okay we'll go ahead and call the meeting of the select board to order for Tuesday April 22nd 2025 We'll begin with the pledge of allegiance 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 Uh Amy do we have our public forum i have not logged into Zoom yet but if if Ben can check if uh we have
anyone for public comment I believe the town moderator is going to be on While we're waiting for that is anyone else here for public forum residents are invited to share ideas opinions or ask questions regarding their town government Seeing none anything on Zoom well I
haven't joined yet or been promoted to panelist So but if we the moderator hi Through the moderator there are two There are two We have two Oh great Thank you Uh would you mind livening up the first person whomever that might be please
something going on out there huh is anyone there for public forum hi can you hear me hi Yep Hi this is Bill Flannry 12 Saddle Hill Road How are you good Although I sit on a couple of committees
here in town including appropriation I'm speaking as a private citizen I first want to commend the board and senior leadership in town for your hyperfocus on controlling costs in the operating and capital budgets However increased cost and lack of reliability is why I
want to address the zero emission vehicle policy you are considering adopting tonight At the February 4th select board meeting during department budget reviews both the police chief and deputy chief had expressed concerns about costly maintenance issues and
warranty coverage with the hybrid cruisers we now own The chair asked the chief if he had considered not buying hybrid cars that are causing fits after 100,000 miles The chief shared they are taking a hard look at that issue It seems this lack of confidence has us
replacing cruisers much sooner than we have in the past At the March 12th appropriation committee meeting Deputy Chief provided more context in sharing that law enforcement officers and executives in other towns had experienced similar frustrations with
the reliability and maintenance cost of the hybrids So now this ZEV policy would force the town to an allect electric police cruiser I am concerned that we are going from a costly and frustrating experience with hybrids into a
relatively new concept of all electric police cruisers So I'm curious if the board has had discussions with other towns that have owned electric police cruisers for a few years to learn about their experiences regarding cost and reliability
It's been widely reported that several car manufacturers including Ford who makes the most police vehicles are scaling back pure electric cars because of consumer complaints and lack of demand I understand that approving this
binding commitment the town may qualify for some grants in the future However the certainty of any grants at this time are very much in question Also has there been a cost analysis for the additional charging stations that would be needed
to service a fleet of electric cruisers in closing I understand there is a temporary exemption for police cruisers until FY26 I am asking that the board consider amending this policy to exempt police
cruisers permanently or at least for a few years until more actual data from other police departments can be reviewed and not force the town to buy potentially more expensive vehicles in FY26 and beyond just because they're
available In the spirit of fiscal responsibility let's provide department heads the flexibility and trust to buy the most costefficient and reliable vehicles for their departments Thank you Thank you Bill
Is there another person for public forum online please there is Here she comes Is that Ellen yep she's on Ellen are you there i'm here Can you hear me yeah we can now Please go right ahead Okay Well
hi everybody Um I have a little note I wanted to read I think a few of you probably already know this but I wanted to kind of do it in a more structured way So um like many parents I'm looking forward
to my son Simon's college graduation in May Simon is graduating from DKU which is um in China near Shanghai I've not been to college to visit him as you might imagine um until his
graduation and I am leaving for the graduation on May 2nd So I will not be moderating town meeting I have been working with Connor um and Elaine and Connor is well equipped to
step in as moderator I wanted to thank you all for your partnership over the past few years It's really been an honor to serve Hopkin to serve as Hopkin moderator and to participate in town meeting which is a great example of
important local democracy in action So here's to a successful Springtown meeting and um thanks again Great Thank you Ellen I hope you have a great trip and congratulations to Simon
Thank you Ellen Thank you Okay Any others for public forum i don't see any other hands raised Great Thank you All right We'll move on to item number three in the agenda which is the consent agenda The board will consider the
following consent agenda There some minutes from April 8th 2025 A new employee The select board will consider confirming a town manager's appointment of Max Schiller as a DPW summer intern Resignation The board will consider accepting the resignation of of Priya
Vas Duv Vasaduven I hope I got that right From the youth commission Vudivan Thank you From the youth commission accept a gift of $500 uh for the Irvine from the Irvine Foundation the police department and renew renew an intermunicable agreement for central
mass re central Massachusetts regional stormwater coalition Are there any items anyone would like to break out yeah just um comment to thank Priya Vasu Devan for her uh service at the
youth commission and thanks to the Arwine Foundation for the gift as well Okay Okay No breakouts Anybody want to make a motion i move the motion u Mr Chair I move the
motion to approve the consent agenda Okay Second We have a motion and a second Any comment or comments questions around the motion all those in favor please say I I Any opposed it's unanimous So carries So the consent agenda is all set We certainly
want to send a note out saying thank you to the uh Irvine Foundation for that police department gift as well Item number four is a public hearing uh for Verizon New England Uh that's at 6:15
So we are a little early for that We'll come back to that here in a few minutes Item number five is a deputy chief and police lieutenant uh thing We're going to wait for that There's some folks are going to come in Uh item number six is
the zero emission vehicle policy The select board will hear an update and consider adopting the draft zero emission vehicle policy I think we could probably get into that right now a little bit and we'll see how that goes and we may have to revisit it once we get to the public hearing timeline So uh
Ela you want to introduce this topic for us please i believe Julia and uh Okay So if they're not here then around the corner Let's I can go grab them Yep They're Yeah if we would could please All right Um while we're getting her just to be efficient here let's jump
down item number nine which is the town manager report if you want to cover an item or two there Yeah Uh nothing uh too much to report on the Main Street Carter project as last week Uh most was focused on getting ready for the Boston Marathon There may be some additional uh updates today I think there was a construction
meeting today with with the folks and will be coming back to do some work um coming up Yeah Yeah So we kind of put everything on pause there for a couple of weeks with the marathon and now we're gonna get back into it So okay great Thanks for that Hi Julia Hi How are you
good How are you we are back to item number six which is the zero emission vehicle policy And Lanny if you were going to introduce that and then maybe introduce Julia Sure Uh Julia is our sustainability economic development and equity project manager and she has been uh working with the sustainable green
committee on the zero uh EV policy zero mission vehicle policy policy um which uh was brought to the board a couple of months ago uh for an informal discussion and is now back um for consideration of approval at this time Um and Julie will
talk about the policy how we got here and what it means for us Okay Julia please Great So um as Elaine said this policy was described a couple months ago to you all Um it is put out by the state and it is a requirement for us to pass
if we want to become a climate leader Becoming a climate leader opens us up to new funding opportunities It's very similar to the um climate uh sorry green communities designation that we already have Uh the policy would require us to
procure vehicles in a hierarchy So starting with zero emission vehicles and then hybrid and then gas vehicles Um we're already moving in this direction Several communities have already adopted it and it is a policy that will allow us
to make sure that we're allocating the correct budget as well as the infrastructure to move our fleet to completely electric um in the future And this aligns with our zero emissions policy that we've adopted our climate action plan which are both commitments
