[Music] Uh, all right. I'm going to open the um board of selectman meeting here in the great hall for Tuesday, June 24th, 2025.
Uh, and just to give you a land, we the board will be opening the meeting here and then we're going to attend a site visit at the Hemlock Lane landfill. We will be there from approximately 5 to 5:30. Uh, and we will reconvene here at 5:30 to continue the meeting. So, do I need a motion, Cody, to do that or just
No, open it up. No, you do good. All right. Excellent. Back at 5:30. We'll see you back at 5:30. Evening. My name is Mike Martin. I'm a senior program manager with TRC Companies. Um, so I've been working at the landfill since 2007, starting with my previous firm who
currently does the monitoring. Um, and then for the last 18 months or so, I've been working with Bob at looking at the landfill repair itself. Uh just so everyone knows over the years what has happened is the drainage swale has is not functioning properly that is
resulting in storm water during rain events over topping the swale and has led to two major areas of erosion. Currently, historically, there's been two other incidences where storm water has overtopped the swale, led to erosion, and you know, temporary repairs
um in the form of rip wrap has been placed on the sides slope. Um back in, I want to say it was the January time frame. I had an initial meeting with the town to discuss the options. Since that meeting, we had a sitewalk with Mass D
in March of 2025. During that sitewalk, we kind of reviewed the project. Um discussed the two options in more details. Um get got some more information on what Mass DP's expectations were to move the project forward. Um and to evaluate which option
would be appropriate. Um some of that uh so some of the information we initially presented back in January relative to the kind of the minor repair has that scope has expanded to include a survey. Um, as we just saw on the sitewalk, we could see that the swale has settled.
So, the storm water can't flow properly to the detention basin, which is one of the root causes of this erosion. Um, the other it's a the other aspect that Mass DP brought up is that there's a drainage, a detention storm water basin that discharges into the soil that the
soil was never designed to handle. um that is also leading to a lot of sediment being deposited in the swale which is uh further eroded the functionality of that storm water feature. So you know the two options are still kind of the same. Um one of them would be you know fix the repairs that
need to be done. uh instead of just addressing the erosion that we proposed at the time that now has expanded to also doing tree maintenance to remove the Japanese knotweed, remove the trees from the landfill cap, create access so we can do future maintenance on the
landfill cap and to regrade the drainage swell to allow for proper drainage from the landfill um into the basin. It would also look at um probably having to do some other storm water best management practices such as uh BMS and so forth to
minimize the amount of storm water contribution from the uh highway department parking lot so that the swale is not overloaded with storm water and that we eliminate uh sediment from being discharged into the swale itself. Um I think do we have the did you print that
out Bob? the um the updated presentation. Um no, no. So, not printed, but um the two biggest updates Yeah. were
one, the cost went up a little bit to fix. However, handling the Japanese knotweed, now we don't have to get it off site. Yeah. So, so essentially how the what really the biggest update is how the finances work. the finances to
do the actual repair have increased significantly. Instead of being maybe $50,000, you know, you're looking at maybe three to $400,000 to do all the additional work now to get the survey in to regrade the soil, deal with all the vegetation and the um so forth. The good
news is with reducing the Japanese notwood uh management, so just doing the treatment that Mass D would allow, those costs have gone from $400,000 down to about $50,000. So that larger option now swings from a break even to a potential
$100,000 surplus revenue for this for the town itself. Um so and that still increases the footprint for solar. It addresses the long-term fixes um relative to this this issue from preventing it from happening hopefully again. Um and you'd have a you know and
it would address the landfill access issues for the sides slope so you could do further uh monitoring so that it's not not overgrown. Um, just so you're aware, Mass DP requires that the landfill be mowed twice a year. That size slope hasn't probably been mowed in 10 years. That's why you see all the
tree growth of vegetation just completely taken over um that that slope itself. Um, so that's really know the big update since our uh the mass DP meeting since we last met in January. And if I get ahead, health agent, um,
with the repairs that we've done in the past, yes, you we can do a another band-aid, um, and just keep moving from there without um, you know, really any problem. Yeah. uh this time some of the extra costs
that wasn't done by the town that no that wasn't to the best of my knowledge um done by the town was filings with D so they fully knew what was going on. Um
I don't know uh yeah I think that was one of the things we had to go through the filings and that's where a cost comes into this project. Yeah. now because the previous repairs did not include any notifications to mass DP. So you had you know these temporary band-aids with the rip wrap but DP was
never made aware that these repairs happened and what the true nature of the problem was and now that they are aware of what the problem is. um you know this that's why the repair scope for even just to not do the full expanded project with a limiter limited project would
expand um significantly to have to satisfy mass DP requirements. So Mike just um for full disclosure band-aid cost if we wanted to kick this down the road again any ballpark on Hold on a second let me know I think I I think I might have the presentation I initially
tried to email Bob on PowerPoint but it bounced back. Sure. So, let me pull up my phone. And while we're just waiting on that, Cody, how was this funded? Is this funded through the operating budget? Is this funded through capital expense? What? Um, I mean, something like this would have to be a capital expenditure.
So, um, and how is that funded over what period of time? Is it all is the whole if it's if it's if it's option B and the long the long-term solution, how is that funded in in one year or is it budgeted over a period of time? um you know if it's option B and you you opt for that
you're several years out like you know realistically um before that happens because you need to get all the permitting you need to get that in place you need to you know work with Maryland on your shoulder my friend thank you so that way you know you're looking at
probably a few years before that happens and the financial side of it we we would need to dig once we had more uh detail we'd have to dig in with um council on on what we could do legally because it's technically we would need to appropriate the money and then we would just be
basically once we got the money back we would be paying ourselves back ultimately but we'd have to make that initial appropriation unless there's some work about way through like a revolving fund or something but if we were to award a contract master general law requires that when we award contracts that we already have the funds appropriated so that's where it may get
sticky um if you were to go for you know the option where we don't bring in revenue and the town just is the one funding the the band-aid fix. We would have to appropriate that. Um, you know, it D I'm not sure what the timeline D how hard they're going to push this. They they generally have been very
lenient with towns. I mean, they're not pushing it that hard right now. They know that, you know, financially, you know, the town of Halifax has, you know, having that kind of funds available is not just going to happen overnight. So, they do that. So just uh the fund the
the updated repair cost without the uh the larger project is 529,150 and that's um you know additional design cost because we weren't assuming redesigning the whole swale and other features um to that and obviously some of that is also $70,000 contingency we
built in just because you don't obviously at this point you don't know the ex full extent of everything. Um, and then what did did you have the band-aid number too, Mike? That is the band-aid. That's the band-aid. So, it's a total band-aid. Yeah, cuz the re have cuz you're going have to regrade that
whole swale and you know that's about $150 per linear foot to regrade a swale. So, that I thought, forgive me if I'm I'm misunderstanding this. I thought before we were look you gave us 50,000 before, right? But the before the repair
only was going to address the erosion. It wasn't going to regrade the whole swale. It wasn't going to provide access. It wasn't going to remove all the vegetation. Okay. All the invasive vegetation. Um, so but I I not to cut you off, Bob, but I thought you had told us that the whole project was 300 to
400,000. Is that what I did I mishar you there? I would have to go back and double check that. Um, I don't think that I don't I don't remember that being the case, but I would have to double check that. I know for the cost to do the full project
itself if we did the importation at that time we thought it was going to cost $100,000 that was that was option B that was the that was everything yeah that was longterm solution and that was offsetting the construction cost with the soil revenue that cost now because the maintenance for the the Japanese notwe maintenance option that cost is
went from $100,000 to $10,000 to how much it went from $100,000 to $10,000 Because there's the because instead of having to dig all that napn notweed off and dispose of it at like a hundred something dollars per ton, you do a
chemical you do three rounds of chemical treatments and that's you know $15,000 per treatment versus hauling all this material up to a New Hampshire landfill to dispose of it. Okay. So maybe can I ask something different? Maybe a different way to ask it. I think before
we had two options, correct? like a short-term solution which we're calling the band-aid and then a longterm solution. I understand that the cost of some of this stuff has gone up from 50 to 300 to 400 and then the maple cost has gone down or the Japanese thing has gone down from 400 to 50 about right.
