[Music] 6 in the 50s Okay we're going to go ahead and get started Um one sec It is 6 o'clock on Tuesday April 8th 2025 I call the meeting to order The meeting of the Hopkins Select
Board is being held both in person and remotely using the video conference platform Zoom All members are participating in the meeting are here and present in the meeting room The public has the option of attending in person here at town hall or via Zoom using the link posted on this meeting's
agenda This meeting is being recorded 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 Great Thank you Uh item number two on the agenda is public forum Is anyone here this evening to address the board uh to share ideas
opinions or ask questions regarding their town government please welcome Thank you Uh Nancy Hill library director Um I just wanted to
share a couple of things with you Uh first of all it's National Library Week and today is National Library Workers Day So I wanted to acknowledge the great work that the staff at the public library do They all go way above and beyond and I just couldn't be prouder of them Um the second thing that I wanted
to bring to your attention is the fact that um the leadership at the library has sent a letter out to all of our uh newsletter subscribers regarding Executive Order 14238
um which eliminates the Institute of Museum and Library Services the only federal agency that extends funds to public libraries in the country Um on the 14th the executive order went into
place and on March 31st all IMLS staff were let go So even if the funds are there uh to distribute there's no one to oversee it Those funds come to public libraries in Massachusetts through the
board of library commissioners to who use those funds for things like the databases that are used by the public and the schools Um our Massachusetts Comat uh which
allows folks to borrow from any library in the Commonwealth Um it funds um training for library staff uh services to the incarcerated
and so much more Um and so at this point the board of library commissioners is unsure of what we're going to need cut to cut We're still waiting to see how bad things will be Um but we did want to let you and our patrons know that the
time may be coming we have when we have to make some difficult decisions um and when some of the services that we enjoy through um the board of library commissioners may change So I just wanted to let you all know that um as
we've made our patrons aware of it today Great Thank you very much Sounds like a future agenda item for us very soon Okay Anyone else for public forum seeing none we'll move ahead to item number three which is the consent
agenda The consent agenda includes minutes from April 1st 2025 the resignation of Linda Shu from the sustainable green committee a parade permit application for Poly Arts uh to uh basically road closure from 7:00 a.m
to 5:00 p.m on Marathon Way on September 6 2025 for Poly Arts uh special temporary alcohol license for the Ho Ho Foundation Uh this is for the Yes You Can Run Walk which is held on Saturday May 24th 2025 from 10:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m
at EMC Park And then there would be some uh uh beverages provided by Starline Brewing uh served by TIP Certified Servers uh after the run And those were the four items on the consent agenda Would anyone like to break break anything out of the consent
agenda all I do is want to uh thank Mrs Chos for her excuse me for her uh work and and everything that she's done for the affordable green
committee Okay great Thank you Sustainable green It used to be affordable green Now it's a sustainable green And we'll be sure to get a letter out to her for that But thanking her please Yep We'll do Anyone any break anything else out no Anybody want to make a motion for the consent agenda
please i move to approve the consent agenda Second Second Motion and a second on the table for the consent agenda Any discussion on the motions all those in favor please say I I Any opposed it's unanimous So carries
Everything's all set Parade permit included Okay Uh next up 6:15 Ela is there any reason why we should hold on this one no no one for this one I don't think so Uh the Jenner property acquisition Elaine
can you introduce this topic to us please so at the 2023 annual town meeting the town voted to purchase the Jenner property which is off of Saddle Hill Road um adjacent to Hopington State Park Um it's taken a couple of years to get a survey done of the property Um but
now that's complete and it's ready for the uh select board to accept the deed to the property and the purchase price is $100,000 Okay Acres and that 100 grand was appropriated at that time At that time
Got it Okay Anybody have any questions comments before we get to a motion anybody want to make a motion i move to accept the deed to the general property of Saddle Hill Road Second We have a motion and a second on the table
Any discussion on the motion all those in favor please say I I Any opposed it's unanimous and so carries Thank you We have a board of library trustees annual town meeting
article that I think we could probably get rolling on too it looks like And um one of the trustees is on Zoom Jessica McAffrey So we have one on Zoom Yep Okay Are there others that you folks want to wait for we can you good no
nobody else is coming Okay great Lane would you introduce this topic for us please so uh the members of the board of library trustees are here to talk about an article they have on the line for the annual town meeting uh regarding appointment of the library director and amendment to the charter Okay Thank you
Welcome I could just let everyone at home know who you are and where you live and then we can go from there I go ahead Jessica is our chair She's here someplace The one the one there she Jessica McAffrey chair of the um public libraries board
of trustees calling in remotely tonight Okay great Thank you Susan Porter uh board of library trustees uh Wood 348 Wood Street if if you need Uh Warren Carter your vice chair of the board uh
250 Wood Street Great Thank you all for coming in I was here last month I was here to ask for money tonight I promise you we're not going to question given the how thin the warrant is for town meeting I don't think there is any money So please go ahead if you want to make
your presentation Jessica I'm not sure who's going to take the lead for you guys but Warren Sure Yeah So I prepared a little statement on our behalf you know being mindful of the time just to give you some context into this and we're happy to go over any sort of questions that come to mind But um you
know I'll start off by reading that we're a publicly elected board Uh our roles and responsibilities include advocating for the best possible library services and practices And so the warrant article that we've presented is really rising from the efforts of a
proactive board and um in an effort to align with the governance of the library with the Massachusetts general laws And in no way does this reflect the leadership of our current library director or even our town manager So when you hear me referencing those terms
it's not a reflection of our current um individuals just with respect to the um the nature of the the relationship here Um so just by way of quick background you likely already know this but the library was established by the town's YMCA in 1867 It had a private
non-elected uh board of trustees at that time U bylaws were adopted in 1890 and up until 1955 the quests were the only source of funding for the library and since then the town has been appropriating public funds for employee
salaries utilities and the purchase of books In 2010 um we understand that in anticipation of a state grant which was only going to be available to public libraries um and it was wanted by our town to fund the renovation that we now enjoy um the
library's town governance or rather the library's governance was transferred to town government through an administrative order that was created by the then acting town manager So this created a public library and made the library a town department and five town members were appointed as
trustees Um in 2011 the renovation was granted uh renovations were completed in 2017 and the language in the town manager's administrative order was effectively adopted in the 2017 town charter that was passed then So as you
know at this time section 4-6 uh the board of libraries trustees specifically paragraph C notes that the town manager shall annually set goals for the libraries director with input from the board of library trustees And it is this specific clause that we are now
presenting the warrant article Um while the authority to hire the library director is traditionally and legally handled by the board of library trustees under Mass General Laws chapter 78 the language that we've adopted under the 2017 town charter is not a true
reflection of the statutory rights So it now supersedes the Mass General laws uh language and it contradicts that authority The the current town charter language already notes that the board of trustees shall have the powers and duties that
have been given to it by the mass Massachusetts general laws And it's our position that paragraph C should or rather warrants amending to state that the board may appoint a library director in accordance with the personnel policies of the town and that the
trustees will then annually set goals with the library director with input from the town manager Um it's our position that this naturally falls under the general scope of the board's custody and management under Mass General laws Um which naturally extends to the
selection and appointment of a library director who then manages the library's operations So give you a bit of context into our rationale for these requests um you know that we would ask the public So as a publicly elected board the voters
in our town have voted at each election for the trustees to represent the community interests And by giving the specific hiring power to a different town department or official it ignores the will of the voters And again as a publicly elected board it's the trustees
who are entrusted with the governing of our public library We're acting as agents of the public trust Um and really the board is the vital link between the library and our community And it's through our monthly meetings with the libraries director that we review
library policies evaluate library services we oversee programming and we look to further serve the needs of our community So as trustees our involvement and focus is specifically limited to the library This allows us to develop a comprehensive understanding of the
library strengths challenges areas for growth and so on rather than the town manager whose responsibilities span the entirety of a municipal government So working closely and in partnership with the library director the trustees promote access uh to information and
resources We support lifelong learning and literacy encourage community engagement and inclusion aid the library in making fiscally responsible decisions relating to the library's management and aid in policy development and oversight that guides the library's operations in
alignment with community values and legal requirements We stay informed on library trends potential challenges on the horizon and best practices to our association memberships And for these reasons we feel that we're best positioned to choose a director who aligns with those
priorities and ensure that such priorities are acted upon and implemented during that director's tenure um rather than potentially an individual who fits broader municipal agendas The trustees are intricately involved in the
ins and outs of the library and and we would we would know who is best suited to serve the library and its community within the library director's position Um and additionally maintaining the right to hire the director really reinforces democratic governance and
transparency rather than consolidating it to one um the the decision-m to one executive office Um while it's not a concern here the practice of streamlining um town governance can really undermine the authority statutoily granted to the
publicly elected board Um the library really should remain a neutral space free from political influence For example somebody who doesn't necessarily have the professional qualifications might be appointed solely for budgetary or political alignment Again it's not a
concern here but it's a fact of the matter that it could become a situation in the future And so you know finally the authority to hire the library director should rightfully reside with the board of library trustees This structure is supported by the mass uh Massachusetts
general laws and it's aligned with the fundamental principles of library governance autonomy and public accountability given that we are a publicly elected board and the board itself is uniquely equipped to hire the library director which again would be in accordance with personnel policies of
the town Um somebody who would understand respect and advance the goals of the library always for the benefit of the community Um now you may be wondering why we're approaching with a warrant article now as opposed to waiting for the next charter review I
jotted down a couple points um to to just raise as well Um we do feel that unlike the comprehensive charter review this is more narrowly tailored It's easier to digest for the town um the town you know to understand why we're coming forward with a a warrant article
um as opposed to reopening the entire charter The annual town meeting is also a direct expression of local democracy By submitting a warrant article we're inviting open discussion We give the community a public say on the matter over something that um you know involves
them directly And this allows the residents of our community as opposed to just a limited committee to decide the outcome And finally um it's not a guaranteed even with a scheduled charter review that this would be something that the charter committee you know decides
to move forward on and and it would ultimately bring us back to the same position just a few years later of coming forward with a warrant article Okay great Thank you very much What is the article number 41 Sorry 41 41 Okay
Um anyone else have anything they want to share i think that Jessica's statement pretty much summed up our our attitude towards this Um as far as I'm concerned I got a couple just a couple of additions here
Um I I don't have to All of you are wellversed in what a board of directors does a board of trustees whether it they're overseeing a nonprofit or a corporation they exist for one reason and one reason and that's to look out
for the management of that company And um so I think what we're trying to do is to bring that in line with traditional board responsibilities Um we we we would see Nancy as our CEO in this case Um but
I do think it's the appropriate place to oversee that operation Um additionally what we are proposing is consistent with what the parks and recreations committee and the board of health how they their
operation Um they both have boards Their directors report to their boards What we're trying to put into place is similar to that Um and another is I guess I guess that's all I have you know unless you've got
