 20 hours a week which is almost a double in the stien so um around $30,000 a year right now it's about 15,000 so does thatwhere it needs to be it does yep that's 20 hours a week do you have time to do that I do I would probably so right now I have my set off hours here usually Thursday nights um but I also work at the needs of the veterans so like I'm here today we're doing some stuff I we're going through the recertification process right now with the benefits so I'm doing a lot of house calls to people who can't drive um so I'm around um but if this work SC to pass I would probably add another night here um I have still about another year left in the Army which is my full-time job um I have a retirement date um if all goes well I should be done this time next year and then you know my my should be a little more flexible um but right now you know I I haven't had any issues addressing the needs of the veterans and like I said if if I have to come in on a on a Monday or or whenever I'll I'm here to uh assist them okay um has this gone this hasn't gone to the finance committee yet no we just want to make the board aware of it in case you're hearing it throughout the community um and get ahead of it early like like Steve said we are in that grace period but if for some reason that um ends prior to the end of the fiscal year I likely will be back before you requesting some sort of um uh agreement with Steve you know because Steve's position where it's a stien is in our wag and Personnel bylaw the bylaw does allow you and the finance committee to differ from that in the existing fiscal year as long as it's brought back to Tom meeting at the next year so if we get to you know spring and that brace period ends I don't think well Steve and I certainly wouldn't recommend that we not be able to provide that assistance so I would be looking at that point to supplement in the meantime to up to that additional up additional eight or so hours a week to get us through till we can get it before time meeting May 26 uh 25 May May 25 to to allow them to vote um so just really keeping you informed you don't need to make a decision at this point but it's just to keep you informed uh of what's going on and what could be coming down the road you'll you'll certainly see an increase in the budget request that's a guarantee but if for some reason something changes where that grace period Runs Out you may see something sooner to get us through the remainder of this fiscal year so like the near term Target is the state is consolidating all the training from all the different vsos in the state so everybody that does the training and then there's a a VA form that has to be filled out by every vso which is a application for accreditation as a claims agent um they're basically bundling everybody up and doing that in one Fell Swoop with the VA that I'm anticipating getting that VA form they said sometime late January early February and then they're going to submit it from there so I don't have a hard date of when this grace period is going to end but probably looking at sometime in the in the spring to um not to put you on the spot that's fine um would you be so the state wants municipalities now to really look hard at regionalization would you be would you be okay I don't want to share you you're one of our shining stars here in the town but would you be okay considering a position if it was Halifax and another Community much like we did we did our conservation agent we share with Bridgewater is it something you would entertain or would you prefer to solely be here in Halifax or Halifax is my priority yeah these are my my people and I'm going to stay here but I would be open to the the discussion um I've done a little bit of digging into creating a district which has some a lot of leg work in itself U there's some guidance from the executive office about how that needs to happen there's a certain Manning requirement which would end up being more than just so for example if we were to district with Hansen yeah based on the combined population you would need one full-time director and then a part-time um clerk basically who doesn't have to be a veteran but they have minimum Staffing requirements and then it has to get approved by the secretary and uh it's a few other things that go into it certainly open to exploring the idea um I also need to be careful I don't bite off more than I can chew yeah with my other we bur we don't want to burn you out uh yeah so it's kind of a balancing act right now I want to help out other veterans whether they're in Halifax or wherever yeah um certainly open to the idea of of districting if it makes sense for all parties if not then I'm perfectly happy just stay in I just trying to think of a way to get you more out I mean do those 20 hours have to come from one municipality for that you know or can it come you know could it be 8 and 12 I I think as long as you're working your thousand hours I think it doesn't matter doesn't matter I think as I mentioned regionalization can work but it depends who the partners are um so it's in with the veterans District you have to be physically or geographically connected yeah so in order across to have a district we got about four towns right and we' reached out to all of them okay um and only one is shown potential interest but uh but you know Steve and I are exploring that but uh again it's very important who the players are in these things particularly with a position like this um where it's not a fulltime position and where there's times right you know Steve is going to people's homes or he's kind of working with people for what works for them you can't have an expectation of okay you know you you're 20 hours a week you're going to be in the office 20 hours a week on these set days just not that type of no it's a fluid position if you don't have two um communities that are under that Mutual understanding it doesn't work I also wouldn't want to there's certain things that I think would would benefit but also I think it would need to be centralized like Central Hub out of Halifax and then go to you know wherever as needed but to have an office here and an office there and a Memorial Day Parade here and a memorial day like that's a that's too much y so like I said if it if it works then open to it didn't know if it was worth kicking the tires and wanted to get your take on it before we even sniff down that road I guess yeah I do think regardless of the requirement we need to invest more in the position the reality is Steve Works probably closer to 20 hours a week but our position doesn't call for