e hello Christ you go now it's blue over here so we good all right uh wish everyone I don't think if she heard you because it was the mute was just unmuted whole thing was all muted is
anyone recording the meeting other than ourselves shows yeah we're going to assume Kristen is y okay she got it there she is okay there you go um happy St Patrick's Day everyone who's home viewing this and sipping on
their Guinness yeah first time we have minutes from the February 18th 2025 meeting meeting we talk we had to talked about a little bit about the ham the wilham
Regional School District Regional Amendment gantic River Iris was here asking about using Thor and Burgess when we become the townhouse over there the building department was in to review his budget the fire department was in
to to what review the budget the water district was in to review their budget the highway department to review their budget the assessors were in to rec a a warrant article dealing with clause 22j which will be on the town meeting in
may discuss the town meeting procedure with the with a uh Town moderator and we talked about the tri Town Trolley assessment yeah a little correction there so there's an IMA I want to say an IMA there's an IMA from East L meow with
two other towns basically you know a misconception that there's two towns it is three at TR town okay two other towns right um other in there the grant isn't going away we just
didn't get it this year the grant will keep going be offered and you're in a competitive situation to get it so there's just no guarantee in Prior years the person in charge of the grants always had us at the top of the list that person has retired and now it's
more of a uh the grant wasn't awarded to us this year instead of not going away the grant is funding it is going away I want to say the grant but the grant is not going was not awarded this year yeah right so there is a chance the money
they're asking for you can look at is worst case so you're saying there's a chance I'm saying it's a worst case number we're seeing there it's almost like the number from Finn right yeah who's to say the state doesn't up it and we don't have to spend as much those are Corrections you'd like
yes please anything else approve the changes second all in favor I all right we have the uh fire chief here with a new call firefighter applicant person first off great job at
the department over the weekend with all the brush fires great example of mutual Aid with other communities and just out and about thank thank goodness for the rain is is becoming quite the concept with between towns they're very busy giving
and receiving so good program um tonight we brought Devon Bean um down from the board to become a probationary firefighter um he is well qualified fir f one2 paramedic he has been experienced
with other departments wam Palmer and currently employed by natic um he he does live on benett road so he's a resident of town and um it's pretty close to the fire department so it's uh it's a good
it's a win-win for us um he's interested in joining I think with his credentials he won't be on probation as a year because he's meets all the qualifications we'll probably still start them on a 60-day probation area
where I'm been at uh 46 Evergreen Terrace actually not yeah it's okay we we looked at a house on benett but we ended up on every was that the Scott's house um McDonald okay sorry about that it's
okay so I am grip on everybody really what's your interest in the fire department here in town just because Community or yeah I mean I've been a fire been a fireman for 13 years full time um just looking to get back to the community I live in now you na
yeah I work in Nic yeah I started in Palmer full time there went to wolam and now I'm in Ni y how's the drive now uh it's like 45 minutes I'm get on Palmer get off you used to do that every day D I drove back in forth to Boston every
day for 24 years yes God bless you I only have to do it two two days a week so I I I couldn't do it now see not bad traffic's all different what are you do one on two off one on four off yeah
24s yeah you got anything else to say not really I mean with endorsement from the chief uh basically and the fact that he pretty much meets all the check boxes right now mhm you have any more like this guy I mean boy do you have any friends yeah they're all they're all
employed somewhere and they all live in different towns yeah how many spots I mean you constantly are looking for new people all the time anyhow we are we have we do have a you know I don't want to say a high turnover rate but we do take on younger people who you know
unfortunately go through um school and life in different directions they not able to either purchase a town a house in or home in town or you know their career takes them somewhere else all together so when we get someone like
Devon that moves into town it's it's a home run it's not someone that's going to be you know hopefully out Department in a few years um we are he'll be number 30 for us so we have 30 30 members um how's the cadet program going it's
moving along we we have three Cadets um I Heard rumor Mills that there might be another one but there there um one has joined U wson has a Cadet program so to speak train program with Wales and bondsville
and the surrounding town so we've joined with that one one um so we have one Cadet doing that we're going to host some classes for them because their stations getting remodeled so they're looking you know so we're going to do that help them out helps us out de what was your last name again
bean bean yeah be and to kind of jump on cheats back with that I'm looking to help bring in a lot of training too I used to um help teach at the Academy so I have a lot of skills over the years i' like to bring a lot of these new guys that don't have much experience
so yeah terrific great I'll make a motion to uh go on with Chief's recommendation and point Devon yep Devon Bean to the role probationary firefighter subject to all the regulations that we have in
place second any further discussion all in favor I all congratulations thank you appreciate congratulations thank you nice to meet you thank you thanks nice thank
congratulations all right next item permit fees yeah good all right thanks guys thank you uh permit fees they haven't been updated in quite a while there missing some of the
um inspections so to speak we do so I just wanted to bring it up to a current current um standard I saw that when we're doing the website over this has been a project that it's been kind of going on in the background and I
think this is a perfect opportunity to to get on a new website someone goes there and learn to look or find out about a permit or fee um they'll they'll see it right right away we're currently doing some of these um and some we collect money for some we don't so
having this official out there will allow us to chase it down one question I mean storage tanks I thought is this a different kind of underground storage thing uh yeah it's not necessarily underground could
be above ground well just said underground storage tank installed I didn't think that was allowed anymore oh so it' be like gas stations and that type commercial type okay seems like big installation like that hate to say I don't think 60 is enough
you know well I mean I think you got a lot of piping a lot of the uh well the the state does make a um maybe the town minist can answer this but I think you're not supposed to charge any more than $50 for a inspection fee and
anything over that you have to account for it so it be like $10 of that is administration fee cost so that's where we we come up with so so no matter how much work it actually involves in a town of the state says too bad eat the rest mhm okay thank
you the fees go to the general fund the town's general fund yeah we do collect on a lot of these now um we have to ask to treasure what how much you don't do all of these now though right yeah we do all of them now
the two that I do do the solar plan reviews now um yeah we do them all now except for only one that we really don't have a lot of requests for is the uh you'll see the dumpster one on here
to roll up dumpsters what is hot works that's anytime that someone's doing um using a torch welding um on site like when they did took out the jail cell um you know we have to make sure that the hot works
permit is permitted that they have you know nothing flammable around that they have a fire extinguish on site you know that kind of so the solar plan review it's $60 whether you're doing a review of four panels on a guy's house or 3,000