another question on it Okay great Thank you Ela Do you have any thoughts on the question in front of us or in front of town meeting uh I met with the board of laboratory trustees They explained uh the reasons behind what they're proposing and I understand why they're proposing it Um my only concern was that
um doing it in advance of the charter review that's coming in in a year So the charter review is one year out It starts it starts in 2026 and it's due 2027 for this particular let's say that warrant article were to pass Does that
then send it to that legislature for a special act it does So that's not going to outpace a U charter review I would not think they're usually done in that immediate legislative session Are they typically
charter reviews could take years Okay So it could take longer Yeah I thought they would be a little bit longer but that's great That's good to hear Okay Um All right Sorry Mr Man Questions comments um not much I think
um the way it's been explained um it makes sense and uh there's precedence obviously in other and the governance and operations oversight it all sounds logical and I also looked up quickly there are other towns also who has
adopted this it seems so it's pretty common in uh the commonwealth uh so I I think this makes sense from my perspective and I'm okay to move forward with this I also want to thank our director and the wonderful board for keeping our town by brand with the
wonderful work from the library Keep it up And yeah I I do if I may just uh emphasize that very few Massachusetts libraries operate under a different circumstance
We're we're very much in the minority in that way Yeah No that's right I looked up quite a few and they were all in this form So thank you for bringing that up That's it Okay Mr Frerier Well I'm I'm
glad to see that the uh trustees are stepping up and uh coming forward with this uh new idea and they're willing to work at it And I think that I don't mind doing it now I think doing it now will
it will be out there for the charter committee to analyze and look at and and will be there So um I think that this is a good idea and I support it Okay Thank you Mr Clark Um thank you all
for coming I think it makes sense to me if if Elaine's supportive of it Um because this is focused on appointments right the budget still rolls up to the town manager for appropriations So yep it makes sense Yeah every every I mean obviously we're going to be uh in
coordination with the town on any hiring because you still have you know we still coordinating with HR and with the town manager Um but it would just be the the decision on the person would be for that one position with the for that one
position right for that one position Makes sense No other questions Thank you Yeah No I appreciate the explanation and I think it makes sense um to go ahead with it And my question is just procedural because we're petitioning the general court We don't have usually
charter changes have to go through a couple of iterations a couple of town meetings but because we're petitioning the general court it would go faster Is that right it's a it's an amendment It's an amendment Okay Okay So I don't have any objections and but I appreciate you coming and explaining everything Well we we would love to have your support Thank
you So um Joe asked a question about the budget So this this article if passes at town meeting the board of library trustees appoints the director
Correct And then the director would still submit the budget to the town manager's office for approval through the select board Correct So that doesn't change Correct Spending authority Would that So okay there's a budget in place but they want
to cut a check for $12,000 Does that still flow through the typical channels of approval for limits of authority and things like that be the same process as today So that would not change Okay Um I was on the board when all this went down
years ago and I'm trying to remember and I can't why we did it this way Can you remember what the rationale was for that i don't but there was the change from a private entity to a public entity I do remember this I remember the conversation but I don't remember the
details in the wise and it was an administrative order as Jessica mentioned that then transitioned into the 2017 charter it was incorporated into that Yeah I think um yeah at at the time of the transition um the town
manager felt that the board was not experienced enough because we were a new public board just formed Um we did have some holdovers from the old board at the beginning but um and the town manager felt that we were not experienced enough
and didn't have enough background at that time to um interview and hire a director and now we're saying we've matured over the past uh 15 years uh and I think that we're capable of handling
it now And how many folks are on that board five Five Five And they are elected by the residents of Hopington Okay That was my memory too That was the previous town manager preferred this way Yeah Yeah Definitely And the other thing that also manager we talked about was
that it is difficult sometimes for boards to supervise And so when it comes to supervising and evaluating a person they're volunteers and they're not necessarily present Um but they understand um what that means for them So it's sometimes it's difficult
We know how they feel We got some work tonight on that Yes I understand So they will have to have to deal with that Got it Okay All right Well this is not town meeting This is the select board meeting Uh but it's a good dress rehearsal for town meeting So I think you heard some
of the conversation that'll probably come out at town meeting as well Um is there anything else you guys want to share jessica anything else you want to share no just you know reiteration that it's still subject to town personnel policy So there's no sort of overtaking you
know HR actions here It's really to me it's really just giving more insight into what the board's experience with the library director has been and being able to communicate the needs um you know assuming that the library director position needs to be filled in the
future or if something negative was happening being able to communicate that and um having some sort of you know authority to be able to to work with the town manager in filling that position
Okay great Well I think uh we'll see how it plays out at town meeting There's a there's a very logical argument put forward here So uh I suspect that's how it will play out but one never knows We did not have to make a recommendation on this particular article Correct Right
And they will town moderator will not ask us for ones since it's not in our purview for that Correct So we'll see you at town meeting and we'll go from there Okay Thank you Thank you for coming in Thank you We appreciate the update Thank you
Okay Uh and obviously no action required Yeah Okay So that was item number five on the agenda Item number six are the annual performance reviews of both the police chief and the fire chief We are a little early for that I would like to do those
on time I see them both here Uh okay great But let's let's just skip down a little bit and then we'll come back to them right at 6:30 Uh I see Jessica's here as well Good Um Elaine do you want to do the town manager report sure Uh
right now we'll cross that off our list It's uh very brief Uh the only uh item is a requested posting for uh library evening and weekend substitute positions Um which I recommend This was in the memo for last week but uh forgot to
include it in the motion I'm sorry This was in the memo for last week but we didn't include it in the motion Was not included in the motion And the motion was for the others Correct Correct Okay All right Anybody have any questions
comments about that for Lane you know I was I can wait for another time but I was just wondering if in the cases where they're 141 replacements will we consider putting them in the consent agenda at some point so that we don't forget the minor things like these
we can think about it for another time but sorry say that again So right now we to approve new position new positions or rehiring of the same position we wait till we get to the T town manager report and go through it before we vote on it
But when it's just a one for one replacement I think we could consider putting that in the consent agenda at the front But okay All right Anybody have any other questions or comments uh there is a motion on the back of the
uh motions dock if somebody's inclined Mr Chair I move to authorize the posting of the weekend and evening library substitute positions Second Any discussion on the motion all in favor please say I I Any opposed it's unanimous So carries I'll set on that
one Elaine Anything else nope Okay Uh still got a couple minutes here Let's do liaison reports Uh Mrs Ritterbush anything i don't think so We had a lot of events
we've been invited to but I think I I read them out last time so I think we're okay Clark nothing new this week Okay I don't have anything new I don't have anything new I think I was going to bring up the library um uh the impact of the library
because of the new executive order but we heard also from the director of library that is impacting there It's almost $26,000 of grant that's going to be impacted for our library and also the central U uh state library board is impacted which will tickle down to some
of the facilities So we'll have to keep an eye on it and see how best we can help down 26k is what's at risk there Yeah Okay All right Uh no liaison reports I did attend the uh HCA uh kind of the
marathon festivities kickoff with the songs and stories and songs uh the other night It was really nice extremely well done and congratulations to the 26.2 Foundation the HCA uh all the runners and everyone that participated It was it
was really a very nice evening Um all right so we'll conclude item number nine on the agenda Item number 10 future board agenda items I would like to add one to that I would like to add a discussion around we just briefly had it
but an impact a potential impact uh based on the concerns raised by the folks at the library around the executive order specific to libraries Okay Okay We should do that sooner than later Um I never want to bring Washington
DC stuff I had to clean it up there I never want to bring Washington DC stuff into the town unless we have to But if they're cutting some funds that we were expecting we need to be able to manage around that May also be help happening on the public health side as well So on
that right so if you get information on that as well we can maybe put that into the agenda as well We can make that up as we build the agenda Okay Um again we're not going to play the the politics of DC because it's just insane but we
are we have to manage our budget and we have to manage our numbers So we'll look at that Okay So that'll take item number 10 off the agenda Now we can go back I think I believe we have all the parties available uh for the annual performance reviews the police chief and the fire
chief Wayne do you want to introduce the topic then we'll introduce Jessica and then we'll go from there So um every employee has to be evaluated annually And so tonight we have uh police chief and fire chief on the docket Um for fire
chief it's the end of the first contract year Um and for for Joe it's a continuing year uh for him Okay great Anybody have a preference as to how who would we go first who would who wants to go first besides the
participants anybody on the board have a preference elaine do you have a preference jessica do you have a preference okay Why don't we go ahead and do the fire chief first um and
uh and then we'll go to the police chief Jessica welcome Gary welcome Good evening Gary Gary This way or closer yeah I think that mic was not angled very well a minute ago
Get it out Thank you This is the same as what you emailed us right i just want to make sure that what is the role and what is the rule around these documents Elaine when we conclude this review do these go back to you or these go back to Jessica We go back to Jessica
Okay Has everybody got that so we we go through our docs then they go back to Jessica for her files Okay All right Jessica how would you suggest we proceed well I can certainly
um explain what this document consists of in terms of it is the the compiled evaluative comments of all of the select board members with regards to
the three goals And uh the chief has in his contract some key performance measures that need to be met and so it evaluates those as well and um we can go through and I can
read them I made um based on the comments I made some kind of overall concluding um paragraphs to sum up what was stated but I can certainly read through um the
comments if you would like me to do that I think uh let's just make sure we're really clear on the process we follow to create the evaluation right um Gary's in the job a year couple months now so it's all this is new Let's make sure he understands the process We all
understand the process and most importantly our colleagues our neighbors our residents at home understand the process we use to evaluate folks You know working in the private sector as many of us do we don't do this in public where we work right so it's a bit of a
odd dynamic for some of us and for others probably watching Um so I just want to make sure we're really clear about the process and so there's no questions about how it ca kind of came together to be this compilation right here It was a little different um for
the fire chief He um has been in the role for a little over a year now So he entered into the role um as typically with other um newly promoted employees our expectation is
that they're going to learn their role That is their main goal is to learn their role learn their duties embrace them come up to speed So there weren't established goals for him he was
currently working on his deputy goals and so he extended those into the chief role to ensure that those happened given the fact that there was also no deputy at the time So those are the goals that we're evaluating
um in the document today Um and then as well as the the performance measures that are in the contract he submitted a self assessment um based on those goals and those factors as well as setting goals for the future that the the board
can um review and talks about some additional accomplishments Got it This is an evaluation of Chief Dohert's performance for July 1 2024 through June 30 2025 Um it's a review that's being done
on April 8th So we have it's a we're a little ahead of the curve in terms of the last couple of months Um but it does make sense just to provide the feedback This is a review from the select board to the chief This is not a review of Jessica to
the chief Jessica helped us as the HR director compile this and organize it in a way that's you know we'd have 800 comments from all five of us if she didn't sort of sort of codify things a bit Um but it's the select board's review of the chief So given that it's