that the town has made Great Thank you Excellent Okay With that and we still have a few minutes here Uh initial comments concerns questions from the board members Mr Man do you want to start sure Thank you Julia I think certainly as a town we have made a lot
of progress in this space appreciate your effort and our sustainable green committee and all the members and all the town residents support throughout Now for this particular one I think you know we are hearing uh quite a few questions and concerns and it's very important that we have enough
information and data to support um our mission and the goal So on that ground uh the we heard today and also previously from our police and fire department about the costbenefit analysis of this and especially the
immediate needs that we see for sea and also the availability of high performing cars or cruisers for police which is very much needed We want our police to you know be successful when they're chasing some someone So given all that can you share us what your um data shows
or perspective or any information you can Yeah absolutely So before we began to pursue this process we did an analysis with power options Um they created an analysis of how many chargers we'll need the locations and then the kinds of vehicles that are Julia I'm
sorry I got to stop you right there I have a contract with power options based on my solar uh activities I need to recuse myself Thank you very much Good luck folks But we got to stop in four minutes to get into our night in
like two minutes Yeah you can continue now Okay Um so yes this assessment shows that there are vehicles that are available for police cruisers Something I also want to note that it is a green communities update that police cruisers
are no longer exempt from the ZEV policy listed in our current vehicles policy under the green communities So either way we will need to begin changing over our police fleet to electric vehicles um
over time Something else I want to note is the policy does not mandate that we replace all our vehicles at once It's when the vehicle is up for expiration needs to be switched over So there is going to be a cadence of replacement We won't be replacing everything at once
And we're you know looking forward to working with department heads and our procurement team to ensure that we are finding vehicles that are competitive with department's needs and ensuring that we have the infrastructure ready Thank you And just two quick follow-ups
So do you have any um kind of analysis for the purchase maintenance and total cost of ownership over 3 year 5 year timeline yeah I do Unfortunately I do not have the papers on hand but we have that all in our report in terms of the cost benefit analysis for gas versus
electric the maintenance of the vehicle as well as the longevity of vehicles So I'm happy to provide you with that report I can certainly send that over um after the meeting I think some slides are in our packet I don't know if would it be helpful to put them on the screen
Sorry Amy Some slides related to that are in our packet We could ask them to put on the screen Yeah Oh but now we're on pause So let me get back So if you go to the slide sorry one slide before Julie before you get into
the slide we're going to have to pause it now because we got to do the public hearing on time Okay So if you wouldn't mind just giving us a few minutes we'll come back to you Okay Sure All right Okay Sorry about this folks A little confusing here at the moment Um we're going to go back to item number four
which is a public hearing A utility poll hearing for Verizon New England Incorporated The select board will hold a public hearing on a petition for a utility pole location on East Main Street Place one jointly owned poll numbered T.27.5E.27 27 on the south side of East Main Street
at a point approximately 642 feet southwesterly from the center line of Clinton Street and approximately 30 ft southwest of the existing pole number T.27/E.26 Reason this pole is necessary to support new construction at number 132 West Main Street and to provide for
for the distribution of intelligence and telecommunications and the transmission of high and low voltage electric current Uh Elaine I'm trying to remember Do we have to vote to open the public hearing or we just open the public hearing just open the public hearing Open the public hearing Okay great So we'll consider the
public hearing now open at 6:15 p.m Ela do you have any other comments specific to this public hearing uh just for location reference it's uh where the new pickle ball facility will be uh near Fear View Estates uh on East Main Street Okay great Thank you Sir you are
representing whom uh Verizon Verizon Don Voner with Verizon Are you a Verizon employee or a contractor i'm a subcontractor Subcontractor Got it But here on their authority Okay Um first of all that's a typo Uh it's 132 East Main Street is the reason Um just to clarify
for you folks 132 East Main Street Okay Thank you Um I just visited the site took the measurements Um the stake where the pole is supposed to go was snapped off by somebody Uh I did find another one in the woods and put it in place but
um I don't know if anybody went there to check it out beforehand It wasn't there There is a stake in place for an anchor Um but that is not where the pole was going to be The pole would be behind the guardrail Um so as the town manager said
um the this is necessary to support the construction that's going to be going on at 132 East Main I pickle ball I guess Um and that's my introduction Okay great Thank you Questions comments from the
board Mrs Burbush start with you Um so I couldn't find the picture of it I found the map Oh here it is Okay And so is there an existing pole in the place now we'll be adding that we're replacing or we're just adding a new pole Adding a new pole Adding a new pole So there's no won't be an extra pole to remove Correct
Okay Well it seems there were no adverse comments from staff it looked like to me Um so I don't think I have any other questions or comments Mr Clark no questions or comments Everything that was provided helped So thank you
As long as it's a new poll I have no problems with it I hate the double polls That's all you and it's good Yeah me and No no question at this time I think this looks good to me Okay Uh and it is part of the new development over there The planning board's obviously involved
Everybody else is involved Was ZBA involved in that application okay Yep They granted the necessary relief Okay No issues there No Great Okay So with that we'll open it up to the public since it is a public hearing to see if there's anyone here from the public that
has any questions or comments specific to item number four which is this utility poll hearing Is anyone here from the public that would like to speak seeing none is there anyone online that would like to speak there are no hands raised No hands raised
online Give it another few seconds Okay Chair will entertain a motion to close the public hearing Move the motion to close the public hearing Second We have a motion and a second to close the public hearing I believe that's an order lane Correct
Okay Um all those or sorry any questions comments on the motion all those in favor please say I I Any opposed okay So the public hearing is now closed and the board will deliberate Questions comments anything anyone wants
to say before we vote We need a motion Yeah Yeah Okay Anybody want to make a motion please mr Chair I move to approve a grant of location for one jointly owned
pole number T27 T.27.5/E.27 27 on the south side of East Main Street at a point approximately 642 ft southwesterly from the center line of Clinton Street and approximately 30 ft
southwest of existing pole number T.27/e.26 We have a motion and a second by Miss Lefrenier Any discussion all those in favor please say I I Any opposed it's unanimous So carries You're all set sir Thank you very much Thank
you Okay Now that we've covered the one thing that was very timely uh we can come back to Julia and you guys can finish the conversation around this question prison Okay And I'll uh I'll
monitor when I think you're done Come back Sorry You want to continue the presentation or Yes please That'll be great Which slide would be the best oh there we go Yep Okay So oop sorry The next slide
over Thank you So perfect Um so this is a chart showing the cost comparison between um electric vehicles and non-electric vehicles Um overall our power options assessment has shown that there are savings over the
lifetime of the vehicle both for the maintenance because of engine costs as well as the difference between gas and electric Um so overall it is much more cost effective in terms of maintenance There are several federal and state
incentives and rebates that are currently out there that would offset the cost of the electric vehicle at cost or at purchase Um and so that is something that we are well supported through power options and I am also um
happy to do that research and help our department heads purchase the vehicles to ensure we're offsetting costs Thank you Do you want to present anything else or we can go around asking questions mary Joe do you want anything
well I've been on the MWITA board for this last two years and um they've gone all electric on their bus vehicles so I I'm not necessarily opposed to electric However listening to the earlier