panels in a field doesn't seem quite uh there yeah imagine probably smoke detector is probably your biggest the solar plan review is is is getting the the you know they have to now they have to have a certain um space
between the edged roof and and the solar panels for us to gain access to the roof um 30 in and on either side they have to have the peak they have to have we have to have rooms that's it's going over their plans to make sure like the building department will send them to me I look them over and then we go out and
physically inspect them at the end right that's a home one but I mean do you do solar plan review for solar Fields as well that that come under there that's that's a you know it's a different you know access to it not necessarily you know the solar plan review for a ground
array is on the ground so we're not you know this solar plan reviews is you know covers both yes but one is um to make sure that a single family or two family um we have the access to that roof if I
understand that I'm just saying if you're also doing a solar print review for the one at the landfill it's a lot more work than looking at the house on yeah we used to do it all the time and not get charged so I mean and we're stuck with these numbers any M by the state great what's
smokeless powder the black powder smoke black powder you we don't get too many of that um blasting agents oh much that not like I use in my musket or anything like that unless you're going to store a lot of it
oh we have some at the Memorial Day observance that's about it so I imagine the smoke detector is probably your biggest close to the fig uh smoke detector propane tanks tents
um you know LPS oil burners glassing permits we did a couple of those this year okay so these numbers are going up from what were the ballpark some of them are are you know they were already $60 so a lot of them were just
adding some on there that we didn't have before okay you know so our plan review um not sure the fireworks one was listed before I mean we do annual one of that so even if you had one that wasn't on this list anyhow it would be capped
at 60 MH I wonder if we should the chief should have to come back is there a way down we can make uh him allow him to go to the Town Administrator with any other one to add to the list basically since they're the number is $60 no matter what
just uh like he said if he had if there was one missing off the list and you're going to keep this list on the web anyhow yeah yes well you just make a motion to approve these and an additional additional ones shall
be submitted to the town administr approval I'll make that motion second favor I okay charge away what else we got fire department budget okay what's the issue
[Applause] there so I can talk on that one if you want quickly for introduction right um so um there was the original budget submitted had requested pay rates that were um different than what the
uh I guess the pay scale that was established after the Collins report for uh full-time firefighters so there was a a discrepancy between that and what was requested and my understanding is that advisory wanted a clarification as to what the select board wanted to do in
terms of the in terms of the pay rates for those positions that sound about right I think that's discussion that happened right y so you you have this you have this chart in front of you um
uh treasure wrote uh wrote In what what those would have been based on the Colin chart so my understanding is that after the Collins report was issued uh the idea of of establishing a pace kill for the full-time firefighters it wasn't it
was kind of a addendum to the report or it was kind of kind of at the tail end of it so there was a rate that was set and then obviously that rate is is escalated by colas over the years so that's what those that's what those
rates would be that are listed in that un well what does it say per amount based on columns that column right there are they actually in the columns I don't see a step read so it's on the last page of the
report um I think it's the last page there there's sort of a separate of the text of the page there sort of a page seven right yeah so it came in late it said fire department position review and then it established pay
rates so it's not in that big chart then my understanding is that the so this these rates were were escalated by the colas over the subsequent fiscal years to get to the rates that are there now so the numbers you wrote in the in the
you wrote in that's what they should be what that's what the number that for FY 26 [Music] yep so they so these numbers here that Cliff that
dick wrote in are these what they should have been up to this point now based on the years have passed since kin was into effect yeah so that's where they should be at but that's not where they're at this is where they should be at and to the right of that was what was requested
is what they should be at for FY 26 not for today have they been adjusted at all though the 2488 per se was it was that adjusted or has that been set for the last that's set for last year that's what last four years the last fiscal year that's the
rate went up by the col go by the Yeah each year it goes up okay so the 2641 next to it is that the col or is that dick saying what it should have that's dick saying would it should be for FY 26 and the two and a half y the step and
the two and a half um for those who who yes what's I see the thing at the back on page seven but I don't see it what's the grading step for the position right is there was there isn't one
that's that's why it's he's arbitrarily assigning a step but we don't actually have no or is he not that's the more the 2488 up to 2641 looks every two years four and a half four and a half it's four and a half it's two a step I'm
saying arbitrarily assigning a step even though it's not in chart yeah step is two and a half uh 2% mhm every two years correct kind of hate to go back to Colin and say why didn't they find it on the
chart we can't be the only place in the commonweal that has a fire on duty fire people and 26 years enough the steps in so you just kind of assuming that's what it should be that's what so he so he just took
these he just took these what so what step is he putting them on two step two because their years of service that one is two of them are 3 years in and one of them is two
years in okay grade what there's no grade on the position Collins didn't grade it don't know why well it seems I don't know why but it it seems like they say comparable Market seller data was difficult to obtain so I don't know what happened but it it wasn't put on the
regular ra and step chart and based on his numbers he's just throwing it out there if he's saying on page seven there for instance the firefighter is $20 and this was gone at the same time
so that's the same pay rate as page in the library you know well this is a skill position probably it shouldn't have been higher not to mention colins studies
2021 well I'm looking at the same on in there related that started that but what started with the um when I started to look into it was when the highway posting came out and there was some
discussion over the pay rate that they were starting the highway department at and that's where um we started to look how many certifications do the you know when you hire a GU for the full-time position that's firefighter
one two through the academy and EMT license there's EMT parts required mhm all three yep and it's uh continuing education for license I would the 22
fire supervisor fir fighter paramedic and firefighter EMT agre but we don't have any paramedic it's firefighter EMT well I mean not currently right BLS certified we're not ALS
certified if they hadal the job not the position created for it I just think since we've done so much with establishing grades and steps for every other position it' be easier to track this
rather than having them outside the the chart and there's no reason why they can't be on the chart at this point whether we determine okay they're four threes they're three sixes whatever they need to put on the chart
so so they should be what [Music] three into you know the skill type thing are they equivalent to a department head no are they more than the uh the custodian
yes it's almostly we don't have that information need theight no where to put them I mean you look at the they started at $ an hour and the custodian for the police department makes
1917 and you're saying the fireart EMT should be the same you know I I believe it's the unions that the highway department police department have that are driving no this is the custodi there's nothing to do with the Union I'm not talking about that I'm talking about