Yes. So what is the total cost of the band-aid versus the total cost of the entire current project? The long-term solution. So I guess so the long-term so when we talk about the band are we talking about just filling in the erosion right now and then
addressing the kicking the other. So so if it was just filling those two erosion areas in just initially that would probably still be in that $40 to $50,000 range cuz those haven't changed. It's just really bringing in material to just fill in the erosion. That doesn't
address the swale which is causing the problem that needs to be regraded. that doesn't address the access issues to maintain it. That doesn't address removing all the trees or other um things. So, would there be like a hybrid option? We could do like the short-term solution at 50 and then since the cost
of the maple Japanese thing has gone down. Yeah, we could lump that in. Is that like even a hybrid option? I'm just asking. I don't really know what the pleasure of the board is. I'm just um we could look at that to see if that's the case. It is. Okay. I mean should be I
mean I'm just trying to that would address D which would keep really keep them off us and then um you know at least hope for the best with the repairs. Yeah. And and then knowing that you'd have to potentially you know
knowing that you potentially have to then rebuild the swale and so forth down the road as you um look at that. Does um is there any grant funding? I guess Cody, I don't know if this is a question for you, but um I mean probably not. We're not eligible for most grants. So,
and you're the PRP, which also probably limits it further. Okay. you know, the you you probably end up doing the band-aid band-aid fix, which is basically just more material in there for now, while you work to secure funding for the longer term project or
or you start to permit for the Mike, can you give the board just a reminder of kind of what that big project is with bringing in the soil and stuff? Yeah. So, that bigger project would be, you know, you're going to rebuild that re regrade the whole landfill and then expand the kind of that grade. You know,
if you drove back, you're going to expand that grade through that like depression in between the landfill and the water tank, and you're going to just fill all that in with soil, right? that soil will generate, you know, 10 to 12 per ton in revenue for a tipping fee. And and that would allow you to remove
all the trees, treat the treat the Japanese knotweed, rebuild the swale, um regrade the side slopes to fix the erosion, you know, repair the detention basin, maybe enlarge it, add some additional BMPs around the parking lot to minimize storm water from getting,
you know, causing the issue in the first place. And that would be it's about 60 to 65,000 yards of clean soil, RCS1 soil that they call it um that you can do under you know you wouldn't even trigger an acco but it would be the typical
process similar to what Maryland's does where you take less than RCS1 clean soils from different construction projects as a grading material to fill in these areas and regrade the landfill. you'd still have to procure some materials such as lom and so forth to, you know, re, you know, it's hard to
source lom on from construction projects, but you could redo a lot of the other, you know, typical grading materials that you need um to build it up. So, Mike, on that $529,000 estimate, does any of that include
revenue we could get from that soil? And what can you ballpark? What's that at that fix? There would be none. There would be none. It's a larger project. It's only the larger project where where that that that where then you now you are bringing in soil to re
you know to grade out the area and because so you really have three you really have three different we're looking at yeah we're looking at the short-term band-aid fix which is about 40 to 50 y and that just deals with erosion on the short term knowing it's going to continue to happen y you look at doing just a landfill repair to
address all the issues that mass DP and we have discussed back in March which would be you know providing access to the sides slope, the maintenance of the vegetation, regrading the swale, adding some best management practices to help address the sedimentation of the swailes and the additional storm water
contribution from the parking lot. That's the 520. And then you look at the larger project which is, you know, those repairs plus importing a bunch of soil to build a bigger platform. So you would have where like where we saw all that storage on top of the landfill cap today where that you know so forth is like
that gray would be carried carried all the way all the way over to that that you know and do we have again sorry to cut you off but do we have a ballpark then of option three when you factor in the revenue we might get from that soil would it be close to the price tag on on
number two or it would be it would it would be $10,000 after revenue. It would cost the town $10,000 after all the revenue you know with the revenue. So option three will cost the town of Halifax, you think $10,000? Yeah. With with this to regrade that whole thing. When you do the larger
project. Yes. But we have to appropriate the money first. First. So we set aside 530,000 from capital. No, I mean how you could do that too is like it's 530, you know, but you you know when you go to construction, you're going to be generating money during construction because you're going to have tipping
fees coming in every, you know, depending on how you build your clients. you would need to fund the engineering and permitting up front and then you know then you could probably almost be self-sufficient during you know somewhat self-sufficient during construction. Okay. You know you'd have to carry a
little contingency to get it started but then once you start then you start then you have to and and other things like I'm assuming that you'd have to hire a contract to do that that the town wouldn't be the ones doing all the grading work. you, you know, you'd have someone come in and manage the site for
you essentially. And as far as any sort of like water grading or anything like that or water table stuff or we would have to go through regulatory boards like any other project to make sure that we're not messing any sort of water tables up or anything like that. Yeah. I mean, and this is just and this is just filling
above the water, you know, filling in the vados. So, you're not filling in groundwater. We're not expanding the size slope into the wetlands. You know, we're just doing maintenance work and then filling in that low spot. And you know, we've already we've had discussions with the highway department relative to I know they use some of that
area for staging, you know, to make sure they have caros to meet their needs. You know, ex and then it would also allow you to maybe double your footprint of the solar solar system. So, your long-term lease agreement would go up with the solar because you'd have more generation. That's what I wondered. I
mean, I'm more into the wells, the methane or whatever. I'm not into the whole finance of it, but I said, "Well, if you have a bigger solar field, maybe it makes more money. Make more money." That was just me thinking. So, Cody,
assuming you're the best person to answer this. What would have to be set aside in that option three from capital? I'm just thinking about the things. It depends, you know, how it would be laid out. I'd have to see a more detailed plan of how it would work. the the the caveat is we cannot award any contract
to do any work without the money appropriate. Well, that's what I'm asking. Is the is the appropriated money the 530? It depends how the money comes in because like Mike was saying the money would be coming in as we're doing some of the work but right we we're all everything we have to procure everything
because municipality. So how do we we would likely need to come up with a large chunk of that initially. How do we ascertain that number and whether it's a viable solution if we're voting on it or making a decision? Are we picking an arbitrary number to that we No, no. Mike
has put together some, you know, so and I will say before you make a decision like when we have mass DP, one of the initial steps we have to do to move the larger project forward is do what they call the mini corrective action alternative analysis. And essentially that means we have to show them that this project is needed which you know
they were on board with they understood it but we have to you know there is an initial submitt to get them you know on board with the larger project. Yeah I don't I don't doubt the project is needed. Um I'm just thinking if money was no object I think that you know it's pretty clear which way we would think to
go. I just I'm hesitant to um spend money that might be already allocated or we had that budget lessened just three months ago. So I think one of the things the next steps I'd recommend is you know have Mike put together a proposal for what what next steps would
cost us right for for your firm or you know whatever the next steps are to conduct that analysis because that's what the town's going to need to come up with at first right is the funding to fund that portion of the piece that would then allow you to move forward with the bigger project and that would allow us to have the information
necessary to to further figure out how how we're going to do this financially. um you know maybe there is a way around this as far as you know getting that money in. One option could be um talking you know looking at you know going to a solar developer and saying well here was
the initial bid if this is a larger bid what would you know and solicit bids from solar developers and have them fund the project and look at you know okay this is what's going to cost your lease would have been this but there's a there's this delta that we got to cover. So instead maybe having a $30,000 lease, it'll be a $20,000 lease or, you know,
and look at maybe working with a solo developer to help, you know, so the town isn't taking on that money, right? Yeah. So I think that makes sense. I think could we ask you, Mike, to put together those, like Cody says, those three different scenarios. Yeah. Uh crunch those numbers and and kind of get back to us. We can. And I I don't know if you
still have I know you originally had a potentially a solo developer on board with this. I don't know if there's been discussions with them since then. Legally, it gets challenging for towns to to do kind of what you just explained because it's our land um and it's our project and the idea is they're only leasing the land and and town meeting
only. So any lease over 5 years, you have to get town meeting authority to lease. Yeah. And our town meeting authority was to lease the land for explicit solar use. And so if we're going to then have the solar company also conduct some uh work on technically
on our behalf there, we need to get legal involved to make sure to rebuild. You might need to rebuild the solar piece and you might and that might open you up to more developers cuz my understanding was you had one developer. It's a small footprint. It's a tough interconnect cuz you have to get out to 106 to get to the three-phase power.
There's no three-phase power on Hemlock Lane which makes it challenging. You know, that one that's one of the benefits of expanding it. you can build your inverters and your transformers closer to Route 106 and do the interconnection through town hall that way, you know, or you go through that
access road that's kind of immediately to the west of town hall off of 106. So, it might open us up to more interest from developers. Yeah. And we have good relationships with them. We do a lot of work with Citizens Energy. We, you know, we we're happy to, you know, set up a meeting if that would be helpful to, you
know, or other developers if you want to gauge interest. You know, if you say, "Okay, we maybe didn't bid on it before. If we did this, would that scope change the scope, would you be interested on this?" And then you maybe, you know, write an RFP for the solar and then, you know, and you put the repair piece into
that. All right. You also just want to be cognizant. You know, I think there Bob will tell you and there's a lot of work, you know, with Maryland's landing and there's a lot of testing involved with those soils and um but you know, there's also a lot of residents have voiced concerns over that soil. Um and so, you
know, you certainly want to do a lot of public outreach to to get buy in for that project because it is still um soils being you know, removed from another site would be placed on that site and that will be something Mass Epire. How many yards of soil? about 60
to 65,000 yards. And you said that's clean soil. Clean soils stuff RS1 RCS1 reportable cultures. So it's your residential standards is stuff that would be consistent in people's backyards. Gotcha. Okay. Cool. All right. Do you any sort of vote needed here, Cody, or
just No, I think just clear that um Michael put together the you know what the cost would be for you to start preparing the larger project. Yep, I can do that. Awesome. And thank you for the tour today. It was a great day for a walk. I was I
thought Cody was kidding when you're like, "All right, we're going to walk around and take a tour." But, uh, no, thank you. I appreciate it. And I agree. It's work that needs to be done, and we just got to try to make the numbers work. And, uh, we want to create a a healthy and safe environment back there. Um, as economically feasible as we can
be here as a town, too. So, and if possible, turn it from a liability into an asset to the best you can. I mean, I'd always I know revenues always can be challenging for a town. So, if you can make it an asset, sure. No, that that definitely helps. Awesome. All right. I have all the knowledge for well all of
the documentation since that landfill started and was c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c t c tapped and closed. I just offer any member of the select board. Okay, feel free to come into the office say hey Bob can I okay just review this so that I have a
rough idea of what went when where and how. Um, you know, just a piece of I'm big on educational. We like that, Bob. That's what we love about you. I'm sorry. I don't expect you to know Lamp. I didn't have a clue. You're a good
resource. But I know that um like I know how to watch the methane. I know how to watch the uh the tests on the water and then we just move forward. So, if I could ever be of assistance. Awesome. Happy to help the board. I appreciate it, Bob. Thank you both.
Thank you. Thank you. Have a good night. I appreciate it. Thanks, guys. All right. Uh, we're running a little bit behind here, so we're going to jump down to the 5:45 section of your agenda. Um, I will entertain a motion that the board vote to enter into executive session of the town administrator's
office pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 3A, Section 21, uh, for AFL CIO Local 1700, Halifax Mixed Unit, Pursuant to Mass General Law, Chapter 3A, Section 21 A3, to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining. if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on
the borrowing position of the public body. To also discuss the executive assistant to the board town administrator pursuant to master general law chapter 3A section 21 A2 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-un personnel and
also to discuss executive session minutes for June 10th, 2025. So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Uh roll call vote. Bill, yes. Tom, yes. I myself am a yes. We will try to be here at six o'clock, guys. We're running a little bit late. My guess would be probably
closer to 610. All right. Trying to get back as quick started. Uh it is 610. We're going to reconvene the board of selective meeting for Tuesday, June 24th, 2025. Um if you'll all please stand. We'll start with a salute of the flag, please. 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 guys. All right, we'll jump right to your agenda here. Um, I apologize. We're
running about 10 minutes late. Uh, but we'll start with the 6:00 appointment, which is a joint meeting with the water commission. I want to thank members of the water commission for being here. Our superintendent here. Um and I will hand it over to Cody if you want to start our meeting here. Sure. So the first item um based on the board's request was just to
discuss water quality. I think you guys saw at town meeting uh there's concerns. You know, you see a lot of misinformation on social media. Um so I think it would be good to just have the board aware of kind of the projects you guys are working on and what you're doing to address water quality. And I think they may have some questions based
on based on that. Sure. anybody if you don't and Bill if you don't mind coming up just because no one will hear you. Um I don't know Richmond Park still we're still waiting on that. We got guys coming tomorrow for the uh programming and the engineer again cuz that's still
not online and most of the problem is from the uh not flushing last year because we were shut down. That's where all the water quality issues come from. It's all the iron and manganese settled out all year. Uh I do remember uh at the town meeting I think uh Mr. Clark had mentioned that they were going to do a full flush. Have we
been able to do that yet? Park down. No, we're lucky we can keep the tank full. People are using a ton of water. The well why can't wells pumping probably 600,000 gallons a day. That's more than it's ever pumped since I've been here. And what happens if if a resident is
concerned about the water uh the color of the water, just as an example, and they call the water department, what are they what what are they told to do? Are they told to run the water? Things with the what? Are they told to run the water? If you run the cold water, it usually clears it up. So, doesn't that doesn't that exacerbate the situation if you're told to run the water to clean
the water, but then it's too much use of water? Isn't that not if it's just into your house? It's random. Sometimes your neighbor might not get it and you might get it. It's just a random thing. We can't predict when it's going to happen. And if it lasts too long, I'll go out and open a hydro up and run it slow and usually that clears it up.
