Hey everybody. Uh, I am going to call our board of selectman meeting for August 26 to order. Uh, the time is now 6:02 p.m. I'm not sure if we have Carl online or not. >> I don't think so. >> I don't think so. and Missy is not. So,
we're just gonna call it to order. We don't need to do a roll call. Um, and we'll start with the pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation
indivisibley for all. >> All right, we have a few announcements. Uh, this meeting is being recorded by the local scene. Anyone intending to make an audio or video recording of this meeting should notify the chair at this time.
Seeing nobody, uh, financial assistance applications are available on the town's website or by calling the selectman's office. For anyone interested, we say this every every meeting. For anyone interested in volunteering, there are several vacancies on
>> a full room, so maybe volunteers. >> Um, I think everyone here is pretty busy. Um we do have uh several vacancies on various committees and boards. Uh to see a complete list of the openings, please visit our website at kingstonma.gov.
Also, also check the volunteer. >> The service dog is here. >> Finance committee. Yeah, there we go. >> Hidden dog. >> Um I lost my train of thought. All right. Town buildings with the exception of public safety will be closed on Monday,
September 1st to celebrate Labor Day. And uh this is important. Due to a recent resignation from the Kingston School Committee, the Kingston School Committee and the Board of Selectmen are seeking candidates interested in filling the open seat until the next town election in the spring of 2026.
Interested candidates u must submit a letter of uh consideration and qualifications no later than September 25th at 4 pm. Please submit your information by mail to town of Kingston board of selectman 26 evergreen street
kingston mass 02364 or by email to pt tucker kingston.gov. All candidates will be interviewed at a joint Kingston School Committee and board of selectman meeting on Tuesday, October 7th at 6:30 p.m. Can
>> I ask a question about that? Yeah. >> If someone mails a letter of interest as opposed to emailing it, are we going by postmark? >> Because we had issues in the past with that time and when we receive it. So, I just want to make sure we're clear. >> Trisha, how do we handle that?
>> When is the meeting? >> October 7th. >> Okay. Okay. So, if it was postmarked by that date, it would probably be fine as well. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, I would think so. >> We would get it in time to review it and school committee would be able to review it. Okay. So, received by email by 4 p.m. >> on October 7th. I mean I mean no uh
September 25th >> 25th or postmarked by September 25th? >> Good question. >> If it's not yet, will that be highlighted on the website? >> The the day >> just No, the um >> just the school. >> Okay. >> Yeah. We just want I just want to be clear about the if they mail it
>> if we're doing by because it says by mail. I just want to make sure we were clear because I know we had issues in the past >> with timing. >> Whatever you guys want to do. >> Okay. >> All right. And um any other announcements? Did we want to have um Keith, did you want to or have Sean uh
mention any um updates about street work, road work? >> Uh Sean can probably fill in much greater detail than I. Uh but we've had our road paving that started. Um crack shilling is going to be starting I think next week. We've got some additional roads that'll be paved um in the near
future. I know that there's a lot of interest in the uh repairs of the main street sidewalks. Um those main street sidewalks, Sean, I was in the car with Sean today and he was speaking to the vendor there. We're trying to um come up
with a scope of work uh that will make repairs to the sections of the sidewalk on Main Street that are um damaged primarily through uh roots growing through the sidewalk, things of that nature. They'll remove
the the humps uh and the uh um the roots and um Sean will have a Sean's going to contract with a company uh to come in and then overlay uh portions of the of the sidewalk that are disturbed
by the repairs. An exact location of where the paving and repairs are going to occur. I don't know that we have exact locations yet. Um, but it's just a matter I think Sean's going to meet with the vendor again next week, come up with a come up with hopefully a price that is something we
can afford and um we expect to have that work done sometime in September, but a a date has not been set yet. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Sure. >> All right. Uh, next up is open forum. Is there anybody who would like to speak at
open forum? Will, you are up. Good evening, Milman 273 Main Street, Kingston Mass. It's not about the sidewalks. Thanks for the update today, but I just wanted to remind everyone that school is starting
this week. Remember the school buses will be back on their normal routes. So, please take that into advice when traveling. Give yourself extra time as school buses will make frequent stops on in the town of Kingston.
>> Awesome. Thanks for the reminder, Will. >> That's an excellent reminder. >> Yes. And school buses will be especially slow tomorrow on the first day of school where they're learning all where everyone lives and which buses they're on. So, >> keep that in mind. >> Yeah. So, definitely think about that when you're choosing what time to leave
for work or anything else that you that you're doing. >> And then again, in the afternoon. All right. Next up, we have a room full of public safety, which is awesome. We're >> I feel very safe. >> Very safe place. Either that or we have something really controversial >> that we called the whole police force.
>> We have lots of backup here. Uh Chief, I'm going to give you the floor. >> Uh sure. >> Re recognition. >> Did he want the Okay. I was like, is he wanting us to do that now, too? >> Want to meet the dog first?
>> Sure. >> Sure. >> All right. Cool. Officer Hurley and his K9 partner, comfort dog, Mabel, is here tonight. >> She's so cute. >> Such a good temperament. >> She doesn't want to go.
She's >> Oh, you have treats. Okay, I'll go. >> Hello everybody. My name is Officer Hurley, Brian Hurley. This is the newest member of the Kingston Police Department, K9 Mabel. She's just finished her comfort dog training um this past Friday through professional K9
services. It's a place out of Middbor. She is a yellow lab that turns five months on September 1st. So her her birthday was April Fool's Day. Um she is a full yellow lab. Her both her mother
and uh father were yellow labs, Aries and Apollo. She comes from a place called Pico Kennels which is in Reum. Most of the uh local comfort dogs come from that same kennel. She's actually sisters with Pembroke's comfort dog
Sasha. Um one of Plymouth's comfort dogs and as well as Plimpmpton's comfort dog Aggie. Um she's been doing really well. She is a puppy and bear with us. She's losing some puppy teeth so she's been pretty pretty angry lately. That's why you might hear her bark and stuff. She's
just finding her voice. Um, but yeah, you'll see us around town. She's with me at all times at home on patrol. Uh, so if you have any events that you think that you may need a comfort dog for, please feel free to request. And if you see me driving around, then feel free to
say hello and and you can take pictures with the dog, pet the dog. She's she loves people and she's been doing really well. >> That's all I think. Thank you. >> Awesome. >> Who else? Can we get a picture of you? in front of the Kingston. >> Yes,
>> of course. That's probably the best you're going to get. Will >> Hey, >> I'll get a picture later. >> I have a quick question. So, are are you guys are you going to bring Mabel to the to the schools? I know we they've done that in the past like during exams, that
kind of thing. >> So, I am uh NASRO certified, which is the National Association of School Resource Officers. Yeah. I am currently as the the backup role. We have a full-time high school, middle school, and then obviously Officer Tim covers KES, KISS, and Sacred Heart. Um, so I'm
in the position where I don't have to backfill a spot at a certain school. I can kind of just go anywhere any anytime that they request us or just on my own while I'm working patrol. If I want to stop in any of the schools, I'm sure that they would would love that. >> Oh, yeah. That's great.
>> Yeah, for sure. >> Welcome, Mel. You want to hand her off to Yeah. >> So, uh, at this time I'm going to be recognizing members of the department. Um, Officer Patrius, Lieutenant Scoa, Dispatcher Rodell, and Officer Hurley.