gentlemen um I would like to do this I I would love to do it but I would like to do it not all at once I don't want to I want to see this phase it a program to phase it in and and that way
we get to see how it's working you know just a couple of vehicles and then as as we get rid of older vehicles go down the line maybe then we can make the decision to bring on another electric vehicle or
not And I just think that uh that's how we should we should look at it We should look at it as a as a phased in operation and not 100 you know 100% tomorrow Yeah Mary Joe you hit the nail on the
head It is a phased kind of policy And so whenever a vehicle dies we're replacing it It will not be you know hundreds of vehicles at once Um every year there's about three police cruisers that are replaced And so we'll be doing this slowly and ensuring that we are
investing in the infrastructure to charge Okay that's all I wanted to say Perfect Um so you know thank you for the slides Very helpful When did the exemption for police cruisers like expire because I
thought that was you know for the fiscal year but it's not It is for the fiscal year So that'll be expiring June 30th of this year Um and then starting July 1st all police cruisers that are replaced will need to follow this hierarchy
Okay Like that's the only area I'm a little concerned with this is because like police cruisers specifically like they run almost 24/7 right it's a unique strain on the car And um I know the police department has concerns and just
the information that I've read about it like I'm concerned and and is it right to understand that you know if we don't do the police cruisers or we don't figure out a way to make them exempt like the whole thing we can't be a part of So this is a mandate in the green community's vehicle policy not just this
policy So the policy we're currently under will require that police cruisers become EVs when replaced Jeff you want to join us yeah Yeah Jeff Roland chair sustainable green committee Um I just want to emphasize
that the green committees pro communities program the vast majority of the state is covered under that as well So we're not talking about you know just a handful of towns are going to be affected here The entire state is going to be going under this policy too So keep that in mind And um if we're
looking at the municipal fleet beyond just police really just talking about a handful of vehicles that aren't going to be exempt from this any of the large vehicles fire trucks ambulances anything required for snow removal uh over 8,500 pounds all the dump trucks all exempt So
we're talking about how many vehicles maybe that'll actually be affected I think under 10 under 10 units So just to understand better the scope of this policy it's really not broadly
impactful Yeah No like I said I I get the policy It makes sense to me I have concerns about the police cruisers you know just specifically like just them So I don't know how we like look closer at that Um have you guys worked with the police chief and what is their feedback
been recently on it yeah so we uh sent an email communication um a few months back just informing them about the policy and getting feedback I think that the main concern is the charging infrastructure And I think that um there are concerns about cost When we look at
costs in a pre-wired space they're very affordable um you know under $5,000 with rebates and incentives to get that charging infrastructure in place Again we're not replacing the entire fleet at once And so we'll be able to charge a vehicle transfer it over But I want to
reiterate that this policy isn't introducing a new exemption because the exemption is already going to be in place under our existing policy come June 30th Okay All right Thank you Mhm Okay And then the question I think I had
um are plug-in electric hybrids included in this for police cars where they could run on gas if they run out of charge yes So I believe that they're third or sorry second in that hierarchy of vehicle replacements So they are there's also a
um contingency in the policy that says that if the wait time for a vehicle or if the wait time for procuring a vehicle due to restraints um in available charging infrastructure is going to delay the procurement by 12 months Towns
can go ahead and get a gas vehicle So the state wants to ensure that our initial commitment is to make sure our communities are safe ensure that our departments can do their jobs and so there are exemptions available when the timeline is not available for us to
procure a vehicle Okay And do we have a plan in place to get the recharging stations installed at the police or fire department in the back so that will require us to have conversations is we're planning to speak to the police chief early next month Um work with our facilities team as in addition to um see
if we can implement more chargers across town Okay And but do we have this budgeted at in at town meeting or it will all be grant funded the chargers we've set aside $5,000 for at least one charger somewhere And we have some other potential chargers in the works um at a
public lot the new lot across the street Okay All right And so like one charging station could probably charge two vehicles Is that correct okay If we got two cars this year that would cover that Okay And then I think you already said that the DPW vehicles and fire trucks think really large vehicles are exempt
already Okay All right I think that answers my questions Uh one other question I heard from I believe one of the u police related discussions So if there are charging stations and these are you know take
some time to charge and we need those vehicles ready 24 by7 How many what is the kind of downtime because of charging that um the police department should be aware of and
be prepared for for level two chargers about 7 hours 7 to eight It varies So many it depends questions here Varies depending on the vehicle Um I think that an important thing to note is
that with the number of vehicles that we have in stock I don't believe it's realistic that all vehicles are deployed at once And so again taking the assumption that we were replacing three vehicles per year that's also not done at the same time And so there should be
enough downtime for us to be charging one vehicle while the others are in deployment And on a level two charger if you're talking about a vehicle that's completely depleted yeah it might take say 7 8 hours to give it a full charge but that's highly unlikely you'll get to that point where the vehicle's battery
is that low Um yeah realistically what maybe go through half the battery in a very busy day But has the police department confirmed that that downtime is accept acceptable with their fleet
um we've again communicated over email and I think that the main concern is just that there's no chargers currently available There wasn't a concern expressed that if we put in one charger then that's not going to be enough capacity The concern was just that there's zero chargers at the moment And
so I think one of the primary reasons we're pushing for this policy now is for us to begin movement on implementing the infrastructure because the way the state is moving forward I would not be surprised if this becomes a mandated policy in the next 5 years
Okay And and just to be clear you have a deadline you mentioned Can you elaborate on that um the policy to qualify for certain grants Oh yes So we have one more requirement which is to do a building decarbonization road map So
once this policy passes and once we complete the road map we'll be able to apply There's currently I believe two application windows So one is in the fall and one is in the spring And so we would of course like to shoot for the fall application but if not it will be
next spring that we apply Thank you And just to add on because the plug-in electric hybrid vehicles are included which you know they can run on gas if they were out of charge and they can they charge in about two hours not seven hours So I don't know if police cruisers are available in the plug-in hybrid or
they are Okay So I think you have a lot of options that you could try You could try one plug-in hybrid one full EV So I I think I'm comfortable moving forward with this seeing as it's going to be a requirement next year for everyone on the green communities anyway I mean I I I would probably wait like
another meeting just myself personally I just want to kind of talk to the police department you know get their level of comfort because I agree with you The hybrid thing makes more sense to me than the fully electric for them And so I would probably hold off tonight on making like on supporting a motion and
pushing it to like our next meeting So I'm thinking the same I think that makes sense And as you hear we are all resonating that we all uh or if I read it correctly we all like the proposal we want to support it but at the same time we want to look at the various practical aspects of it and especially since the
police um chief and some of the police vehicle related concerns are surfacing I think it'll be good to kind of dig into that or get some response from them and you know we can have another session on this and maybe the police chief can join us too uh there be that would be a good