Do we have a ballpark, Bill, on when we'll be able to flush? I'm hoping for September. September. Yeah. It depends on how we make out at Richmond Park tomorrow. Okay. It's just been issue after issue every time we get on there. Can you help me understand what's going on at Richmond tomorrow? Because I I got to be honest, I don't
know the process. The when we did the upgrades, a lot of the valves were replaced and they're automated now. So, we've been finding out there's programming issues where the valve doesn't open all the way, so we can't backwash the filters. Sometimes they're not opening to let the water in. It's just it's just been a nightmare process
since since probably January, February. Yeah. So once they work that stuff out, we're hoping that we can get it running. Okay. I think part of the frustration comes that um you know, I think we were told in March that we were going to flush at the May meeting. We were told that in two or three days we would
flush. And it seems like that's just to quell the noise. I know. I know you can't control it necessarily, but when we was told that we were going to flush because we weren't we weren't ready. We're not ready to flush. We were hoping to flush at Tom Eaton. Yeah. We were hoping to, but we've run into problem after problem and the engineers
sometimes can't make it down and the programmer hooked something up so he can log in remotely and try to program stuff and that's just been backfiring on us. I'd have to review the minutes, but I believe at town meeting there was a discussion and Mr. Clark did offer a timeline of two to three days. Yep. And so when residents hear that they they're
offered hope. I would just suggest that these timelines that keep getting pushed back. If you have no control over the issue, let's just say that out loud. Let's not let's not let's not give people false hope and say 2 to 3 days. That would be my suggestion. Back then it was we were we were looking at it. It was supposed to be close and we don't
know what happened. The programming guy made some mistake. Two filters work fine. The third one doesn't. Okay. Can you walk us through, Bill? Somebody gives the water department a call. you know, hey, my water's, you know, a discolored or a smell or something, whatever it is. Can you walk me through
the process of what what you guys do in the water department when you get a call like that and what the what the action is? Gives me the call and we'll just tell run the cold water. Run cold water should clear in 10 or 15 minutes at the most. It's just a random thing like we can't predict when it's going to happen,
right? Uh lately it's been a lot over at um Highland Circle I think. I don't know how many people in there got sprinklers hooked up to town water, but someone's using a lot of water because that tank will stay at 29 feet all day long and
the well turns on at 30. Do we have a way to go around and and check our our sprinkler systems? I know there's I can send someone out. I mean, is that is that part of your normal routine? Like, do you go out and check, you know, making sure that people aren't on town water? See if anybody's using it after. And that's why I changed the uh
restrictions to give us at least a couple days with no water use, but that doesn't seem to be working either. The well last night ran uh 20 hours from 5:00 yesterday morning to 1:00 this morning and it was off from 1 to 4:30. So people are just as soon as they can,
they turn their sprinkles on. Today should have been an easy day today. You're not supposed to water. Yeah. Tank was at 28 ft. And you think, you can't predict completely, but you would tie that to to sprinkler usage and outside water usage. Oh, yeah. Because it wasn't like that in
uh February, March. Yeah. April. Okay. Uh any other questions from the board for Bill about um water concerns here? Just my own question. This is more of a personal thing. Does it make sense that if you have like three toilets in your
house and only one shows brown water? Does that possible? Is that ever heard of that before? It could be. I mean, it just depends on what happens when the water comes in. When you turn your water on, if there's if someone's using water and it stirs up the iron and you turn your water on, you pull it in your house. It could be you could have pulled
it in your house cuz you flush the toilet just randomly. Then you can have a faucet downstairs that's clean or the tub can be clean. It's so good. Okay. Yeah. That's why we say just flush it out because it's just in that line to the house from the street. Got it. Okay.
Okay. And then uh what's that was A and then B here we have discussion on roles and responsibilities and collective bargaining. Yeah. So um just to give some background here um we bargained. So the Massachusetts general law chapter 150E explicitly defines the board of
selectman as the employer which would be the bargaining employer for collective bargaining of all unions within the town. Um we bargained a new contract for our mixed unit which consists of our water department employees, facilities employees and two administrative assistants. So that's why it's called a
mixed unit. um you know the one of the provisions that changed in that contract was um the the first provision that actually changed in the memorandum uh changed overtime pay to paid after 40 hours worked in a week. So previously if
you were paid for 40 hours or more than a week meaning if you had were on vacation for 40 hours and then you um worked eight hours on Saturday all eight hours were vacation. the provision changed it so you'd have to physically work more than 40 hours a week to get overtime. That was agreed to. The board
approved that. The union agre agreed to it. Shortly after the contract was ratified, um the union notified us that they um understood that provision to mean something else. And so we met several times. We had several executive sessions with the board. um the board
and you know meeting with council uh advised that they were going to uh stick with their interpretation um of the language which was you had to physically work 40 hours a week for overtime. Um that that was communicated to the water department. The water commission sent uh
a letter or two stating that they were not happy with that provision. I think you know Jonathan you were on the board and it was sent to previous board members. Um but again we the it was it was contained that we were going to um sustain that provision in how it was
written. Um recently in May I was randomly going through payroll. Sometimes I check to make sure things are being done correctly and I found that the um the the provision was not being followed anymore that there was um overtime being paid to the union
employees um going against what the board of selectman had negotiated. Um, so I, um, you know, told our accounting to put it on hold because it didn't match our contract in place. And then I sent a email notification to Mr. Lindsay, um, asking, you know, if he
knew anything about this. At that time, I was informed that there was a grievance issued by the union in September. Um, and Mr. Lindseay granted the grievance to provide the overtime pay um, for hours not physically worked over 40. Um, you know, I just wanted to
bring this up and have a discussion. The commission has been vocal about this um and their concern. But you know there's two issues here. The first is when we bargain a contract whether it's this contract or any contract there's a financial um financial implications
right? So we cost things out um I present that information to the board and that's how you make your decisions on whether to approve contracts or you know negotiate one way or another. When we did the financial projections for this contract that was taken into account um not providing that. So we did
not budget for for those provisions. Um and so the other part of it is we were very clear in how this was being applied. Um and Mr. Lindsay totally defied that. Um went against what the board of selectman had negotiated in good faith. Um and also never alerted us
to this which also um you know affects other employees. The union membership is made up of more than just water department employees. So with us not knowing it, there was potential that the contract was not equitably applied to all members of the of the union because
we didn't know it existed. Um so I it just we need to have this meeting because it needs to be understood that the water commission, you know, while they uh oversee Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Lindseay oversees the staff, they have no authority with collective bargaining. Massachusetts general law chapter 15e is
very clear. Section one defines that the board of selectmen as the chief executive of the town and the are the sole employer of the town in regards to collective bargaining. Um and so I I we wanted to have the commission in to discuss this because I think there's been some misunderstanding. Um and I
just think it it defies the public trust in government in the board of selectman when we've negotiated the contract the board has negotiated the contract in good faith and then an an employee does something that re goes around that contract when they know that was not the
meaning of it and and then goes one step further and does not let anyone know that that is what is occurring. Um, and I know the board, you know, the as you guys are elected officials. You are elected by the people to represent the town. And one of those functions is collective bargaining and approving contracts that are consistent with what
the town can afford. Um, and and you were entrusted to do that. And your authority was undermined here um in the uh grievance that was approved. Not only approved, but never no one ever knew anything. It was September. No one said anything to me, to anybody until I found
random payroll that was not complying with this. And that's when I uncovered all of these things. And when was that, Cody? When did you discover that? Uh the end of May. May 25th, I believe, was the date. The grievance was September 9th, I believe, Mr. Lindsay granted the grievance. Okay. And neither, just to be
clear, neither the building department, building maintenance department, uh, their employees that are covered under the same unit or the two administrative staff people had any questions or, um, uh, examples of when they filed for overtime against the collective bargaining agreement prior to there were
some questions from building maintenance staff, but again, we we I um was consistent in my message to their director who they had asked the questions of that we were consistent with our understanding of this that the board had that and the board was going to stay consistent with with how we were
applying this. So questions and conversations took place between the building and maintenance and others uh where they did not take place with the water department. Correct. Jeff with with all of our departments and we have department head meetings. I meet monthly with department heads. Um and these are topics that regularly come up. So you
know you can ask any of the department heads that oversee union staff. You know we we don't have well I am the HR right? So HR and collective bargaining comes through me. that's always been very clear and defined. Um, and so these things always come through the town administrator and particularly if it's
collective bargaining, it's something that you, it's your responsibility, the board of selectment's responsibility and you hire me to to do the day-to-day things, but it's ultimately your decision. Um, and you need to be aware of it as well as I do as we are with every other case. If there's a grievance, u we know about it and we
certainly know if there is going to be a decision from a grievance that is going to impact a contract and the financial implications of the contract. Never mind it. You know, this was we've been very clear in how this was to be applied. Um and it was it was blatantly disregarded.