current cost or current pay that they're receiving who the police in the highway department that's why you can find the fire department on there because there know highway department and police department already have their Union M um
pay scale so that's why you're not going to find a fire department I don't know why it was ever added yeah answer that is there any sense of what surrounding communities similar to hampon pay I think they're Union though
that's what for same differences right now too I you know I I don't have that information um the only you know there's not too many towns anymore that are are called and paid during the day most of
them are 12 you know 24hour 12 hour shifts um we're still work week which is unusual um scale um position to be in um so it's not really comparable I guess is what I'm saying it's not comparable Market in
my opinion um I do know that you know the people we have if if you know we do have a fire this getting will off topic and we call well you know from mutually from another town we're only getting two to three people on an engine because that's what their Staffing allows
because they pay that 24hour whereas you know um you know we're in a good situation with with what we have we get a lot more individuals responding so fire department assistant is listed as a Grade Three
MH about a minimum they shouldn't be any lower than that well that's you know different from the firefighter put them on a scale you know great well yeah but I look at the admin assistance also with
that and every other one of them has been upgraded to a four actually Department assistant is free and just about every other one is a four at this point through by this or by action of the board future
so I don't know if that's accurate either I think you know we remember we had planning I think in before yeah Park perhaps as well yeah this is probably the last admin assistant that hasn't been upgraded to4 has there been any efforts to to add
them to the to do like a uh small study to see and add them to the Chart or is that not happened to this point honestly I think this is the first time this has come up that I can this this the first time I came up that I know that the highway department had a hard time hiring and I think that they
raised the rates to hire someone to make the job more attractive if I remember correctly this is off my memory um so when that job was posted that's what started the discussion amongst the firefighters at the at the fire station that's that's how that rate came from
our um budget okay not the cross talk but I'm not sure that's really relevant at this point you know not say what the sergeant makes at the police station or the ditch operator or whatever I think we're looking at
fairness from should the fire department have been on the colon scale and the rationale is that Highway and police aren't on it because they have contracts the firemen don't have contracts so why aren't they on the scale and I think that's why board say
well right now I think there should be something I apologize I was just giving to history how and I got that I think also we should be talking In fairness to every other admin assistant is a grade four that position should be grade four and going back to your conversation with
Bob and Bob is no longer here but there was supposed to be a review which didn't happen step two step three that was probably on the slip of paper that Brian didn't find in Bob along with many of them Post Yeah post it somewhere step two St two there's a a bit and I think
Don's alluded to it a bit you know it's a it's a tough fiscal year but there's also a sense of fairness that has to be done as well not everybody has to fall on the sword just because yeah grade five no there's a concern about the overall
budget not everybody has to take it in a short speak I think the board should do basically approve a grade change and set a grade for the firefighters based on where they are
right now I'm looking at like grade five is that in the back PL yeah yeah grade five step one right step two this is done keep in mind this is from 21 those numbers
are so so why would you say that's where 26 I think you were looking to get I'm trying to get number here I know and I don't think that I don't think that's grade five I that grade five step one is probably up to that's that's grade five
that's grade five step five what no no but that's in 21 I'm saying the five years of Two and a halfs on it Don that number is probably well over 30 what we need is the current chart from dick isn't this the current chart
here I assume that's part of the college report from 21 I have it you have the current one yeah so if we look at reference 14 step two right from this one no I know but I'm saying sale it says 14 so it's the print out from the
21 report yeah yeah so it's not even you say it's four year four years out of date this is 26 so yeah if you grade five step two from then to what grade five step two is
now get to the 30 yeah 31 oh that's four years at 2 and half% as far as it went so you're talk so you're if you go here we need one for the supervisor and then that's
pretty so they're looking 28 73 I don't know why that's 23 I why they which which is the right one so started here looking at
2873 so the regular firefighter EMT would be a grade four and currently a step six we say and then the supervisor will be a grade five get them separate yeah that's how you separated right well they wouldn't
be on they would only be on step two cuz that's the the year long year that they've been here right that's how many years they've been here the firefighters yeah yeah right I mean that's what that's what I have for dick here 332 3 years
332 so some you been here so 3 years no I'm three years three here follow the chart I think one is just one and a half no not the current guy I'm saying how long have we had full-time firefighters oh
20 2017 yeah that's that when was the fire well how long they've been how their longevity each guy each guys's one three years two years and one year right you got you got a three two and a one okay
would we say then that the supervisor is a five and the regular guys are a four yeah okay and then the steps just fall based on longevity steps right but we can't we can't start them lower than they're at yeah where they
not if if you if you who's the onee guy what's his position firefighter firefighter firefighter firefighter so he'd be grade this one here going to a two two
that's the step and then the two and a half now these are that's two and a half included these are that's a two and a half included yeah okay other than giving them credit for service or you know coming in with
skills which we're allowed to do do to jump a couple of steps like we've done with assessors Etc it's the only way you're going to move it up oh so you wanted super how long has the supervisor been here three years three years right so that'
be you would still be a step two right step two would certainly work Trump right in yeah yeah so grade five step two for supervisor right then grade four step three or four well I think we could say step five based on experience
and just give credit for work experience like we know all other Physicians you put them both here yeah how does that how does that work within the plan though yeah well when we've hired people and we may have that same
question later in the meeting that based on the experience they bring to their job they don't have to start at step one now we've done that before that you come up with certification stuff like that you can start a you know higher
step is there is there anything we could do for budgeting purposes and then take this under advisement you know so you put so you put those two guys there and the supervisor here right two
and too and we can go from there in the future I mean that's what we're looking for right right i' also make a motion that the fire department administrator administrative assistance should be a grade four like the other
departments we have motion straight for step two yeah because you've been right firefighter supervisor the performance reviews from your supervisor no what about the guy you so you want
just for reference the the firefighter with one year we're going to put him at the same level as the firefighter with three year you have one with one year right yeah one months four months and then you have