way to kind of resolve it I think well okay anybody else anything else you want to Okay Well just again I want to say I don't want to just say no to this program or anything like that I really think it should be phased in in
increments so that we can see how it develops and what happens with the vehicles as we go along And that's my only comment So uh we want to Well we don't have to vote on anything tonight because this is
uh an update on this project They were looking for a motion so you can see if someone wants to make a motion Sure Yeah I mean I can make the motion but it sounds like everyone is wanting to wait but I'll make the motion I guess and we can see we can kind of abstain if you don't want to vote for it But so I move
to approve the zero emission vehicle policy which will replace the town's fuel efficient vehicle policy and if there's no second we don't move forward We discussed enough I can second it for um the discussion but my view is that we may want to wait a
little bit for more information and we want to support it but support it you know in a more concrete manner so everyone feels comfortable That would be my my suggestion Um so I think we can table it for now Okay
So you didn't second it I did not Okay All right Well appreciate you guys coming Thank you Again we don't want to push this out long We just need like another meeting or so get you guys back confirm with the the police department But we really appreciate everything you guys do for this and we want to just
make sure we're making right So thank you I will definitely keep it on the agenda Thank you so much They keep wanting to talk about this issue Happy Earth Day And also if you folks want to learn a little bit more about EVs I'd be remiss if I didn't advertise our EV expo coming up next Sunday 1 to 4 at the high school Hope it's on Sunday right yep
Looking forward to it And thank you for all the work that you did Thank you very much It's a lot of work Good job Okay Thank you all very much My apologies for that bit of confusion there Uh next up we're going to go back to the agenda and tackle item number
five Deputy Chief I'm sorry Fire Chief Gary Dhy is going to introduce our new deputy fire chief and a new lieutenant Chief Dhy will give you and your colleagues and friends and family a chance to come on in Welcome folks Come on
in Thanks I think we're going to run out of chairs We could have our two candidates join us over here in these chairs to make a couple spaces available I think that's everybody from the hallway Does that sound right to everybody all good Okay There are a
couple of more chairs up front here There's a couple chairs if you want to join up front A few of them Uh Elaine please if you would introduce the topic and we'll go from there Uh Fire Chief Gary Doy is here this evening to introduce a new uh deputy chief and
lieutenant to the fire department Great Thank you very much Chief Dy Uh good evening I want to start by thanking the select board for giving me this opportunity tonight um to introduce uh our new deputy fire chief and uh lieutenant Uh your continued support means a great deal to me and the members
of the Hopkin and Fire Department Uh these promotions um have not been possible without your support Great First have the first one join you And how do you want to do that yeah sure Good evening First I'd like to introduce uh Deputy
Chief uh Scott Jurassic He began his career as a call firefighter in Hopkin in 2001 He became a permanent firefighter in 2003 and spent 22 years in the department 15 years as a lieutenant Scott holds a degree in fire science He's an accredited Massachusetts
fire chief He holds both a fire officer one fire officer 2 certification He's a member of our technical rescue team In 2022 uh he was honored with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts firefighter of the year award As a shift lieutenant uh Scott managed
the daily operations for his group and he on multiple times that I've been out of town he filled in as the acting fire chief Uh one time he's even had to uh handle a multi-day incident involving multiple agencies in multiple town departments Over the past two years he
has led a major projects including serving as the fire department's liaison to dispatch He helped implement our Pro Phoenix He managed all our data conversion into Pro Phoenix uh helped roll out the station alerting system and he's currently working with facilities to oversee our station one and station
two renovations Scott great Thank you Scott anything you want to share with the board or the community as a whole i think he uh summed it up Um I do have a little bit
of a speech but uh not long because I'm not one for public talking So it's multiple pages folks Go ahead Just wanted just one little cheat sheet So uh I just wanted to thank my family and friends um for their love and support over the years Um especially to my wife
Liz my daughters Caitlyn and Emily Um a firefighter's life is never easy and are never easy on a family but they've supported me more than they'll ever understand Um I'd like to say thank you to all the firefighters past and present
and all the past chiefs who made me who I am today Special thank you to Chief Dy for having the trust in me to be his next deputy Great Thank you Gary There's nothing we have to do here formally correct we don't have to vote this because you are
a strong chief and you make this decision That's that's correct sir Right And Elaine you agree with that Do you have a pin that you do or something or I think we should do that one at a time as well if that's okay Edge right here Would you like to bring up your wife and daughter sure So you
guys want to do that come on try I got a camera Thank you Congratulations Congratulations It's those hats It's a two out of five Okay Chief
Come on Johnny D Ready yes Okay Next I'd like to introduce Lieutenant John D Vera John has been in the fire service since 2015 He joined the Hopkin Fire Department in 2018 after serving with the West Boilston Fire Department He's currently a firefighter paramedic in the
department EMS coordinator As DMS coordinator he oversees our QA and QI program He also managed the roll out of our medication infusion pumps and spearheaded our uh implementation of our active shooter bags Uh John holds a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from WPI He's a certified paramedic and he's
a uh fire instructor one fire officer two Uh John will be assigned to the group three as their shift lieutenant Great Thank you Excellent John Yes Oh remarks Anything you want to tell us
about yourself anything you'd like to share John well I think kind of in the same thread as uh Deputy Jurassic you know I'd like to thank my wife Rachel who's here tonight Uh my family and uh my old group Group 4 who uh without their support uh I wouldn't be here
today and I wouldn't be who I am So you know a big thank you and shout out to them Great Congratulations Thank you Thank you Same questions Chief you get to make this decision The board has nothing to do with it Correct Yes sir Elaine you concur i concur Great Okay
Well congratulations and please uh go ahead with the pinning All right Try not to knock the name plates over John You'll be agree You'll be the deputy next week if you don't knock them off Why don't we just do it now congrats
Thank you very much Yeah Uh just a couple quick comments if I could and then we'll let the board say hello as well Um thank you all for coming this evening It's always great when we do these promotions especially the two folks that have earned it and uh we're really excited to have them join
the leadership team I'm really glad John did not knock any of the name flags off the thing Um I I I had been on the other side of a a fire situation Uh once in Hopkins a serious fire at my house and another time something was smoking in the wall and the HFD came out and took
care of it Uh so I I know extremely well how important they or how important they are to our community and uh I feel very safe living in Hopington because of you folks and appreciate all that you do very much every day Thank you Mr Clark
Perfect Um so I think you know this is great I'm very excited to be a part of this tonight You know especially you know the deputy and lieutenant positions Um growing up in a in a family of a firefighter you know I know how important these things are and you don't get a lot of opportunities to be celebrated for the work that you guys do
on a regular basis Um and I think since like Scotty likes the spotlight so much I'll drag this out a little few more minutes But um I mean I think the deputy position too it was probably the first time I attended one of these meetings when uh Gary your dad you know made the
full-time deputy position with my dad at the time And you know if you could believe it that was before Brian was on the board back in probably 2007 So uh it's it's fun to be a part of this tonight Congratulations Thank you guys for everything that you do
Amy yeah I was going to echo what Joe says Um luckily I don't think I've ever had to call the fire department for fire at my house but um I did lose some de very dear friends to carbon monoxide poisoning once and I really appreciate how proactive our department is and educating the public about the carbon monoxide alarms and everything And so