And I've sat in with contract negotiations, I will say not with water, but with other with fire, with other agencies. Um to get back to your total package financial wise, it's a give and take, right? If if a if a union wants something here, then you you take from
here. So it's it's um that's part of the process of coming up with an agreement that both sides like. So I can see your point, Cody, whereas to you've got an agreement that's agreed on by both sides and then one side, you know, it wouldn't be fair for the town to do that as well, you know, for us to all of a sudden
change an agreement because we wanted to um because as you say, both sides get together, agree on the gives and the takes um and and go from there to come up with a full package. And I think the the most important picture here is is not the um issue of the overtime
provision that we're discussing. That that's the you know what uh started all this but the the point of this meeting is not the issue of to discuss that that provision. The point here is is that you know the grievance was filed granted by
a department head even in in total um you know obligation. it was against what the board of Slackman had been very clear in what you were doing and in this employee um the water superintendent is supposed to represent or not represent the town because the board does but is not is not a member of the union right
they're on the management side of things here um and that's you know we get that information so that's the issue here and and it undermined your authority in this process and also you know it really I think it's a public trust issue I think you know the public trust the board to
negotiate these contracts and you had an employee employee here through the water commission that undermined that process purposefully um because it was it was noted to them in the beginning of September to Mr. Lindseay that this is how the board was going to apply this and when he got the grievance he granted the grievance which the bigger issue
here is never said a word about it um until I pulled up payroll empowerment. So do any of the commissioners or bill want to want to speak to this at all? You don't have a copy of the contract update with you. Uh, I do not. So, Bill,
we're not talking about the the specific You know, I get it. I don't have it here. I get it. And without getting into too much, you knew it wasn't a good thing for the department. So, it was a financial picture that we looked at. But again, the the issue bill is either way,
I have I followed the rules. There's a section in there that says sick time, vacation time, personal time, counselor's time, worked. That's what it says. That's not what it means. Someone's going to tell me that's not what it means. We did. You did. I have I have an email to you actually that that I did and I told you how No, you have it
and it was and how the town was going to apply it and you undermined that when you got your grievance and you granted the grievance and you you purposefully did not notify you were on vacation. Nobody told me what to do. I was on vacation in September. You were on vacation. I turned it in with payroll. I followed the grievance procedure. It
doesn't say I need to talk to anybody. It doesn't say my decision has to be based on what I'm told by others. I also want to remind the board and the water commission and the town as a whole, the water department is a department of the town of Halifax. They are not an independent water district. They are a department of the town and they operate
with an elected board of water commissioners, but they operate under the jurisdiction of the town of Halifax, right? They use all of our departments. They are a department of the town. And I think the way that the water department has been acting is an independent water district. It needs to be very clear. They are not an independent water
district. They are a department of the town of Halifax and there needs to be collaboration as there is with every other department in town in communication and it was very clear how this was to be applied. And so again, I don't I don't there's not going to be uh
something a solution here tonight, but it just needs to be understood um and on the record that this is what occurred um that it undermined the board's authority and trust um that the residents entrust in you when they elect you to negotiate contracts on behalf of the town as the
exclusive employer of the town under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 150E. And that is what has occurred here. Um, and just, you know, want to make you aware of that. Um, that that that is what happened. Bill, can I can I ask you when you when you signed off, um, you did know that the board had that
position that it was hours worked, right? Not not hours scheduled, right? But then that section is tells you something different. What is that section in the contract for? We met on that section. I told you after that that we are continuing with that with that. You said that before I even got the grievance cuz I was paying
but I didn't know. So, I was paying the overtime and then you said, "Hey, they're not supposed to get paid overtime unless they work 40 hours." They started getting paid overtime. Then they filed the grievance, brought it up to me that, "Hey, look, there's a section that says all this council hours worked." So, I guess just as a as a
courtesy, do you do you think where it had been it had been an issue at a sticking point? I will say, because you signed off on that grievance, do you think it would have been in the town's best interest to let the town know of, hey, um, this is the grievance that that I was I turned
payroll in case anybody had it had been a sticking point for a while. So to Cody's point, it does appear like you you sidestep the town, you know, the grievance procedure. If it's different, let me know. Bill, did the water did you um did the water commissioners know at any point
about this after and they they did they give their blessing to to have this process follow? I showed them the section in the contract, let them know that this is why I did it and they were okay with it. Okay. So, and just to be clear, you're an appointed member, you're an appointed water superintendent. Yeah. Appointed by
elected water commissioners. Y Okay. And the water commissioners, maybe it's a better question for any one of them who's here. Did they feel any obligation to to disclose what was happening to the people that elected them to their positions as elected officials
to sidestep a contract, which to be honest felt sneaky, feels sneaky. Nobody tried to sidestep anything. Nobody needs to tell us that we know that we're a member of this town. Bill followed the grievance procedure that's written in
the contract. The grievance procedure says that the employee files a grievance, he goes to the superintendent. If the if the employee is not happy with that, then he comes to us. That's the procedure. There is nowhere else in that
contract that says if that grievance is put to bed that we do anything. We feel it is put to bed. The bord of water commissioner's problem with this whole contract is you people. You negotiate the contract. We're not asking to
negotiate anything. We're not asking to sign anything. We're asking you people before you sign it to ask us if we agree. give us get us look at it at least. We see nothing. You people signed it and it's a done deal. We saw the
contract after it was signed and done. I came to a meeting well over a year ago about the same overtime. And and when Cody walked into the meeting, he didn't even want to talk to me because I was at the meeting. I'm the chairman of the department. I feel it
was my responsibility to try to end this. That's why I'm here. That's why the other commissioner was here to put this to bed. You just talked about people uh with dirty water calls. We want people that will come in and help us with these issues when they come up.
We got a plant that's coming online that we thought would be back online sometime back in May. There were been more issues. When it does go back online, I'll guarantee you there's going to be some issues that nobody foresees coming. We want somebody that will come in and take care of them. The guy's not
going to come in if you tell you're going to come in, but you're going to get straight time to do it. If we call them at midnight or 2 o'clock in the morning or whenever it is, if somebody has a a a leak in their basement and we need somebody to come in, we want people to come in. Who's going to come in at
2:00 in the morning for for and do something? And you say, "By the way, you're going to get straight time to do this." This is a very simple thing to fix. All we're asking is when when the guys come in, they're going to get paid. Period. And we want to see the contract
the next time you do it before you sign it. I don't think that's asking for too much. You guys, you just admitted you don't know what's going on in those plants. A lot of us still don't even because it's it's all brand new. I bet none of you even been in the plant. No, but I will I will say I'm not
a water commissioner. You're not? Have you been in the buildings? You know what it takes to run this? No. No. That's not our perview. That's but it's us and correct. So we but we that's what we're saying and water is the biggest issue in town for the last 12 years. No question. And now it's there's a sneaky provision
that you folks sidestep the rules for 12 years. Other departments didn't have the same questions and did follow the rules. We followed the rules. Read the contract. Okay. He's got a copy of it. The contract says the employee files agreements. He files it with the superintendent. If he's not happy with
that, he brings it to us. Okay. So to be clear, you approved it. You He was happy. You approved of the process. Bill said he took care of the grievance. So you have no regrets about how this all unfolded. You're No. Okay. Because we followed the contract. Okay. Simple.
And just to not to beat a dead horse here, but Cody, when the when the negotiations were happening, the union people did have a copy of the contract that they were able to review, that they were able to see, and that uh I believe this change was the first line in the
contract. So to say that that you guys didn't get a look at it, I mean, it was we didn't get a look at it. They did. Right. Right. That that that's accurate. So that that's absolutely accurate. Um but again, we're not here to discuss necessarily the
specific. We're here discussing the process that occurred and undermined the authority of the board of selectmen. Um and and Mr. Clark is accurate. You know, they requested a meeting over this topic. Um I walked in, I had no clue that he was going to be there because he doesn't represent the town as the
employer under collective bargaining. Um and I ended the meeting when Mr. Clark started swearing at me. Um, and I did say I was done with the meeting because he he started dropping uh explicit language at me which was uncomfortable and unnecessary. We back that up. Mhm. Everybody is here who's at that meeting.
Does anyone remember me swearing to him? Well, I I I had saying no, but you're saying yes. I do. Somebody's not telling the truth. Okay. All right. To to steer this back, um I do feel like we need to work a little bit more in conjunction if we can figure
this out. Um because I will say and I don't know if I'm perceiving this myself and I don't know if the board picks up on this but I feel like there's a disconnect between the town and the water department. Whether you know well who that falls on so be it. But I think we need to Cody's point come up with a
way where we can collectively work together to to work on problems and issues. And I hope that that the water department is okay with something like that. Absolutely. So, any other comments from the board?
Yeah. Uh, in the blue first, Chris, rock, paper, scissors, however you want to do it. Chris Witz, 129 Circuit Street. I had a question on the first subject because we jumped right to the second one. When we finally go to flush the wells, will we be doing every single hydrant in town?
Do you guys hear that one? If you guys want to just come up and answer, just because no one will hear it. Yeah, it'll it'll be all the hydrant when we can flush. If we can flush in September, we're going to get all the hydrants because everything's been sitting for over a year. Mhm. So, we have to do a complete flush to make sure
everything's out fresh. Because of this pickle we're in, would you guys say you've received a record number of of calls just because of the state of what's going on right now? I think so. I think it's the most since I've been here. Yeah. Okay. But we know why. Before we got here, we didn't know why,
but now we know we didn't flush at all last year. And taking Brockton's water didn't help. Okay. Because we spent a lot of money just taking their water to use it, never mind flushing out the hydrants. All right. Thank you. In the blue, did you still have a question? Oh,
you got a followup, Chris? I just want to clarify it wasn't all lines. Will every hydrant be opened and flushed? Every hydrant? Yep. Yep. Bill says, "Yep." Just, "Hi, my name is John Roberts. I'm the Ask Me Council 93 staff rep, and I was
the one that was uh part and parcel with another member of my unit to negotiate this contract. Um, the language that was put forward in that contract was put forward three times and rejected. And yes, it did get through. Um, we brought it to the attention as soon as the
contract happened. And I I'm here basically on behalf of that to set the record straight. So this has been an ongoing two-year issue in that the water commissioners and I'm speaking on on behalf of them for them. They tried to
reach out to the board is my understanding numerous times and were not given the opportunity to meet for two years. Now that the contract was followed to the tea when it was filed under 150E in the DLR, it split the
responsibilities of the grievance procedure on purpose. So the water commissioners had a say in the water department and the town had a say for the town employees and that's how it's written and they followed it to the tea and now that it's an issue the town
feels now they want to talk to the water commissioners. So, we follow the contract by what it's stated and the remedy is what it is and that's all I have to say. Do you know when the contract or maybe Cody does when was that contract? Next year, we're going
when when was it? 23. Yeah. So, ratified in June of 23. And and you're saying since that contract was signed. Since that contract, there's been multiple attempts by the commissioners to appear multiple attempts by the union to correct in what we feel and we met with you, John. Don't Well, I'm speaking
Cody. Okay. Thank you. I have the microphone. Okay. Thank you for that. Okay. You only have a couple weeks to go. Okay. Thank you. I still care about the town. I do too. Okay. I do too. I'm not here to break the bank. Okay. I'm just here to state the facts of what happened. We reached out multiple times
to correct what we thought was an injustice. Cody got a bad memory and said he doesn't remember any of it. Okay, no problem. We offered to try and correct it by offering up solutions. We were met with complete silence. Nope, not
interested. Okay, we were going to wait the three years. We filed the grievance when we found out water the water commission and we did the process and the and that was the remedy. Can I ask a follow? Absolutely. So I
mean I'm I'm new to the board a year ago May. So you're saying you've tried multiple times in the last two years. two years, but none in the last 15 months since I've been here because it's never come never come across us, my desk to meet since May of 2024. I would say
yes. Say it again. I would say yes. Within 15 months, we've tried. And how would that have gotten to us? It it did through an executive session, which is when we responded to to to the union. So um just to clarify a few things, the the
commission did reach out to the board to request to meet. We shared about that with the board. The board at the time decided that there was no need to meet because the commission did not have the authority to bargain contracts. Uh to the contrary, the union did reach out in request to meet a few times. We met we met a several times. We went back and
forth. We didn't agree, right, on a solution, but but we did meet. Yes, I can admit to that. Um and we did meet and then we got another request to meet. Um and then we found then we found the provision in the contract that said all time counts as time worked. We brought that to your attention and was told no.