one that's then you have two that are two yeah two going on three or we have Nick has got three isn't Nick's going to have three going on just about three but that's the supervisor I think the supervisor at the good grade
right here the grade five step two but I think the the full-time firefighters we have just a little bit of a longevity Gap between the two I think right so I would say we'd have have one step
down one step up yeah so the motion should be that we classify the firefighter supervisor as a grade five the current position holder is a step two yes the firefighters are going to be grade
four and based on longevity one would be a step five and one be step six or four and five correct four four and five four and five four and five based on longevity yeah and the Fire Department administrative assistant would be a
grade four step two based on longevity that sound right I think so like the other admin assistance basically yeah and then Brian can help you recalculate and then resubmit to
advisory assist grade for are you step two step two just read reint off a Callin sheet and have them right are updated sheets basically you probably have a colon
sheet in the thing so you're adding a couple of positions in the firefighter supervisor firefighter I mean we have yeah we have the report okay and then you also want to discuss call rate umor we actually take that no we
Haven we haven't voted yet we don't even have a second oh you did no I didn't okay I was I had a right this yeah any further discussion all in favor I
what's the issue with the call guys now um isn't that a flat fee though a flat thing didn't we double the hours or give them a we did an adjustment a little while ago we did adjust a little while ago um they are considered Town
employees I had to received the email that said um here's the cola for the town employees of your department your employees of the department on there to call you know just made me think only J these R Town employees how
come they're not receiving um any pay raises what we have now works out extremely well it in my opinion it saves the town a lot of money having to call department where we don't have fire for seven firefighters so I'm
just trying to support um what's working out well and a little clarification of why they would be considered or they're not if I recall the argument last time or support of last time was we needed to increase it
because hly you're asking you guys to get out of bed whatever and come to a thing and it needs to be a reasonable rate and it had been touched in several years as well are you anticipating that you think this should be an annual increase the cola should be applied to
it every year because we haven't seen this discussion before right we did the big adjustment and then and that's why I think it needs to be discussed and that's why I got it for it we don't do anything with this training sement either no that's a set that's a set
fee um for for training right we don't adjust that no we change it for what one hour response at two hours um a right minimum minimum two
um this you know this is the call Budget that's $65,000 that's sort of like um at the visory we spoke a little bit about this budget as account and it's sort of like the sand salt budget where some years it may be under some years it may be over
um so it's it's not like it's increasing align budget item so to speak um it just would be increasing the pay that they receive cuz you you don't know now when you do Mutual Aid and you go over and help mson with their thing are we paying our guys
M or is mson doing it we're under mutual Aid it's our it's our dinkle so when we go to Mutual Aid we're paying for Mutual Aid so more Mutual Aid more out of our pocket yep and they come and if they come here they're paying same thing but
it's also we can't deny Mutual a that's right that's a state law right um the only way we can deny is if we can't we to fill it you know or P equipment's down or something like that not I'm when when you went over the line to help with the
big uh Greenhouse thing grow is correct yeah we have a mutual Aid with that town as well for a huge event like that is there ever any reimbursement from insurance or something that perhaps comes back to the fire departments when there when there's
a large large event um there can be you know a chief can put in for um you know to state to be reimbursed for some cost it's usually denied but yeah they can put in for yeah oh Connecticut might be nicer who
know okay but the the opportunity is there it's just never really realized rare I know in Bond's Island burn I believe agan tried tried to do it you know get some money back when they had all the tankers transporting the
water they it didn't go anywhere small fire all right how do we feel about the call thing down well it's 50 cents right mhm you're talking 50 cents I mean well and like you say it's just a number
because you might be under you might be over you never know on the volume of the Year either right we started off busy this year I can say we did 30 calls so far in March um and 15 of them you know have been fire calls you know the other half been medical
so so we're talking basically if you're looking at two and a half looking at like under $3,000 for I'm sorry 3,400 roughly onto that fix 65 we're just going to bump it up two and a half to
70,000 again I I brought this forward because the way the email was written um I didn't want to have um anybody not included to to per se I mean the email's out there it's public record now
so I don't I don't know what yeah oh my mouth is off now talk but you don't have to change the 65,000 right right because you don't know if you're going to spend it or not you're saying the rate could just be we could approve it it could be and we could and then do
a transfer if you run out yeah where are you now ballpark in the 65 do you know I think we have like 11,000 left after this weekend or not what this weekend I not put this weekend numbers in yet that was before the fires yeah so maybe
yeah a weekend like this would only cost maybe $1,000 or something just for reference drought again it all it all depends how many people you know personel I mean I could have 20 I could have five no and you know
good all right I'll make a motion to increase the uh call reimbursement rate by 2 and half% the reimbursement rate not the not not the line item because we don't know if that's right not going to change the line Second any further discussion all
in favor right all right you broke the bank probably have to close what do you want a truck obviously you don't need any new uh you know apparel Thief hasn't even got like of Stu on
accessories little little fire department earrings and stuff I think you're not supposed to talk while I'm sorry that's uh the chief thank you you guys enjoy your training what else we got
here now the easy beat That B all right uh 48 scantic Ro warrant budget review can we just knock out the 48 scan 48 scantic Road jumping over to 48 scantic road so Tran you
me well basically we got a notice from our water tester and that that uh we our test exceeded the mandated limit and we need to take action and the choices are hook them up
immediately to the one we PID for and awarded or do the individual one like we did for um down the road 100 or 98 maybe 98 SC was um we're still waiting for a quote I
believe believe John plaster is waiting for a quote on that I'm shocked he's not here tonight somebody should go check I remember last one was was it was under 11 just under 10 just under 10 if we if we get lucky and it comes out again it
doesn't trigger a 30b because the bottom limit is 10 just for the quote part yeah and then I think it's 10 to 25 requires you to make three attempts for quotes over that you need three written responses so if it's under 10 and
Brian's got a couple options where um you talked about if we bought the water meter um and Craig that might be something just consideration at this point we're up to how many homes maybe if we do buy it maybe we should buy a second second one just ever
spare so we're at the point where and I think this was in your plans for in the future anyhow to actually build up a little spare thing anyhow that's the report on that we'll know more when we get the quote and the Water Commission will come back with and pretty much work
with Brian and what has to be done we don't have a lot of options it has to be done it has to be done exactly and there might be some uh um I also heard that I think might have to advertise for a spot on the Water Commission done I know we want to put