the select board's review of the chief I think we should literally read it into the record and and do that sort of thing if that's okay with you The other the other point is that this is the first time that the select board is seeing all of the comments together Um each select
board member gave me their own comments independently not knowing what other board members were sharing Yeah as it should be because we don't collaborate or exactly misery at all Wanted to make that clear in between a public meeting So it's all done out in public
Absolutely Great Thank you for bringing that up So is everybody okay with what I'm describing in terms of us sort of reading it into the record and we can have some conversations around it because to Jessica's last point you know some folks have said things probably in here that I haven't heard yet and I'm curious then we'll have some discussion
ourselves with Gary and then we can go from there Okay So uh maybe Mr on if you could own block one which is you know the under FY25 goals and if you wouldn't mind maybe reading what the goals are on the left
and then what the board comments and the uh opinions that were codified are on the right here Thank you So the first goal is begin rewrite of departmental SOGS with Lexi Paul This ongoing
initiative involves updating and evaluating every SOP to reflect changes in industry standards best practices and emerging technologies The goal is to ensure all policies and procedures remain current enhance firefighter
safety and improve operational effectiveness A completely new SOP rollout B active shooter response C Electric and hybrid vehicle fires D Lithium ion battery fires Purchase
equipment and develop training program to handle these incidents E Emergency vehicle plug procedures F Underground vault fires develop in response to the downtown underground transformer projects Can I knock on wood for that
one right now please yeah Uh then on the compiled evaluation comments um all of us wrote rolling out SOPs for all of the different areas in one year is impressive especially for
someone who took over command of the department just over one year ago Very thoughtful to incorporate common challenges like electric vehicle and battery fires while also including the vault fires for our downtown corridor project Some new SOPs are new to
everyone not just Hopkinon in response to emerging issues For example electric vehicle fires are a new emerging problem requiring a whole new way of addressing that is blankets not water Emergency underground vault fires are also a new
development to address and needs a plan It is appreciated that he is getting out in front of the issues such as requesting blankets need to purchase equipment and develop training programs to handle these incidents The chief updated active shooter response and it is important to
coordinate with police and the public safety initiative Chief Doarti and members of the police and school departments spoke very well about the active shooter protocols when they came to select board meeting last year to discuss the swatting incident incident at the high school in the fall He
demonstrated knowledge of standard procedures and noted that they are frequently training and learning more about issues like this The active shooter training is great and would like to see another one Overall the SOPs are addressing apparent and emerging needs
that require a planned response from trained staff to ensure the safety of the community While the complete overhaul of the SOP framework is ongoing the work completed thus far reflects sound prioritization and a solid foundation for continued success It will
be helpful to have quantifiable data regarding these issues for example how many electric and hybrid vehicle fires have they responded to how many staff have been trained that's for this particular goal Great Thank you very much for reading
all that into the record providing that feedback to Chief Dohy Chief Doy any initial questions comments about the feedback from the board on that particular set of goals no sir All set sir Okay Uh Mr Madan any other questions comments you want to share i think we
should do these kind of one at a time or we'll get lost here a little bit Anything on that particular grouping of goals that you want to talk further about i know great work and very impressive Let's keep it going and especially the electric vehicles are increasing So glad that you are top of the game Thank you Would you like me to answer a statistic question yeah that'll
be good actually Uh we haven't had any EV fires Uh we've had multiple EV cars involved in motor vehicle accidents Um the the department has been 100% trained on all these SOPs So um after we develop the SOP uh we work with the
training officer and the training officer develops the schedule and then he rolls out the training So we have 100% compliance for all them policies Excellent Yeah And thank you I think the um suggestion also is that going forward as Yeah hopefully not much but quantify
and kind of collect the metrics around those But thank you Mr Clark Um no I think you covered it That's a lot in one year right when you're talking about standard operating procedures So I I think it's and again some of these things the underground transformers it's unique It's new right
hoffington hasn't dealt with that fully So um I think it's good I think what was just alluded to with the you know quantifiable goals like moving forward and Brian mentioned this at the beginning you know private sector for me like everything kind of goes back to the
old smart goals idea you know they got to be specific measurable there's got to be a time frame time time frame put on them so that when we go to you know do goals next year or review next year we can think about all right you know what went into the goals and you know when
and how did he achieve these things but um no Good job for that one What's up mrs Revoice I think all of my comments were captured in the the consolidated comments that Jessica put in there So I don't think I have any further comments Thank you Mr Fier I I I
would only like to say one thing I just make a suggestion Um where it's these electrical vehicles now can't be put out with water And I don't think that enough people actually understand the blankets and the blanket situation So I I would
like to see some op-ed pieces either at HCAM or you know the newspapers or something that explains to people that you can't put water on these fires anymore that that uh blankets are necessary
Even with us using the blankets that won't actually extinguish the fire It's just going to kind of keep it contained and keep the smoke down Um once a battery gets into thermal runaway it's basically the best option for us is let it burn out I'm beginning to see advertisements on
television and things for the blankets But uh it it's important that that people understand it And I I just want to say I think that the fire department is doing great job and I I like the way things are going over there It's been
wonderful meeting with you and and seeing you this this time maybe the number of times we've had coffee this year and um I just think everything's going well and that you're doing a very good job
Thank you Mr Clark Sorry I had one more followup to kind of in line with that Um with the electric vehicle fires I think something new and that's getting a lot of attention is the Hopkin and Drug Replacement has underground parking I understand that that presents like a
unique challenge Is that something that whether it goes into goals next year or was it part of these SOPs just don't need an answer right now I just want to know that So when during the uh review process we've already met with the builders We asked them not to put any underground charging stations in there
Uh we also asked them to check with their insurance company to see what they say Um we also asked that any uh trans charging station that's built now they make a uh electric shut off box that we're asking to be put by the Knox boxes So if there's an electric vehicle
charging that we can uh quickly shut it off Um yeah but we have been in contact with the uh underground parking That's a big concern of ours in the future Perfect Thank you Okay good So kind of sticking with the theme of metrics and
being measurable and quantifiable Uh I'm just going to fire off a couple of questions Gary Not that I would necessarily expect all the answers but just to kind of make the point about sort of my thinking in terms of it one member anyway of how to sort of look at you know our progress and and and our
performance from a numerical perspective which is kind of what I do in the other world outside the town hall here How many blankets do we have today uh we have two How many do we need uh we have a sufficient amount Do we think we should grow the number of blankets as
the number of cars grow in town the the the biggest problem with the blankets is the amount of space that they carry or they take up So um since EVs came out we kind of even changed our response policy Before we used to just send an engine uh not knowing if it's an EV fire until you get there we also rolled our tanker So
we put the blankets on the tanker Got it So if we actually use a blanket um we have one spare and then we could always order another one Okay Shifting gears How many SOPs does the department have today documented uh we have 52 EMS policies We have 29 policies in Lexa
Poland and we still have 55 in our old B I didn't think you know all these numbers Good for you Okay Um of those 52 of that and the whatever your total number was there about 130 Fine Did you completely
rewrite all 130 of those no How many did you rewrite uh I've gone through the all 29 in Lexiple Uh I found now once I start digging into these policies they lead to something else Then a ton of research Um all these policies that we rolled out probably took me 20 to 30
hours You know I have to attend a class do the research uh figure out how we're going to train the people and then build the policy specific for Hopkin A lot of these EV stuff is coming from your larger cities So then I have to kind of modify them What was the percentage of
SOPs that were rewritten i would have to do the math That's fine That No you don't have to do that now But this is the point right so quantifiable We have SOPs We got 100 SOPs Okay If you have a thousand whatever it is we're going to rewrite all the SOPs Okay The the reviewer says "How many did you get done?" I got 100%
done So you got a thousand done Great If you got 20 done out of a thousand well then you didn't really quite get them all done right so I think you're perfectly fine with what you're doing but quantifiably thinking about it in terms of sort of the running the business and the numbers Um I know what
my boss would be asking me is what was your number okay Right How many of those SOPs did you rewrite so um I think I think the point is made but I think you're doing a great job and you know as we qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu qu quantify more and more uh we can measure more and then uh it's a little
bit easier and it's more uh objective review process and not as subjective as sometimes these can be Okay All right Uh so we'll move on to item number two Mrs Ritterbush would you mind taking box number two uh under the goals and then
the board's input so under the goals let's see it was the redesign of department's driver training program update the department's driver training program to enhance firefighter competency and ensure compliance with industry standards increase the number
of training hours required for drivers develop comprehensive training manuals for each app apparatus and align the program with the NFPA thousand2 standards and the ISO training recommendations These improvements will strengthen fire personnel's proficiency in vehicle operation ensuring greater
safety and operational efficiency Doesn't I want to make sure it doesn't continue on page two now Okay All right And then the Okay And then on the U selement side this seems like a straightforward goal but it's a critical part of the department that needs to be updated
periodically to maintain the high standards always held by the department The trucks are complicated and staff need to learn all aspects of the truck operations not just driving them They need to be able to operate them quickly and efficiently in times of need Aligning training hours and procedures
with the NFPA and ISO standards is important for operational safety and long risk long-term risk risk reduction The development of comprehensive manuals for each apparatus is a strong step towards standardization Continued monitoring of the program's effectiveness and adoption across the team will be key And overall the driver
training program is a necessary implementation It will be important to provide data on this area as well Many staff have been trained for example Okay Good And there was nothing I'm sorry On the next page you see did you get that on this she did Did you get that down here sorry Yeah I read the
whole thing Okay Thank you Mr Clark Um no I think this was covered in most of the feedback right it was you know straightforward Keep these guidelines up to date It seems like that's been done I'm sure that's a continuing thing every you know year or so Um I like the point
the question made on the staff right back to the quantifiable I think if you can answer that now great But if not so moving forward with this goal we actually like imploded the driver training program we had and we've rebuilt it from the ground up Uh I'll give you an example This was when I
started This was our signoff sheet to be qualified to drive an apparatus in town Uh now we have a booklet approximately 40 to 60 pages for every truck Um everything in this meets the NFPA standards and um driving obstacle courses and all that Um all of our new
apparatus that we've ordered in the past 3 years we have 100% compliance with this new standard Um going forward every new hire will go through this And then we also now also have a annual driver training program that we're uh rolling out that involves like the obstacle
course alley dock um three-point turns and everything I should have known the hours I thought about it earlier but I forgot to bring them Everybody will meet the uh required hours I'll be back I'll be back to you then You good i'm I'm good for now Thank you
Miss the friend No I'm good with this one I do have a question that crossed my mind We I think we have a street in town that was made with a teardrop and there was a problem The fire trucks couldn't get around it Has that been removed i'm not sure what street you're I think it
was butternut or something like that Um I know all new developments are built off the town's driveway bylaw in the turning radius for our ladder truck So uh all streets and uh new developments and driveways that are built uh have the
access for our biggest truck Great Okay Thank you G Mr Man Yeah not much I think it's a great uh development and looking at the content certainly a great accomplishment Uh the only question I have is how are you planning to monitor the effectiveness of the program going
forward and how many in a year you anticipate uh going through the program and the training the um since these training hours actually go back to our ISO rating uh it's going to be 100% for the department Everybody has to go through that Uh we do uh we actually