So the first time that happened we filed the grievance with the water commissioners. No waterend those water superintendent stand corrected and the remedy was what it was. We followed the contract. Once we found that provision that's when we said okay you're not
going to agree with us on this way. We found this provision. you still don't agree, but we're going to file a grievance on it. And it ended there because it was approved and now the time counts. The the issue here that's what's in the contract. That language is in the contract, right? The the issue here is not with the union, John. That's not
that's not what the board here is discussing tonight. We're discussing the issue of the grievance procedure in in the um blatant disregard to inform the town. That has nothing to do with the union. That's we're not talking about that. I understand that. I just felt the
need to make the record straight of what was being said. So we we did meet every time the union requested to meet. We met. I brought it before the board. You did? The board met in August um when the union brought forward the language that they found and in conjunction with um
our recommendation from council. The board made it very clear that they were sticking with the current um understanding of it. And on August 13th, I sent an email to Mr. Roberts and um the union president Mr. pathway and I informed them of that decision and then
shortly after is when they you know as he said and then I believe it was Labor Day you can correct me on was the first holiday that happened the person worked we didn't get paid we filed the grievance and it was the remedy was yes that they should be paid and that's
where we stand today I think going forward I appreciate the account I appreciate that John good everybody good and I appreciate the recount um I just think going forward forward. We need to come up with a a way. I don't think the town should learn about grievances,
you know, nine months after the fact. You know, I do feel like just in the spirit of of good faith in the town, we should be given a heads up as to the grievance was signed, especially again where this was a sticking point. It wasn't, you know, the the water department knew full well that this was
an issue. This has been a back and forth. So, if we can come up with a way that we're not blindsided and only find out about this grievance through a random payroll check, that to me seems a a little bit underhanded, I will say. So, if we can come up with a way um to
have both sides talking and improve communication um whether that's updates from from Bill at department head meetings or what however we want to set this up just so that we feel like there's a a better improvement in communication so that we can feel like we're on the same team here. That's
that's what I'd love to do. Can I respond to that? Absolutely. Dick, go ahead. You just made you just made the reference that we did something underhanded. Would you please show me in the contract where that is? Because as far as I'm concerned, we followed the
contract. The agreements went to the superintendent. He notified us about it. He told us the grievance was all set. It was done. It was a done deal. Sure. What else are we supposed to do? Where in the contract does it say that we have to tell you or anybody else? Just common
courtesy. I was thinking you guys wrote the contract. Say again. You guys signed the contract. You know what was in it more than we do. Right. Where does it say that we go beyond that? What did we Tell me what we did wrong? I just think it would be common courtesy, Dick, to let the town know that this grievance
happened. You know, you're the town of Halifax water department. We're all I like to think of us as a family. So, I would like to all the other to have communication in the town. Every time there's a grievance, you tell the town's people because I've never heard of one. They notify the town administrator so
that we know so that we so that Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Wait a minute. I don't interrupt you people. Go. Okay. Go ahead, Dick. If that's what you wanted, why didn't you write it in the contract? It was written in the contract that go and goes to him. We'll follow. If it's in the contract, we're
going to follow it. You didn't put that in the contract. So, don't blame us for it. No. No. I was just hoping for blame us. You said we did something underhanded. I would just hope as a common courtesy you would let us know especially where this had been such an issue. I know we're going to to negotiate next year. We'll look to add
that that you officially let the town know. The first contract was negotiated. I was invited to every single meeting. This time I'm thrown out. That's true. The town admin that is true. Absolutely. No. But the other town administrator, the one that was here for
20 something years, used to email or call me himself, tell me that we're going to have a negotiation this particular day. I want you or some somebody from the commission there. This time we're left blind. We don't find out a damn thing until it's too late. We can't do anything about it. And all
we're asking you to do is let us look at it. Give us some place to initialize something. Say, "Yeah, we approve with this." I don't think that's asking for much. They work for us, right? They're not actually the Mr. Lindsay. Now you get technical. No, I'm being I'm following Massachusetts general law. So
Mr. Lindsay reports to you and appointed as Massachusetts general law. The other work for the town which is governed by the chief executive which is the board of selectman. They work for the water commissioners. All of them do. You know they do. Again, I don't want to
beat a dead horse here. I don't either. But I just want to make sure that these guys are going to get what they deserve if they get called in. I want to see that they get paid so that they came in. We're not going to be go spinning our wheels if somebody needs to say now we got to find somebody else to come in because he worked all week and if a guy
takes a vacation day, we call him get committed on the weekend. He's not going to get paid. No, they get paid. Everyone gets paid. We have to pay. They get paid straight time. Who's going to come in for straight time today? These guys don't make that much money now. That's why you have the town town employees leave this town. Now you're going to ask
them to come in for straight time. Saturday, a lot of things happen on the Saturday. I'm going to You're going to ask them to come in for straight time. Who's going to come in? Just pay them the time and a half like
they've been supposed to get. It's not hard. Anybody else on the board have anything? Okay. Okay. Well, I I I know this got a little hostile, but I want to appreciate I want to thank the the commissioners for coming in and Bill coming in just so
we can hash through this thing. Um, and I know we'll be looking to get a contract that both sides can agree on in the next contract negotiation cycle. Um, we get to see it. The the appropriate people by
Massachusetts general law will get to see it. I I don't know. We're we're following mass general law. Dick as as best we can. So, all right. Thank you guys. Sean, can I say something? Yeah, go ahead, Bill. Go ahead. I've had a lot of conversation
with you about it and I was in the negotiations and I explained to Cody during negotiations why that wasn't fair to my guys. We're the only department that has to work seven days a week. Holidays, they lose out. the highway guys. It's not in their contract. For
some reason, Cody listened to Steve when Steve said he needs his guys to come in and plow. They didn't put it in their contract. I told him in the beginning, "It's not fair. We got to be here every single day." He said, "Well, if they don't accept it, it's not a big deal." All of a sudden, the contract signed. It's he I kept it in there. I kept it in
there. I kept it in there. Wouldn't change it. And then when they said they misunderstood something, that's why they agreed to it. And I said to him, "What they misunderstand?" He said, "I don't know." It's like you shouldn't you find out what they misunderstood before they sign a contract? Next thing you know, it's in there. And I had the discussions we do a lot of times about it. This
could have been avoided if he took my advice as a department head and didn't put that in the contract. We wouldn't be here today. They're the only three guys got to work every single day. D says the wells have to be checked every day. You say town hall is closed, they still got
to show up. Snowstorm, they still got to show up. Holidays, they still got to be here. Saturday, Sunday, and and again, I'll take that point, Bill, but again, where you knew this was a big sticking point. I just think it would have been decent to let us know that this this
grievance had been filed, that it had been done. So, if he looks at his vacation time, he was on vacation that week. I wasn't actually just looked. Did you? You weren't? Nope, I wasn't. I went away on the last week of September and I and and if and just as a note, the board's aware of this, but when I go away, I send an email to all department
heads and the board and I let them know that they can always still contact me and they can let me know of things because I I bring my laptop and I work every day usually while I'm on vacation. So, that's that's not a good excuse, unfortunately. So, just if we can come up with a way to to share communication, all we do is just listen to the department head who knows what the
department needs and this could have been avoided. You know, I mean, it was all done just for one department who didn't like his guy working overtime after using sick time. And then that guy ended up quitting anyways. So, look where we are now. And he's the same guy that complained to Cody. That's why he checked the payroll, you know. I mean, I
don't know. We can try next time. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Can we go ahead? I just want to make that clear. We've only got three guys. We have to have somebody come in 365 days a
year. That's hard to do when you've only got three. So when you've only got three and if one of them can't won't come in because he's not going to get time and a half to do the job, that even makes it harder. Not only that, you know, all of our trucks,
we put plows on our trucks. We don't need plows on them. We put plows on them so we can work with the highway department in the winter. So now you're asking them not that cuts down on the highway department. Now they're not going to have anybody to plow snow. And as far as you know, and we reached out
to you guys multiple times. We sent individuals to the whole board. We sent individual emails to the three selectmen at the time. I don't think you you were there, but we we we tried. We got no answers. So we we know this is a sticking point. We've known it for since they signed the contract and we've been
trying to get it fixed. That's all. Thank you. All right. Guys, we're running a little late. I apologize. And I know we have approval of uh warrants and commitments, but we have some folks waiting here. So, if you guys don't mind, we'll take the
agenda a little bit out of order. Uh we'll go down to uh letter B on your agenda. Dave Walsh is here with the proposed Veterans Memorial. Uh Dave, or we don't mind taking the taking the mic?
Yeah. Thank you. I wanted to teach you just a little briefing sheet. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Dave. And if you don't mind, Dave, just go into the microphone so folks can hear you. Yeah. And identify yourself.
Okay. Good evening, gentlemen. My name is David Walsh and uh I'm I'm I'll be reading from this primarily and I'll be adding a little bit. Sure. Uh I'm representing the Veterans Foreign Wars post 6258 in Halifax here. It's our own our own post. I'm here to seek your
blessing, gentlemen, uh for a memorial for a fallen war hero that to be placed in in town property. Uh I appeared some time ago years ago before this board and uh I was uh requesting uh us to become a Purple
Heart Town and the the gentleman that was assisting me, ironically, was the man we're talking about now, the fallen hero Joshua. to many of us he was like a uh young brother we never had uh he was a decorated war hero if you
look at his 214 star with a bronze star with with a V for valor and several he got multiples on that presidential unit citation went on and on and he was a hero in life anyone that gave up his life to save two children that to me is a hero in life and I think he's something we can look up to our post
with the assistance of the council of aging uh has appointed a group tasked to oversee this memorial this group consists of myself, William Finn who's a quad master for uh financial purposes, uh David McFillips who's a veterans agent in Pemroke. He's had vast
experience in erecting memorials, him being a gold star dad himself, and of course our Steve Littlefield, our own veterans agent in this town. We would like to place a polished granite stone bench seat in the back out
beside the memorial that exists on our side lawn. That's what we're we're hoping for. The seat would be 4 ft long, 2 ft wide, 4 in thick. It's polished granite. It would be the bottom and the top both would be the same dimensions.
Uh, and inscribed on it would be Joshua Aaron Curtis in 1986 2025. Hero in war, a hero in combat, hero in life because I think he's ex he's shown those traits in both both
parts of his life. 38 years old is is too young to to succumb to something like that when he's gone through combat and then to lose his life doing this. But that is truly a man who give up his life so someone else could could live is truly a hero in my opinion. The
approximate cost is $5,100. None of this will come to the town. It'll be paid fully through the Veterans Foreign Wars with the help of the Council on Aging. Uh so therefore, I'm going to emphasize that once more. There'll be no expense to the town.
This memorial would be purchased through Swenson uh uh Stoneworks in Washington Street in Hanover. Uh if we get your blessing, we'll go ahead and order that. It'll take between 8 to nine weeks to uh to achieve this.