anyway I really appreciate all you do and hopefully if I ever do have to call I know I will save Great Thank you Mr Manan I do the same We have a great fire department and u under Gary's leadership So thank you Gary and to the fire
department for all the good work for keeping us safe and I know time to time it gets busy but uh it's amazing how you jump in and crank through any and all challenges Uh so we are very lucky to have such dedicated fire department and
uh personally I think all of our residents feel safe because of you and we feel we are comfortable at our homes because of you So kudos to the fire department and uh I'm also very happy to see that um we have our complete cycle
on the leadership on the succession that only makes the department stronger and this is very well thought out and we have great service from Scott for decades and from um newly anointed um Lieutenant John for the great service So
couldn't be more proud and uh keep up the wonderful work Congratulations to the new appointees and thanks to the fire department again The frontier Well I too come from a firefighting family and and I love them and I really
have to say I have used the department at least four times in the last couple of years and not like Brian and not for any fires but for medical reasons and I fabulous treatment I they've taken me to Milford Hospital I think three times
about a month ago I broke my nose you know just things like that and just the treatment has been fantastic and I feel very safe with this fire department in Hopington Great Thank you Well as everyone has said congratulations to you folks
Congratulations Chief Dohy for all the work you're doing Congratulations to the entire fire department for everything that they do every day We appreciate very much and uh we wish you the best in the new roles Well done Take care Just get everybody right here
Take a picture Somebody of course absolutely proud of what you're doing You're now more solid and strong right yeah I'm really happy to see this That's
what I like Thank you very proud Okay Peter Okay And you guys hold item number six Is that correct which was that zero commission make a motion I'm sorry We did not make a motion Okay Thank you We did that Yeah All right So we're going
to go to item number seven next We'll give it a minute here I think we should probably have to grab that door once they clear Only they'll be out there if that's okay Um I was going to say there are some slides about this So we could ask Ben to get I'm sorry There are some slides about this We could ask
Ben to get those ready Okay Yeah if we could get the slides ready for item number seven please It's Matt out there right i think it's Ben I'm sorry Ben Ben Ben is on there Okay Yeah Ben if you could liven up the
slides for item number seven please All right Thanks Thanks Kyler for grabbing Okay So item number seven is the trails committee directional signs and an update Miss Lazarus if you would introduce the topic please So the trails committee um newly formed committee um
and they have an idea for uh identification uh signs for trails around the community and they'll present that this evening Great I saw Mr Lgoy running in the marathon yesterday I'm assuming he's very calm this evening The endorphins are probably still pumping and he's not
going to get energized about trails tonight Mr Lgoy that's true Peter Lgoy 21 Hayden Rose Street and chair of the trails committee And I have with me Linda Chus who's going to actually do the presentation with regards to a a
brief update Just wanted to give you two seconds and say we're working on public outreach is kind of our primary focus right now and we're looking at starting listening section sessions uh with various boards and committees and then with uh town residents to kind of reset
what folks want with regard to trails in town and hear from the hear from the public That was kind of the the new committee's thoughts on a key focus One of the ways to do that is make people aware of the trails Linda
Hi Linda Hi Brian Thank you Peter Hi Um okay So as you all probably know trails are a huge asset to our town not only for residents but for visitors But not enough people know that many of the trails exist Um we have a lot of trails
and some of them are just well-kept secrets and we don't want them to be secrets Uh what we've come up with we have a lot of ideas on how to promote trails but we think the best way to reach the most people and increase awareness and usage
is with a standard roadside sign that is at various trail heads in town The trail TCMC committee talked about this and supported it unanimously This committee took it up as the first area we want to
tackle for awareness and also um unanimously supports it We want to start with a test though and see how it works before we plaster signs all over We want to try a few make sure it works well Next slide
please So this is a mockup for the um trail at center school There's a Did you Did all of you know there's a trail behind center school by the way yes you all do Good job Okay Beautiful trails behind Center School but they're not
very well known by most people Um and so this is one way we could help increase awareness So this is what a roadside sign might look like This is uh showand tell version Um and they would be
standard Uh we could go to the next slide And this is a little about the design It's a generic trail sign um on a standard street sign post They call them a U channel And there would be an arrow at the bottom We would have the
information on both sides so people driving in each direction would see it And the name of the trail would be on a small sign above the standard trail sign We may be able to get some cost efficiencies by just printing more of the trail signs and fewer of the
customized ones Next slide please And feel free to interrupt if anything's needs some clear Okay More about the design We chose not to do the standard hiker you might see say in New Hampshire up in the mountains because it doesn't represent multi-use Our trails are for
bikers wheelchairs strollers not just hikers Um the wooded path icon on it kind of brands it as what it's used for Um brown is the standard sign for natural recreation area So we went with
that And this is what the sizes are which are It's a little bigger than this It's a pretty standard um actually yeah with the sign on top It's about this big It's a pretty standard street sign street sign
size Okay Next please So we haven't gotten exact cost estimates yet but uh we did I did look on the internet and looked at various estimates It would be including the post about $400 for the double-sided sign with the name and the
arrow and all We don't know what installation costs would be We figure just based on installing some of our own signs probably about two people for about two hours we would get exact cost estimates from DPW Next slide please
So the roll out to start with we want to try it at four places um and modify the sign or modify what we do based on feedback we get center trail which I know is already really popular and not a lot of people know about it
but believe it or not a lot of people don't know about it including out of town visitors but even people in town and that's a place where lots of people drive by So this is a great place to introduce people to a nice easy trail The Center School one because as I said
not a lot of people do know about it Hughes Farm um again many people know but not enough And Fruit Street a lot of people don't know about the trails up at the Pratt Farm area there Uh and just to be clear these would be signs for a
trail area not necessarily a specific trail So right now we have about 40 places in town we could put these We're not necessarily advocating all of them We're just saying that's the maximum probably Uh we could trim that And so if
you multiply that cost out it could end up being about 20,000 over a few years and we're happy to spread that out We could do the trial and we can do a few more as needed as the years go on Uh next please Some people I have
heard do not prefer signs They are minimalists So we're aware of that We'd like to understand the rationale behind that And there are some signs in town that maybe could be removed if it's really a big concern Um not trail signs
but other signs And we should really consider the value that these provide Some towns have them We do have a couple in our town Sbury Valley Trustees has a sign like not like this In fact I don't like their design because it's hard to read but they have a sign on Pawn Street
pointing to White Hall Woods Um a number of other towns have quite a few of these So I think even if we don't love a lot of signs we can put some in given the value that we think they provide And last slide
please So what we're seeking is approval to do this trial run at those four locations If we get that we'll then work with DPW to finalize the costs for the trial We'd then order and install the four signs We'd solicit feedback in a