just reviewed um all of these manuals Um we have a firefighter on light duty They were assigned to make sure any of the equipment that got changed everything matched the book Um excellent Thank you Okay Uh the goal was to increase the
number of training hours required for drivers right so do we know what the current training hours was meaning before we did this new training um we didn't track our training hours that well We use a new program now So I will be able to provide that in the future
Excellent And then what will the new training hours be going forward like what's that number going to be so let's say we did 100 hours of training in the past but we didn't track it that well So let's we'll guesstimate it was 100 hours What is the target or what is the objective for new training hours to
achieve the things that you want to achieve here what do you think that will require uh I I'm like I said earlier I'm going to base everything off the ISO Um and I don't want to make up numbers Y if you like me to I could follow up an email after this That's fine Yeah that's fine So going forward we'll have new
training hours and then we'll see how many we did and what percent we did So we'll have a metric we'll have a measurement and if we achieve 95% above that's a that's a great score if you will If we did 40 hours of new training we're trying to do 100 hours of training
that's that's not the great score right so um just quantifying and measuring those training hours would I think be helpful And not all the training is actual physical driving We also worry about pumping um with our aerial ladder placement that kind of stuff All that
stuff All that stuff Okay great Thank you very much Uh item number three um Mary Joe do you want to handle item number three please no Okay Well Yeah I I just should explain it I'm having
cataract removed on Monday and I've got drops in and things like that and it looks like water So I really would rather have someone else No worries I'm not having cataract surgery and I can't see this stuff Yeah that's why the computer can zoom in Besides so the
third goal is design specs for the two new pumpers Oversee the design and purchase of two new pumper trucks valued at 1.5 million There's a number Y ensuring they meet the department's operational needs manage every aspect of the process from initial specifications
to outfitting training personnel and placing the apparatus into service These pumpers will enhance Hopington's firefighting capabilities and ensure the department remains operationally ready for the next 20 years Feedback from the board Getting the getting the pumper trucks in service
is a big part of making sure the fire department is operational both now and in the future The process to design buy implement and train for these trucks is a very long is very long and requires a lot of time effort to do so to do so successfully Ensuring alignment with operational needs and managing every
phase of the process from specifications to onboarding shows a sound project management The the strategic impact of this effort on readiness and modernization of department's fleet cannot be overstated Overall the board is confident in the chief's ability to get the best product for the best value
through a comprehensive process This will be another opportunity for detailed information including metrics to report back to the board Okay So it's two new pumpers and getting them up to speed and running get everybody trained etc is was the goal
Do you want to speak to that first chief in terms of how how you did there and then we'll come to the board um through the whole process or just did you did you bottom line did you get it done yes Okay Some of the select board members attended our pushing in ceremony that we
were going to have for the trucks and they ended up going to their first house fire the same day So Got it Okay I do remember the the ceremony Uh so it it was accomplished Yes sir Right Okay Mr No I'm sorry Mr Clark
Um no I think this one's pretty straightforward right you had a goal It was accomplished with the two new trucks I hope uh no new trucks on the horizon right none Perfect I'm good I can add some if you'd like I'm good for now I think we're all good Mrs Ritterbush I
don't think I have any additional comments beyond what we made in the uh in the document Mr in front of here Well uh having these vehicles operational and uh in good condition for is 20 years and
a realistic uh number Yes Yes Okay FPA says about 15 years but uh with our maintenance program we're very proactive and we do a lot of preventative maintenance and plus we've kind of changed the way that we're responding Um we used to send an engine to like a lot of medical calls but now we went back to
a pickup truck just to reduce the wear and tear on the vehicles Very good Thank you sir Mr Manan Yeah And I'm very pleased to see this and uh it's reassuring for the service and the capacity that you need And it's funny I remember I um joined the inauguration
ceremony was very um festive and uh great And then in the middle there was a duty call and one of the trucks left before the inauguration So that's how the fire department works It was firsthand experience So thank you for all you do This is great Great So Gary
back to the 1.5 million that the trucks are valued at What did we pay for the trucks uh approximately 720,000 each No but one was an insurance So you only paid 730,000 for one The other one came from insurance Got it And
how did that number match up against the roughly how did that match up with the appropriation from town meeting uh it it worked out fine Uh we were able to buy the trucks plus outfit it and then whatever equipment that we were short on we were able to obtain grants Um all the
all the hose on the two new pumpers came from grants All the nozzles came from grants along with the thermal imaging cameras So the numbers from appropriation at town meeting and the numbers for the cost that we brought in matched Yes Okay That's a great metric right there We are on budget right on time on budget Everybody's trained We
got the hours that they trained on it registered somewhere now And so the metrics are aligning and it's all it's all good If we bought it for 730 grand and the appropriation was 500 grand those numbers wouldn't align But you got your numbers to align which is great Good job Okay
Uh block number four or the goal number four is the performance expectation areas per the contract Uh Mr Cluck I don't think you've read a block yet Sure Um this one since it's you know for those that can't see it it's listed like A through H So instead of going through
all of them and then doing the feedback I think we should go A select board feedback that you fine with that And the feedback is aligned up with the the categories Yeah Yeah Yeah I agree All right Good idea Um so a
command/management of any type of fire service incident The feedback was no negative feedback received no complaints from the rank and file They seem to respect and like the chief We've had several incidents this year that all had wellorganized responses Uh B budgetary
financial administration Feedback from the board It takes a few years to become fully knowledgeable So far so good All departments are doing the best they can The chief included He came back with a reduced budget when asked to C personnel administration He is steady and calm The
chief ran with the deputy position himself Glad we have a deputy chief now D super supervision leadership Uh response was fine The fire department has respect for the chief so he is doing his job as a leader E staff
development and training Fine There is a complete team developing in the right direction The new truck training is great The board would like to see comprehensive list of types of trainings and who attended in the future F public relations can do more in this
area The chief is introspective and may need to insert himself into the community more He should be more visible Attend one public event per month and be active on fire social media presence We all can do better Uh the board would like to see more announcements regarding events like firefighter Sunday or about
events the schools are attending They weren't publicized enough The board approved of the open house held annually Um it is great for the public The board appreciates how Gary keeps us informed about key incidents in town related to the fire EMS department and how he sends informative pre press
releases where there is a topic of high interest to the public G policy execution Uh no complaints from the staff or the public So no apparent issues at all And then H interaction with the town manager and the board as well as other government officials
boards committees and general public Uh this was fine The chief tends to be quieter but always answers the questions when asked He needs to collaborate with key stakeholders He's always available when needed for select board meetings or to meet if the town manager has questions And then we had one little
like overall additional feedback that just said the chief has a very steadfast nononsense personality that makes him effective in his role While there are areas for ongoing development particularly in emermergency management internal role optimization the chief's
performance this year had broad positive impact on the department and the town warranting recognition at the highest level Okay great Thank you Do you have any comments anything else you want to add to what you just read there based on you what you saw from other colleagues perhaps um no what what I would say you
know obviously first what year and a half since taking over the department you know that's that's a big year of transition and you know for the feedback to be how the department's running steadily um I I don't think you can ask for more than that in that first period of time so thank you chief
Mrs your voice Uh no I think the this the comments summarize pretty well what I was thinking and so I I don't have anything else to add Okay Mr Lefrener Uh I think that it's important that you get a little more press on things Um I
know that I have been at Fireman Sunday and I never see any pictures of it anywhere Uh and I think that there there ought to be more uh attention paid to the things that that you people do Your
open house is great Um but I I really I really think that you could take the initiative with a few more oped pieces and a more informative uh to the public
Thank you Mr Man Yeah I I think u I like how you been very responsive and also keeping us a breast of the uh work and the situations I see at 9:00 3:00 in the morning notes from you about something happening and how the fire department jumped in and helped out So that always
helps that communication and uh I always found also uh to be very I think um on time in information uh when whenever I ask uh and I think um social media is very popular nowadays so it's a great way to engage in the community and also
uh show the goodies and the uh wonderful work that the department does So may want to focus on that going forward a little bit but I think overall this great Yeah I remember when my kids were little maybe I'm romancing the past but I don't
think so I remember seeing the fire trucks driving around town and just sort of having the lights going and the kids in the summer you know spring summer fall and the kids would run outside and they'd see the fire and it was going very slow It was a it was a victory tour of sorts They weren't out on a call they
were just out being v visible in the community and the kids loved it you know they just loved seeing the fire truck go by the lights on and they were excited and we were living down here on Hearstone Road and we did it a couple times So um and I'm not saying that's what you have to do but I do think this idea of being out in the public more uh
and you know being the department it's not just you it's the department right i mean the department's obviously very visible when there's a situation but just making sure that everybody knows how hard you guys do work and what a great service you do provide Everyone thinks and feels that but let's show that a little bit more So that's one
thought And then back to the numbers um which is how I'm wired The budget you know you went through your first budget process Maybe you saw it in the years past a little bit but now you're kind of own the budget right um do you know what you anticipate to return to the town in the form of free cash like what will you
not spend in your fiscal year budget this year Uh you're probably going to get like a couple thousand bucks back this year So not a lot of money coming back but you're not going to go over budget Correct Uh long as there's no big
incidents Um our overtime budget is like down to the pennies if with the I think we have like six payrolls left as long as nothing major happens within that time frame Great And Elaine do you concur on terms of the budget and the management of the budget that everything
seems to be in order and we're headed in the right direction with the numbers yes I do It's been very good Okay great Thank you All right Uh so that's it in terms of the what I would call the subjective feedback Uh and then we move
to the overall rating Um there are several categories here Um does the board want to take you know a week and think through um the recommendation for an overall rating or is that something the board is
comfortable moving on this evening or acting on this evening well what do you guys think well since Jessica compiled our scores and she filled in a four I wondered if we had all written four Is that it it was It's a numerical average
and the average was four Okay So okay So we want to go ahead and we can have that conversation this evening That's I just wondering about how you want to do it Sometimes we'll do a a review and then we kind of sit on it for a few days and sleep on it and what have you but uh that's fine too I think it's a good idea
Okay So um Mrs Ridbush any other thoughts on the numerical scoring process and what we see here as an average um nope I think the average the average looks good to me if everyone's comfortable with going with that Joe Yeah I'm comfortable with the average
It's the best way to do it Okay you good Mr Fier I agree with the overall average I I uh think that that's fine Mr Man I concur as well I'm comfortable and I think uh it's a good reflection
To be clear there's five categories uh in the form that we looked at And Jessica jump in wherever I say something wrong or inappropriate please Um there are five categories that we considered Uh it's a scale of one to five Basically
uh number one uh would represent does not achieve expectations Okay that would be a score if you got a if you got a one Okay a two achieves some expectations
Number three achieves most expectations Number four achieves and sometimes exceeds expectations And a score of a five would be exceeds expectations regularly For example a banner year a
broad impact on the organization I think uh in the first year of uh the role uh you've done a great job I think you've learned an awful lot Not that I've had a ton of conversations with you