Just to add to what Officer Hurley was saying, um, Bridgewater University right now is doing a study to gauge the effects of um, the use of the dogs in an educational environment and the positive effects that they're having on uh, on students in this environment. So, um,
they're going to do like a statistical analysis of the effects of that over time. And that's that's Bridgewater is working with the district attorney right now. July 30th. >> Okay. The Kingston Police Department um has a police commenation award and this award
is established for law enforcement personnel that recognize credibility in the act credible acts in the line of duty. The acts that result in the prevention or solution of crimes uh where circumstances do not merit issuance of other awards. Variables for this include initiative, persistence, excellent police in police work,
accomplishment, teamwork, and competence. Recipients of this award will receive a written citation and a uniform ribbon. I don't have any ribbons, so I owe Oliver a ribbon. Uh on July 30th, a call was received from a resident uh reporting that it appeared that somebody was attemp in their yard
and was attempting to do something that something ended up being the theft of a uh jet ski in a trailer. Um in route to the call, Officer Patrikus observed the truck with the lights off that um he turned around and followed the vehicle. A pursuit ensued uh which went all the way down Route 3 into the Rotary on the
other um and then it continued down uh Route 25 uh and it ended up terminating in New Bedford. Um police pursuits are very unpredictable. Uh they're very dangerous. In this case, this followed the policy by the numbers. Uh thankfully
nobody was hurt. Uh a piece of either a rotor or something fell off of the uh the vehicle and struck a windshield on the top end of it. Um, one suspect was apprehended. Can I borrow your uh citation so I can read from it? Thank you. So, each person
here is being recognized uh for your actions on July 30th, 2025 in response to a felony incident involving a police pursuit, stolen truck, trailer, and jet ski that ended in New Bedford and resulted in the apprehension of a suspect. Your actions reflect great credit upon yourself, the department,
and maintain the highest traditions of law enforcement. Congratulations on a job well done. [Applause]
Can you can you guys hold open your certificate, please? [Laughter] Okay. Thank you. >> Thanks, Will. [Applause]
Nice job, guys. >> Can we have uh Glen Kaviki and Tom Taylor, guys, please? So, um, we we're going to attempt to, uh, recognize a couple of civilians with the Civilian Support and Service Award for their involvement in this rescue
that happened. Uh, neither of them was available. Uh, this incident took place on July 21, 2025 at 10:30 in the morning. The Kingston police received a 911 call from a resident 17 Jones River Drive reporting a party yelling for help and seeing that the party in the river
was in an overturned kayak. Uh the resident, Miss Fanton, was the caller from 17 Jones River and indicated that her husband Tom Connor was attempting to assist this person in the water behind her house. Officer McDonald was dispatched along with the Kingston Fire and Rescue. Kingston Harbor Master Tom Taylor was contacted regarding a water
emergency in the Jones River. He indicated that the assistant harbor master Glen Kaviki and him would be launching the harbor master boat to rescue this person. Sergeant Patrigus along with officer Hajnasser and officer Neil responded to this area. Upon their arrival in the Adena, they observed the hav master's boat speeding up the Jones
River in a safe manner with blue emergency lights on towards the location of the distressed kayaker. Mr. Connor had taken the kayak to go assist the the person in the water. Uh Mr. Connor was able to reach the person and help him stay afloat above the water until the rescuer arrived on scene. In
short, this this kayak was tangled in um fishing line and I believe it was own his own fishing line. Does that sound right? >> So, it's for those reasons that the Kingston Police Department is recognizing you both with a police commendation for your actions on July 1, 2025 in response to a water rescue
involving the overturn boat. Your actions reflect great credit upon yourself, the department, and maintain the high tradition of law enforcement and quite possibly saved a life that day. Congratulations to both of you.
[Applause] There you go. Thank you. >> Thanks, Will. Thank you. Uh there was one that we asked to have pulled from the agenda due to uh unforeseen emergency and we're going to be moving that one to September. Um and
then we had the acceptance of the donation. Think that was >> Yeah, we can we can do that out of turn. We have that under additional items. Uh an acceptance of donation. Um >> yeah. Are you doing the uh mission statement and core values first or Sure.
Okay. So um I think there was some things that were probably expected of me when I was brought here um about you know changing the trajectory of the department a bit uh without having the proper sense of purpose and identifying who we are as a group um it becomes unclear. So this
time last year uh we established the Kingston Police Department's core values and they are integrity, community, professionalism and service. And we did that not just by me coming along and saying, "Hey, these are the four core values and and that's it." Um, every member of the department had the opportunity to weigh in on certain key
words that identify us. We started out with an objective of three. U three and four were a tie and people had the opportunity to weigh in on the things that identify us. Uh, after a command staff meeting about a month ago, a small group was tasked with the objective of
making the mission statement of the Kingston Police Department. And the mission statement is that the Kingston Police Department, guided by integrity, professionalism, service, and a deep commitment to the community, partners with the public to serve, support, and protect all inhabitants of the town of Kingston. Our core values are integrity,
professionalism, service, and community. Integrity means that we should be open and transparent in all things that we do. We have the ability to value we we have the ability in this value to hold ourselves accountable before holding others accountable. We hold ourselves to a higher standard because that is what our constituents expect.
community. We are the public and we cannot do this job without you. We are interwoven with this community and we will engage with our community. Professionalism. Policing is a profession. It requires education, training, certification, compliance with federal, state, and local laws as well as the tacit understanding of those
laws, codes, regulations, and guiding case precedence in both the United States Constitution and the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. Service. We are law enforcement officers, dispatchers, administrators, leaders, and public servants. In service, we will work to support the community, serve others, and protect the
public's rights and interests. So, uh, this plaque is going to be, um, hung in the Kingston Police Department lobby. I'm going to hand it off to you, Trish, and then you can send it right on down to the end of the table, and I'm going to >> All right. And what we're going to do, we're going to take um an item out of
order. It's under our additional items. Acceptance of a donation um police department. Oh, this is nice. And I can read it without >> That's because it's not in my It's not in my penmanship. So, there's a fighting chance.
>> I'm telling you, it's getting harder to read. >> And I refuse to wear glasses. So, anyways, um we do have a donation. Uh the police department received a donation from Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz that included a life pack 1000 AED wall mounting case and two
nailocks boxes which on Narcan. These items will be provided to the recreation department. Uh Chief, anything to add before we make a motion? >> Yeah, I mean it's the district attorney of this county is very engaging. Um he's a valuable partner. Um we enforce, he
adjudicates. It's that simple. Um he's got federal resources where he's trying to provide as much as he can to the local uh constituents that he serves and um it's something that we greatly appreciate. >> Perfect. >> Um would anybody like to make a motion? >> Uh I move the board of selectment accept
the donation of a life pack 1000 AED wall mounting case and twin nails boxes from Plymouth County District Attorney. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I. That's unanimous. >> Thank you. Thank you. And thank you to the district attorney. Chief, did you can I just ask one quick question? I
apologize if I wasn't paying attention. Did you mention that it's going to be donated to the recreation department and hung at the reed? Yes. Sorry. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Chief. >> And thank you to all the members of our
uh police department. >> All right. Uh >> yeah, you're welcome to stay. >> Please stay. Don't worry, it's recorded. You can watch it later. >> She said I will. Do you want to give a
two-minute recess? >> You want to do a two-minute recess? >> Yeah, we're going to do a twominut recess >> just to let them clear. back. Um, we are going to skip uh number two and we're going to go to number three. Our consideration and approval of
a one-day liquor license for the library brewery event on Sunday, September 14th at the Kingston Public Library. Uh the Kingston Library Foundation is requesting a one-day liquor license for the live brewery event they're holding on the 14th uh in the parking lot of the
Kingston Public Library. Both the police and fire departments have reviewed and signed off on the licenses. Are there any questions, comments? Um did anybody want to >> speak about the event or sell it to the public at all or >> You don't have to but figured you have the opportunity. Yeah.
>> I missed all the >> It's a great event. >> Is this the third? >> This is our third. Yes. Um, Debbie Grace, 6 Pine Ridge Lane. >> Jessica Fitzgerald, 145 Summer Street. >> So, I am the former chair of the foundation. Jess is now the new chair of the foundation, but yes, this is our
third event. Um, last year, the when we did it in 2022, it was almost was close to a sellout. Um, we're hoping the same for this year, we have 10 breweries that are coming um to this event. We have a local Kingston band, the Shedtheads, that are playing. They're all um
parents. Um I won't state their ages, but their parents um and they will be there. All of these people are donating their services to us um to benefit the library. It's a great event. We have um the support from the business community
has been absolutely amazing. Um we have tons of raffles. >> Ticket prices go up September 1st, $10 a ticket. So, if you haven't gotten your ticket yet, I would recommend getting it before, but if you also want to give us more money, you can buy it after
September 1st. >> Yeah. >> Excellent. Sounds like a good time. Any questions or comments or motion? >> I move the board selectman approve the following one-day liquor licenses for the library event on Sunday, September
14th, 2025 from 1 p.m. to 5:00 pm. >> Does Kingston Library trustees you get your own license? That doesn't sound right. Really? >> Oh, okay. Kingston Library Trustees 42nd Brew Co. Independent Fermentations Brewing LLC Mayflower Brewing Co.
>> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I I >> That's unanimous. Thank you. Good luck. >> See you there. >> Thank you. We have a um a special brew that has been brewed by one of the breweries just for us that will bear the
Kingston Public Library Foundation seal on it. >> Nice. might want to come and test that one. >> Thank you guys. >> Sounds like a plan. >> Thank you. >> All right. And now we're going to go back to number two. Uh proposal to
upgrade the existing EV charging station to a level 2 32A dualport EVSSE chargers. Um, town administrator was approached by representatives from EBSSE Solutions to upgrade two existing EV charging stations located at the
townhouse and the Kingston library to level 232A uh, dualport chargers at no cost to the town. Uh, EVSSE solutions would obtain grants for the charging station upgrades. They would own and be responsible for maintaining the charging stations. In lie of retaining ownership,
EVSSE would receive 75% of the fees generated by the chargers with the remaining 25% being retained by the town. For comparative purposes, the town received $1,13269 in revenue in FY25. Is there anything to add to that, Keith?
>> Um, with us this evening is um Ed McQuellin. He works for the uh the charging station company who's looking to come into town. Um, these are not the just to make sure people are aware, uh, these are not the the high-speed uh,
charging stations. Unfortunately, those are not available through grants at this point. Uh, the charging stations that that we will be getting are better than we have. Uh, they're say one generation behind the latest and greatest. Um
they'll replace the existing charging stations, one of them at the library, the second one uh near the the animal control building. Um the uh the lead time according to Ed is about 5 months. So I'm not sure if they're going to be putting them in in the middle of winter or they're going to wait till spring
when when the thaw occurs. Um but it's from my point of view, this is a service we we can provide the community. I don't think it's a business we really want to get into. um the town most towns including Kingston don't do a great job at maintaining a lot of things were reactive. So, my thought was in giving
up $750 to uh in revenue to allow for um the uh EVSE to retain ownership and have to maintain and upgrade and care for
those those uh charging stations was was worthwhile um a worthwhile um you know give giving of of that $750,800. So, um, happy to try to answer any questions. Ed's here if there's any
questions particularly, uh, that the board has in particular, but, >> um, to me it's kind of a win-win. >> Any any questions? >> Uh, motion. >> I move with board of approve. >> Is there not public comment on this?
>> It's no, it's not a it's not a hearing, but >> Okay. What do Did you have a question? >> The No, the I I mean, as an EV owner, I I have an interest in, you know, the the
chargers that we go into town. They're And you know, I I don't want to violate rules, but these are not quality chargers, nor is this good for the situation that we're in. And I can go into detail, but I don't want to I don't want to overstep what
what is allowable here. Oh, go ahead. >> Like to like to address that. Are you talking about the uh the maxi char theel maxi charger unit or the existing units that are there today?
>> Um I'm talking about the fact that the network in question here, the loop network is widely seen as one of the most inferior networks for charging in the in the United States. it has more some of the highest complaint levels of any other networks. Additionally, we're
taking roughly 100k um of grant money that's coming from somewhere else to do a marginal upgrade of the existing EB infrastructure that's already in town. We're taking away from Charge Point, which has a much better reputation. And the chargers in question
are not using the North American charging standard, which has been adopted by, I believe, 80 to 90% of all vehicles that are being sold in the United States at this point in time. So, it's not it's not it just doesn't make
sense. I would and I would prefer to see these chargers at new locations versus the existing location where we have charging infrastructure in place. Yeah, I'm gl I'm glad you brought that up because um you know I we did indicate from the very beginning of the process
that we would be able to install these at no cost at different town properties, but it was just uh decided upon to just rip and replace the the current infrastructure because right now the you
know the current chargers have a shelf life of about five years old. So they're right there at the moment. So they would just start at some point start costing the town a little money. So uh you know even if you know these are the Autel chargers
uh and they that the chargers themselves are quality chargers. They're highly rated. >> They're obsolete from a standpoint of uh charging for 80% of vehicles in the United States. They're incompatible with Teslas. They're incompatible with
Cadillac starting in year 2526. They're incompatible with Nissan. They're incompatible with Honda with their with their shift over. They're going to be incompatible with Volkswagen. >> Is there an alternative, >> Mr. McMillan? McQuillin, sorry.
>> Well, yeah, but I first of all, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with some of that. >> I I because I don't because these units have, you know, they'll be able to handle Well, first of all, Tesla has its own network. Tesla can't really plug into there may be one other charging
station available but it's Tesla but Tesla vehicles have adapters that would allow uh Tesla charges to use the Autel charging system >> right but the in an effort to streamline the charging process many of the big
companies Ford GM Chrysler have all made the decision to move over to the Tesla charging standard which is also why the Tesla network has been opened up level three four and five or four, three, four, and five generation Tesla superch
are now available to those cars. >> This is Yeah. And you could you could install those, but it would cost you several hundred thousands of dollars to do that. >> Go ahead. >> I I would disagree with that. You can buy a level you can buy a level
charging standard. >> I'm going to interrupt for a second because we didn't really set this up as a public hearing. Um, and it's not your fault. you didn't know but but typically that's why we have open form at the be beginning of our um meeting for folks to talk about anything upcoming in our
meeting. Um so but you know I went ahead and and let you speak. What I would suggest is that we potentially table this for the other to a date when both Missy and Carl would be here as well and then we can we can do some um further
digging into this. Um and and I'm sorry I didn't see >> I appreciate Yeah, Derek. I I really appreciate you sort of raising your hand on this though because I I am not an EV user. So I appreciate your input and questions because it it adds um additional
>> and yeah. Yeah. And I you know I don't want to definitely go out of turn serving on the finance committee and the wage and personnel committee. I know that we have a way of doing things and I certainly don't want to guck up the process but I just you know as as an EV owner I did want to kind of raise my hand on this.
>> And Derek I I can't read your last name. Um, do you if you wouldn't mind just maybe sending an email to me. It's it's >> erone kingston.gov. >> Uhhuh. >> Um, and and reach out. And what we'll probably what I'm suggesting is that we
just table this for for um the meeting when we have the full board here >> uh to kind of go through this because again >> um I I I I'm more than happy to do that. Yeah. >> All right. All right. Excuse me everybody. Um, my name is Nick Fori. I
work with Ed and I am one of the owners of >> EVSSE. >> Uh, Derek, you have made Well, first off, uh, would you mind if I just address some of Derek's uh, statements? >> Uh, you can. >> All right. So, Derek, you you've made some very um, perfect statements. So,
you know, in regards to Loop Network, we are diagnostic to everybody. the only charging stations we cannot install a Tesla because they are priority to Tesla. So if you guys if the town of Kingston would like a different charging
network, we can install whatever they would like. Uh each network has its own uh protocols. As far as Derek's um statement on the um charger itself as more of the plug,
most cars, if not all, have a adapter. So, I am a EV driver just like Derek. I drive a Tesla and a uh electric Hummer. And the Hummer has an adapter to charge to the um charge point network, the loop
network. And then the Hummer has an adapter to charge to the uh Tesla network. So when you are an EV driver, you do have the capability of uh connecting to whatever charging stations you have available.
I will also agree with Derek that the rip and replacing of the uh charging stations that we're doing, it's a rip and replace on the same uh charger. So that is a what I call a level two traditional charger.
We can also install level two smart chargers. Now what's the difference? A level two traditional charger charges a vehicle between 10 20 miles an hour. A level two smart charger is going to
charge up to 60 m per hour. The level three chargers that everybody talks about the Tesla superchargers, we could install those. However, the incentive is gone. The incentive filled in 11 months.