The inscription on the polished granite is the part that would take the most. Uh they have their own truck with a winch, a whole cable they can deliver, and I'm under under the impressions that they will actually provide a footing. I think I asked in here we request the highway department to provide a footing for us.
We may not need that even. Okay. Uh and I think I think uh if I read in in the in the correct uh sequence they will provide the footing also. We envision dedication to be to to occur on Memorial Day. Memorial Day I'm sorry on Veterans
Day because Memorial Day is not a time to party. Memorial Day is a time to reflect. Uh Veterans Day, yes, you can let loose and enjoy all veterans. So, we will we will uh like to have dedication on Veterans Day and have the widow, Mrs. Curtis, and her son Owen, who was one of
the ones that was saved by by his dad, uh do the dedication. And of course, I'm I'm probably premature in this, assuming that maybe if in fact we get your blessings, we certainly would love the presence of the three selectmen to to be in that attendance. And we're thinking of maybe getting our state reps uh in
the senators also and maybe the state commanders uh to ask them if they would come and I think they would. Uh this is something really special. We believe we believe this memorial will serve as an inspiration for all our citizens and for decades to come.
And then I just put down God bless Joshua Aaron Curtis. Uh personally I take a little thing of this. I headed up the committee because I thought he was like a little brother to myself. uh he's assisted me in many things at home and vice versa. He was a master craftsman.
He helped restore uh the uh many of many of our uh homes in many of our special places and God bless America. Thank you for allowing me to come before you for this request. So, I'm going to
ask if you would give me the blessing to start this project this evening. If that's the case, we will at a later date update you on the progress and ask for your further blessing for completion of this. Sure. So, would I get it now or would I wait
for you later to give me a blessing at a later date? No, I I think you're okay. I think we can do this now. Absolutely. Well, I want to thank you, Dave, for for your leg work on this. Um I I met Josh once, I got to say, but instantly when you met the guy, you knew he was an impressive guy. He just had a way about
him. um an energy to him. Uh just an impressive guy. And then and then when I went to the services, I read the account of how he earned his medals. Yes. And it's right out of a movie running out into open fire to save injured people. Um his bone it was chilling. It was a
chilling account. First class is what he ended up in his uh enlisted career which is very admirable. Yeah. But he so he was involved in many things in the town including coaching sports, youth sports. Yeah. I know he was going to be a football coach. Yeah. and he prepared many uh things like this for us also. I
think he's a very worthy candidate. Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. Board, does the board have anything else they want to add? I knew Josh personally. He was a great guy. I mean, this is a fantastic tribute to him. He was so softspoken. I mean, I was devastated when I heard what happened. He was he
was unassuming gentleman and he uh he just took the bull of the horns and did it himself. And I've never seen a master craftsman such as him because many of my friends went through a place called North Bennett Street School of He knew some of the folks that went through
there and I introduced them to him and that was really totally awesome on my part. It's just g me such a great feeling to be a friend of his and then to see this happen totally unexpected. Yeah. And I just I'd like to add um you know I knew Josh a little bit. Um we coached T-ball together. Our sons are the same age and I've said this before
but you know when I was running for selectman there was a lot of back and forth on social media which is always fun and Josh asked the most pointed questions um the ones that I thought encapsulated uh encapsulated the vision for Halifax and the love of Halifax that
he shared that we shared and I think his vision for the town was something that he was invested in and he was the kind of guy that would work toward that vision not just hope somebody else did it and he always asked the most important questions the toughest ones but the ones that mattered to me. I had a great respect for him. Um it was
devastated as as we all were. And I think you're doing great work for Josh. And I can just tell you in my military career sometimes I I have been a commander. I have I've been an executive officer. I wish I had a staff. I wish I had an agitant of Josh's capability that could staff it out for me and present it
in layman's terms and make it simplified and and make my decision very easy. But so I guess I have your permission, gentlemen. Absolutely. Well, I'll I'll um I'll entertain a motion to uh approve the initial stages of a a memorial um
honoring Josh Curtis. So moved. Second. All those in favor. I I passes unanimously. Dave, good luck. I do ask you before you put anything into the ground though, if you could maybe just give us a you know stake out a spot as to where where it's going to go so we can take a look at it. Once this
progresses, we'll we'll come before you again with all the specifics. Sure. and uh ask for your permission for the completion. Thank you. Thank you, Dave. Appreciate it. Thank you, Dave. All right. Next up, we have Bob Hodgej uh for possible appointment into the beautifification committee. Bob, do you
mind coming up to the microphone really quick? Um so, Bob, I know you're a well-known guy here in town. I guess the easy question is why do you want to be on beautifification? I uh enjoy plants and I had people ask
me if I would consider it and I came to the activity we had uh last month and I very impressed with all the people that help out. It's a great group and I thought I'd be able to contribute. Awesome. Thank you. And we give them a thumbs up. Beautification. A lot of
thumbs up over there. Okay. Outstanding. Um this is a layup in my opinion for what Bob does for this town. So, I'll entertain a motion to appoint Bob Hodgej to the beautifification committee. Do we know the end date on that one, Cody? June 30th,
June to term ending June 30th, 2026. So moved. Second. All those in favor? I I passes unanimous. Bob, thank you. Thank you for volunteering. Yes. Appreciate it. Thank you, Bob. Sorry, we're running a little behind. No big deal. All right. Uh, next up, we'll jump down to D. Tyler
Hughes, Eagle Scout Project. Come on up, Ty. Great to hear you. Just going to identify yourself in the microphone there. Hi, I'm Tyler Hughes, Troop 39. Yeah. And explain to us what you'd like to do here. Why are you here in front of the board of selectment tonight? I'd
like to start my Eagle project. Uh it's two flower beds for the Vaughn Park and the police department sign. I just like to redo that whole area. Okay. Um, and you plan on completely tie are you
redoing them completely like stripping them down and completely rebuilding them or just kind of touching them up? Uh, completely rebuilding them. Okay. And do you know what kind of materials you're going to use? Are you going to use wood or tracks or what kind of stuff? We're still debating that right now. Okay. We
will figure that out soon. Okay. If we can maybe look towards something that's less maintenance. Yeah. You know, I know we talked about this with scouts. We have some amazing Eagle Scout projects in town, but sometimes what happens is, um, it'll create some some maintenance
for the town, right? So, um, if you can kind of keep that in the back of your mind as to when you're doing it, something that will last and maybe not have to be painted every couple years or or worked on, something that'll be easy to sustain going forward, that'd be great. Yep. Um, does the board have any questions for Tyler at all or any
thoughts? The signs too, just around the Just the flower beds. And what's your timeline on this, Tyler? Uh, we're hoping to be done by September. September. All right. Have you fundraised yet? This is your chance to start, you know, throwing it out there. Anybody wants to help Tyler?
Haven't begun yet? Not yet. I still got to do the paperwork for that. If somebody were to want to contribute to your project, how how could they do that? Uh, probably a GoFundMe online. You're going to start a GoFundMe? Yeah. Okay. Excellent. All right. Um, any anything else from
the board? I'll entertain a motion to approve the Eagle Scout project for Tyler Hughes. So moved. Second. All those in favor? I I opposed. Passes unanimous. Tyler, good luck. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks for helping us out. All right. Uh Council on Aging. Do we
have somebody here for the live permit? No. No. No. So this this is an annual thing. Uh the COA looks to have Matt York um over here at the town green. Okay. That's for um it's 30 to 50 people usually. Yep, I remember it. Matt's he
does 12 to one. Um they park over here in the town hall parking lot. The COAVM will pick up individuals as needed and this is on July 2nd. Yeah. And it's been okayed by fire, police, and board of health. Yes. Uh so I will entertain a motion to approve the live entertainment
permit for the Halifax COA for July 2nd, 2025. So moved. Second. All those in favor? I approved. passes unanimously. Oh, next up we have use of town green council on aging. So that's for the same event. Same event. Uh and again it's
been okayed by all the necessary parties that be. So uh I'll entertain a motion for the same event for Council on Aging for July 2nd, 2025. Second. All those in favor? I I passes unanimous. All right. Halifax fireworks. Let me pull that one
up. Uh exciting times. We have the fireworks coming up the 28th which is this Saturday that flu. Uh they are requesting fireworks obviously and a DJ. Their timeline is 5 to 10. Um and everybody here pretty much knows the deal. It's going to be over at the
elementary school. Um and no parking. Want to get this out there. No parking from the fire station all through town hall and no parking uh one way on South Street and Hemlock Lane. So, I'll entertain a motion to approve the live entertainment permit for the Halifax
fireworks this weekend. So, moved. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Passes unanimous. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Uh, ambulance abatements uh for FY21.
Anybody want to put those out there? Just read them. Yeah. 8 months of payments FY21 115,4941.90. You want to do all three of them there, Bill? We do all three. Yeah. Uh April 25th 134,24151
May 25,464. All right. We have So that's a motion to approve those three. Second. Okay. Uh, all those in favor? I I opposed. Passes unanimous. All right. Uh, do we want to get the the bills paid here? Do we want to do the warrants and commitments? Go back up to
those. You got them. I move to affirm the following warrants. Payroll warrant number 113 for 335,32155. Payroll warrant number 115 for 967,153.38.
[Music] Vendor warrant number 116 for 189,222. Withholding warrant number 117 for $110,823.92. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Passes unanimous.
I move to approve the following warrant vendor warrant number 118 for 116,827.36. Second. All those in favor. I I passes unanimous. I'll entertain a motion to approve the selectman meeting minutes from June 10th, 2025. So move. Second.
All those in favor? I I passes unanimous. All right. Moving down the list here. All right. We got some line item transfers. Cody, could you explain those? We got highway legal budget and building maintenance. Sure. So, uh highway the form was filled out incorrectly. So, that's going to be on
the next meeting. Uh building maintenance will also be on the next meeting as we need to hold off. Um the one that's before you is for the legal budget. Um I you may recall I had mentioned at the previous meeting that our legal budget was going to um go over this year primarily driven by three main
factors. Um the first is the MBTA community um litigation that the board chose to file. So that's put us over by several thousand as that was unexpected. The other was the Morse Brothers um litigation. You know, you may recall there was an appeal process that we're
going through. Um so that has cost the town um some thousands of dollars and then also um you know some unexpected personnel costs um as far as labor council. So um we when we put a budget together, we know there's going to be
more labor costs if we're going to bargain contracts. So, for instance, this coming year, we know we're going to be bargaining contracts. We increased our legal budget a little bit. We didn't anticipate bargaining contracts this year when we put the budget together and then two new unions formed and we had to bargain two contracts. Now, one of them
decided against it um which was very odd, but we did still have to go through and bargain the contracts. So, um you know, there's labor council um cost involved there. So, um we're anticipating about $30,000 that we're going to need. Um the funds are coming from police wages. be um ju due to just
um retirement of some older officers and new officers coming in. We have um an expected overage in that account. So the um the plan would be to take it out of police wages due to the overage and move it into the legal budget for $30,000. Okay. All right. Uh let me pull these up
here so I can get the wordage right. I always mess this one up. So, it would just be to approve the line item transfer um in the amount of $30,000 in from the police wages account into the legal budget. All right. I'll entertain a motion to approve the moving
of $30,000 from the police budget to um legal budget. Sorry. So, moved. Second. All those in favor? I Thank you. Sorry that was ugly. Um, and then here, Cody, is that the 9,893?