that you know we've been compensating the stien hasn't been changed in several years and we're compensating for basically 12 but what's what what could be getting done and what should be getting done probably as close to that 20 hours a week no I agree yeah I mean there's there's the stuff that needs to get done and then there's the stuff that I would like to do if give the opportunity like a veteran breakfast a more community outreach um stuff that I not the paperwork stuff that has to done but more the community more reaching to the community absolutely y you think um so um I think we need to tell the finance committee we need to do that a little bit more than we have been doing lately to make sure that they this type of thing they know is coming down the road uh but can we also get like some sort of U statistics on like the number of people you would would be dealing with with this change and that kind of thing because those are the kind of questions going to be asked sure so I can get those to you okay good um well Ian I'm certainly in favor of I am as Big Board in general just a matter of uh just a matter of squeezing the lemon a little harder again I guess this year well thank you for your time all right thank you so than you do a great job for us you appreciate it appreciate it I apologize we're a few minutes late but um so the next one up on our agenda is Alexandra Alexandra Baron and you are uh have put in your application to be on the youth and Recreation okay um oh there it is okay thank you okay um do do you want to just tell us a little bit I think most of us know a little bit about you but why don't you tell the tell the world because we're on the world's watching world can the world can hear me too gotcha so my name is Alex Peroni Alexandra is is not necessary um I've lived in Halifax for 29 years now um but full-time since postgrad so I went to college off in Florida and then graduate school in Ireland and then once I graduated from my Master's Degree I I came back and never left um I think living in various states and countries infrequently uh gave me an appreciation for Halifax that I I didn't truly have until becoming an adult and I had wonderful opportunities throughout my adolescence even childhood to play sports in Halifax to work as a team for the Youth and recck Department in Mr steel and then stay connected with youth and Recreation throughout my college Years and graduate years so I was fortunate enough to to play sports in college but also be able to connect with the community in St Petersburg Florida where where I was going to school um we were able to attend events in the community because of my association with um the softball team at the time time um moving abroad I had a whole new found appreciation for youth organizations Sports um and other forms of recreation as well being able to participate there and see the differences and then moving back I was able to to stay involved um volunteering with youth basketball girls basketball um Youth Softball as well and have not stopped volunteering sense so I was able to kind of move into the cleic um sphere as well so I coached softball at Wheaten College as an assistant and from there just introducing those players to the import importance of of Youth and Recreation in their own towns as well so that's an in nor Mass um and then as I transition to being full-time up in Welsley at the college that I I teach at um just realizing the importance that Community has on um children teens um adults and so forth and how that plays a pretty big factor in and how they are shaped as they become adults so when I I I found out that there was an opening on on the Halifax Youth and Recreation board I uh immediately called Mr steel and he didn't answer so I um I put in my form thank you Pam and I figured that would be a great way to get back into um hbox Community just from a different different um view than I had been or have been my my entire life um and not so much focusing on Sports I think there's a lot of other great forms of Recreation that can be um or you could participate in through Halifax very happy to see that the track is has been updated um but just the different places i' I've been fortunate enough to live um and exploring the community there and the different um just say modes of recreation but the different ways that I could participate in those communities and try to bring that back and tie it into what I do for for work as well so I'm I'm a an academic coordinator it would be kind of what you would normally hear of almost a associate Dean role so I'm able to instruct I teach biology and Anatomy physiology but I also work in academic grants as well so I um I manage federal and state grants um to increase enrollment in our programs um and increase enrollment of certain student populations that that need additional support um in other in different ways than than other populations so I have experience um with grant writing I'm very fortunate that we have a grant WR now at my school I don't have to do that anymore uh yeah and we also have a compliance director which is huge huge um so now my my primary focus is is Grant Management but I am involved in the pre-award phase as well so I do assistant in just compiling research and data that kind of makes our Grant application worth reading and then I um I handle the post award as well so budget management um deliverables and so forth so um I did a lot digging to see what grants we may apply for I know that may come um um tricky in the upcoming weeks so forth but um really yeah any way to kind of get involved and just bring the skills that I think I have um sounds like you do uh like you you mentioned uh Youth and Recreation is more than just Sports yes a lot of kids that don't participate in sports because they don't like it but we do have theater programs in the past we've got um the uh Easter egg hunt the the parties that dick Steel's involved with and all that so I'm assuming you're very interested in all that yes and I've been a um a monitor at more than one Easter egg hunt and dance that probably more than I never get to wear the bunny costume I know because I am the same age as Um Dick's daughter Lindsay and she's very much she W that up she's the at least when we were teenagers she was the bunny actually that's the real Easter Bunny was talking yeah I know kids watching um but yeah I think you're right I think um since I transition to education and my students there are new no two students who are like each they are different from all of the rest so um just having that better understanding that from a a