that out there and see if we get we do have one individual that's interested I believe but we should be putting it out like any other position in town I think it's still eat down the doors I mean that might take a whole meeting transfer over no all the candidates yeah uhhuh
Special meeting special meeting for all the candidates yeah so uh how long do you want to put that advertise that for two weeks stops well do we have have an opening yes okay there go I lost it
sorry oh no we're good we're full must be next office must be next to je in his office Craig stay James I've never seen that one keep a fold keep a folder shred it all right so
that's FYI lost it now cler has it so you are resigning from the water commissioner Water Commission here it is I found it Mr chairperson you can reject that that's your
pleasure I don't believe that signature is real that was probably done with those Auto pins Auto pins so it so it doesn't count oh very topical nice that's wet still
take it under advis we'll think about it yeah just okay make a motion to approve it well accept it make a motion to accept the resignation of Craig from the Water Commission with our sincere thanks our acknowledgement of the hard
work he's put in uh the digging of test pits just everything it's like digging tests there's been nobody like you Craig really second we s PA down those pits well any further disc discussion I
I thank you for your service thank you for your service yes exactly all right you got the Water Commission sweatshirt wasn't in the budget maybe they got some used ones at the fire relabel all right can we go back to
Warrant budget okay whatever you think's going to take what do you think you want I don't even know what animal inspector is what's the animal inspector thing sh every year we have to oh Nom make nominations yeah good point you guys ask
that every year too I thought we didn't I we seems like an odd time of year to do it that's something like is this the the the uh the W thing is it is this one you know you know just in case she can't do it you know she
can't she can't expect inspect her own thing right the mo the someone wrote out the Motions for you okay uh Mr chair person in accordance with Mass General Law chapter 129
section 15 and 16th which I know you have memorized yeah nominating authorities of city in town are required to nominate one or more inspectors of animals by April 1st of each year ah okay okay that's the reason same as we said last year ah like to make a motion to nominate
Shelley sear as the inspector of animals for the con hmer from May 1st 2025 until April 2026 I oh second any further discussion any discussion all in favor all right okay cig you want to do the
second one I will make a motion to nominate Paul morsy as the backup inspector of animals for the town of Hampton from May 1st 2025 until April 30th 2026 second any discussion yes all in
favor I I I can play over the car okay all right all right will probably be a bit of a discussion up the KN yeah let's let's do the warrant let's do the war jumping all around on me over here you know got
memor Mr CH I think we should have a town meeting on May 12 2025 okay motion all right what do we what do we got here now I love the title at the bottom brand really that's the best former
thing which turns out right your bills you throw some money into it Don we can name it after you fing okay is resource Lo former easier what what are the things that are hanging out there I like the
choice of sorry the consent ones like that you and Rick yeah no kidding thought you go there at some point well I asked if the budget could be one of them but it's probably not going to happen how come um how come prior your bills can't
be incentive uh because I think we have do we have to itemize the bills I've 20 years I've never seen one but I mean if we don't have one we can put it in there right they can just tell people we don't have any prior bills
right that's true we don't have any if if we get them though we'd have to take it out right yeah okay do that I don't I don't ever remember any nope we don't pay them anyhow okay after they goist don't write that
please after they go by a year that's it all right uh resource officer V veter exemption where are you I'm on 13 now wepp the seven through whatever oh
they're just normal okay for 12 well how about 10 though okay we still basically we're still in favor of it and we're we're budgeting 10 at this point as before and then following that we'll get
into to maybe advertising for a committee done during the summer yeah we'll see if go 10 um we got to wait for we got to wait for the bill for right that's the SC okay then we have the veterans exemption
clause and then so 12 there's up right now what written as 100% exemption it can be that can be any percentage that the town wants so it doesn't have to be 100% 100% will be the full I have to say you know we had two
meetings with him and I walked away from the first one with a different idea what the second one brought me remember that yeah yeah that's going to need a little clarification exactly town meeting they need to cuz I thought as we did it was the 100% of the bill was forgiven not
100% of the exemption am basically doubling MH to get yeah that was very confusing Y and it took a while to get there like you said the second meeting yeah exactly maybe they could write it by Clause measure general laws by
100% $800 or 400 $880 $880 you know so that people can understand what they meant yeah and I'll I'll I'll write up explanations too is there a concern though D that put that what if the state up does then we have
to like go back and revote if if we actually put a number in it we' have to go back and re maybe in the maybe in the explanation put in the explanation there you go okay these are pretty straight moving
cost repairation we don't know what those numbers are yet are we getting a lawnmower for the parks and W is it no this is um oh one for reach yeah wait I didn't think we were doing the parks and W one well they submitted the article we didn't tell them I thought we
said we were in favor of it right we weren't but if they submitted to a v right I mean that's Brian yeah that gets into do we allow departments to put articles on the
warrant yeah we do right so am I in favor them getting alwn more no no right we can say that at the hearing unless they want to sell the truck and uh buy a lmer on their own senior senator sentor and
Renovations uh Gary I think Gary talked to you Monday right last week after the meeting and said they're waiting for a couple of quotes they're pretty close on both the roof I think they got the quinnville plus another couple of them and the window as
well so there should have a number pretty shortly well on all the on all these numbers we need to get them in because uh the advisory committee wants to hold a hearing on the 14th of April they have to give 7day notice so that's
April 7th so we have to get something of the printer by April 1st well for the actual articles if we want to roll back I mean on 16 17 and 18 I'm not in favor of 17 neither am I made the point before it's been a
convenience to have it and if it's still working right now all that time is gravy right so I understand Mark's Point sure be nice and nice to have on the road but that not for that kind of money cuz next year he's going to need a truck which is
a $200,000 thing so this gets into are we going to say we can't support that one you need you made a good argument for the lawnmower okay but the truck I would move to take article 17 and article 18
out or do we take 18 out or we love the courtesy of Park R to try and defend it highway department works for us we can take 17 out Park doesn't should they get a chance to defend it Tom meeting I always thought we had the last
say of what goes on the warrant I think so too as it's been a courtesy to like if you're dep Department right you can present but we do we can put anything we want on the order right all right we'll take it one at a time uh
can we remove 17 from the warrant we don't need to reopen because it's actually we're going to be we're going to be reopening for that uh but we can remove it anyhow like we did with P we can add until we reopen we can pull we can't add so I'll make a motion to
remove article 17 second all in favor all okay that pass yeah 18 I'm just I can't endorse it but I'm just going back to the conversation we
had and we we didn't approve of the lawm more because we gave them the truck which is already an expense for them to be able to transport a lawm more back and forth right there was nothing wrong with the current lawm more from what I remember well you keep I don't think we actually had the conver because Park doesn't bring their budget we had the