Nope. That's the form that was incorrectly fill. So, it's just that one legal budget. We're skipping the other ones for tonight. Okay. All right. And then I jump down. Um, we got to go back to K. I apologize. Town accountant as the authorized ARPA representative. Uh, yes. So with uh my
anticipated departure and also when Sandy Nolan retired, we never uh had approved um Lindsay Martinelli, our interimm town accountant, to um submit the ARPARE requests. So um there is the county requires that in order for her to
be an authorized signatory to submit the reports that the board just approve um approve that. So the it really just it's just submitting the reports currently. Um I've been doing it in but it really should be with the accounting office. How much what's the status with ARPA right now? I mean, is there So, no. No,
we had to have fully obligated all those costs at the end of 2024. Sure. So, now it's just submitting reports on what the status of those are. So, you know, like we had the water department project. We allocated some money to Silver Lake. Um, we have a couple other miscellaneous projects just making sure that we're reporting. So, it's seeing them through
to the finish line essentially. Just Yeah, just reporting. Okay. All right. I'll entertain a motion to um so the actual um sorry the actual language would be that the town accountant is authorized to prepare and enter information into the Plymouth
County Rescue Plan portal in support of one or more applications to Plymouth County for grants to be funded from a grant received by Plymouth County under the American Rescue Plan Act. Can I so can I so move that? Yes. So moved. Do I have a second? All those in favor? I I
passes unanimous. Thank you, Cody. That was a mouthful. The road cuts we actually going to skip over. It ended up um that not being needed as it's in private property. Okay, so we're skipping over M jumping down to N use of opioid settlement funds for Junior Police Academy. I love the sound of
this. Yeah. So, we um we've received um close to $80,000 in um opioid settlement funds. You know, the Massachusetts Attorney General entered into litigation um with all the pharmaceutical companies as a result of the um opioid epidemic. um that they've uh there's been
settlements reached with several of those um pharmaceutical companies and the result is a lot of the funds get uh sent directly to the towns. You we had a we had an article in town meeting some budget not accounting um and we actually have a survey out right now to gauge the
public's interest on health and um potential use of these opioid funds. Great. But um we we we developed an internal team um consisting of myself, our board of health agent Bob Valerie, our um COA director Darlene Reagan, police chief, deputy chief, fire uh
chief to just start brainstorming some ideas. And during that initial meeting, it was come, you know, it came up um the the Halifax Police Department is putting on a um junior academy this year, junior police academy um for two days in August. Um, and a lot of it is going to
be focused on drug awareness for children in fifth and sixth grade. So, it sounds like the um per perfect use of these funds. It's it's small amount, $2,000 they're requesting. We have about 80,000 and the board would look to appropriate the rest at a future time once we've had some more data gathering,
but given kind of the pertinance of this and um it just seems like a great program. So, the police department um in in the uh letter attached is requesting that you appropriate $2,000 out of the opioid settlement funds for the purpose of their police academy, junior academy. Cody, why why not the whole week? Why
are they doing two days? I think they're just starting out. Um so, they had done this years ago and then they had stopped and I the county puts one on. Um and there's been such overwhelming demand for the county one that a a large amount of Halifax students have actually been weight listed at that one. So, the
thought was to start doing something here. Um it would probably look to be expanded in the future, but I think this is the first year with it back, so they wanted to start not too big um with it. We used to run one every year. We have the um state police would come with the
bomb dogs. They come with drug dogs. We have the um helicopters land and it's a minute you post it, it would fill up. People are dying in this academy. They really they have a big graduation ceremon at the end. It's really impressive. Yeah. Well, I'm excited to
get that going here. That sounds fantastic. All right. I will gladly entertain a motion to use funding for um Junior Police Academy from our opioid settlement funds. So moved. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Passes
unanimous. All right. Next up is our town administrator search committee charge. Uh yes. I'll let you take this one, Mr. Celig. Yes. So uh as you know, we are looking for a new town administrator. Uh we have Cody for another couple weeks or so. So, we have
to start the process of finding Cody's replacement. Um, and one of those things we will consider is putting together uh a basically a screening committee to look at candidates. Um, and what I was given by the consultant that is working
with us is a charge. So, essentially anybody that will be on this committee essentially knows what's expected of them. You know, the rules of engagement so to speak. um amongst them and one of the one of the most paramount things amongst it is that secrecy has to be
maintained because we will be receiving applications for folks uh that are currently working in other communities. Um so we want to make sure that if it doesn't work out or if they decide to uh not take the job or something. So we need to make sure that we keep everything in house. So that was kind of
the overriding thing here. But it basically goes over uh what's expected of folks. Uh, and I wanted to make sure that the committee got their eyes on this. Um, the board got their eyes on this so that we can kind of spell out what is expected of folks that want to
do it. So, this and just as a note, um, this just lays the groundwork, the expectations of the committee. Your typical committee charges that you approve have membership. I don't think you guys have decided that yet. Correct. Um, so you can certainly approve this, which is just the kind of direction. And
then to Mr. Celix point, you can we can post this because we're looking for candid for members to join this and at least then they know what they're actually looking to get into. Um and then on your July 8th meeting, you can establish actual membership applications for the permanent position are due. I
July July 3rd. Is it the third? Third. Okay. So, um you know, the July 8th meeting, you'll definitely want to get that committee established because they're going to want to be meeting right probably that week. And in talking with um the consultant company that we're using, I know they're looking to
to kind of have their screenings mid July. So that's another thing is availability. Uh if folks do want to try to participate in this process, they have to make sure that they're available uh mid July when they'll be doing their Zoom uh screening. So that's another part that we have to put into the mix.
So does this need uh an approval, Cody, from the board or I would approve the committee charge. Um, and I don't know if you have if you've had any time to think about what you'd like the membership to be. I I just you don't certainly have to do that tonight, but you will need to do that on the ETH. And on the ETH, you will need to actually
appoint members because they're going to need to meet that next week. Sure. Um, so if you've had the opportunity to think of what you'd like that membership to be, it might be a good chance. But again, if you have not, that's fine. Just know that you're going to need to do it on the ETH. on the ETH. Um what
we'll do is any talent bank forms that we've received, we'll plan to have them in. And whether you want one of those people on the committee, whether you want three, you haven't decided. You can decide that. But um we'll need to move do it all that night if that's what we're going to do. But what's the
pleasure of the board? Do you guys want to try to hammer out uh the positions on this screening committee now or do you need more time to think about what you'd like to do and do it at the uh the July meeting? I'm fine with either. The only thing I would say about the um the talent bank
forms is it is it appropriate if we say up to so many people at large or is that I don't think we even need we don't need to quantify the number of people that we picked from each category. Correct. No, it's up to Yeah. No, you could you could decide, you know, you could say look um on the eth you could look at the
applications and say we have um five phenomenal ATL large members and we think all of them would be great. We're gonna put all five of them in a finance committee member and the town clerk and be done. You you could have um three uh
talent bank forums and say, "Look, we only want to put two at large." It's it's totally your discretion. The only thing, and I think Bernie would probably um Bernie Lynch, the consultant, would say, you don't want to go too big. You want to you want to keep it somewhat small. you you probably don't want to do um anyone that's going to report to this
position, you know, because they'd be pick essentially selecting potentially their own boss. Um but, you know, atlarge members, finance committee, if you have any elected um positions in town, those can be considered that and those are just typical. You can do whatever you want, but yes, they're picking the chair. We're not picking the
chair of the committee. Yeah, they pick their own chair of the committee. Yep. Would it be smart where we don't know how many talent bank applications we received or will receive, would it be smart to postpone the composition of the committee until the 8th? Yeah. So, so the only thing I would recommend is um so what we can do on the ETH is everyone that has submitted, we'll have them in
and then just keep just um if you as individuals have any um position or person in mind that you'd like who's not an ATL large member, let me know ahead of time so I can inquire with them. So, for instance, if you if you say, "Look, we really like the town clerk to serve
on this clerk." Let me know and I can check with Sue and say, "Are you interested?" She may say no. I She I will say she did a great job in um subsequent meetings that we had um search screening committees that we did. So I would I would love to have our town clerk on there and a member of fincom on
there as well. We can let finance committee. So that's another thing. Finance finance committee meets on the 7th. So you if you do want a finance committee member, it'd be good to know and then they can choose their member. Um and then as far as at large, leave it open. You come back and you and you can decide on the ETH. Is the board
comfortable with uh having our town clerk and a member of of Fincom on the screening committee? I think that's pretty reasonable to put those two on there. I wouldn't say anything bigger than five people. Yeah. I mean, we could do those two and then three citizens at large. Um if we wanted to do something
like that or to Cody's point, we could wait to see what we get for talent bank forms and go from there. Yeah, I think there have been uh I would encourage all people to submit those talent bank forms. I know there's a lot of open positions in town. I don't know the numbers updated today, but I'm not sure
that we've had a we got any robust administrator screening committee. Actually, yeah. Few everyone's very critical of me in the town administrator role. So, it's a good plenty. It's a good opportunity for
the residents to get involved. And, you know, they're not going to select the candidate, but they're involved in bringing finalists forward. Oh, it's huge. And so you you can't complain if you don't you know you have an opportunity and you don't take that opportunity. Preach. Preach. All right. So, um Cody, why don't you extend the
invitation to the town clerk and let Fincom know we'd love a member? Okay. Um and then we'll see what we get for our talent bank forms. Excellent. And then do we need to officially approve the charge? Um no. If if that's your plan, what you can do is on the ETH, um I will
plan to have a version that includes membership in it. Okay, I'll include the town clerk, finance committee, and then I'll leave blank ex members at large. Okay, and then I'll fill it in once you've decided, and then you can approve that charge right at that meeting. Okay, there it's very clear. Um, but we'll as long as you're in agree with this, we'll
post it so people know what what it is. Okay, sounds like a plan. Awesome. Thank you. All right, let's go down to P. Memorandum of agreement, executive assistant to board, town administrator. Uh, yeah. So, this is an memorandum of
agreement between the town and um Pam McSherry, the executive assistant. Um it basically outlines Pam was going to begin taking on several um personnel duties. You may recall I mentioned previously that Pam took a um course um by the Mass Massachusetts Municipal
Association um in personnel and human resources. It was a rigorous course um and she's learned a lot since then. Um I've had Pam involved in several of our kind of personnel functions. You've heard me mention that we recently implemented a um HR and personnel system
called Bamboo HR and it's really streamlined our HR process and and I think you can um if if anyone's looking for a job in town or you apply the difference from what used to take place to what takes place now is night and day. But um the idea is for Pam to take
on these duties within her current role and give her a small stipen um and you know allow for the town to be exposed to less risk and make sure we're compliant with the law. Yeah, I think I think those things I mean I've been a selectman I'm going on for what four years and and that HR component has
sorely been lacking for a long time and I think we've made great strides. Um, and I think this is a a move that makes sense essentially, especially, excuse me, where you're um, you know, going to be moving on. I think it'll help transition things and streamline things a little bit. So, uh, I'm all for it.