family that centered on Sports and sports was everything education to but mostly Sports um realizing that that's not the only um Avenue for for for people to participate and to build a community within um and I I have been able to talk to um Bruce a little bit about kind of expanding our our what we consider um Youth and Recreation from the um the norm we do have these great um facilities in in Halifax um maybe we can expand on them make them a little bit better but hopefully um but as long as we just provide an environment for everyone to participate in whatever modality that they're interested in I think That's essential you have a question Tom no I mean you have a lot going on I appreciate the opportunity for you wanting to volunteer and be involved I mean I think it's commendable that you have so much going on in different spots Wheaten and Welsley and teaching no more weat I I I hung up my cleats from coaching but I just think it's I think it's great that you want to be involved and to any extent you'd like to be I think we'd be welcome to have you thank you so much and I there's really no the easiest way to say it is Alex Bron is an impressive human being thank you um smart um former athlete former superar are here in Halifax I'll I'll blow your horn here if you won't do it for yourself you were both part of it so um you know you have the intellect you have the drive um I will say I do get Youth and wreck Envy when I look at what some of the other towns around us are doing with their youth and wreck programs so I'm hoping that you can kind of breathe some some life into into that section of town um swimming lesson you know we have such great resources like you say in town uh that sometimes I think we don't tap into as much as we could um so yeah broadening the horizons I love sports as much as you do but something outside of that realm might be great for some of the other kids and uh I'm excited to have you I'm very very excited to have you on the community fantastic to have somebody come and bring them up from from the bottom to the new job that's I know they train me well you just need to coach you haven't coached here in time I know I haven't coached yet I have a feeling that peperoni guy will will get me on a coaching J coaching a little bit probably would be Christmas president I think yeah it's coming up soon so yeah all right uh do you want to make the motion I would gladly make the motion to appoint uh Alexandra Baron I'll give you the full name thank you uh for to the youth and recck uh commission is it a commission I guess essentially for the term that expires June 30th 2027 do we have a second second all right any further discussion all those in favor say I I janous congratulations thank you so much I appreciate your time have a good holiday thanks you [Applause] too okay go back to the top of the agenda um do the warrants and payroll and then I think what I'm going to do uh when we do that uh I'll just skip down to the license renewal so we can do all of those um kind of at the same time because we have to sign a lot of papers okay I move to air affirm approval of the following warrant and commitments School warrant number 51 for $196,900 ambulance commitments 1118 2024 through 1124 201024 for $2,493 72 second any discussion all those in favor say I I opposed unanimous I move to approve the following warrants payroll warrant number 53 for $46,800 vendor War number 54 for $243,400 248 and withholding War number 56 for $161,600 here on the um the various licenses um I'll go down the list and just I'll make this one motion and I'll go down the list anybody who wants to hold one we just hold it and then come back then we can vote all of them and then come back and discuss it okay do it all and I'll just go right down the list just so my motion will be uh to approve these various licenses do it once and then just just just say if you want to stop and we we'll Circle so if there's discussion we hold at the end yes yeah so we can get through we can vote them all first and the ones that we don't have any come back to instead of doing them all separately so when you said we're holding something we say it when it comes up or at the end when he I'll go WR down the list so when it comes up just just tell me you want to hold it we hold it okay so uh alcoholic beverages General un premises unit 5 bar LLC uh package store all alcoholic subham uh Inc Halifax Lake Street uh Package Store wine and malt Jenis convenience Inc which is Lindy's General Store uh restaurant uh all alcoholic Dragon Lake Village uh D's Grill uh Grill 58 Halifax Investments uh Country Club of Halifax hold one yep uh mon Pon at events DBA The Lakehouse Lionville Tavern and Restaurant DBA nonis Italian Grill um class one licenses uh these are all for mostly mot Motor Vehicles Halifax Mobile Home Estates Association Inc Morgan power uh equipment Inc Class 2 again have to do with automobile licenses uh Allen's uh automotive services auto automotive services Alley's auto repair and Sales Inc uh Davis Automotive you want to hold that put a hold on that y all right Davis Automotive Ellis Auto Body uh J&J Motorsports Pete's Auto Sales RG Automotive Inc TLC company's Inc uh class three um again these are um we have to do with automobiles uh Steve's Auto Recycling uh common vicer license Cape Cod uh Cape Cod Halifax uh DBA Cape Cod Cafe uh uh dragon Lake Village Inc DBA Happy Dragon restaurant we want to hold that one uh hold a discussion later uh we'll discuss it after discuss it yeah we'll discuss it after so I'll just hold put hold on it uh D's grow 58 LLC uh DBA grow 58 uh family and friends Enterprise DBA Santoro's Pizza uh Gen 2 LLC DBA Dunkin Donuts Halifax Investments DBA Country Club of Halifax you want hold that one hold that one mon pons of events DBA The Lakehouse uh Lionville Tavern and restaurant LLC DBA non Italian Grill uh night restaurants Inc DBA Subway uh Rodney's kitchen we need to hold that one too right uh unit five bar LLC DBA the tea box all right um New Year's Eve extended hours uh Happy Dragon restaurant I think we're holding that right hold on to that uh mon pons of events LLC DBA The Lakehouse public entertainment on Sunday again uh hold the dragon dragon Lake Village Inc Halifax Investments DBA Country Club of Halifax hold that one mon ponsit events DBA the lak housee that uh unit 5 DBA the T box public entertainment on weekdays uh Happy Dragon restaurant again hold that uh grow 58 Halifax Investments DBA the country Club hold that mon ponza events DBA the lakeh house lionsville uh restaurant DBA non's Italian Grill and unit five LLC DBA the