about all the different things you've learned You've had to have learned an awful lot Uh I think when it comes to the numbers uh you get it Thank you And I could see that this evening and I al you know talk to Ela every now and then about budget stuff So I think you're on track there with the biggest number of
all which is the budget Uh and I think you've absolutely uh earned what the board is recommending which is a four which achieves and sometimes exceeds expectations for your performance in the last year How does that sit with you that's fine That's perfectly uh I agree
with uh everything you said and I also agree with that area of improvement Um it's one of my weaker areas I know I like to be quiet I don't like to be out there in the spotlight and um I'm horrible with social media So I don't look at social media so I don't even
know what that is And same here Yeah Okay Uh but a lot of people do which is why it comes up right So it's a way to communicate you know positive messages out into the community about what's going on or emergency situations too Okay But I think a four everybody good
everyone agrees with the four right Um I believe this is something we should vote is that final recommendation Is that correct yeah Um is there anything that you want to share with us in addition to what we've talked about so far uh no sir Is
there anything you disagree with us on and as as we read through the concept or comments and the number itself uh no Like I said excuse me Like you stated this is my first year Um I learned a ton about the budget process I was just starting to get my um fingers into the
budget when Chief Miller uh went to Bellingham So uh kind of jumped in both feet and learned it um over the past two years So uh a lot more confident in the budget and be able to go forward and meeting your goals and expectations I think the department's in very good
hands Keep doing what you're doing and keep growing Thank you Okay So the chair someone want to make a motion mr Chair I move the motion to um have overall rating of chief uh fire chief's evaluation to
be number four or rating four achieves and sometimes exceeds expectations Second We have a motion on the table and a second Any discussion on the motion all those in favor please say I I Any oppose that's unanimous and so
carries Chief congratulations on a great first year Thank you We appreciate you helping Hopington stay safe Thank you Thank the chair Could I ask a question about the FY26 goals how will how will that work gary will take our feedback and come up with um new goals for FY26 I
was just about to ask if you wanted him to read the goals that he proposed in his self assessment So we just wrapped up the 25 review right so why don't we read those goals out this evening to get them into the record Okay And then we I think
we need to come back to set those goals Okay Officially right so let's just read those goals if we could Um Gary if you would be so kind to read what you want to do for FY26 Yeah You don't need to explain them Just kind of get them into
the record and then we'll go from there Yeah Yes sir So uh one of my first goals would be to uh collaborate with collaborate with the police department uh to expand our active shooter response plans Um me and Chief Bennett uh both
would like to do either a tabletop uh exercise this year and start developing for a full-scale exercise in the near future Um I think the biggest things is being able to create the scenario and develop the budget for a full scale exercise Um some of my goals internally for the
fire department based around this subject would be uh I want to get 100% compliance on u tactical casualty uh care and uh active attack integrated response Um I reached out to both the fire academy uh to try to host a class
and I've also reached out to Nic Fire that has a bunch of instructors Um my goal is next FY to bring this in if I can afford it That's goal number one Uh uh goal number two was to continue um moving all of our binder policies into
uh Lexipole Uh my biggest goal next year is to get uh 100% compliance of the EMS policies into Lexipole Uh that consists of uh like re rewriting them making sure they meet the most current EMS standard uh set by the
state And my third one was to uh uh work on a wellness program Um uh this would probably be a very difficult goal to uh meet because it also involves working with the collective bargaining agencies Um but I also want to kind of start addressing some of the bigger concerns in the fire
services cancer Uh getting more of our members to participate in the free physicals Uh getting um ultrasounds into the fire station for the members uh all come with a price tag So I know you want measurable goals I just don't know how this after listening
to this tonight how this will um line up Any others just three right just three Yeah Okay All right Yeah I think um we'll come back to those goals at a future meeting here very soon Um maybe right after town
meeting um be thinking about that quantifiable concept and you know where you can add some metrics into that process and we'll go from there Okay Yes sir All right everybody go Gary Chief uh Chief Dy Yes Thank you Chief Thank you Chief Thank you Thank you very much
Thank you Chief Next up we have Police Chief Joseph Bennett And why don't we have these docs go back to Do we all Do we all need to sign them um Brian I think it's
just the chair Yeah So they'll do that separately Okay Do we have the docs back for Jess yep Sorry about that [Applause] I'm going to run to the rest before we
start Thank you Okay Just to be consistent and um very clear Jessica can you describe the process amy you ran into the B Oh I'm sorry Definitely That's fine Can you describe the process you went through
putting together the chief's document in terms of the review and then we'll go follow a similar process uh amongst the board members but just so we're very clear with the public as to how we do these things Sure So um there were established goals
for um the police chief Um so those three goals as well as um his performance expectation areas are included on the review sheet for him Um
I reached out to the select board members for their feedback in each of those areas individually and then compiled the comments um from each of the board members into one document
Um and then he also submitted a self assessment um a self assessment uh for this past year as that also included goals going forward for the next year Great Okay So
a similar process that was codified by yourself after individual conversations with board members which by the way is how I remembered we did this in years past too So I think it's a very typical process Would you agree yes Okay So the precedent is there Okay Um with that I
think we if we could do the same uh process in terms of each of the goals being read out both the goal and then the board's codified feedback and then we'll have time for individual comments too Mr Man Sure Uh so FI25 goals The
first goal is to continue with the enhancement of community engagement Uh a continue growth of social media team skills and abilities Continue to support team lead and team members B Seek engagement with town projects boards and
committees C Participate passively virtual and actively in person in community events Uh board member evaluation uh board members evaluation comments compiled Made sense sometimes exceeds expectations in this area The
growth of the social media team has been very evident in the community with increased activity over the last year and more posts being shared with more comments on multiple platforms The posts do a great job of showing mixed content
from public safety and traffic alerts to the department being active in the community Social media outreach including creative efforts like where in Hopkin and humanizing the badge is commendable and a model for accessible modern community
policing Track the numbers of posts to get trend data Uh that's an ask I think Yeah The chief consistently supports boards and committees with anything public safety related and is of course heavily involved in the marathon operations The
department's consistent presence at community events like the senior dinner special Olympics shop with a cop and the trunk or treat builds community trust and fosters positive relationships across age groups Additionally
participation in school safety efforts youth initiatives and local committees reflects a strategic holistic approach to community uh to community wellness and prevention The chief should track the number of events that he and his team do per month The pizza party for
example was great Uh but events need more publicity and there needs to be more organized events It will help a further develop it will help further develop the image of the police There has been an increase in overall communication and engagement with the public Some areas for growth are uh to
further develop events and publicity as well as data collection of metrics to measure and report on successful outcomes Okay Thank you Any comments addition to what you just read there Mr Manon uh no I think it's um compiled all very well I
also wanted to add actually both u uh fire chief DIY and uh chief Bennett has been very active in some of the communities in the new mosque uh bringing the uh fire and police um vehicles and vans and everyone enjoyed it in certain festivities and also spoke
on occasions engaged So I see that those engagements very effective and also the social media I think the police uh social media also brings some fun engagements I hear good things about that So keep up the nice work Thank you Mr Clark
Um I I mean I think the social media has been great the last year I think hats off to the whole department for that Um I think you can guess you know what my one piece of feedback would be moving forward right um how do we make that measurable moving forward right i in my mind you guys have set a high bar for
social media and the expectation So as we build that into next year um that would be my only thing to add for that Thank you Anything else Amy um yeah I think my comments were incorporated into the group comments here so they're all
represented and I the um the increase in the social media is really evident and it's a lot more engaging this year than it has been So we can see that see the growth there Well I I expect now that we have a pretty full department which is great It
hasn't been like that and now it is to even hear more from the police department as what they're doing Uh I I think you forgot waiting table at the senior center I've had policeman putting my lunch down in front of me This is great And the senior
dinner is always good Um I I'd like to see a real presence at the schools Uh after this event that we had last year um and listening to people
uh I really think that the kids need to be totally comfortable with the police department uh and the fire department not just the police department um it's necessary giving the events of today and
uh and I would I would definitely like to see that rapport continue and be made stronger and that's about it I think the department's doing a great job in this particular goal area uh to Joe's
point um and I think in general yes there's a an an increase in visibility of the department in town but like how many posts were put out in FY25 right and how many events were attended
in FY25 and then for FY26 if we did 20 events in FY25 any organization that's growing and improving uh whether it's a business a police department a fire department the library whatever If it's improving
year-over-year we measure year-over-year So at work is all year-over-year growth year-over-year improvement And when there's year-over-year decline we drill in and figure out what's going on So if we did 20 events in FY25 are we going to do 25 events in FY26 that would be the goal at 10 26 events departmentwide Not
you but departmentwide you know to get the presence out built up in the community you know higher So let's put some numbers around what we did and then what our year-over-year goal is going forward You know what I mean fantastic Yep And uh one of the things
is like I downloaded the did a metrics with some help out of Facebook I got some learning to do on uh and analyzing the metrics and getting the most out of meta which is like the business portion that gives us the
analytics So there's learning to do I've met with the lieutenants and u deputy to talk about where how we might quantify the things we do and this year will be I think will serve as a strong baseline to set where where are we and then come
back and note this year we also added this activity or this program in addition to what we had already had So uh I was listening closely when fire chief was here and uh I I I agree I
think having the numbers established and and working towards them is a excellent plan There are lots of folks on the police force now that have been hired in recent past couple of years anyway because you have a full team which is great We'll get to that Uh that know
social media really well Sure So you've got people on your team that could teach you a few things about it I'm sure in their sleep right uh so uh I'm sure you'll continue to to to give the credit it's them Yeah The stuff the the stuff you're seeing coming on on Facebook is
is them Good Okay great Uh anything else anybody wants to share about goal number one joe do you have anything you want to say about goal number one in addition to what we already talked about no I'm uh I'm proud of of the team I'm
proud of uh their enthusiasm towards engaging the community and they're looking for always looking for opportunities uh both virtually and in person and they never get push give back or push back when they're asked to show up at a community event Uh they typically and I'm sure you've seen it
They embrace it So proud of them I know that coffee with the cop right that was at AllTown this year a few times Was that elsewhere in town or just just at Alltown um Top of the Hill Yep Red Barn Roers Red Barn Okay Red Barn too Okay
Like the two or three times you guys did coffee with the cop and I walked in I had no idea you guys were going to be there but it looked like I was showing up at their event I'm like "Oh well now I got to act like I came here intentionally." Uh anyway So good job with that kind of stuff Keep it at keep
at it Let's measure it Let's Let's grow the numbers Sure Okay Uh number two recruitment and professional development of newly promoted and newly hired staff I think Mrs Ritter Bush was second last time So um the goal is uh recruitment and professional development of newly
promoted and newly hired staff Part A and I'm not our responses are not under divided by parts So I'm just going to read all the parts So A continue recruitment and promotion of staff B begin career-long professional development of newly hired staff C begin
career-long professional development of newly promoted staff and D continue career-long professional development of current supervisors Uh and our comments were uh this was a big year for the chief in the police department It has a had a high record of hires and saw multiple promotions including one deputy two