Those charging stations charge up to 250 miles per hour. Now, the reason why I continue to use up to is because it's based upon the battery. Not only how big your battery is, but how full your battery is. And I'm sure Derek can
attest to that. Derek, can you attest to that? >> Yeah. Yeah. and and my point was more and I appreciate you sharing that and I don't want to take up more of the board's time than than >> Well, I think I think what you said was very is very uh in very information very
good information that somebody from the town um is saying so everybody on the town can understand everything because most people are not EV drivers at least at this point time. So Derek, I think you've raised something that is very important and I think everybody on the board should hear. Okay, you are a
concerned citizen. So I I I think that you've you've brought a very valid point. So I apologize. I'd like you to finish. >> And lucky for us, Derek understands that costs are sometimes prohibitive as a member of finance committee. >> All right. So
>> So the the good thing is I apologize. Let me just let me just finish where I think Eric was getting to. So what Ed has brought to the table is something that um our company EVSSE can install whether
it's a traditional level two charger or the level two smart chargers. Now, please note that the incentive allows per street address and we can install either two dual port traditional
chargers at no cost based upon the current incentive or one dual port smart charger. Now, both are dual port. So, if you have one smart charge, you can charge two cars at once. If you do the traditional charge, you can charge four cars at
once. I personally think as an EV driver, the traditional charges, as Derek had alluded to, is pay a because who's got 6 to8 hours to charge their vehicle?
Um I do think that a um as Derek commented, um a faster charger is is needed, but the level 3es at this point in time, it's impossible because of the cost. The cost for a level three is upwards of $200,000 because you have the
infrastructure, you've got the equipment, and then you have the installation. Um, but we're told that the new incentive will be coming out. So, that's something that Ed will talk to the town on as far as uh different locations
where the level 3es could go uh depending upon cost. But I do believe moving forward with ripping out the existing charges to uh an updated technology is very important. And what Derek is saying, putting more up-to-date
chargers um which would be considered the smart chargers that can charge up to 60 miles an hour is also very important in the locations. >> All right. Any any other questions or um do we want to table this?
>> I just ask a couple questions. >> Yeah, please. >> So, um Mr. Valori or Ed, I'm not sure which one the one which person is the right person to answer the question. There was >> Yeah, that was Nick Fer. Okay. >> There was uh a comment made that you could either put in you could put in two
two types of level two charges. the the the the the type that's being proposed for us this evening and then one that seemed to be a quicker quicker charge than than the one that's being proposed this evening. >> Um I guess the question I have is the
reason we went with the the charger that we're we're proposing this evening is there is no cost. Is there is there any cost at all to any any of the other um superior charging stations on level two? >> That's a great question. Thank you.
>> The the the level two smart charger based upon the current incentive, we can install one per street address at no cost. Now, there's obviously caveats to everything. It has to get approved by the incentive. We have to do a site visit to make sure there's ample power.
We got to make sure that the site is ADA compliant, which the two big things with AD ADA compliant would be that it's a paved area and the air the paved area where the shotgun is going to be is relatively flat. >> Well, Nick, remember it's a it's a rip
and replace. >> Well, that's just the one location we're talk I got the impression uh uh that we want to know about other opportunities. So, there's two there's two there's two locations with the library and the town h the townhouse. Yeah. >> And I guess if we're gonna if we're
going to hold if we're going to if we're going to table this to uh to the September 9th meeting, I guess what I would like to ask is >> if we were to upgrade uh to the other option, level two charger, um are we eligible based on the
locations A and B, is there a cost to do so? Um, from my point of view, the reason we're moving forward this is is it's an upgrade. It's certainly not ideal. Um, but it's a it's an opportunity for people who come to the town office building, if they want to charge their cars when they're in a
meeting or things of that nature, they can do that at no cost. I don't, you know, I everybody, I think, is aware of the challenges we're dealing with financially. I don't think the town of Kingston should be in the electric charger business. Um, you know, so um,
you know, we're trying to do this at a low cost and provide some sort of a benefit here. If there's an opportunity to get a higher level, level two charger at no cost, then I think we're all ears. If the board >> I think what he's saying though is this lower one can charge four cars. If we go with the smart, it will only it would
still be no cost, but it would only charge two cars. >> And my two cents would be we should go with the one that charges two cars because again, we've talked we've seen the income at $1,000 a month. I'm I mean a year, excuse me. It's uh not a ton of We're not making a ton of dough here,
>> Keith. Actually, the late the latest proposal that I had sent was the >> the level two super that uh was going to replace just each one location was going to have one charger each. >> Okay. >> Okay. So, I would suggest we take this
up again on September 9th. >> All right. Thank you. >> Very well. Hey, uh Derek. >> Yes. >> Um if you'd like to connect with us, um I'd love to be able to go over things. It seems like you are uh very aware of
the town and diff the infrastructure that might be needed. So maybe some interest to uh that we all connect uh to try to figure something out. >> Sounds good. Uh my my thanks to the board for for um kind of breaking procedure and letting me speak.
>> Yeah. Thank you, Derek. All right. Uh, next item up is a request from McFarland Farms Development to place a stone marking the neighbor neighborhood entrance on town property. Uh, Christine Mayorano. Uh, I hope I said that right. Oh, good. A resident
from McFarland Farms neighborhood is requesting that an engraved stone be placed on town property at the entrance of the neighborhood. Uh, a photo of the stone stone marker was in our our packet. Um and uh in speaking to council, there's limited liability
exposure of a vehicle of some kind left the roadway and hit the marker. Uh the interim superintendent of streets, Sean Turner, has reviewed the plans is and is in favor of the request. Um are there any questions or comments? >> Would anybody like to make a
>> Does she want to talk about it or is she good? Do you want me to stand up? >> I think >> I don't have a question. I think we're all set to >> to vote. Talk about >> then you need to go up there and just introduce yourself.
>> Um, in order to complete this project, we need to have some lom. And it was mentioned when I spoke with Sean that maybe there was a possibility that the town would have lom available that they could give to this project because the
island is town on land. If that's not the case, it's fine. We're prepared to purchase lom before we can. >> So my my my hesitation respectfully >> is if I give you lom, >> right? >> There's other people I'm gonna have that's going to be asking for lom. It's not that we don't want to do that. So I
hope you understand that. >> Oh, I do. Um I do. I'm just concerned about setting a precedent. >> Absolutely. And I totally understand that, but I thought I would ask. >> I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Um, we hope if we have your approval to move forward in September, have the
stone delivered and put plantings around it. Um, Sean was kind enough to give me pictures of the island. If you're familiar, do you know where it is? Are you familiar with it? So, you know, um, there's nothing there now. And our objective is to enhance the appearance
of the island and and our subdivision as well. So that's why we're we looked into replacing the signs that are already there that are in bad bad shape. And um the homeowners that have the signs on their property didn't want to do that. So that's why we thought we would pursue using the island. It wasn't our first
choice. But >> so that's the history behind it. Are there any questions? the I'm president of the garden club and the garden club maintains a lot of uh islands around town so it isn't like it's a pre something new um we have a
lot of islands that we maintain in the town already so >> okay anything else >> do you want to make a motion >> I move the board of selectman approve the request from McFarland Farms residents to place a stone marking uh the neighborhood on town property
>> second >> all those in favor I >> with gratitude. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Good luck with it. I think it'll look very nice. >> Yeah. >> And thank you for everything the garden club does, too. >> Yeah. >> Thank you for everything the garden club
does, too. >> We try. >> We try. Thank you. >> All right. Next item is a complete streets plan 2025 update. Um, so the updated uh complete streets prioritization plan is in the board materials for review. uh town planner uh
Valerie Mousard um who has worked closely with Shawn Turner's requesting the selection and review and if comfortable accept an update the complete streets prioritization plan. Once approved, the updated prioritization plan will be uploaded to the Mass DOT grant central website
keeping the town of Kingston eligible for complete street grant consideration. Um anything to add to that or any >> I just Val and and and Sean wanted to get up. You have any comments you want to make Val? you good with with what's
been said. >> I think it'd be worthwhile if you don't mind if the board doesn't mind. >> Sure. >> Great. >> So, um, as you said, Mr. chairman, we'd worked together as a team, worked with our consultant, Apex Engineering, and we
went through the townwide prioritization plan that we had done last year. And with Sean being the new acting highway superintendent and going through the process of of just using one engineer
for the because the previous complete streets plan was done by a different engineering firm. So this is consistency using the same engineer that we did the townwide plan with. And so the top 10 right now become um a lot about Main
Street, Green Street, and then Summer Street, more about Main Street and Evergreen Street. So what we're doing is we're focusing on the center of town. Uh we're focusing on walkability. We're focusing
on repairs to existing sidewalks and crosswalks. We've gotten a couple of grants already to do some of that work. We've been fortunate to have town meetings support us with $50,000 which we're using to work with the residents to help to design what the streetscape
of Main Street will look like. And then we're going to uh continue to apply for grants this spring and moving forward to implement further design more detailed plans once we have those schematics and then um hopefully get
into construction sometime um in the relatively near future. Um it's it's an iterative process and um but there are total just for the sake of everyone here there's uh 52 projects in the list and
uh we'll update this every year. We're keeping a running list of all the projects that we have addressed or are addressing now and these are only the complete streets projects are only for townowned roads not state controlled roads.