T box so so Mr chair do you want me to make a motion to approve all licenses that were not held that you just listed on that list MH yes so I'll make that motion okay any further discussion all those in favor say I opposed it's unanimous okay so let's let's go uh and deal with the ones that we have to deal with So Country Club of Halifax is the first one on the list and we have uh one two three four licenses to deal with so I went by um on four separate occasions I've left uh messages on social media and several voicemails I believe based on a conversation with a member that they're only open on weekends in good weather at the moment since our last meeting uh I have been able to U visit uh and me with any any appropriate parties so um I'd like to see that um you know mitigated but I don't know how to get in touch with them without okay um Pam we don't have a contact with these with um the country I do have one I did I did leave a message with today to give me a call all right I heard back do we have um we do have addresses and all for some right so maybe we should um I I would recommend just so we don't have to have another meeting that we approve the licenses uh contingent on them contact contacting us and that we notify them by certified mail regular mail and email prior to 12:31 they have they have to get back to us before that I know I'll know we should be able to get in touch with them I know um our fire chief Building Commissioner just went out there and did an inspection so I'm not sure why I'm not sure what the disconnect on our end is but we'll we'll work in the office to make sure so so the motion would be that uh we're going to do all we're going to try and get in touch with them through the Police and Fire and Building Commissioner which they have to do inspections anyway and then also we'll notify them by email and mail that we uh their licenses will not be renewed uh unless they get back to us by yeah they need to reach out to us schedule schedule something by the end that needs to be scheduled by the end of the year okay all right you okay okay so that's my motion do we have a second I'll second that all right any further discussion all those in favor say I opposed it's unanimous okay so the other one is um Happy Dragon that's mine again so I went out um uh several times and uh all items were fine in an order uh the only item lacking was uh somebody on staff tip certified um the first and second time it was not satisfied I went out again and met and I do have um a new employee newly certified uh that I've given Pam the information for um so subject to that uh all as well okay so uh to be clear we do have a name now right you do have all names and um so why would we not approve it what are we waiting for well we I wasn't waiting for anything I just wanted knowing that the first attempt it went out they were not in compliance okay so I did want to noted that the first two efforts were not um okay six we were not six for six in our metrics yep they were five for six twice um they're now fine but I I wanted to disclose that that was where we were okay all right um so we know they're in compliance now um so we make the motion to approve all the licenses that I'll make that motion to approve all licenses foron Dragon Incorporated DBA Happy Dragon restaurant Sor any discussion on that all those in favor say I opposed that's unanimous all right now that leaves us with Davis Automotive on class two license so so Davis Automotive we can probably take um Rodney's kitchen up as well um we're working to confirm that all applicable taxes have been paid um that are due so my recommendation would be that you approve it contingent upon all taxes being paid by the end of the um calendar year all right and if not we would look to schedule some sort of revocation hearing um in January yeah but as long as the taxes are paid good to go okay seems reasonable all right yeah all right I'll make I'll make a motion to approve the licenses for Davis class two for Davis Automotive and where's the other one lot Rodney's kitchen common um pending uh coming up to their uh tax bill being paid by the end of the year second all right any discussion all those in favor say I oppos that's unanimous okay now uh we can go back up to approval of minutes I guess yes um so we have uh November 9th 2024 November 19th and December 3rd uh Mr chair I'll make a motion to approve the select minutes for November 6th 2024 November 19th 2024 and December 3rd 2024 second any discussion no all those in favor say I opposed that's unanimous um town meeting recap yeah I just wanted to put this on here obviously the agenda was prepared prior to town meeting but just in case there was anything the board wanted to discuss um just before the board discusses I just want to give kudos to um our town Clerk and our assistant Town Clerk and the staff uh as well as our facilities team because we had 722 registered voters at town meeting last night in addition to you know probably 30 or so um visitors um we're looking back but it appears this is the largest town meeting on record in Halifax I think so um our town clerk looked back starting in the 70s and so far this is the largest by by quite an amount so um we you know we anticipated it to be a large group we were thinking probably around 500 but 722 is a lot um it's not what Tom said Tom Tom called I got to give Tom credit he called it so again just the you know the the hard work they put in um luckily we have those pole pads because if we were checking people in with the binders with the paper we'd probably still be checking people in um but they worked diligently I know there was uh the public was a little frustrated with the weight but the staff could not have been more efficient more effective um um from the town clerk's office and and also like I said the facilities team Scott M Turner our director of facilities him and his team set up initially but he was also there all night um I mean at one point he left while people were checking in and came and got you know 100 more chairs here uh and set those up so again I I just can't um thank them enough for seeing that through and I didn't know if the board wanted to reflect on anything in particular that happened uh I personally wholeheartedly agree it was a masterful logistics to get all that done um I I don't know we can do any more than that but I certainly I certainly think they' been marvelous um I would um uh we talked about this before and just bring it up again um I mean we had 722 people you said uh show up um I don't think too many people abstained and I think there was maybe