lieutenants and two sergeants Although we have a few more officers still finishing their academy training our staffing letter levels are almost full The chief adjusted when it was not working and not a good fit for an employee The focus remained on the successful growth of the department Both newly hired and promoted staff undergo
training for their positions and the chief has consistently worked on crossf functional training for anyone getting ready to become a supervisor The revamped field officer training program lateral transfer accommodation and long-term leadership pipeline are clear indicators of thoughtful succession planning The recognition of the human
resources team and interdep departmental collaboration show strong leadership and humility in achieving these milestones And then overall last year the chief was excellent at filling command staff and recruiting new officers This is a huge success considering how hard it is nationwide to attract young people into
joining their local police department In addition it was a difficult time being down staff So well done Okay Thank you Any comments you want to add to what you just read there Amy um I don't think so Um I did have a comment on the previous one that I I didn't
mention about the metrics for social media that like um and take attending events It's not something that I think is as quantifiable as some other goals because we're not going to just continue um attending more and more events every year till we're attending thousands right it's a it's probably there's a
fixed number of events that they probably should attend throughout the year So I wouldn't expect it to grow exponentially but I love the metrics of how many people attended each one because then we know which ones were the most successful I think the metrics and this is just my opinion it's more to make sure things aren't dropping off
Right Right When you have a number and you keep hitting that number you you're right you don't need to keep growing We don't need you to do 30 next year and 35 the year after But if it were to drop down from 25 to 18 or 20 it warrants a question right like what what was
different this year and you know sometimes there's answers for those things but I think it's more you know builds into accountability And if this is a goal for the department which I think it's right to be a goal for the department for a couple reasons we want to keep that structure in place just to continue the conversation That's all I
have on the other one All set Joe others um so I I I don't think you'd call the last like year year and a half an easy year for yourself in the department right um you know there's there's been a lot of you know we'll call it activity
in town around the police department Um I think it's as alluded to in some of the comments if you look nationwide it's not an easy time to be a police officer or be hiring police officers Um so over the last what eight months there's been
a large influx of new hires There's been promotions um you know and I know most of that you were the singular command staff for a while right while everyone else was um part of the union So I think that a lot of that falls on you you know the good
and the bad But I think you know to kind of help keep the department moving through those challenging times and get us to a point where we are almost fully staffed great numbers new promotions Um like the command staff specifically is very important you know to me when it
comes to thinking about the town So I credit you for that Um my only feedback is you know again the measurables right you know when we talk about careerlong professional development how do we put that into a goal right is that what's that mean for someone that's been here 5
years and they're not new anymore versus someone that's 15 years you know those are the things that come to mind It's your line of work So um again as we've talked about happy to you know work with you on those goals for next year but that's kind of where my head goes is how do we measure some of these things
because I think the goal itself is great Let's keep let's keep that going I couldn't agree with more and I grateful for the support both on this topic and it's a good opportunity to say especially on this goal It takes a village Like we I couldn't accomplish it
My team couldn't accomplish it without HR without the town manager and without you And when people are looking to come to a department and they see a department that's supported by a board it's night and day from when they don't because they pick us Gone of the days we have 130 people
take a test So if they're coming here they're coming here So that's a good sign I'm very grateful for that As far as quantifying all that we have some things in motion but much like the fire chief alluded to we're working off of spreadsheets And to collect data you're
pulling data like the data I prepared for any questions you might ask you have to physically go find it or in a drawer or a spreadsheet or a training request Excel spreadsheet So um one one of the things I'm tasking Lieutenant O'Neal
with is to assess our a software that we own to develop and to see what that can put out And I don't really care about putting stuff in I want to see what I can get out of it So um absolutely Thank you Thank you for the recognition Thanks Chief Well said
Yep Joe I I I am amazed at at the fact that we have a full department And it seemed like a very long time in coming and I'm amazed that the department that we had did such a good job in that interim before we were able to fill
those positions Uh a lot of people didn't even realize we were that short and uh I I think that it's it's I think we're moving in the right direction and I'm I like to see it just continue Thank
you Thank you Um two things on that Um the reason you didn't see the impact for our the people we service is because the dedication and commitment to those that are answering the phone and going out on the calls that never wavered Um and I
never worried about it wavering Um just for clarification we were fully staffed but we've had two people separated one that was going to be going to the academy but um decided to stay in their civilian job and we did have one officer leave not to go to another agency but um
is taking a break right now Okay Anything else Mr Man yeah I would echo the same I think uh getting you know nine pe um nine police officers hired in a year and getting five promotions getting the
succession planned a huge achievement and especially from where we were before and um 20 people were doing 30 people's job So uh huge kudos to that It shows leadership shows you know excellent continued success and uh my uh
suggestion would be twofold One is now that we are fully staffed uh to focus on training them uh keeping them motivated and retaining them That will be always a challenge given the national and um just across the board scenario and
competitiveness And uh second is also now that we have uh succession plan in place new leadership in place as in any organization the next challenge would be uh everyone is in new role in some ways So how can we make sure that they get the best training best equipped to do
their job and that would be your coaching mentoring as well as across the board uh training and also um measuring their success So that would be my suggestion on this but nice job with that It's a paradigm shift Thank you So
one of the things we have is uh rank and assignment schedule where um a person say as a sergeant there's three main venues for train education training at Roger Williams University the municipal police training academy and the FBI
leader program two of those programs have supervisor mid-level and executive level and one is just for sergeants Um so we progress people through that and then if they've been to been a long time in the position then we'll recycle
people through that So um one of the things that the deputy's working on is again that's an Excel spread it's an Excel spreadsheet and people's dates that they went are plugged in or there might be because it was this was 15 years old it just has an X on it So we're in the process of revamping that
and trying to make that a more more of a product that is that you would want to bring here and show But I couldn't agree with you more Not only getting getting to the getting them to the point but also maintaining it over the years Thank you What's up y So Chief how many uh
people did we recruit and hire this past year nine Nine new hires Correct Yes And that brought us to fully staffed at budgeted for the first time at 29 29 is fully staffed Like that number includes yourself yes it does Okay And then how
many people did we promote this past year five Five Do we have any uh leadership positions not filled at this time there is one open surn position and that's scheduled for an exam uh with a countdown on the board of
10 days from now uh the the sergeant exam will happen from that We'll we'll do we'll generate a list based on the policy in partnership with HR and we'll have a sergeant candidate list Okay And of the of the 29 how many folks are in
supervisory type positions sure So there's a there's the chief position and there's a deputy There's two lieutenants and seven sergeants but two of those sergeants um are in specialties So we have a sergeant in SRO's and a sergeant
in the detective bureau It takes five people to staff a 4 and2 rotation 24 hours a day So five sergeants are are street sergeants Um and then two function and specialties And what is the number planned for FY26 for the
department total flat 29 29 So flat year-over-year Okay All right Thank you Um number three in the goals I'm Let me back up Chief is there anything you want to say anything further you want to say
about goal number two recruitment and professional development just again thank you And you're comfortable with the feedback you received so far yes I am Okay Number three professional development and succession planning of command staff Uh finalize a finalize
promotions B Collaborate with human resources to ensure compliance with MCOP CBA town chap charter labor law and best practices Offer training to legacy command staff members in topics relative to the next level of command Offer
training to newly promoted command staff members at the core competency level and transition to topics relative to the next level of promotion when appropriate Offer training in prot in practical skills necessary to function at the next level within the command staff And finally train all command staff at the
awareness level on next command level work projects and tasks Okay so this is all about professional development and succession planning of command staff Board feedback Much was covered in the prior section It was a big year It was a big
year for the department with lots of growth and movement with the promotion of a deputy chief two lieutenants and three sergeants This year the chief consistently works with HR to ensure that all processes are in compliance with standards I'm assuming that's all hiring and promotion processes Jessica
does that make sense yes that's correct The strategic development of command staff through targeted programs like sergeants as team builders and the upcoming lieutenants as team builders is an innovative and forwardthinking approach The emphasis on both vertical and horizontal professional development
is evident in the crossf functional training and mentoring being implemented at all levels Assigning project leadership and exposure to budgeting and procurement functions to line officers encourages growth and resilience This systemic thinking is impressive and
crucial for the long-term organizational health Overall the chief demonstrated continued improvement getting people in place and prepared for what is next It is important that command staff are encouraged to instruct and lead Continuous education should be a priority with the leadership with
leadership and guidance for the for the rank and file moving forward Many of the department staff are so new Again incorporate metrics into the processes For example what and how many trainings were held and how many attended Mr Clark
um I thought there was a good a lot of good information in this section I thought thought it personally overlapped with the previous goal a little bit right when we talk about professional development So you know my biggest thing moving forward is we look at new goals for next year how do we just kind of make these more it's the more specific
and smart right going back to that Um but again I I think a lot of the stuff we covered and if we moving forward show metrics on you know how these things are developing and how the staff is going through them um I think it paints you know a really strong picture for the
future So uh I'm good Thank you Thank you Set Yep Amy no I think my comments are reflected in the group comments and this is a lot of it is overlaps with the previous one as well Okay Mary Joe Yeah I only have one
question We're talking about staff and uh staff development and everything and we just okayed a new position that was shared with Hollist Do you explain a little about that please sure I'll um start with an overview because getting the word out is
part of something we really really want to work on So we're partners with Sherburn and Hollist in a geo diversion program We had previously been an early adopter in that program and um altogether we had some some
difficulties and struggles So we left that program rewrote the grant and now we have a Jill um Jill diversion clinician with us that is an employee of Hollist and um is available with us to
respond to calls or follow up on calls to care for people um in an effort to avoid arrest or hospital room visits Uh she's doing very well in here I have some metrics that she's putting out monthly um with how many times she
prevents a emergency room visit or um an arrest in the three towns She's she's really integrated well into the departments We have monthly meetings and then among that team not necessarily
with the chiefs but the um like Lieutenant O'Neal is overseas this program monthly meetings to discuss how to assist people who are repeatedly having um crisis or struggles and then
where can they divert them to and we as always you know youth and family services is always a key resource for us Uh so uh we met you met Leon and she's a great addition to the department It's going really well and she will she's she's an easy one Somewhere in there I
have her metrics So cuz I asked her to generate them and uh she's been putting mine every month I'm glad to see that position It's kind of an enrichment It is position for the department Okay And I don't really have any other questions I think everything
is moving right along Shadow Yeah I I think I these are same as the previous one kind of uh together So I'll just add to what I mentioned earlier One thing is uh we spoke about it uh in the past and now I think is a great time to focus on
it is the uh more structured wellness and resilience program for officers of all levels which means how can we ensure that u they are f we can focus on helping them on mental health burnout prevention and long-term career sustainability Uh I think this is a