>> Anything to add? I Yeah, go ahead, Keith. >> So, I want to I just want to I just want to thank um Val and and Sean for taking the lead on this and and doing a great job to get this updated and continue to put us put the town of Kingston in a position to apply for and be awarded
grants. Uh we've been exceptionally successful in that over the last six or eight months um with the passage of of the um the new the new zoning laws in town. Um, and Zalis, if people want to take a look
and read through this, we can post on the website. Where would you would you post on the planning department page? >> Yeah, I think I'm going to try in the next month to create a transportation page where we have information. Right. Right now, we have some of our transportation projects up there like
Tarlin and 53 at at 3A and like uh exit 20. >> So, we can add some of this. >> Awesome. Thank you. I I have a question that may be related or it may not be. I'm not sure. Um and if there was an email about this, I apologize for not
paying attention, but I we were um uh given additional chapter 90 funds. Do we know how that how how is that additional funds going to be spent? Do we know yet? >> Yeah, the additional funds will be spent on paving. >> Yeah.
>> Crack sealing. uh possibly repairing the sidewalks. Val and I also sat down and we had a discussion with Keith about the program we use in town which was the street scan. Now it's City Logix. >> Yep. >> So we're going to purchase that and that's also going to reassess our roads,
our sidewalks and the ADA ramps. So a portion of that will come out of the chapter 90 funds to get that up and going. So, does that just put us further ahead on our paving and patching and all that on our on our >> Oh, yes. Yeah, absolutely. >> One cool thing I want to add about the u
the new city logics program is it'll have a dashboard that residents and selectmen alike can go and look and see where do they rank in terms of the issues we have in town, condition of the road, condition of the sidewalk, >> and that'll be an ongoing uh dashboard
that we have available for everyone. >> So, would that Here's a question. So would I as a resident be able to either ask you or find out myself I live on XYZ road will I know when that's due to be repaved or resealed or whatever what
next maintenance >> the dashboard >> necessarily not necessarily this the it that all depends on funding >> um this dashboard though will help people understand okay you're not first on the list because look at this one you know they can compare themselves and
there's 360 degree views y >> and very high capture of of pixelated information to see exactly what we're talking about. It's helpful for us and it's helpful for the residents and for you as the road commissioners. >> Um and then there's another tool we
should just mention too that on the town website. Do we want to mention that >> or people can report in? >> Oh yes. Yeah. So the other day when I was talking to Keith and and Jana who started So there's a you can go online now on the town website and
create like a report. It's on the I think the front page that you can do a work request online. Potholes um anything you see around town that you want to report. They don't have to call the highway department anymore if they don't want to. They can submit it online and as soon as they submit it I get the
email. >> Yeah. >> And then I can address the work and fix things as needed. So they can report anything. A street light out, a pothole, a damaged tree, anything can be reported online. Now >> that just started last Friday. >> If they report a street light, does it indicate to them to include the number
on the poll? >> Yes, I believe everything is stated right in there >> because I know that's >> they want the closest location, something like that. It'll be the poll number. So then we can report it to Eversource. >> And what's what's helpful is a lot of people will, you know, not be not be sure where to report an out a street
light outage. So now that you've got the ability to do that, we can have Evers Source out there and make whatever repairs are necessary to have that street light turned back on because we're paying for that street light whether it's on or off. >> Correct. >> Um so if if you see a street light that's not working and in town um and you want to take two minutes and fill
out that request form, you can do that and and Sean will be in touch with Eversource um shortly after that and we'll try to get that street light back on. >> Yeah, I believe that's on the main page of the >> Y >> the new website and also it's on the highway department page. Yeah. So, it's there's a few areas you can find. >> It's an interactive opportunity for
people to, you know, let people let the public streets, street trees, and parks know there's an issue and um and and they can track where in the process their issue is, whether it's been uh assigned to somebody or in in many cases completed. So, >> yeah. And I'll have a separate folder
set up. So, I'll it will it'll get marked completed when we finish it. >> So, it's a good tool to have for the tenants. So, >> all right. on the weekends. Now, they won't just call over there and get a voicemail. They can actually submit it online through an email.
>> Any other questions, comments? >> No, I'm just very thankful. >> Yeah, thank you so much for all this work. Definitely puts us in a good position. So, does anybody would anybody like to make a motion? >> I move the board of selectment approve the updated complete streets prioritization plan as presented.
>> Second. >> All those in favor? Hi. >> It's unanimous. Thank you. >> All right. Uh Keith, did we have somebody joining us? >> Liz is on there. >> Yeah. Attorney Liz Leiden from um me Talman Costa is here this evening uh
virtually. And there she is in the top right hand corner. >> And that's for the >> and and she's here for the >> discussion on the social equity policy for um cannabis. >> Okay. So I'm going to read through this fairly quick and then >> maybe just the first paragraph.
>> Yeah. Yeah. So, on August 11th, 2022, Governor Charlie Baker signed Oh, let me introduce it. This is a discussion and possible vote of Kingston Cannabis Social Equity Policy. On August 11th, 2022, Governor Charlie Baker signed um S
uh 3096, an act relative to equity in the cannabis industry, into law. The new law requires host municipalities like Kingston to establish initial policies to promote equity in the cannabis industry no later than July 1st, 2023 or be subject to monetary penalties. On
June 29th, 2023, the Mass Cannabis Control Commission, CCC, issued guidance on how to create a model um for social equity policy that encourages cities and towns in Massachusetts to consider incentives for increased participation
by social equity applicants in their local cannabis ecosystem. I'm not going to go into um the rest of the detail. It's all in our our handout. Um Keith, I'll hand it over to you and then um we can introduce Liz if you need.
>> Sure. Um very briefly from my point of view. Um this was something that that that was forwarded to myself um a while ago, frankly. I don't know exactly when, Liz, a while ago was, but it was a while ago. I got an email uh within the last
couple of weeks uh just notifying me that um the town had not adopted or taken an taken a position on this equity policy. Uh so I reached out to Liz who very quickly um sent me an email reminding me that she had she had made
made notification to the town a while ago and I missed it. Bottom line. Um so I let the cannabis commission know that we're going to be discussing it this evening. They were fine with that. Um, this policy is something from from what I understand and Liz can get into much
in much greater detail is an attempt by the CCC to provide uh equity to people who uh who are applying for um excuse me um cannabis licenses in a community. And Liz, maybe you can get a little bit more detail about what that
means if you don't mind. >> Sure. So, this policy relates to the municipality's ability to grant a host community agreement and then subsequent approvals for zoning or building. And what this policy states is that when
you're deciding whether or not to grant a host community agreement that the town will consider social equity as one of the components in granting an HCA. And there's another portion of this policy
that is in there under the let me see I think it's the third paragraph. There's a second piece of the regulations that you are required to comply with under 935 CMR 500.1813 and that is um the town either has to
create a bylaw or adopt the model bylaw that the CCC put out or adopt a policy whereby um host communities choose to administer a onetoone local approval process until such time as 50% of the licenses.
in the municipality are social equity businesses. Um, I've put that third piece in there recently to address the compliance with this without having to go to town meeting because by putting it in your policy and adopting the policy,
then you comply with that that next piece as well. Um once this policy is adopted, then you would have to create a web page on the town's website that basically um gives a contact person to
reach out to for any social equity businesses that are looking to um establish a new marijuana business in town. And then you would link all of your applications including um if you
have an application for an HCA or um planning board or zoning board of appeals and building department, whatever the um steps are to meet to open a business. You would just basically put a step-by-step process on
your website, link the applications, and list a contact person. and then you'd comply with um every piece of the regulations. >> So, I have a question. So, I'm trying to wrap my head around this. So, my understanding that of this, and I may be
reading this wrong, um, but what they're saying social equity means is that we provide that that the CCC's social equity programs provides training and technical assistance to applicants who've been disproportionately impacted
by war on drugs, marijuana prohibition, arrests, and incarceration. So does this mean someone who was in jail is >> only for marijuana related offenses? If they had if they were in possession of marijuana before it was legal and were
arrested for possession or distribution of marijuana, then they would be considered a social equity applicant or it also means minority and womenowned businesses. >> And then we would um not womanowned, you said minority owned. >> Minority or womanowned, I think.