number of ways to see how well they worked and we'd then figure out what to do next whether we expand it take them away because they didn't work change the design like that That's it Any questions any comments great Thank you very much
Uh Mrs Ritter Bush Yeah thank you for bringing this forward I did have a few questions comments Um I before you do your pilot I would recommend you run it by the design review board Uh especially for the color contrast issue like if you want to be readable at a distance it kind of probably has to either be a dark brown with white because that's kind of
a light brown I know it's probably just printed at home but I think that and then the really a really clear easy to read font easy to read from the road Um and then you probably know this but if it's in the historic district which if it were at center school it is it would need to go to the historic district commission So it might not be your best
choice for the um the pilot trial they usually don't like the um the gray poles with the holes They like the solid um solid black poles you know so might not be the best trial one And then uh Oh and then you mentioned it So you're not using the hiker because to indicate that
it's not necessarily just a hiking trail Would you anticipate different signs for when it's a multi-use versus hiking this would be generic for both Okay All right Those are all my comments Thanks Thank you Mr Clark Um nothing jumps out Thank you for the
information Like very straightforward I think it makes sense to try it right put a few locations Um slightly different question This is kind of our first time having you guys back since the new committee's been formed How has it been going just in you two's perspective it's been going very well I mean a lot of
interaction and um it's it's always tricky from my perspective coming in as a chair of the old committee and then trying to get you know allow people's new ideas but I think we've done a pretty good job of of encouraging that For example you know do I think we
really need to go out and do all these listening sessions no But that's my personal choice That's not the committee's choice And with their guidance I I think it absolutely makes sense You know it's it's like it's a it's a chance to reset So I think we're
we're doing a good job on that And we've despite a recent Hopkins Independent article we've been I think um really cooperating very well even in that particular case It was the headline not versus the article Yep Awesome If I could also add I think it took a few
months to sort of feel each other out in jail And this last meeting we had a number of us at the end said "Wow we're starting to get things done." And that felt really good Awesome I I love to hear that No thank you for sharing I was just just been curious So and we'll come back at some point right Peter yep Just
prompting you to That's it Good Who's the frontier well I think it's a great idea and I and I love the idea of the signs My only question is I know it's not terribly expensive It's not a lot of money but between you people and the DPW
or CBC whatever you have is any of this budgeted already do we have funds for these signs we have budget for it Yeah Okay Okay In our budget it's all I wanted to know because I think it's a fantastic idea Great Set Mhm Mr Man Yeah
I would echo the same I think this is a very good idea and it would also help um people to know where things are and uh kind of navigate easier So all for it Uh I think my colleagues covered the other questions and I'm also happy to hear that the uh trails committee reboot is
looking positive and jing Would love to hear more uh as you progress and update in the coming days But this is a good idea and the budget seems to be covering it So um good to start how your plan So thanks for the thought out plan
Okay I like the idea a lot I think it makes a lot of sense However I agree with Mrs Ritterbush I think that for the one in front of center school that we're going to have to take into account the pole aesthetics Uh so that could take a while to do So maybe it's not a great
idea for the trial one only because it could take a while to do and you want to get something done elsewhere The other one I would be concerned about is the center trail on the corridor side We have mass DOT not done yet We have lots of signs coming along the corridor that
are required for mass DOT So and we have in that in that trail head area we've got that big brick circle We're going to have a bike repair station and something else is going there plus a garden So maybe at some point we could hang it on the bike repair station or something like that But for right now I'd leave
that alone If you do want to do one on the Central Trail do it on the school side up on the loop road just so they could find it up there but I wouldn't do it on the corridor side That's just my two cents So thank you Um Elaine did mention that to us What would it be
possible to put it on the other side of the road where Hop Lumber is uh no that's still part of the corridor Yeah that's part of the corridor Okay That's all sidewalk over there and then they're black top So I think we just got to
leave the corridor alone for right now Y um but I think the other little couple of locations you talked about for trials would make sense I don't think there's a lot of signs in those areas and I don't think it would conflict with anything So um if we chose two others just to get more of a mix would that be okay would
we need to come back here with those or call i don't think so Okay four four signs two locations already deter predetermined and two other locations to be determined by the trails committee and trying to make sure we don't pick
things that might fall into and I just wanted to mention too that um uh DPW director let me know that uh they're not in favor of the signs in the rightway So if they're back a few feet on the actual property that would be better
Did they say why um I'm assuming part of that is that they're not road safety signs They're other signs So road safety signs you know take priority in the right of way Yeah we that's we would see this being somewhat consistent with the
for example turtle crossing signs but do those count as road safety signs well I think the the difference is that some of times they're on an existing pole So if they're colllocating on a pole I think that's okay But if it's a separate poll I think that's an issue But you can have
further discussions with them Yes Yes So do you think we should vote this Elaine i think you can with some contingencies you can vote in favor of a certain number of signs Um and then the other thing I was going to recommend that um when we're placing them initially
perhaps having them at trail heads where there's a place to park where there's a place to park So those are the ones we probably want to publicize most where people can actually you know drive there and it's not just people walking there from their neighborhood Yeah Let's try this The chair will entertain a motion
to approve four no more than four trial signs to identify trails in the community Two of which one would be located at the Hughes Farm The other would be located at Bridge Street Bridge Street Uh we would not put any in the
corridor at this time We would not put any uh in the historic district at this time And that all locations would have to be approved by the DPW um director for safety and compliance
purposes Could we add that they be reviewed by the design review board too and that the science be approved by the design review board okay My suggestion So that's in the motion that I'm proposing somebody make Oh So yeah Okay
So we have a motion on the table Second And we have a second Does everybody go with that motion did we cover everybody's concerns okay Um and is that motion okay with you guys yes Because then this this would this is how we would have to do it
right and you think that motion's in order that's fine Okay Great Okay Any further discussion on the motion all those in favor please say I I Any opposed it's unanimous and so carried So we'll start with that Great Perfect Okay
Am I allowed to say go Celtics you can Sure Go Celtics I'm watching Peter stand up Well done Reminds me of the good old days Okay Thank you folks for coming in for that Thank you Item number eight FY26 budget
in the May 5th 2025 annual town meeting Ms Lazarus Uh Kyla Laierre CFO is here to wrap up the FY26 budget discussion Great Welcome Kyla Thank you Um everyone
has the warrant articles and motions The packet that was sent out uh with the agenda was revised So I think you have the new motions document There were three articles that um were revised um compared to what was in the packet So
article two and the document we had upon arriving this evening this is the latest and greatest That is the latest correct so different than what's in the I did email an updated copy this morning was emailed by Vasuda If you want to use a PDF Amy
item number two the motion is to take no action Everybody's okay with that it's just not needed anymore Yep Go ahead C So article three um we had it as all free cash However there are two
sewer articles listed um for unpaid bills and those two should come from retained earnings So the amount of free cash being used has decreased and you'll just see that amended motion over the overall amount stays the