a dozen yet uh votes different uh on the MBTA uh article so what I I would like us to do is for the town meeting to uh have on the warrant a resolution uh instructing our local representatives to work to overturn that law I mean I think it it doesn't have any um weight I I shouldn't say wait doesn't have any legal effect but but at least it makes it clear where we stand and I think uh given this vote I don't see why we wouldn't do that so I don't know what the board thinks about that I would I would be well in favor of putting a letter such letter together okay um so we'll do that on um we'll do that on in the spring mhm the annual time meeting um okay um what else um just the time meeting last night oh no you go I was just going to say that I think the only frustration last night was by some people uh and I think we made the right call on waiting for all to be checked and I know some people wanted had waited long enough in their opinion but I think the right thing to do is what we did um and that wasn't anyone any one person's decision but I think the moderator specifically be Cody and in the chair um waiting for everyone to be checked in who was there in line uh was the right call um oh the meeting was short enough in comparison to others the important the issue important enough to wait for all who gathered to be there and I think that was a right call I just want to say I appreciate that I also like to throw Caesar in area 58 in in the Kudos um the logistics of an you know the off um the Overflow room and other logistics along with Scott and the town clerk's office uh well done by all y yeah and you can tell a lot uh from people when the when the fit hits the Sham we'll say um and we didn't expect Tom was close we didn't expect 700 people you know and I thought we rolled with punches very well I thought Scott materno was fantastic I thought Su Lawless was fantastic uh our fire chief our police presence um I thought it was a night uh that our Our Town departments really shined um and I appreciated the patience by everybody I know it's it's not fun to come in and either have to wait out in the cold or sit and kind of twiddle your thumbs to get things going but um we we Face some adversity and I'm just glad we were able to have it last night cuz there was a small chance we were not going to fit everybody so I'm glad we got it through and uh and yeah good good night for the town of Halifax as far as all of our municipality workers go I wonder if um it makes some sense to consider uh uh especially on the warrant that gets sent out to everybody's house uh some sort of notation in big bold print that says you know we we will start at a certain time check-in will be like an hour before but here's the thing but with a crowd like last night we would had to have started checkin close to 4:30 to start at the time the warrant issued so you can't anticipate crowds so I understand what you're saying but if you say a certain time if they're there in line you cut the line off at a certain time but but if if we're following president I mean you would have had to a lot at least at least 75 if not 90 minutes earlier than we did you know we can certainly um talk to the town clerk about you know making it um more policy that we open up check in an hour before town meeting you know historically in speaking with our town clerk um it it wasn't necessary because going back you know even 3 years ago you were you couldn't get people so but I think we've seen a shift um in participation which is excellent so we can certainly look to just make it a policy that you know it starts an hour beforehand and we can certainly um make sure that's noted on the warrant that check in and we we advise to please get there as close to check-in as possible yeah I think that that makes some sense uh even considering Tom's concerns because um I think what people see it says meeting going to start at 7: they show up at 7 figure which kind of makes sense except for the fact that and like you say in our in our my corporate memory it's been very rare that we've had this much difficulty getting everything going so um I think that um that's probably a good idea just to put it on like the finance committee's warrant there to say you know check-in will be an hour before um just so people think that cuz they may not even think that they may not even you know may not even think to somebody to say oh uh I should get there 5:30 to check in cuz the meeting doesn't start till 6:30 right and somebody might not even think about that they I'll just show up at 6:30 like it's what it says so and I do want to take a second John to um to thank you for for your uh you you weren't the moderator last night but your your experience uh as a longtime moderator really helps in certain situations so um I appreciate you stepping in sometimes when it was needed so as long as the moderator is okay with it long as moderator okay with it but it's nice to have it's your experience is uh is welcome in in many instances so thank you for that well was good okay um meeting schedule yes so I put together a draft of the meeting schedule here um you'll knowe highlighted in red are dates that vary from the 2nd and 4th um Tuesday of the mon month so um the reason I I have January um under the 1st and 3rd is just because we're not meeting for the last few weeks of December due to the holidays so my thought was to put it on the 1 and third so we're not going you know four weeks without a meeting yeah we're already going three um so that's the point there and then just the end of the year um October November December alternating to the 1 and 3rd uh again just holidays getting the way um with the Thanksgiving holiday in November and then um in December with the um Christmas and New Year's so it just makes more sense and that way they we're not going a significant amount of time without meetings Okay anybody have any concerns about the schedule no makes sense it's good to me so I would just ask if it looks good that you vote to approve oh yeah I'll make a I'll make a motion to approve the uh the um suggested dates for the board select meetings for calendar year 2025 okay I'll second that any any discussion all those in favor say I I opposed it's unanimous um old business updates MBTA zoning so obviously The Zing did not pass last night um I can tell you that we were contacted already by the Attorney General's office asking if we passed it or not we did let them know that we did not um so you know we'll wait and see I don't anticipate legal action until the Supreme Judicial Court case comes down with Milton and then you