conversation yeah we had the conversation and I said they made the argument that it's too much to ask park or Highway Department to bring the more back and forth so we said great we got a new truck from Highway Department and gave them a truck that was only 40,000
Mi right and a trailer to go back and forth to the school right and now that's too much work but they're still going to keep the mower at the park and buy another Mower and keep it at Barn
Burgess great so you don't need the truck anymore right that's one or the other in my opinion h or the other in my opinion right so you don't need a motion technically from us you want to sell the truck some got to give a really nice mower for that truck and
trailer yeah but they need the truck for other stuff right for hauling Mulch and stuff like that yeah so that was get rid of the bo um I'm not sure what mulch they're hauling you know they they they run supplies back they were from I remember they're running like you know the lime
for the lime painting or the stuff like that yeah you know with tools materials you know rather than using their own vehicle for going back and forth digging out the weeds at the ball field and stuff yeah amps yeah yeah yeah so but do we give him the cury of leaving 18 or
take it out what's what do we did we have a talk cost because they never came to us for this so we don't know what they're budgeting right good point they never uh formally sub I guess they just told you Ryan right yeah I'd have to double check to
see if if there's a price I I don't think I've seen a quote right they didn't come to usting but I would want to double check my email just in case are we meeting next week yes we have to yeah
okay so we can get some clarity on that then can we bring it forth for next week and then we putting this that gives us that's actually the drop dead pretty much the 24th yeah yeah we need to final one for the next okay
um so they're going to get you the numbers for Sen C repairs yeah so so that's for sums of money um for Windows and roof that's been narrowed down to Windows and roof pretty much I think some bathroom uh Parts you know well he
said $1,500 for the bathrooms last time it was here they don't have that in their maintenance budget and just take care of it now they don't have no maintenance is just I mean not Capital thing 1500 to make we make we actually make bathroom Trainers for the uh United Association of plumbers really expensive
and that's not what you can get toilets sinks whatever for now and I will say if I don't know if you've been over there the doors and the men's the walls are not in good shape let's just say they're Rusty so it's going to be more than $1,500 probably a little more than that
yeah so okay let's go back to the lawmar for a second the one that the highway Department's requesting the lawn more is there was there did Mark refresh my memory the old one was no longer end of service life pretty much I think yeah it was so it's not something they could hand down that's a great question you
know can it is it serviceable enough for twb he remember that truck I gave you here's a more to go go with it that's a good question let's find out out yeah you know is it just is it not going to be a to meet the needs of a highway department but it will meet the needs of an occasional lawn they were talking so
right now they have a mower at the wreck that mows the rec fields and then they truck it over and does right twb now they want them over for just twb do they need the same quality mow because now you're cutting basically half the space you were before and
you're going to get more life years out of the one you're leaving at the park because you've taken half of the requirement out of it too you don't need two of the same level mower because you split the L find from Mark if it's something that's still serviceable and it's just you know not up to the know
right because he's also D was there was talk like well did all the other ground M no you don't that's part Highway Department is mowing the front the Sid stuff like that you're looking to mow and they
would also mow the fields too they need to go back and forth on the few days when you have oh there's a soccer game tomorrow a little high we like it lower that might that's not even all year long I'd really like to get that that yeah that's a great question I think the used one might be adequate for
their needs they can keep it on the trailer right uh I think I heard they're having a meeting this week and they should have a number for the fire station to the architect last I heard was revising the plans and removing things and they
supposed to have a number hopefully this week yeah are we assuming this is going to be a Deb excluded article I that's how it's written well I I don't see how you fit that kind of number in the thing yeah okay so notification to the town clerk
of has to be 35 days prior 35 days so if we finalize this in April then that would be plenty of time yeah election is the 19th 19th and it's got to be finalized by April
15th yep tax they thought you said we don't pay prior bills like taxes right school stuff get that Cayman Island stuff off school green medals school for and
replacement we don't know how much that is do we I thought we were dropping 22 still on the list that we got from the school I want to have a discussion about that that I thought there was going to be conversation with the highway department about the parking lot
fitting it into the highway plans for the year and dropping the Fire Road I thought I remember them saying they weren't going to do the Fire Road too when they were here so is this a list recent list we got
from them yeah theone that Don you had got from Doug uh today or over the weekend right they keep sending a new one every day seem so can f is this but is this this
is this their request this is the this this is the Regional School request right Y and it's $35,000 I I ask for clarity go back and just I think I thought they were
dropping 22 yeah I I think just tell them we're taking 22 off we can't afford it right we question the need only question we need I know there's a lot of discussion too within that advisory meeting with the Kabota too right
yeah so we're so tell them we're taking 22 off sorry and the network switches I guess we got to do that I like a couple split AC units what are they doing with the old
ones taking 22 off now all these minog ones I think we have to leave on for now because that's really uh Regal you know what I mean we got to see what they're going to do because the the wilham finance may take some of those
offel they might say them you know I think the cabota thing is going to go for sure yeah I think the camera thing I have to say I think Steve Hail made a compelling case a couple years ago about the fact he couldn't tell the color of the car from
the cameras they were using you know coming outside because you got to get color your iPhones are better than what they're using Community preservation Memorial Park shade structure me meeting this week right
Johan CC well yes but uh we've got the master plan thing same time oh yeah what time is that starting Tom 7:00 oh okay I'll be it no we can do both they've never taken more than an hour Tuesday is it master plan I'm sorry
Master Plan Tuesday cbc's Wednesday at 6 at right I'm sorry we have the wam select board same time right right the only yes we're at 5 master plan is tomorrow right master plan is tomorrow 19th yeah
is there only one CPC application I haven't seen any of them have you seen well looks like they have I know they've gotten the North Road thing I thought that was done with them got okay well there's placeholders
for so I think 29 and 30 are putting that the bed down hopefully cig did you see did that property sell they sell half of it I don't know I haven't seen I haven't looked oh the landfill thing this is um
basically the and Don I don't know why we didn't you know they drew the we voted the lease and we should have just done it to the edge of the property I don't know why we didn't you know but anyhow they had they couldn't put the fence on the slope deep he was not happy
with that so they moved it down 10 or 15 ft which is outside the line we drew so okay rraw the line all right who makes up their lawyers and our lawyers and D is happy and conom is happy um oh and they are a week away
from Ling the switch oh good yeah I was wondering when they're going to do that make some money um transfer okay on the the warrant no no go back to how about your two things you're zoning by a lot of yeah those are coming they're working on those they're