same We will need that amended motion It is included in the revised Okay I got you Page two okay retainer earnings Got it Okay And then the last update was article five on the operating
budget We had FY 2025 in the enterprise wording as well as an amendment to the general fund not the total just the general fund amount that was listed on page three
Okay So with those edits the free cash allocation that was just handed out to you also changed So we're starting with 18.1 million in free cash which may this
may I'm sharing because it may come up and be a topic at town meeting We're starting with 18.1 and we have a proposed ending of 2.2 2 million and that how it's allocated across all the different projects as well as the
different stabilization funds um OPED prior year bills um paying off the 2013 bond for 500,000 and a 5 million allocation to capital stabilization and we will end with 2.2
So just to be clear we're starting with $18 million We're just talking very rough numbers right and we've got 22 grand whatever OPE is 875,000 transfer to special ed reserve a million transfer general fund stabilization 700,000 and then transfer
to capital stabilization 5 million Is the capital stabilization transfer which is a big chunk does that positively impact our bond rating or is that not part of the bond rating calculation it's it's a wash So we can either leave it in free cash or we can put it in
stabilization healthy in terms of correct their view of where it is Absolutely Right We want that strong maintain that strong bond rating Yeah That's the biggest challenge in all this debt that we have is keeping that bond rating high We have our bond rating call on May 6th
So that's 57 That's that's that's 567 It's about 8 million roughly 7.5 million we're basically saving for another day of that of that 18 and then the rest is going for pay as you go if approved Yeah
Okay All right Mr Manan any questions uh some observation and couple of questions Happy to see that it's it's looking you know quite a bit of buffer for us and I also want to add not only we are keeping aside almost 8 million as
uh Mr chair noted we are also providing some of the highest allocation to OPE to stabilization definitely capital stabilization uh in quite some time ever ever probably
right ever so happy to see that and again as much as we can save for rainy days that's our goal so appreciate all the good work and uh all the good luck this year also and no new borrowing and no new borrowing zero new borrowing So
great discipline and combination of things we have achieved a lot on on the budget and here one quick question I had is that keeping this 2.2 in free cash does that open up more spending during
the town meeting should anyone asks for more money and opens a new motion Um we did an analysis year overyear of what has been left in free cash This won't be abnormal Okay So we have left money in
free cash every year Yeah And I'm sorry just to jump in real quick I was kind of wrong there Like it's 7.5 million that we're putting into buckets up top there for savings if you will but we're still left with 2.2 to your point Mr Manan left over So it's really 9.5 million
that we have for flexibility for future years right so my mistake Anything else that would be all that This is great Thanks Mr Leon Anything oh I think that's I've always been a a champion of OPED and I'm like to see it filled and
I'm very very happy with the way the budget has turned out this year And we asked the town's departments to cut their budgets and and come in at good rates and it seems like everybody's
done it I'm very proud of them Thank you Mr Clark Um nothing additional I think the biggest thing is going to be at town meeting you know when people start asking you know we're moving 5 million to stabilization Why don't we use that for some other things i think
that's going to be our our biggest challenge is talking talking that down and explaining why we need it there So I think it looks great Thank you Yeah No I think I echo what everyone else says think it looks good that we're putting so much into stabilization and then we have some extra left over in the
uh be in free cash next year and it's you know things are kind of uncertain economically right now So we we might need that money next year to buy a firet truck or something So it's good that we're saving um some for next year or years to come Yeah I think Joe raises a good point and Amy makes a good point as
well where we're saving some money for the next year and the year after that and the year after that because this debt situation doesn't go away just because we balanced the budget this year It hasn't even really taken off yet It's going to take off truly in 27 and 28 and 29 So I think that money will be
certainly in position to help out at that time Okay Uh anything else you want to share Kyler we finalized the appropriation report on Friday Um so that will be published to the town website Um and they are all approved
with the motions So we're all good Okay Let's talk about not finances directly but with what Kyla here making sure that we have our quote assignments for town meeting organized and ready to go Um we
have the moderators meeting I think is that already held yes that was yesterday When was that or whenever it was last year i don't remember But um so we've had that That went well It went well Okay Uh we have
40 what 41 articles a couple of them were no action so at least one where we saw can I regards in the moderator's meeting if I could um the moderator or Connor is acting as a town moderator this year and he would like anyone who has any slides to send them to him for approval prior did he say the deadline
he needs to see them by deadline was last week but oh okay still accepting them so if we needed to slides to present any of our things we should make sure to get those okay and then Um then we go to town meeting which is May 5th which is a week from this coming
Monday And uh my sense is we can do it in one evening I'm hoping that's the case I know I should have said that but I did anyway Um so we'll see how that plays out And then we have three articles that we're
involved in if I remember correctly Uh economic development that Mr Manan and Mr Clark we're going to kind of co- discuss with the town meeting attendees right mhm Are we ready for that not yet We have some discussions and in
the next um this week actually we're going to finalize it and uh I also spoke to the chamber of commerce and they will also participate in our discussion or in the presentation uh a little bit giving their view and their support Do we know the timeline that you folks have to do
that if we get up there and spend 45 minutes talking in town meeting you'll get booed off the stage right do we have that figured out i'm basic basic question I know Yeah it won't need that long We don't know I think we'll be like under 10 minutes Okay great I think we're going to reuse the slides we used from the special town meeting to just
kind of give people the backstory right and you'll walk them through that and then just And now we have the first quarter's revenue amount It's it's not a lot of money So I think that'll make it even less of like you know a heavy debate knowing that it's just like a
small amount for right now That could go up in the future I think there was a couple um employers that were weren't reporting it So it'll change a little bit but we pretty much know what what we have now And you guys are communicating not deliberating but communicating the
logistics of doing that together how you're doing Yeah we had some discussions and in the coming days we're going to analyze that And I also spoke to Julia Chun She's helping gathering some data Uh some of the other neighboring towns also initiated this So um that is also going to help kind of
presenting us information for the residents So we're going to wrap it up in the next uh week or so and u be ready for it Okay Good I was going to say that Connor really was emphasizing the shortest possible for presentations So I think if you could keep it under five minutes or you know or talk to Connor
and you can always ask answer questions people ask Yeah I think just the old slides were I think we used maybe three in the fall like and it it's you can do that in you know a minute and a half to go through the so okay so there's that one five minutes
there you go town manager is focus uh anything else there was two others center school center school and just the first one reports and who was going to do center school again so we actually we talked to Connor We're going to make a motion at the beginning
of the night or ahead of time to move the article up to um go right after the CPC's article with center school because they're they're both kind of the same thing So um Dan is not going to be around for uh town meeting So Ken's
going to kind of lead the CPC side and I'll join him and we'll talk about our article and how we need to go partner with you know we're going to open up an RFP right like that's the plan for to work with the HCA Um so we're going to put those things back to back No you