know we'll see what happens there we do anticipate the grant um impact to start on January we have a couple it's already started we already got that just so we did we were just awarded um I think I previously mentioned the town applied for $125,000 Grant with Kingston at the request of the halpa um school committee to explore regionalization again just a study basically cost benefit analysis um Kingston applied for it last year we weren't successful so um we took the lead in Halifax this year uh we were awarded the grant $125,000 which was excellent but um uh as with we're expecting all of the new state Grant award letters to say there's a new caveat that says You must be in compliance with all state laws including the MBTA zoning law we were able to um pivot and actually give that Grant to Kingston because Kingston will be in compliance so um the good news there is we're not going to lose out on that because it was a regional Grant approach but um and we were able to get it over to Kingston and there and that's quick thinking to you Cody well done very well done not only the fact that Kingston wasn't able to get it and we were able to get it this year uh kudos to you for getting it and kudos to you for the quick thinking to switch it over to Kingston so that our kids can still reap the benefits absolutely um we do have a couple of ongoing grants that could be in Jeopardy so we are trying to um speed up those projects and get invoices in because the state has mentioned potential clawbacks we do not want any clawbacks for Grant that have already been approved so we're um particularly a couple of energy projects so Kathy Stanley our energy manager is working diligently to get those done you'll notice we have a couple new heat pumps here at Town Hall that she's been able to get in quick quickly um we're working on those um as far as I do have one other item that um was unexpected that I'm going to ask the board to take action on the um arpa funds you may recall American Rescue plan act funds the town received several million dollars a lot of it through the county um but we also have some funding here those all have to be obligated by the end of this calendar year so I'm currently working on all of our reporting you you may recall the board had approved $40,000 for engineering at the Pine Street a study of the Pine Street um intersection Pine Street and Plymouth Street um the the highway department has been unable to um secure the services of an engineer they are working on some Alternatives beyond the engineering study that they feel will be um sufficient to help there some of the other recommendations but with that I I don't want to lose that $40,000 correct um and I was just made aware today that the highway barn roof project um went over by about $40,000 so we were going to initially ask the finance committee to approve a reserve fund transfer but I think where we have 40,000 that I need obligated for arpa and we have an expense that went over by 40,000 my request would be that the board basically um approve that $40,000 to go towards the Pine Street I'm sorry to go towards the highway um barn roof project and and do away with the Pine Street engineering hopefully if um our Highway Department can identify an engineer we could always put that in our Capital plan for an upcoming town meeting so we're we're tbling the Pine Street 10 106 intersection project because we need 40,000 and the F that's all I were table yeah so um we have to have all of our arpa money obligated by 1231 y so that basically means a contract in place or a purchase order signed something showing that that money is obligated and the highway department is not ready or not able to look Define the highway department has not been able to identify an engineering firm to conduct the study and how long have they had to do that um the board approved the project about a year ago what difficulties do we find in being able to identify an appropriate I think part of the challenge is finding an engineer who does you know those types of studies um and also who has the bandwidth to take it on at this point there's a lot of because of all this arpa money all the communities have the the engineers and contractors that do public work there there aren't a ton but the ones that do are consumed right now um and you know I've talked to Steve a couple times about it he he just said that they've been unable to um identify an engineer and you find it to be typical in in nor noral to have 12 months to do something not identify one candidate um to do the work I mean it depends on the line of work I think it can very I can't tell you the the contractors and the demand is a lot higher with the arpa and we've seen it you know in helping Scott VNA with procurement and stuff we've seen it projects that we used to have three or four biders on we have one or two now because Halifax being a smaller Community our projects are smaller naturally sometimes on a dollar value and so if you have a a project where an engineer can bid on a you know $500,000 project right or a $40,000 project they go towards the $500,000 project because their profit margin can so the appetite isn't there for a small project basically for a contractor from a contractor point of view not as much to say there's no appetite I don't that's probably not accurate um but to say it's a little more challenging right now just because all these municipalities had millions of dollars I mean you you take some of these cities had hundreds of millions of dollars um to spend and they are bringing in you know all these same people that we would utilize so I I don't think um it's something that we can't pursue in the future and I think it's it should be the board has identified that as a priority but my priority at this point is it's not obligated and I don't want to send anything back to the federal government I want us to make sure we get every penny so um and this just came up as an expense and I just found out that we're we're not going to reach that obligation deadline so that's why I'd rather pivot and make sure we don't lose anything and also take care of this overage at the highway Bond yeah not not to Bel the point but um and I I agree with that let's not lose the money yeah um do we have a listing of how many people he's contacted and when I do not have that I can show can can can we get that please I can ask that uh I mean to me 12 months is a long time to have nobody been on a project um I don't want to pretend to know the end and the to the business so the Contracting obligations of people with appetite but that's a that's that's an