great time We have a great team dedicated and you know motivated Uh now we want to focus on all of those things from leadership to you know new recruit Uh so that's what I wanted to add Great job on that Couldn't agree with you more One of the things we did this year that
didn't fall into this category is I brought in a company called Sigma Tactical and they did uh health screening corateed artery screening Um they tested our blood uh EKGs and then
they came up with a care plan based on the results of all that and then they had a education on the best way to reduce uh your cholesterol and what your workout should look like at a high level And then it offered resources online uh
to follow up And I'll I'll tell you that at least one person was in in front of a a vascular surgeon and cardiologist within a week So it it uh may have saved their life So it was it's important
Okay Thank you All set So chief uh for goal three uh items C D E and F all speak to training Um do we track the actual hours of training that officers or the entire
department undergoes sure Um so again it's not as tight as I would like it to be but I asked the lieutenant to put some numbers together um are in service accounted for about 760 hours of training Um in in preparation for any type of exercise
with the fire department the entire police department will be trained um in active attack incident response So um integrated response rather which is where we partner with the fire with the fire teams and medics to go into a a
warm zone and to extricate uh injured people Uh I lieutenant reports that by the end of this fiscal year everybody in the department below the rank of or at at or below the rank of lieutenant will be trained They've either been or they
are scheduled to train Uh I attended uh act active shooter incident management Um to my knowledge it was the first time I was offered in Massachusetts and there were 30 police officers and a three-day training and I attended that I know that
what the SRO's and the new sergeants are all trained up to at least the sergeant level in their first week-long course um lieutenants and deputy chief attended um executive command training which is uh an annual kind of refresher on 10
topics Uh the detective reported to me that he had three he's done over 300 hours and is scheduled for 73 hours till the end of this fiscal year which will also one of the big things is he'll be a sexual assault investigator Um the SRO
uh all everybody maintained their certifications and the new SRO attended a week-long training and met his and then took an advanced juvenile um juvenile law class Um so we do but it's not that took a lot of
work to get to that was a lot of work So um I'd like I definitely want to improve on that and be capturing the metrics uh like monthly and quarterly How would that 760 hours overall compare with um you know state uh expectations or state
norms how would it compare with the accreditation process and what's required for us to be accredited department sure If you take the training hours and add uh defensive tactics accreditation adds four hours of
hands-on defensive tactics that's 44 hours per officer Um then you add in um I think we do really well I think we have a strong training budget and this year going next year going forward we're partnering with HR uh to work on
developing uh a better leadership training program Um and I'd say that we we're doing well relatively I don't have any data but I know that in uh conversations with other chiefs they struggle like training those
active shooters a fellow chief had to go to the town and ask for $60,000 you know two days training 25 people all in overtime That's expensive So um we were able to accomplish it within the within the confines of this
budget because I'm I'm able to use the available shortfall right now because of the vacancies going forward a major project like that would would be a budgetary ask but um our our training funding for to pay tuition is also I
think uh is where it needs to be to to provide the level of service that you guys the town has grown to expect Is it the policy of the police department to train as they train team members to record that training and then put it in their HR file at town hall is that
something that we do by individual some I don't believe we get all of it Um things we do in collaboration with HR would end up in that file Um periodically HR will come in and review files and make sure that their records are the same for the mo for the most of
it the HR the training records are in a um a filing cabinet and there is an Excel spreadsheet that gets um when we get interns we have them go through the the paper things and updated which is like like 10 years ago you know it
there's any profession where training should be conducted and documented I would think it's in law enforcement so I think we want to try and up our uh presence there and our effectiveness and tracking going forward The administrative manager forwards us um
all certificates that she receives Okay So the administrative manager at the police department for that's you Yes Okay That's the kind of stuff I'm looking for Yes Okay But the number of hours you're saying is not coming to you I we haven't reconciled whether or not they match Do you have the hours at the
police department by individual or is it just by the whoever signed up for that particular We don't We have the classes they've taken but and the date but not the hours which is will change I will never come back to this desk without those numbers Fair enough Thank you All
right let's move ahead Uh item number four Mr Clark like we did last time right yeah So this was performance expectation areas per contract So we're going to go through same thing A and then the board's feedback like with Chief Dohy Um so a command/management of
any type of police service incident feedback was general incidents are fine The potential active shooter situation created public unease but it is a work in progress Budgetary financial administration just fine Uh C personnel
administration improved dramatically in the last year did his best in difficult times Some issues were created by others There are still some things beyond his control but we'll need to manage moving forward Um D super supervision and leadership Uh
fine leadership was demonstrated better this year with more support from the community which helped E staff development and training Uh feedback was what trainings how many and attendance numbers like we talked about with metrics
F public relations um improved dramatically The chief has shown effort in events like coffee with the cop as well as social media presence Important to track um now that the police department is more fully staffed The police presence at community events is
very evident We also see more officers enforcing safe driving near the schools and at other key locations in town Um and and this type of thing could always be improved as general feedback Uh G was policy execution Fine No no problems brought to
the board H interaction with the town manager and board as well as other governmental officials boards committees and general public Chief has done a good job with stakeholders explaining himself and the department need numerical analysis moving forward Uh the select board
meeting in which the swatting incident and active shooter procedures were detailed were detailed was excellent very thoughtful and well presented The chief is at all board meetings he has needed and some he is not He's taken us through a difficult time while down staff and looking forward to the new
department moving forward And there was nothing else there Okay Uh Joe do you have anything else you want to add to the discussion of those performance areas in the contract um you know nothing specifically I think
you know as I alluded to before um like chief as you know I've spent a lot of I've tried to spend a good amount of time around the department the last you know call it 6 to 8 months Um and I think you know if you look back over the last year and a half ago we talked about it you know not being an easy year for you or the department Um and I think
it's really hard to see some of this growth without you know spending time nearby like you know coffee with the cop is great but that that doesn't give the full picture of how the department's running and how the officers are working with you know especially the new command staff I think um to see behind you know
the curtain a little bit you know explains a lot and you know my opinion is I just have a lot of confidence in where the department is and where it's going so thank you you Mrs Mr Rush anything you want to add i don't think so My comments are reflected here in the uh consolidated comments so I don't
think I really have anything to add but yeah definitely um moving in a positive direction which we really like to see [Music] Okay Mary Joe item four there Yep uh you don't mention the schools
anywhere and I I would just like that added that you the interaction and the work you're doing with the new superintendent and the new schools and and how you're working things out with them and that's all Everything else is
very good Maybe we'll go up to the schools and serve lunch to the children Do you make uh just a couple of things i think overall it reflects all we discussed and very happy with the progress and your
leadership and building the team with the leadership and uh the good work that's been put out uh couple of things and also the public relations on the community engagement front that we discussed Uh a couple of things I think
uh uh going forward uh given the school uh incident which was I think um showed the dedication and collaboration across the board It it might be a good idea going forward to have a more cross departmental crisis preparedness and
training and drills uh given our experience we want to just be prepared and also it'll help the community to understand how these works so that you know there's no uh adverse I think uh understanding or reaction uh so that is
one that comes to mind and second is uh we discussed about you know quantifying some of the success and measuring some of the uh metrics across the board and I would also add to that um what we discussed in the past as Well is how can
uh we bring you know more understanding of the police works uh with the community more uh possibly transparency and governance framework that we all work together Not everyone knows and understands that and obviously there's sometimes sensitivity there's sometimes
ongoing investigation and all those restrictions legally that comes into play but uh across the board how can we make it more I think u uh understandable the works and uh communicate and build
or continue to build our governance framework in a more robust fashion that would be another focus or my suggestion okay thank Thank you That's all set Um you know we've talked a couple of times this evening and we talked a lot about metrics and measurables and you
know making sure everything's quantifiable and so forth Um but we also you know recognize that there's um you know a process uh and there's a history and there's context right and uh you know my my thing in running business is
year-over-year improvement If we're improving we're going in the right direction If we're not improving we're going in the wrong direction I believe we are clearly going in the right direction I believe we are clearly improving as a department Uh and I put a lot of that on your shoulders uh making that happen and that of the people that
you've put in place That's what leadership does Leadership doesn't do everything Leadership leads to make sure things get done So uh I think that uh uh there's been great improvement this year Um and I think that uh the town recognizes that There are still some
things outstanding We know that We understand that And Mr Manan just mentioned there's legal proceedings and things that we can't necessarily go through uh you know here at the moment But um we'll figure that out too with positive leadership and strong management and a full team of people dedicated to the cause I think we can
get through that as well Um but I think we are absolutely improving year-over-year And to that I thank you for a job well done Thank you Um so Mr Clark do you want to walk us through the five ratings again and again being consistent with both chiefs uh and
then talk to the the average here Yep So one does not achieve expectations two achieves some expectations three achieves most expectations four achieves and sometimes exceeds expect expectations and then five is exceeds
expectations regularly and for example banner year broad impact on organization Okay Thank you Go ahead Um and so you know the cumulative average was a four achieves and sometimes exceeds expectations for this
year Anything you want to say no I I think I covered it before like you know there's there's a lot that's gone on There's been a lot of change in the department That's not easy I know it's not easy you know especially as the chief you know without a command staff Um so you know I
appreciate you sticking with the town carrying it through those hard periods Hopefully you feel like it's in a better spot now and you know easier to do your job easier for your officers to do their job Um because you know the town needs the police and you know I think it's
absolutely heading in the right direction Thank you And we need you Mr Ridor Any comments on the average no I think um I'd be comfortable going with the the average rating that we that it evened out to you Good Okay Mary Joe
No I I'm going with the rating of four Mr Madan Yeah I would echo the same and I want to thank our chief for the leadership and uh the progress and uh wonderful police department for their hard work and dedication and I'm um you
know in full agreement and comparable with the rating definitely welld deserved Thank you I agree with the four I think the four is the appropriate uh uh result of a collaborative process Well it wasn't until we got here tonight
but you know the process how it sort of sort of landed Um fives are hard to get in the real world because we can all get better right i don't get fives at work I don't get fives I can tell you I don't get five sitting on this board either Is it a Isn't that like a unicorn
it's hard to get to a five Uh I think the four and the definition of the four achieves and sometimes exceeds expectations is appropriate for the chief for the past year As I mentioned a couple of minutes ago with everything that the context the full context of what was going on and sort of navigating
those very difficult waters Uh I think it's a a solid score and uh chief do you have any comments you want to share about the rating no I I welcome the feedback I'd like the the vision of how to move forward and to
quantify things and I'm grateful for the offer and what I've learned tonight go to go forward Uh my team and I have already started discussing this and uh I'm looking forward to a uh a good strong year and you're satisfied with
the four Well five is better I know that wasn't the question Yes I'm sat Yes I am satisfied Everybody gets a chance to put it on the table right okay All right So uh with that the chair will entertain a