going to get those done both going to be good yeah they're both going to be good they're going to get those done I knew the 8 was close yeah battery storage they they they decided everything and they just have to uh have row look at it for the last time all right and then
your three baller play at the end all right okay but on the election warrant you got a planning board fiveyear term which is Christina but there's the unexpired term the unexpired
term right the one currently filled by John Matthews yeah yep okay I I'll talk to you about that yeah so there's got to be what it says commerci who's up for cool this year nobody nobody it say School commit
nobody Michelle just ran no that mean there isn't an opening or there is no opening okay take that one off there's no opening for school Melle was last year and then I think Rich was the year before so there's
still one more year right yeah all right I'll the on these two we're starting at six shall the T of hand be allowed to examine from the provisions of preposition 2 half and one2 we're going to do a are we're going
to do is that going to be that's a that's exemption is it going to be an exclusion the question excl it would be it would be a dead exclusion but that's the language that the the state requires us to so
it's the twoyear the two-step process again so it be I it would be a dead exclusion right because it's for a specific really it says exemption yeah that's that's actually statutory language that's actually in the statute I believe that
says soal I'm have to look this up have to to double check me yeah well I know you will look it up anyway [Laughter] so okay all right that's the budget was good okay so I'm sorry um
I'll make a motion to open the warrant for the purpose of uh adding the article currently labeled as article 31 lease Amendment and in landfill solar can I oh sorry
I a second second all in favor the other ones the two placeholders were already there before right yeah so there's nothing I'm motion to close the warrant can I can I just
interject one thing so there is this this outstanding issue with I think I know where this is going to end but the Main Street Bridge there was a request or there was a warrant article being prepared by our consultant to uh if that
project were to go forward as it's designed um it would require uh it would require the town to acquire an easement from the property owner which would be which would be uh Mass autobond um so that warrant is is being
drafted as part of that project there was a request to put it on the annual time meeting warrant um but I don't necessarily know that there's a necessity to do that I just wanted to put that out there that there was that request that was made I think we need that conversation with aabon uh remember
we had the deer pellet thing before Jonah Keen who has been to our meetings before Don wasn't able to come but he said he'd be willing to attend a future meeting I think this one of the things a every want to thank them for being good partners with the water district and
things like that but also kind of get their feel on what we're doing here as well I don't see a pressing need to put that on right now either that's what I'm saying I think we can wait and you know how I feel about the whole right you would only do this if you want to go forward with that project John wants to
get it done today but it takes time John get these things done right we have to fly the bridge in thanks you know how much I love the Bridge Project helicopters got to come in pontoons I just wanted to just bring that up so if we're doing it we're doing it in the fall if we're doing it okay or
next year all right I have an open motion to close the warrant second all in favor all okay now we're on the the money part health health person
oh these numbers are right those are the same ones that we discussed last time advisory as for uh what we wanted what were we thinking with the water district clerk if that was going to be combined with any other position we had talked about possibly
rolling that into the um Board of Health coordinator right right no yeah and making that a 40 hour or what 38 here on how do you do technically you're doing a 40 yeah that was that was kind of the
option I think that might be the better option yeah but how do you technically do a 40h hour you know are we going to then have people at the Min sorry Min at twb that are working four five days a week 4 10
hour days four 10hour days then you're paying overtime I guess two positions it's two positions if they're there for more than eight hours you're paying them over time is that how the contract's written or more than that's how labor law is
written I but is it no because I used to work four 10 hour days it was a Time Lucky for Mar but I'm just saying if I have even if they're working two different positions for me if they're physically in the building for 10 hours two of those hours are overnight so
I don't so this is budgeted for what what do we put 10 hours a week yeah I I don't initially it's not going to be that much because the Project's not built yet so even if we increase even if we said it was a 35h hour week position I think that would be enough
initially to satisfy to get us to get us going because the Board of Health person you're talking about well I'm saying the water correct I mean honestly is the water thing how many how much on a daily basis would that person be doing or is it's just you're reviewing all the test
results you're probably maybe a couple hours a week at most yeah it's not an everyday thing either yeah it would be it would't be a full day thing right I mean like end of the week I'm going to make okay I'll take care of my water yeah I'll take two hours at the end of the week kind wrap it up once a month do some billing or once a quarter you guys
build right yeah I no yeah is quarterly is it bu by annually might even be asum so even that doesn't take much of it but as you up and you get 40 something customers you know now you're going to be filling with questions now something's going to go wrong and you
have to yeah you that's supervisory though but it's not billing we're not billing the new people right correct right it'd be more some my water's Brown you know somebody that some customer service aspect of so is the board of is the Board of Health person going to do
some of this now this new board of health President we talked to them about that I thought we mentioned we did mention it that we're talking the offset taking away the operations part right sorry you know we talked about there might be things we talked about
the potential for adding that and at this point I think it makes sense because having somebody right we want a body there if it if we just have somebody how many hours a week if when you have somebody cross trained in different positions
they can answer that call thatou down plaster yeah we go you can answer you know you answer that call because you're there 35 hours a week it's not like oh I'm here uh four five hours and then someone needs a call there one day a week or what yeah so it makes sense to me to com to combine them
but so we're not going to we're going to tell them we're not going to do this right now we would just have we would have to adjust the yeah but we can't do it with in the fall right because I thought Don you can't appropriate salary at at the fall to meeting or something is that correct
we can adjust we can't appropriate right right I can adjust that number to 30 35 hours a week if M let's do that yeah let's remove the water district clerk and um 35 hours for coordinator to cover
that right clerical need there there's our budget savings right there there's our budget savings right there yeah and then I'll send that to advisor let them know that's that's their question for the health coordinator
positions what one um the town meeting AV for next year I got that but the town meeting AV we need for this year is in this year's numbers where are we getting that we're already overspent on select
expense yeah we don't know I guess we'll make a note maybe we need to ask the advisory for a transfer sure yeah CU I don't see an overage coming in Long claims looks like we're tracking legally Legally yeah right uh Board of Health
coordinator we put the ad out we had six responses Brian and I and Finn look them over picked out the four we wanted to speak to had interviews last Thursday hour a piece starting at 2 o'clock everybody came in