ongoing serious issue at that intersection there was a four car pile up last or less than two weeks ago there um Chief chavs is on the on the uh traffic committee uh we've talked about it at length um it's an issue it should not go undetected it should not go unfixed to me 12 months is a long time so so I would I would I would I would I would I would acest to the motion to to move the funds if if moved by the other board members but not to go UNF flag that that seems to be to be an exception a long time to have no solution for an ongoing problem town I I I've been reached out by many residents about that intersection and not to be overly dramatic but I do feel like it's a ticking Time Bomb there um I've read the reports the incidents are almost almost entirely highspeed collisions where you have folks going down 106 at high rates of speed um and I I agree someone is going to get seriously hurt there uh and the fact that we really haven't made um too much Headway in a year is not a good look um it's no Headway to be clear no no progress so so I do I think I just wouldn't want that on the board's conscience that we've had residents reach out to us quite a while ago and I don't know if we've tackled that at all so I I don't want to lose this ARP of money to get back to the original Point that's silly to give that money back to the state um I would be forc switching over to the roof but I really do feel like we need some sort of update on what we're doing with Pine Street correct and I would just Echo those thoughts and not to jump on you are you are you go no go ahead I would just I would just say that it's not only not good enough it's a it's a failure in the last 365 days for the town to have not addressed in any way form of fashion that department this board this town to not have addressed it in any ways of failure and that's not good enough if something happens you know I I I'll know um Steve I just pulled up our conversation Steve and I touched Bas on this in March and he was looking at um putting in rumble strips and um it's not enough work he says for a grinding company so he had um looked at renting a grinder but I I I have no further update um from that it's one of those things um I rely on our Highway Department I I I don't you know I don't think be an expert in the roads and and that's perview so that's where I delegate those things to him same and and I just be clear I'm not yelling at you no no no I didn't take it that way but I also I I was here in May that was in March I was here in May I sat on an advisory committee after that and there was temporary signs placed uh temporary stop signs placed with illumination that was for a state funding Grant I believe studies were done over the summer I'm not sure what happened as a result of those but I was contacted by members on Pine Street on the north side of town on North on the north side of Pine Street on North on the Hansen side of Pine Street yeah uh whatever that is uh uh asking for an update and I gave them when I had it and to for there for there have been no progress in the last seven or eight months yeah doesn't sound right doesn't sit right with me and I I just don't believe that's good enough just want that on the record as we vote to move the arpa funds which which I would support um I don't want that lost in the shuffle correct we should ask hour surveyor for an update he doesn't have to give a just send him an email requesting an update yeah okay thank you all right uh so uh assuming we move These aror funds over to the roof would be supposingly if a uh an engineer is found to do the work that needs to be done over there would we get that out of the reserve fund or uh we would put it on the capital plan for approval of town meeting in the spring okay okay well it sounds like that should be a priority for I can I can to give a little bit more background information OK Cony planning Council committed completed the road safety it and they came and they presented that to the board at the time they had a list of recommendations much of were um low level that kind of our Highway Department could do we asked our Highway Department to undertake those um they've done some of them there's some that still need to be completed um they're one of their top recommendations was this engineering study um I had asked them do you have so engineering is exempt from procurement uh competitive procurement so if you find an engineer you do your due diligence to find someone who can do good quality work and provide you with a good price um so basically we just needed to solicit a few Engineers that could do the work my goal was to have Old Colony planning Council provide us with names of engineering firms hey we've done work with with these I asked that they sent me a list of 500 engineers and said here you go that doesn't that doesn't help us so at that point that's when I asked Steve if he could you know he works with engineers in the um his line all the time and um followed up again in March and asked about that uh and he was working on it um and then again I asked now for an update but that's kind of where this is and where that goes and then again he was looking at putting the rumble strips in that was something that him and the police chief had agreed on um and I think the Traffic Safety Committee it might have been right before May or somewhere around in the spring they had talked about putting the rumble strips in um again I don't believe the rumble strips are there but that is something that was a recommendation so that that's where we are on the project as a whole um where that is I just hat to see the 40,000 was ear marked for one project it will never make it back I think as long as we can um identify someone to do the work we can absolutely put it on the capital plan and you know at town meeting would have to vote on it but I think there's enough Traction in town where I would think town meeting would approve it um it's just getting that done the 40,000 was again a year ago an estimate from Old Colony planning Council but we haven't even been able to get um proposals from an engineering firm to get a solid number I think 40,000 would be sufficient but I think I'm hopeful that we can take the next few months work with our highway department to get um sound figures that we can then present to town meeting so we can take this take this on this this is the last year uh last meeting in 2024 um I would hope that the board would consider making Pine Street one of our um lead issues of 2025 I really do I don't feel comfortable at all continuing to kick the intersection down the