motion Mr Chair I move the motion to u an overall rating of four achieves and sometimes exceeds expectations for the evaluation of um police chief Joe Bennett Second We have a motion and a second on the table Any further
discussion on the motion all those in favor please say I I Any opposed it is unanimous and so carries Thank you Chief Uh we want to talk about FY26 goals real quick Sure If you would be so kind as to read those into the record and then we'll revisit those here
Can I just make a comment yeah sure Um the human resources department regularly gets when um when residents or anyone in the public in Hington is helped in any way
by the police or have um decided that somebody or a group of people did outstanding work We received those to put in the files of the officers who did the outstanding work I have seen an
uptick in um those commendations and specifically around the compassion that has been shown by the officers and I will take it upon um HR's responsibility to start tracking
those for metrics for the police department Yeah that's great Good That's great feedback and thank you for tracking those going forward That will be a barometer of how things are going sort of year-over-year right absolutely That's great Thanks for that input
Okay Uh if you could read your goals or your suggested or proposed goals for FY26 please So my I have three suggested goals um in line with uh continuing departmentwide professional development and section and succession planning Um I
want to finalize that training progression plan that we spoke about uh and the lieutenants are new and I want to see them continue to work as team builders um and continue the command and executive level level training among
command staff So to codifying the plan and and moving through the plan is the first one to get everybody everybody to where they need to be which is at least some training above their current rank That's the goal That might not all happen for everybody
this year but I'll be able to come back and say we have at the sergeant level we have 25% now trained above the sergeant level At the lieutenant level we have it would need to be 50 or 100% trained at the next level at the
executive level and then as patrol how many people have started taking supervisory level classes and those would be quantified and brought back I want to um work to enhance collaboration with town departments with a focus on the fire department and
that's uh has several reasons One is with all the new uh firefighters and police officers I'd like to create opportunity for them to work in a nonstress environment or in a training environment to get to know
each other Uh I think I I do think that it's important We were always very close with the fire department and and I valued that Um I'm going to finalize the joint response to active shooter response plan with the fire department Um and make sure that our policies are in line with
each others and uh and I want to conduct classroom and hands-on training with the fire department and we're discussing different opportunities for that Um I want to um provide civilian response to active shooter training to town staff Uh
so we have currently have two instructors in civilian response to active shooter events I I'm one of them and I want to go out and to stop with the town uh staff members I've spoken with Elaine about this and um teach them
how to react because what they do matters when an active shooter if an active shooter event were to happen Um we have two trained this year we trained through the help of and support of youth and family services Two of the police department members two communicators and
two firefighters in nonviolent crisis intervention which is again go uh geared towards deescalation And I'm looking looking to work with my partners to deliver that throughout um the the staff members And
then um I'm happy to say we have an opportunity now with staffing and uh to bring back the Hopkins Police K9 program I I think that would be a great ad to the community I know that the dog uh with Titan was was was very wellliked in
the community and also a community builder and I'd like to to work on bringing that back So we're identifying funding sources developing policies selecting a handler um would be uh something I think that would be the most visible thing in the community that the
community members would say Okay great Anything else that's it All right I think we are good with Chief Bennett Everybody good everybody good you good yep Thank you Welcome Thank you all for coming in this
evening Here's the paperwork Thank you Justin Next on the agenda is item number seven which will be the last item on the agenda if I kept proper notes here Uh May 5th annual town meeting Elaine do
you want to introduce the topic and let us know what we need to do if anything with regard to the annual town meeting I'd like to turn it over to the assistant town manager to discuss the work All right Thank you Is he going to be going to the microphone for you at town meeting i will delegate that Oh
great We know how much you love that microphone Um so in front of you you should have a printed uh copy of the warrant It's actually an updated version um since the version that was attached to the original packet Um we had two articles
that have since been removed It's was what was previously referred to as article number four which is the resin authorized but unissued debt as the uh fin uh chief financial officer has informed us we were not utilizing that specific argument this year we won't
need it so I had pulled it um and additionally we have uh by a vote of the planning board withdrawn a zoning article which was to reszone properties at the intersection of Hayward and South Street formerly article 28 Um there has been also a few minor grammatical and um
formatting edits that have also taken place since then Can you say which is the one you said did we remove the first one rescend authorized uh article number four resend authorized but unissued debt We're removing that Yes It's still in the list I see here But um are you looking at a digital copy yes That was
the part in the packet The latest up-to-date version should you should have a printed copy in front of you We got to look at a printed copy Sorry Forcing to look at that one Yeah Um so so we didn't doesn't miss much online Lance just I know I I debated also
sending it Okay So um I we're not going to we don't have any unused debt to So we do but it's actually being targeted The reallocations have largely been targeted which you'll see in the motions document which you know there'll be an updated copy being distributed soon A lot of them have been specified based on
the information that Kyla has received from do and how we have to reapply those debts So we have we have a number of uh old projects with surplus capital that has been unused some dating back as far as the '9s that's being reallocated to
specific projects That'll be a part of the motion Some of the motions are going to look a little lengthy So like if it's a school project of old debt we're going to move it to the new school project Yep So I mean they have there are certain confines that these capital projects Okay they you know they can't be to anything necessarily in all
circumstances They need to you know fit certain categories Okay I appreciate the explanation cuz she I remember she was very excited how much she found that we could resend but it's just going to be moved about So that's good I think it's about I think you know at least in the the pay as you go articles alone I think it's about 400,000 I want to say
approximately Great Which helps the overall tax rate because then we don't have to go raise additional taxes for those appropriations had we done it funding the other way Yep Right Okay So um so yep as so with that all being said the change is in front of you
Um the tonight is the night that the board will consider signing the warrant if you know everything is meets your acceptance and you think it's ready to do so In my opinion um you know we come a long way and I believe that it's ready
Okay What do you think uh we greatly appreciate everyone's proof reading Um yes as during this process it continues with the motions document but we really appreciate the way staff has proof read their articles It's very helpful Do you believe we're ready to vote and sign yes
Well we have to right now we have to guess we got to meet again It's easier to read for some reason It's cuz I was reading all that small print there for a while That was awful Um the motions are probably not
finalized Correct That's correct And that's okay Sometimes they get finalized in the middle of the meeting Um I see something scored That's cuz it's a that's the change Okay never mind I have no issues with executing and
signing the warrant Anybody have any concerns nope I think it's ready So we discussed pretty much Yeah And uh as far as other sort of town meeting preparation we have three
articles now we're sponsoring Correct We have three One is the men the the reports the reports The second is the economic development fund and the third is center school uh lease So we do need to talk about who would be presenting
that one So for committees and reports no one we don't need to speak to that No one needs to stand up and just need to say the motion Yeah it's just an administrative function The economic development one um I think Mr Manan was interested in
speaking to that And was anybody else interested in speaking to that no I'm good It's a continuation of special town meeting article Yeah So if if you need any support from what we use to present that happy to help Thanks Sure Yep Okay So you'll be the lead and
you can be sort of the secondary right there if necessary Okay And then the third one was the um center school lease So leasing a portion of school to a um sorry community organization subject to an RFP process It's a public private
partnership Private partnership I I'd like to present on that one Been working with Kelly Grill Okay Does anybody have any other thoughts about who should present on that that's great You good with that mr Are you good with that yep Mr Clark say maybe as a backup uh Dan McIntyre did a really good job of
presenting um from the permanent building committee about that too I'm assume he'll be there You can work with them to collaborate Yeah Yeah He's been doing the presentations anytime we do something publicly So happy to involve him Got good slides Yeah Yep Okay So we'll have Joe at the microphone for
that representing the board Everybody good with that we don't have to vote these things We just want to be organized when we get there Um and uh if you want to pull in Dan or whomever that's great Anything else we have to plan for i cannot make the moderators meeting on Monday I'm traveling Um but I
don't think I need to be there I told Vuda that you could represent us there Yeah it's just the logistics of town meeting who's going to do what um talk about presentations and a consent agenda Okay Is it done during the workday okay I'm interested in that sort of thing But
if do we know which articles are in the consent agenda yet no Okay You guys will decide that the moderator Does anybody here have any strong opinions about because we won't be the board technically won't be there Monday As many as possible Okay As many
the whole thing There's a consent agenda Just voted Let's go Last time we had a good sex with a pretty good size consent agenda It confuses some though Like if it's if there's too many that people would get a little antsy I think And the earlier we can announce what it will be That's
helpful too Would the board mind if I attended that since the chair can't attend or not at all okay Is could I attend via Zoom it's midday on Monday and I'm traveling So I could probably do it at lunch Do you want to go i would like to go Be great
Does anybody else want to go if I'm in town I might but I'm not sure So Amy please There's no reason why all of us couldn't go right well we have to post it as a meeting Oh where I'm going Okay two of you can go Two I can't go Have a date Yeah Here's our two right
here So if you can make it great But Amy's saying she can make it So that'll be the moderator's meeting Okay Anything else for town meeting we have to plan in advance Um this time I can't think of anything we the motions document should be done by the end of next week Um so we we're
near nearing completion on the motions but um a lot of the in there It's still being circulated There's still some things we're working out but um everything seems to be in line and on schedule My only concern about the motions document is that we are doing a
little bit of creative financing for some of the items right and some of it's based on what Kyla took out because we didn't need to have that article etc And I know we have to have the lawyers do the motions document you know to make sure it all lines up with Mass General
law and so forth but we also have to be able to explain those motions in a simple manner Um so the this the less legal the motion is the easier it'll be for people to understand If there's a lot of legal ease and transferring this
and doing that and blah blah blah that could cause some concern and stall things a little bit In the last couple of years we've tried to put in here and there where we could like a just a a small blurb about what this article means in plain language what this motion
means Yeah So we can try to do that for some complicated ones Anything with money that's complicated or could be complicated to some and it's complicated to me most of the time too That helps Okay Anybody else have any other thoughts concerns ideas about how we
manage not manage but how we attend and participate in town meeting and hopefully have a smooth flow We're having the electronic clickers again right okay that I think that helps Only 41 articles so that helps I think that's good That's fine
Everybody good okay Uh anything else you need from us tonight on town meeting uh did you vote to sign the war we need to go do that So we need a motion then Let's go to a journ So I would I would move to sign the 2025 annual town meeting warrant Second We We all should sign one of
those right Okay We have a motion and a second to sign the 2025 annual town warrant Any discussion on the motion all those in favor please say I I Any opposed it's unanimous and so
carries Okay So how many we all have to sign each one of these So we just have the signature pages here Pass them around Oh okay Great Better Okay Uh so with that we can go ahead and adjourn and then sign uh after the
journment if that's okay with everybody I have one more thing Deliberation I'm sorry Go ahead I just have one more thing to say um marathon committee hasn't has informed me that they are having their hundred yard dash and their little mini marathon for the children
like they did last year on Saturday and that vendors will be on the common and uh let's hope it's a lovely day because it was so much fun last year All right great Thank you Chair will entertain a motion to adjourn I move to
adjourn the meeting Second motion second Any discussion all those in favor please say I I I So carries Okay Thanks We're all adjourned Thank you