>> Either one. Have women been impacted by war on drugs? I I don't know. >> I think it's just they're trying to >> because that doesn't seem to meet the the definition. Womanowned doesn't seem to to meet this
>> that I can see. I mean, maybe maybe I'm missing something, but basically, so if someone was in jail for for marijuana related offenses, then um we're supposed to give them preference in a host community agreement >> or not rule them out as a potential applicant, I think.
>> Well, it sounds like we have >> you have to treat them equally per >> No, you have to give them a higher >> higher score. >> You have to give them higher score. >> Yeah. Now, how many >> So, I >> correct me if I'm wrong. Let me just ask this real quick and then I'll let you do
Do we have like if somebody came in and wanted to open up another store? What they can do that right now? Am I right? I mean, >> we have one left. >> There's only Yeah, we have two >> and we have two. So, there were three total. So, there's one spot, but we haven't
>> two total. Two spots. One is >> right. You've given out you've given out a second license and they have not come in and um gone through the plan process. or or got an approval to to open a toilet facility
>> applicants regularly coming in or I'm just curious >> join us >> every couple of months we get a phone call from somebody who's doing their homework. >> Yeah. And I have had at least two people who would fall into this category inquire and um the existing special
permit for the one available site that's left in town because that's just the nature of locationbased >> zoning that we have and having to be so far from a school or health. Uh >> right. >> Anyway, >> yeah, I remember that. um we we when
that expires in September, they're not going to have their license or their special permit any longer. And so we would recommend to you that you put that back out as as something that you know that obviously someone would need to control the site and or have an an
option on the site and go through the process. >> Sure. >> Um and people do inquire about sites that don't qualify often. >> Yeah. So, if I could. So, Liz, I I think there's some hesitation >> um at least I'm hearing some hesitation on the board maybe about
um the issuance of a license to somebody who may have broken a law in the past. Um if if the board was not open to um approving this sort of a policy, what is what is the penalty for doing so? So the
municipality can be fined for non-compliance >> and and how is how is the fine do you know how the fine is determined? >> So they can collect um all of the impacts from the prior year or any
impact fees collected in the prior year and I believe also in addition to that um up to $500 for each um violation. So, we've been So, and I I apologize to put you on the spot. The town of Kingston's been
receiving, you know, revenues from the sale of of uh recreational marijuana for two or three years now. Uh but but um I don't believe we're receiving any revenues anymore from, you know, the towns used to receive a
certain amount of money um as an impact fee, so to speak. and I thought the legislature had um eliminated that revenue opportunity for communities. Um so we I don't believe we're receiving any any particular
impact fees anymore. Um just revenues from uh the amount of marijuana that's that's sold in the community. So and if that's the case um are we talking about a $500 fine?
So they see >> while she looks at that I have a a question for the the board. Um >> I looked up other policies that I could find from other communities and some of them are a lot
shorter and just reference this law that was enacted and saying following this guideline. does have a policy, but it is much more like because of this law, we have a policy. Refer to that and we're going to have this process. It's very
short. I have at the city of Attboro, which obviously we're not a city, >> but I think we could potenti It doesn't, from what I could see, and Liz will correct me, but it doesn't look like it's super specific about what has to be in there as long as you have a social
equity policy that adheres to what the regulations require. So, I would I know that we told the CCC we're going to do this tonight, but we are two and a half years late or two years late. So, I guess the question is is would another two weeks for us to look at a potential
rewrite of this policy be that horrible >> but the equity is not equity. Is that what I'm hearing? That they have to get moved. They get preferential treatments. >> Priority >> priority. It's not equity. So I can tell you that what's in the
plan itself is what's in the regulations. And so everything that's in the plan is required by the regulations. And so even if you took it out, it would still be required. Adelborough, I can't say whether it's been approved, whether their policy has been approved by the
CCC, but I I do know that this um policy has been adopted by multiple municipalities and been accepted by the CCC as in compliance. I did see that many of the communities had this exact policy >> as written
>> which I don't support. >> So I don't either. >> I would as written. >> If we have to vote if we have to vote it now I'm a no. >> I'm a I would be >> question ask can I ask something? It's Jennifer Kushman. >> No it's not it's not open. >> It's not open. It's not open. >> Okay. All right. Thanks Scott.
>> Yep. So I would suggest um >> I think chief would like to see question for the town attorney might help you. >> She might not be able to hear you unless you want to >> I I didn't hear you. I'm sorry. >> No, this microphone. He just has to come to the >> Attorney Leiden is it?
>> Yes. >> Brian Holmes, police chief. Nice to meet you. Um does this create this Senate bill? Does this create an exemption for convicted felons even if it's marijuana? No, I don't think I mean I don't believe that this would rise to the level of of
a felony. I don't think that would be included. This is um more about uh the war on drugs and and the disproportionate impact on people who basically were in possession of marijuana.
>> So it doesn't include distribution. Um, it includes distribution, but I don't think in the quantities that would rise to the level of a felony. I'd have to check on that. >> So, if it's trafficking, which is 50 pounds and over of marijuana, that one would disqualify an applicant.
>> I think that would still be illegal under the current law, in which case um then it would not be included in those that >> it's too vague >> rule. >> Okay. >> I'm not in favor. >> All right. Thank you. Appreciate it.
>> And again, it sounds like the only thing that we're subject to is >> a $500 fine. Everything else, >> I'm saying I think the first fine would be 500. I don't It says um the commission may impose fines against those that are out of compliance or failed to come in compliance after May
1st. So, I don't know. >> May 1st, July 1st, >> May 1st of 2025. You're already out of compliance. >> May 1st, 2025. Okay. So this was so they've already sent they've sent out their first batch of notices to municipalities who are not in
compliance and if I don't know how much time they gave you to comply but at that point then you would receive a fine and I don't know up to what amount um that that would go to or for how long but
it hasn't they haven't gotten to the point of issuing fines yet so I can't say what their practice has been. >> Well, we don't have a full board. Do you want to push it off till we have five? >> Uhhuh. >> Yeah. We're going to table this until we have a full board. >> It's better to table than have three nos
at the moment. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, Liz. >> Thanks, Liz. I'll I'll reach I'll reach out to the individual at the uh Canvas Commission that that I've been communicating with just to let her know that the board needs a couple more weeks. >> Okay. Thank you. And if the board has
any comments, questions that Liz can refine the policy that you have in front of you this evening, let us know and we'll be happy to try to do that. >> If you could move Kingston to New Hampshire or another state that isn't quite so >> um totalitarian, I'd love it. >> Yeah.
>> I will say um it's still discretionary whether to grant any licenses at all. That's still in the discretion of the board. So, even if you adopted this policy and you don't want to grant any licenses, I know >> it's in your discretion to do that. >> Yeah. It doesn't read that way.
>> Um, that's just case law. >> Yeah. >> So, >> I I wouldn't be comfortable voting for this unless it unless in the policy itself it states that in the end the town still has the discretion of
who to award it to, not case law, but actually in the policy. then I would feel comfortable doing that. >> Liz, would it be possible for you to send us the um links to any of this relevant information, meaning the the law itself, which I
found, but might be helpful for folks who are catching up um since we're missing two selectmen. Um the regulation just so that we can read what it actually says. I know that not everybody likes to read law, but count me in the pro law category. I just want to see
what it actually says so that I can wrap my mind around what they're forcing us to do. >> Yep. I can send the advisory that I sent previously to in the um >> Okay. I have the me I have a memorandum dated June 29th. Is that the >> Is that the one you're thinking of from
the Cannabis Control Commission? Okay. >> Oh, that is one of them. I also sent out a couple of um advisories on this previously. >> No. Okay. If you could resend it, that would be really great. I would appreciate it. >> Sure. Thanks, Liz. >> All right. Thank you.