The board have any comments or anything? No. All right. So, I'll entertain a motion to approve the memorandum of agreement uh, with executive assistant Pam McSherry um, to the board. Um, and it's effective July 1st, 2025. So moved.
Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Passes unanimous. Thanks, Pam, for taking that on. Good luck. Yes. All right. So, we got now the big long part here on the agenda. We have all these reappoints.
Um, so I think just in the essence of time and efficiency, I think the best way to go through this is I will read through all of these positions. Um, if anybody has any sort of hold or wants to, you know, circle back to a reappoint, just let us know and we can
circle back. Otherwise, we'll then appoint all the folks that don't have any sort of holds. Okay, you guys ready? Yes. Ready to rock and roll? All right. So, uh, I will, um, entertain a motion to approve the following folks for reappointments. Beautification
committee, one year. Shirley Graph, Wendy Greco, Christina Palmer, Cassandra Doyle Waden, Cable TV Advisory Committee, one year, Janice Hayward, John Shioone, Cemetery Superintendent and Burial Agent, R. Steven Hayward.
Conservation Commission, Alan Diaz, Kathy Evans. Okay. Uh, and that is Allan or Kathy. Uh, Allan. Allan. Okay. Uh, Council on Aging, three years. Frederick Corrian, Halifax Emergency Management Agency
Director, Michael Wiom, Halifax Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director, Jao Chavs. Historian, one year. Susan Susan Basile. Historic District Commission, three years. John Sha, Kevin Shay. Historical Commission,
three years. John Shay, holidays in Halifax, one year. Tanya Massa, Kimberly Campbell, hold. Uh, which Kimberly Kimberly. Okay. Uh, licensing authority agents. Uh, Chief Jao Chaves. Deputy Jonah Shav. How do you say it? Jaw
Shave. Stop it. All right. Or Chief Chavs. All right. How's that? Chief Chavs. Gesh. Or John. Or John. Either one. Sorry, Chief. I'm going to get pulled I'm going to get pulled over. Deputy Chief Ted Benner, Officer Michael
Bonarowski, Officer Paul Campbell, Sergeant William Caprio, Officer Daniel Chaheen, Officer Joseph Kushman, Officer Patrick Daroo, Officer William Feltrip, Officer William Maloney, Sergeant Robert
McDonald, Officer Michelle McIntyre, Officer Steven Ratitz, Sergeant Michael W. Schlife, Officer Ryan Simpson. Next page. Municipal and school building committee, three years. Robert Gainor, Thomas
Millius, parking clerk, one year. Linda McCarthy, pat uh police matron, excuse me, one year. Janice M. Hayward, Susan Lawless, Tina Olivera, and Antoanet Ross. Special police officers Jay Guidaboni, Albert Henst, Patrick
Sterling. That's for one year. Sealer of Weights and Measures, one year. David Moore, sealer of Weights and Measures, traffic enforcement assistant. One year, Richard Eldridge, Town Council, one year. Brooks and Dorencis, Town Director of County Cooperative Extension Services, one year. Kazaya
Nzarella, Veterans Agent, Veteran Service Officer, and Veterans Burial Agent. One year, Steven Littlefield. Veterans Agent Assistance, one year, Shawn Goyette and Robert Mullen. Veterans Service Committee, one year, Steven Littlefield. Sean Goyette, Robert
Mullen, R. Steven Hayward, Mark Cetwin, and Mary Graanise. Wiring inspector, one year, Steven Peterson, wiring inspector assistant, one year, Dennis McManis. Zoning Board of Appeals, 5 years, Gerald Joy. Zoning Board of Appeals Associate,
5 years, David Frier. So, I'll entertain a motion to approve all those without a hold. So moved. Second. All those in favor? I I opposed passes unanimous. All right. Now, we'll go back to the holds.
The first hold here, uh, conservation commission was for Alan Diaz. So, I just, yeah, I just have a couple of, uh, concerns, I guess. Um, there was a there's been a few projects in town that the conservation committee's been a part of or, you know,
the process has involved them. um where it's it seems to me that we've gotten a little off the beaten path and not so much following the bylaws but interjecting some opinions to the point where legal counsel's gotten involved a
few times. Um there was a bond issue on Palmer Mill uh that seemed arbitrary. Um there's been others. Um and I'm just wondering um given the totality of the picture um if three years on this
commission is appropriate at this time. Okay. Um yeah, I I struggled with this one too. Um I consider Allan a a good friend, but that should have nothing to do with the town stuff. Um and again, I I voted against Allen the
last time out. Um, and as hard as it is for me, I I think I will stay with that vote uh this year. Uh, and again, it's a it's a tough decision. It's one I've literally lost sleep over. Um, but I think it's it's
the right course of action here. So, um, do I entertain a motion here or do we just not not reappoint, Cody, or what's the No, there's no motion. Just the appointment expires. Okay. Um, so the appointment it was good through I think June 30th. So the appointment just expires on June 30th. You don't need to
take any other action. Okay. There's that. All right. And then there was one more. Was there one more, guys? Help me out here. Uh, yeah. I just had a question about the holidays in Halifax. Oh, that's right. Um, Kimberly Campbell, just I guess a clarification question.
Is is this the same uh candidate or same uh woman who we had questions about the address and is that been solved? No, you're thinking of are you thinking of a different Kim King different? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. No. Kimberly Campbell owns Raven Brook Farm. Then I withdraw. Totally. Yeah. Got it. All right. So
then I guess I'll entertain a motion to appoint Kimberly Campbell to the Holidays and Halifax uh committee for one year. So moved. Second. All those in favor? Sorry. Thank you. All those in favor? I. You're in favor of that bill? All right. opposed. Unanimous.
Okay. Thank you. Sorry about that. Oh, no. That's quite all right. Uh, old business town administrator update, Cody. Uh, yes. So, a few things. First, a big shout out to um Chief WH with them and the fire department today. As you all know, it was 100° out today. One of
the hottest days of the year. Um and the chief and the the team over there set up the ladder truck over at the elementary school and uh sprayed water for probably close to an hour so so the kids could all cool off and um overwhelming the amount of people over there. There were probably 50 to 100 kids at least um and
joined the water. So, you know, just wanted to thank them. Uh as you mentioned, the town administrator recruitment is underway. Um the interimm administrator recruitment is also underway. So applications um were due this morning. Um with that, my thought
would be to um schedule a special meeting next week if the board is willing to do that to interview um the uh candidates that you know the um the chairman um has reviewed and feel you know that meet the qualifications. Um so at this point I believe two Mr. Cake.
Yeah, I think we have too. And I will say um it was encouraging because compared to the process before you got here, Cody, I do think we have some candidates that are very qualified to be not I mean they'd be qualified to be a long-term TA, but for interim, uh we
have folks that have have done the job that know what you know that are very competent and should be very very capable of steering the ship until we can find a full-term one. So, uh, I'm excited that we have two quality guy, you know, quality candidates coming in
next week and I hope the board we can figure out a time that works to do a special next week and bring them in. Is there a day that does not work next week? So, obviously we have the fourth on Friday. Um, let's see. Is just
Do you want to shoot for I mean I get in the Tuesday thing. Do you want to shoot for the first? Tuesday the 1st. Keep it a Tuesday. I got a very busy schedule. Man of leisure over there. I think I'm okay. Think you're Well, you're okay. All right. What uh do you
want 6 PM? You want to do an hour for each candidate? Yeah. Yep. So 6 p.m. 6 to 8 p.m. Yeah. 6:00 to 8 on Tuesday, July 1st. Okay. We'll reach out to the two candidates and um and look to have see if they're available. Do we want to have a a second date in case one of the
candidates isn't available or just play it by your um I mean if the board is the board available uh Wednesday evening, you guys want to go Tuesday with a rain date of Wednesday in case they're not available? Sure. Wednesday. Okay. We'll shoot for Tuesday if prefer Tuesday, but
we'll accept Wednesday if we have. So, we'll we'll I'll let you know. We'll let you know um what the process is there. Uh as far as other um items, we um the board of trustees interviewed a finalist for the library director position um last evening. Awesome. Um and they voted
unanimously to move forward um with that candidate. So, PM is conducting um the background reference checks of that person and um hopefully that will look to get them on board in mid July. We've also extended an offer for the assistant town accountant position and we've
extended an offer for the administrative assistant in the board of assessor's office. Great. So, um we're actually ramping right back up kind of to at least all the positions that have been approved um to having those filled. Um our new uh HR system has gone live for all of town hall employees. we're
launching for um Council on Aging and Library later this week. And we've heard um nothing but really good things with that and that process and just working on closing out the um end of the fiscal year and um you know some line item transfers and um preparing to open up
the uh budget for fiscal 26. Awesome. I know I know um you know building inspector is a big one too. Do we have any headway on that position? Yeah. So um I believe you and I had spoke about this but the my thought was you know a building commissioner any department level position is really key and my
thought is I don't think it would be fair for me to be involved in that process at this point. I think that the next town administrator um should be involved in deciding who the um next building commissioner would be. So, um, internally, um, I think it's best to,
you know, we'll continue advertising for that, but to put that on hold. Um, and once you have a permanent town administrator, let them actively recruit for a building commissioner. Um, you may recall I we I brought in um Mr. Braga, Joe Braga, who's done a phenomenal job.
He's awesome. And um, and I confirmed with Mr. Braga that he is um, dedicated to the town of Halifax, and he will stick around as long as you guys need him. Um, so you know, he he told me he would at least be confident staying here through the end of the calendar year. Oh, fantastic. And so that's why I think
it it makes sense to to if you can hold off, you know, try not to make any big decisions without the next town administrator there. Um, and that's a I think an example of one of them. Great idea. All right. Anything else from the town administrator? Uh, no. And then and I
have no new updates on the MBTA zoning. Okay. Anything else from the board? All right. Uh, I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. So moved. Second. All those in favor? I I opposed. Passes unanimous. Thank you. Thanks, guys. Thanks for
coming. [Music]