road well we can do what we can do Al under control of we've we've no it's been it's been your priority yes um you well then I think we need to prioritize putting feet to the fire on it and let's let's ask for an updated plan and not a vague one let's make let's make it something in writing black and white get a proposal get five let's do something about it cuz now we're moving funds away from a project that we have to get approval to get something back to the project so now it's not incumbent upon us it's incumbent upon the town meeting to do it where we had money prioritized and earmarked for it now and now we're behind the eightball because we don't have something in writing so I I'd ask the highway department to put something in w force in no less than 90 days I have already reached out to Steve and we can plan to have it on a upcoming agenda for at least an update of where things are January meeting y that'd be great defin do that all right so you need a motion to transfer the arpa funds from uh the Street intersection project to the highway Barn Highway Barn so I'll make that motion we have a second second any discussion yeah just a discussion I mean I I'll vote in favor of it but it's not in it's in protest of the what we're moving away from I don't want to lose the money so I'll vote Yes I will I will second I I'll agree to vote I yes but it's in protest when we moving the money away from I agree with don't I don't think there's any disagreement on that you want ask for sort of like caught between the devil and the deep blue sea here on this one okay uh no further discussion all those in favor say I I oppos it's unanimous all right any other updates from the Town Administrator uh no just that we're in communication with Hansen on um the veterans position on doing some um potential regionalization there uh at the very least we're going to help our neighbors out in the meantime so that you know Hansen residents still have access to veteran services we're actually also doing the same thing with Building Commissioner Hansen was without a Building Commissioner so we are working to assist them uh in the meantime so I would anticipate probably at your January meeting some sort of um agreement with Hansen just you know saying that we're going to provide assistance to them they'll have to compensate us um but it's can I just note really quickly it's great that we are now able to offer other towns assistance and not be on the other end of that situation so kudos to Cody and the town to be in this spot yeah so it's a it's a good thing um obviously we'll be compensated for whatever the you know costs are but our staff um think it it's twofold it shows that we have have a team here that's you know other towns want to look to for assistance which a lot about our team but also we have the individuals in place who want to do it right so um Ed Bailey our Building Commissioner is all for it Steve Littlefield right is all for it and that speaks to I think the character of the people here excellent so and it's always good to help out our neighbors because we never know when we're going to need their assistance um and you know holidays and Halifax that was a success this weekend fantastic yeah very nice event um can I give a quick shout out to Tanya Massa and Kim Campbell on our committee um they did fantastic work uh it was a great night uh weather Cooperative little Chile um there is a new Chile champion in town I don't know if where it has gotten to the board of Selectmen but that uh you might be sitting next to him somebody's chil one first place um but no it was a great event and uh I look forward to it every year and um thank you thank you to the committee it's a lot of meetings I know it's only one night but you know we we've met for um almost 3 months you know in planning so uh it took a village and it came out great very happy fantastic yeah well done and then just Linda just got back to me about the 15 Ocean AV um the back taxes amount through fiscal year 2025 is $865 I wonder what that property go to sell for though yeah probably not that much I mean oh I don't know an acre used to be 100,000 I don't think is I'm off on that now so yeah one of the you know if it were a home that was not abandoned um you would have a a pre-existing non-conforming which would be grandfathered in for reconstruction if it has been vacant you lose that ability that grandfather so unless yeah the value I anticipate would be significantly because it's valuable or people the butters yeah so we don't even know what it's appraised for though right nope that we would have to start that you know we would start that process through going out to an Auctioneer um a broker real estate broker so on and so forth whatever the appra I saw that in that paperwork that whatever the appraisal is would that's we can't take below that that's the floor on it I think so which you know a appraiser will take all those things into account mhm okay okay anything else that is it great uh well I would like to say uh that um Merry Christmas to my fellow board members to our support staff to Our Town Administrator uh I have had a blast working with you guys it's been a real pleasure um even um s's only been with us for six months the first six months we had a great time also uh I'm very impressed with the professionalism that the board of selectman's office now exhibit um it's taken us a little bit to get out from under uh cuz when John and I came in it was pretty bad disruption uh but the professionalism that you guys have brought to this and Cody and Pam and Irma is is uh uh just so far beyond expectations it's wonderful so congratulations to you guys and I think the town is really well served so thank you very much I appreciate it thank you thank you John and I Echo your sentiments I think we have a great team I really do and I think everybody up here is trying their hardest for the town of Halifax you know we might we might not hit a home run every time but we're we're taking the swings best we can so proud of our team yeah I appreciate the learning curve that I'm going under and appreciate the guidance that you both have offered Cody always available and and Pam emailing very very early in the morning I appreciate the the follow up and reminder I'm thank I for your sentiments thank you Merry Christmas to all Merry Christmas to all to all a good night make a motion to a journe same we have a second that's the last motion you'll make this year my friend that's it well maybe maybe maybe contingent on right all right all those in favor say iOS it's unanimous very good there we go [Music]