>> All right. Thank you. >> All right. Next item. Uh, town administrator position statement and job description review. So, um, we have should have had in our packet or or at least by emails, um, the current town administrator's job description that was
from the wage and personnel study, >> right, >> that came from, uh, Tina, that was from like 2022. And then also the the uh position statement that Kim started. >> Right. So we had the firm that we hired back in 2020. Um we paid them I don't
know $15,000 or something. So they created the position statement which they used as the job posting after interviewing employees, residents, the screening committee and they put this together. Um things have changed a bit
since 2020. So, my thinking was we could just edit some of this to make it updated with updated budget numbers and and Keith provided updated numbers. Thank you. Um and updating projects, some of the
projects that were in that initial position statement from 2020 are already done. So, um yeah, that's that's where we started, I guess. and links to the the website were obviously updated. So those needed to be
updated because it was the kingston mass.org >> as opposed to the kingston >> ma.gov >> and some of these financial numbers that I put in here >> Yeah. >> need to be double checked. >> I was going to say it looks like it says 68 million in one spot for the budget
and then 60 million in another spot. So that's one thing I just want to make sure we fix. And then um I'm not sure that I have the right new growth in FY25. I have that as 439, but I think that might have been copied over from the last time. >> What's that? >> Kathleen says it's close.
>> Yeah. Okay. >> Maybe you could we could have her look at it. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Just make sure we have the right numbers. Okay. >> But I I think this looks good. But one of the the items here is the annual salary. So we had in here 180K plus or minus >> DOQ, but then
>> depending on qualifications. Yep. And then you had added the with a salary max. You originally had the 185. I upped it to 200. >> I think it can be only what we have in the budget. >> So um >> so whatever we can afford, right?
>> I I'm I'm worried about um you know, we do need to finalize that that upper number. Now, we could just leave it 180 plus or minus depending on qualifications and leave it kind of o open-ended without the having a maximum in there.
>> We had a maximum in 2020 because similarly to this year, there was a number we knew we could not go over. So, we really didn't want >> anyone saying, "Well, plus or minus, I'll come in. They'll give me 220." And so, right, >> the the search firm said because you
have >> a limit, >> you should put that in there. Whether or not we still think that's true, I don't know. >> But I I just want to make sure we're not saying something we can't actually do. >> Yeah. So, I would almost recommend
unless we think it's a bad idea to pull out the salary maximum. Just say annual salary 180k plus or minus. >> Yeah, I think I'm fine with pulling out the max. I do. It's right here. >> So, you can make the edits live. >> I'm going to change it right now. I'm just going to pull that out.
>> Um, >> so, as much as I'd love to wait until we have a full board, this unfortunately is time sensitive. So, we have to get this moving. >> So, I I think the introduction I don't know if you guys want to go, we probably don't need to go through this whole thing. >> I want to make sure that whoever needs to check the numbers checks the numbers
so that that's accurate. >> Uh, I'm also gonna I had Tina start to take a look at this. Um I I haven't heard back from her yet, but we also need Kate or someone in her firm to um to go through this and make sure there's >> nothing in here that's going to land us in trouble.
>> Sure. >> Um also on page two, the second paragraph where it says, "According to a 2014 S&P report, Kingston has a very healthy economy." Well, >> I don't know if there's been one after that. >> Have one after that. So
>> you could say according to the most recent. >> It's true, >> right? >> According to Kathleen at our selectman's meeting, >> most recent. >> Yeah, >> Kingston has a very healthy economy.
>> Um, you know, this is it's it's hard to say where we're we have a lot of potential. Um, >> I mean, you could just take out that first line, that first sentence. >> So says the community has strong budgetary flexibility and good financial policies. Budgetary flexibility. I don't know if that's true.
>> I would recommend. Yeah, let's take out that first sentence. I agree with that. So, the community has strong budgetary flexibil. I wouldn't say >> I don't know if that's true. >> And good financial. How about we just start with Kingston is located about >> Let's do that. Let's start there. Let's
start there. Yeah, let's start there. >> I mean, inflation that's accurate. Inflation's been tough. We've got a rising cost of insurance. I mean, everybody's facing the same stuff. >> Kingston's located 35 miles south of Boston. True story. That is true. >> That is true. >> Uh which provides employment
opportunities for residents. I'm not going to read through the whole thing, but um >> I think that that's better though, >> right? >> Yep. And there is a desire for economic development to help fund town services. That is definitely true. >> Yep. >> Support infrastructure needs. Okay. >> The important links I have in there, Town of Kingston website, master plan
from 2017. Is that is that the most recent master plan? >> Didn't we do that recently? >> Yeah. >> No, it's not. >> Yeah. Okay. I >> Oh, Valerie's not here anymore. >> If we can just get that >> we got that again in like 2024 or something. >> And then general bylaws. I have a link
to that, but we just need to make sure these links are are correct. And then I have an FY26 budget summary. I'll I'll hand off this document. Um Keith, I'll email it to you and Kathleen and Tina and and Kate when we're done. >> Um
>> let's just check the links now. We're here. >> I got those. I I got them from the website and I put them in here. >> And you did? And you But there wasn't another master plan listed. >> No. >> Okay. >> Um and then we've got uh economic and
community. >> Come on in. We're talking about the uh >> town administrator >> position statement. So, we're just we just started that. >> Um >> and we passed over a couple of things to a future meeting. So, >> yeah. >> Okay. So, we're on page two of um this
partic the position statement, economic and community development. Oh, and we decided where we have the annual salary. Um it just says 180,000K plus or minus depending on qualifications. And then I had added with a maximum of 200. Kim had
put 185. I was just >> we're just going to take that. >> We're just taking it out. So, we're just saying annual salary plus or minus. >> Yeah. You know, obviously we don't want to turn people off, but we also don't want to have people come in with unrealistic expectations. So, we can get
cut through that fairly quickly. >> We also took out the first couple of sentences about the financial position >> on page two because it said according to an 2014 S&P report. And even though if that's the most recent, it still sounds old. >> It does sound >> um economic and community development. I
think that's um that's okay. I don't think we need to change anything. Open space and recreation. That one's pretty solid, I think. Um, and then the current projects, I added a couple under potential projects. So, under current projects, we have establishment of a department of public works. Mhm.
>> Then we have ongoing maintenance on various town buildings. >> Regionalization regionalizing study >> study of the schools which are currently partially regionalized. >> Renovations to local schools. Potential projects is uh renovations of the fire
station on the south side of Kingston. >> A new police station has been recommended for about 10 years but was narrowly rejected by town meeting voters several years ago. upgrades to municipal technology. I think >> kind of ongoing, right? Municipal technology upgrades. Yeah. >> Yep. And then expanded IT governance. I
added this in here because it falls under town administrator as well as procurement. >> Great. >> So, I just added those last two things. Expanded IT governance, cyber security improvements, and digital service delivery. >> Probably the last one. >> And then um modernization of and I had
checked GPT put those two. >> You know what? You could actually do current projects as modernization of um like online permitting and other aren't we doing that? >> No, not yet. Okay, never mind. >> Should be sometime very soon. >> Seems like a current project though.