person uh I think we made a good job picking those four and at the end of it the four people that were doing the interviews Finn Jane myself and Brian settled on one person we'd like to offer the position to Craig even though you didn't show up
we want to pick you congratulations thank you my name looks different here on paper doesn't it yeah uh any so like like make a motion authorize the ton administrator to offer the
position and uh we were I think the salary was in the advertisement so that should not be an issue although we did just talk about doing some changes to hours 35 hours which did not seem to be
a a problem with now correct yeah and where do we bring in this person on ahead of Jan's retirement they were fine with that they want very fine with that didn't this person apply for Pam's job that's not that
person I don't think no that was a teach she was a teacher this just this experience seems very familiar to me yeah I mean I you know right because I think she was a love little teacher or
something maybe sorry you make I did to authorize administrator second all in favor I okay now we have a one day permit for
the senior center permit is in your folder folder what says my says in Don's folder in Don's folder and here it is so apparently the April 30th event has been
cancelled I received a liquor license for that night but no longer need it we could use it I don't know if you cancel it do we have a meeting that I don't know if you cancel it do we have to do we cancel it we should we
should okay so that's but anyhow they want the they want one for Thursday April 24th 5 to9 for the annual volunteer recognition beer and wine only in the great room so move second all in favor I I you want to resend the 30th
the motion to be send the 30th sure you don't want it we do second there okay uh selectman reports to report
the uh planning B uh master plan uh second Forum tomorrow night thoron Burgess 700 p.m. it's there's a lot there is very interesting anyone who can should attend uh select board joint select
board meeting on the 19th with the werham select board here at 5:30 5:30 do you think Don it' be worth having I mean c and Doug to attend they it's an open mean they certainly can understanding you know that way they don't have
to couple Financial things we're talking about did you get my email which one which one 2:30 3:30 I can't remember what the long one the long with the attachments
the six attachments yes yeah yep um administra report um highway department will be putting out bids 319 for uh two minutes
conrete street sweeping and catch Bas and cleaning so those will uh those bids will be due on April 2nd uh in terms of the generator project the concrete pad was delivered this morning hopefully the highway can get
that in place by the end of this week put a generator on the pad and hopefully the electrician can run pull the wires conduit to the generator hook it up and we can close the book on this um fairly short order
um in terms of the license renewal that's that's lingering out there I had met with the charter at twb uh Charter Construction folks didn't really know why they were there um but we got through it and explained to them uh what
was going on and what we were trying to do um but anyways we have a or I have a call Charter to review the second uh draft of the annual renewal license um it it's pretty much going to be the same except I think the point of
contention is going to be our ask for Capital uh annual Capital funds in year one and two to try to get our uh AV Equipment up to broadcast meetings on uh the cable network so are we ballparking that or we
do we not know what we're going to ask for um I think the U there's numbers that we that we proposed um I think it was 55,000 and then ballpark a 75,000 for year one and then year two um I
suspect we'll have more conversations about that on Wednesday sorry good are we going to roll in the town meetings AV needs into that yeah so um ideally what what I I would like
to get the select board meeting room permanently set up as a to broadcast and then um either the the cafeteria would be some type of mobile setup um which would like I think that probably makes the
most sense um to get equipment to yeah to broadcast town meeting as well um and a couple weeks back we submitted a a grant a casino mitigation Grant I have a follow-up call uh this
Friday at 2 pm with uh the gaming commission and I think I've mentioned this before but it's not looking great for uh the future of the the gaming mitigation fund because you you recall last year it was not included in the
house budget and it didn't it was not included in the final budget and then in this year it was not introduced in the governor's budget so it it may be that that fund is drying up um but we'll have
to see what happens with that so just add more taxes so no they're they'll just take for something else basically something else probably the T maybe repurposing it I new green line car maybe I don't really know but
something great um Brian two questions um one was the digital Equity plan that we had submitted a long time ago you have you any news on that um oh yeah I should I should talk about this too um so yes
I'll answer your question um I'm going to be setting up a meeting with Eric uh Weiss at pbpc um and that's one of the items on our agenda is to talk about the digital Equity planning and uh the reason why I was
talking with him was um onstop uh onstop applications for a number of different Grant programs are are the expressions of Interest are due March 26th so I had a zoom call with pvpc and a couple other towns about different
types of projects that might be Al and there seemed to be a a focus on municipal buildings in rural areas so wanted to explore that whether it be planning studies for the future of this building whether it be improvements on at
twb wanted to have conversations with them about what they thought might be more competitive and I also wanted to uh ask the board if there was any interest a while back when I first started we submitted Ed a proposal to
the gaming commission to to reallocate funds or repurpose funds to to study the intersection of uh wilham uh wilham wam Road M Street summmer is that intersection that is something that could be eligible as a One-Stop application if there was Grant
application if we were still interested in pursuing that we can submit multiple expressions of Interest there's not a limit on on that I have to say and I talked to a lot of people about this they always talk about the two intersections we have trouble with or they perceive to have trouble with the
lactina intersection and the one at the end of Main Street and in my mind more people will say the one at the end of Main Street is much worse than the other one the other one requires patience yeah they wanted the end of Main Street if you want to turn left you'll turn
gray yeah they're both pretty bad we we had a meeting with you know people from the public were speaking out about that and we at that time and said we wanted to look into the study of both locations yeah I'll be in favor of that so so the original there was a a proposal from tyan bond to look at them because the
intersections are they're a little bit far apart but they're really connected in terms of how they both function so um we can plan on it's it's an expression of Interest so there's there's there's no harm in submitting as many as we want so but
anyways I was going to I sent an email to Eric to follow up and schedule a meeting talk about that um we also submitted a DTA request for the open space and Recreation plan MH uh to pvpc which I haven't heard back from so there's a number of things to follow up
on with pvpc then my last question Brian is the um anything from Charter on their their buildout the last that I had heard was it was pushed back to January 2026 but they were going to quote unquote look into it so I'll I'll actually be on
the call with the same person Nancy Clark the government rep so I can ask if there's any update on that as well on Wednesday one thing I said to Brian is like I'd ask Nick what he knows because I mean they told wam the same thing you to could de with them first if they're telling them 2026 also they're not doing
ours first right right anything else have Nick's here on Wednesday well let's I'll entertain a motion to go into executive session pursuant to masteral Law chapter 3A section 21A 2 to conduct strategy session and
preparation for negotiations with non-union Personnel to wit the highway superintendent without a return Open Session without a return Open session so move all in favor John John Donald C after recording in the meeting what