know not multiple sets of slides Keep it as short as possible And who's making that motion to move that article be a select board motion Yeah So you'll make that motion Yeah So that's at the beginning of town meeting Yes It's an order question Yep Okay And that's just
you doing that one Yes Shulu's offered to help too We are kind of coordinating the same way So we are thinking that the HCA and the building committee and both of us are going to make a very brief uh presentation and talk 5 minutes
and then just uh open it up for discussion Okay So you got that one you good on that Elaine yes I think we just want to make sure we don't forget to move that order Can I clarify you you're thinking about moving article 37 to right after CBC so they can be discussed together cbc is 25 26 Yeah Just so like
heaven forbid we go into a second night and they're not split up over two nights it just makes sense to just go through it all at once Okay Total sense So I can't see any anyone pushing back on that Yep Yep That makes total sense Good idea Okay And then there was a third I think that's it Just the motion for the
reports at the beginning Yeah And we didn't count that really Which that might be in the consent agenda anyway Right All right Everybody agrees then got a plan for town meeting One quick note Do we have the final consent agenda um plan i think that is going to
determine some of the efficiencies as well That's a we do have there's another select board uh motion and that's on the temporary easement per side what construction but it's just a motion and you don't have to presentation for that
Okay The DPW article All right Um and then uh there was a question about the consent agenda while you guys were looking at that 10 articles on the consent agenda please Uh yep Approximately 10 10 articles in the consent agenda Maybe it could be one Not
finalized yet by Connor He's still looking it over and making a decision sort of what makes sense But I think he's he's more or less comfortable with it But I don't know if he's it's the final blessed as of this time Yeah Like I think we talked on Thursday or Friday
like um Open Space has one for you know Franklin Road that property So they're going to move that in and you know Open Space is comfortable with that Connor is just anything we can put in if people have a problem and they want to talk about it we can pull it out of the consent agenda but I think Nadier is as
much as possible in the consent agenda As much in Yeah Okay All right I think we're in good shape Kyle are you good with how things are going on the financial side two weeks Is it two so is it two weeks from today it's two weeks from today From yesterday
right two weeks from yesterday Sorry Yeah Okay There are some motions for this evening Yeah Sorry There are some motions for this evening also No meeting related budget related Um I move to adopt the FY26 budget
recommended by the appropriation committee and recommend approval of article five on the annual town meeting warrant Second Okay we have a motion on the table and a second to advance the budget to town meeting based on what we had sent to the town appropriations committee prior who sent it back to us
approving it Correct That with the additional changes of the 5 million in stabilization and the paying off the bond which wasn't in the original Yep Okay Everybody good yep Right Anybody want to discuss the motion
all those in favor please say I I I Any opposed okay That handles the motion going to town meeting Mr Chair I move to reconsider the board's recommendation on article two of the annual town meeting warrant Second Second We have a motion and a
second for article two to reconsider our previous vote uh regarding the article Any discussion on the motion all those in favor please say I I Next motion Chair I move to authorize the posting of Oh sorry I move to
recommend no action on article two Second So now we're reconsidering and now we're going to go to no action And that's what it says in there now Okay So we have a motion second to recommend no action We have a motion and a second Any discussion on the motion all those in
favor please say I I I any opposed it's unanimous So carries Okay That I believe con concludes the work we need to do for town meeting preparation That's correct You good and you want to give one more one more plug
for five minute presentations to our colleagues fiveminute presentations or less Okay Uh with that we'll move on from item number eight in the agenda to item number nine we covered in the first few minutes of the meeting the main street
quarter project update Um we'll go to item B Elaine uh town department position vacancy So there will there is now a vacancy for a firefighter paramedic due to the promotion of John Darrett lieutenant So they'd like approval to post that
position Okay I move to authorize the posting of a firefighter paramedic position Second We have a motion and a second to post It makes sense to me We have any questions comments i did have a question Um so we have already another firefighter
position open too right that we posted earlier It should be filled shortly if it has Oh it's just in process Okay great It doesn't have to come back to the board Okay All good Okay Uh all those in favor of the motion please say I Any oppose
unanimous So carries Thank you Item number Does that conclude your report Elaine yes Okay Item number 10 liaison reports board invites Mr Manan anything uh nothing at this moment Okay Mr
U mine is just a congratulations to the Hopping Marathon Committee for their job they did on the race on Monday It went off beautifully and uh they do a lot of hard work I'm I like that group
I thought it was a great day was a great day Great day Mr Clark Um I spoke about the open space change for the town meeting article and so really kind of to echo what Mary Joe said you know the police department all the first responders from town you know
like a great job the police department actually you know had me attend their um you know their planning discussion with you know so it was about 50 people the state police a couple of the federal agencies last Wednesday Um and just shows all the work that goes in you know
for the weeks leading up to this you know it's not a coincidence that it goes off smoothly Um so it just hats off to them and all their preparations Great Thank you Amy Yeah I was going to also give a shout out to Parks and Recreation and I thought their event on
Saturday with the kids 100yard dash was was very very well attended Thank them for doing that Um a lot of events coming up since it's spring but so I want to acknowledge the lake white hall cleanup is coming up I think next Saturday The electrical vehicle fair next Sunday and the little league parade I think the
same day And then um the e-hop know your vote show is coming up on April 30th So if people had questions about any of the town meeting articles that we've been discussing they should feel free to send those in and um Elaine's going to be there and she can answer questions Okay let's move to item number 11 future
board agenda items Uh economic development We're working through town meeting on that liqufied natural grass Still something we got to get to Uh the that thing unredacted documents is pending Uh town council and labor council We're going to deal with right
after the election Uh update on the commission on disability We haven't talked about that shot and do the one I think Elen was working to schedule They weren't quite ready last week asked They're not quite
ready yet Okay All right Okay Uh public safety and schools regarding preparedness We know redactions I think we talked about 25 goals We did talk about that um and said we're going to set 26 goals We can change that to 26
right i think we can change that to 26 and then we should do that right after the election Okay Is everybody good with that y uh and then the federal budget changes I know we haven't quite got a full picture there but we'll get be getting into that at some point I
suspect Okay Regarding the economic development committee we did put a notice out there So we do we last I asked there were maybe four applicants so far Uh now we've got twice that I think Oh great Okay Got some more applicants So we will be able to appoint soon Okay And we'll schedule that so that we can make the appointment
starting July 1st Okay Okay Great Um so with that uh we can move to item number 12 which is an executive session The select board will consider convening an executive session pursuing for two items A pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter
30 section 21A purpose 3 to consider strategy with respect to negotiations with the police fire DPW and dispatch unions And item B to approve executive session minutes of 2425 and 4125 to allow Elaine Lazarus and Lansky
Del Priori to participate in executive session not to convene an open session after the conclusion of the executive session Thank you So moved Second We have a motion and a second on the table to go into executive session for the purpose stated Any discussion did you say not to return i did Yeah Return
Double check Uh hearing no discussion Discussion And all those in favor please say I I roll callus Yes Joe Clark Yes Mary Joe Leer Yes Shan Yes Brian her Yes And so carries We'll go to executive session
not to reconvene Thank you all Have a good night