>> So, and I >> modernization of permitting and >> I think that falls >> transportation stickers >> that would be >> I think it falls under >> the digital services deliver. >> No, you said potential projects. It's really a current project because it's underway. And then the last one was modernization of the procurement process
to ensure efficiency, compliance with state laws, and best value purchasing for taxpayers. I mean, that's just sort of ongoing, but it's just all procurement that falls under TA. >> So, um, we say the next town administrator needs strong communication skills and should be enthused about
engaging with the community, >> especially in that tone of voice. >> He or she must know how to build collaborative teams, have the ability to motivate others, and be able to create consensus. He or she must actively support transparency in government and be dynamic, forward thinking, capable of moving the town to greater levels of
achievement. >> Essentially, none of that is new, >> right? >> That's the same as we did in in 2020. >> So, on the last page there, there are some new things under the ideal candidate. >> Um, I don't I I >> And you had you met with just for everyone's benefit, you met with
>> department you went to the department of meetings. You gathered some feedback and you integrated some feedback into this. >> I did. Okay. I did. >> Perfect. So, um, we have in here, now it's interesting. The job description from 2022 over here says, uh, master's
degree required. >> Um, >> okay. >> Keith, do you have a master's? >> I do. >> You do? Okay. >> G. >> He wasn't here when we were hiring. >> No, I I wasn't. So, in here, we have a bachelor's degree with the master's preferred, but in the job description
from 2022, it says it says masters. I don't know how we feel about that. Do we want to just leave it as a bachelor bachelor's with a master's preferred? >> The reason we did it that way, >> yep, >> was because some people are pursuing their master's degree and and it we
didn't want to limit the potential applicants by saying we wouldn't even consider someone you could be in your final year potentially. >> Yep. >> It could be limiting the candidates and you could find a perfect candidate who's almost there. So >> well so in the job description it says
master's degree or specialized level of trade knowledge in political science public administration or related field a minimum of 7 to 10 years experience. Now this is all over here we don't have that in here under the ideal candidate. When I talked to Tina, she had suggested
>> that um you know, she wasn't involved with with Keith's um search, but she had suggested that when we put this out, we then refer back and that we do post the job the the this job description or its replacement on the town website. So
someone can refer to this um and then because this is sort of a subset the ideal candidate >> this doesn't contradict >> I know well that's that's my point so the contradiction right off the bat is the bachelor's degree with a master's
preferred um but I guess I guess in the end it does say master's degree or specialized level of trade knowledge but this >> keep keep in mind that the town administrator's position is is different than a lot of other employees within the town in that there's wage and personnel,
there's there's unions, there's job descriptions in that um area in those areas. The town admin because we don't have a bylaw and we don't have special legislation defining the responsibilities of the town administrator. We built that into the contract. We tried to pass uh special legislation to define the role which did
not pass at town meeting. So what we are subject to is as you negotiate each contract, you're laying out the responsibilities of the job each time. So, while we have a job description, you could change the what the town administrator does in the contract. We were trying to avoid that
>> with the legislation. But >> Keith, were you going to say something? >> Just I guess maybe piggyback on what Kim just mentioned. I mean, I think the one of the differences between a lot of places in Kingston is there's a bylaw in most communities that identify very specifically what the responsibilities and role of the town administrator is.
>> In Kingston, it's three sentences maybe. Um there was an attempt to try to modernize that and include that in a bylaw probably three years ago that didn't pass. >> So I think what's important why the job description is important in my mind
>> in this in in Kingston is that is the the level of detail I think somebody's going to be looking for uh if they're interested in the position. um you know the the the um you know the document that you've updated I think is is you know gives a a
nice overview of the community. Um but if a person is interested in the position itself, it doesn't give them a sense of you know what what what what's my what are my responsibilities? Um, and so I think here having an accurate and
and fairly detailed job description is important because that's what's going to lay out what their responsibilities are, right? >> I'm not opposed to it. I just want to make sure we're clear that the contract is really the only thing that we have that defines it ultimately because
>> in the I agree with you, but in the beginning when we're trying to recruit people, we don't have a contract. So, I think this would be >> I think this is a recruiting tool, not and it could be turned into a contract. >> Yeah, I'm not opposed to it. >> So, >> but that isn't what we would post. We
would post a link to that if people Yeah. >> So, >> because this is kind of the the tail of the position and that's the >> that would be the posting and that's what Tina said. She said this would be your job posting and then you would have a link in here probably under the how to apply to refer to the job description
which would be posted on the town website. So, I think we've gotten the first three out of the four pages. I think we've all agreed so far on the first three pages. >> The fourth page, the ideal candidate. Is there anything in this list that we either want to remove, modify, add to?
>> I think there actually may be more and I've just cut it off if we stretch that. Nope, that's it. Nope. No. No. And this box was much smaller. I made it as big as I possibly could. Um but all of these things are are fairly important. Some
may be a little bit redundant but um you know we have strong leadership qualities and experience skilled in financial management economic development personnel administration and collective bargaining strong communicator both internally and externally and an active listener provide inspirational
innovative and respectful leadership and a be a morale builder. Um, one thing I heard in the in the department heads meeting, everyone was was very thankful and very complimentary of Keith and how Keith walks around um the building and and steps into offices to see what how
people are doing, what they need, you know, um, etc. Um, they were they were they loved that. Um, you know, proficient knowledge of municipal law. This gets back to and I asked the department heads. I said, "What do you
guys think of if we had somebody who's never been a town administrator, but they were in business, you know, you were a vice president of Fidelity, you know, >> and they come in." Um, >> I forget who it was. Somebody said they did have somebody, they did work under
somebody who was new and came in from the outside, but it's still problematic. >> Sorry. >> Um, and then I asked, "What about someone coming from another state?" You know, and it's the same thing. So it's not impossible. I mean, you worked in New Hampshire. I mean, >> yeah. I mean, so most of my career is in
New Hampshire. I I've been in Mass now for about 10 years. There are some differences. >> The the the lion share of, you know, the the the dealing the day-to-day stuff is fairly similar. >> Um, you know, what's important is to be able to recognize this might be a little
bit different and not be afraid to reach out to somebody who is more um comfortable and and aware of procurement law of of some of the budgeting um differences that that Massachusetts
may have and you know things of that nature. So, >> right. >> Um again, it's just somebody who's willing to just pick up the phone and ask another town another town official or the state. >> Um there's a ton of help out there. Uh it's just a matter of reaching out and asking.
>> Okay, that that makes sense. And I also um I mean department heads I think we're in a lot of agreement, but basically said try to stick to New England if we're going out. Massachusetts would be first. >> Yeah. >> New England second and beyond that. And it was the same thing when we were
searching for a police chief. >> Lots of different a lot of those other states have different forms of government, so it's tough to >> and but when we were searching for a police chief last year, our consultant said, you know, a we want to start here. We had applicants from Florida >> um because it's a lot of New Englanders
who retired to Florida >> and uh or maybe didn't retire, they actually moved there to be uh police chiefs and North Carolina actually. Funny enough, >> I think a lot of northerners go to North Carolina and Florida to to work in a warmer climate and then wanted to come
back home. Um >> so they at least had lived at one point in in New England. Um but instead we we chose the chief. We did. Mhm. >> You made a good choice. Um, so any changes? I guess my question is to the
ideal candidate. >> Nope. I think >> Okay. And then the how to apply. Um, I'll finalize that with with Tina. And >> is a month enough time. I thought it was, but >> um, so that's a good question. I I would >> You can always change it if you really
need to. If you need to open the search up again. We've done that before with other positions, right, where we didn't get enough candidates. >> I would add a month to whatever date this gets posted. So, we don't post it right away. >> Fair. >> And you and you can, you know, you I've seen I've seen uh advertisements that
say that, you know, the positions open until filled. The first review of resumeumés will be >> on this particular date. So, kind of keeps it open. You know, it's really what the board, >> you know, prefers. I think, you know, I believe that if somebody's looking, a
month is more than enough time. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Yeah. >> More than enough time. Okay. >> You know, especially now with, you know, technology the way it is, it's >> you can >> they'll figure it out quick. >> Very quickly. >> Okay. So, uh it sounds like
>> can Tina post it wherever she normally posts? >> Yeah. So, a lot of times it's posted in the Mass Municipal Association. There really isn't. We can you can post it if you want to. There's a fee to do it. I don't think it's a I don't think it's a cost prohibitive fee. I just don't know what it is on the International City and
County Managers Association website. That's a national a national publication. Um >> we could also share it on our own LinkedIn and things too just to get the word out there. >> Yep. >> Because that's I would say that that is one of the things that working that's
one of the benefits to working with >> a search firm is that they often have contacts that maybe are employed in other communities that they proactively reach out to. Yep. >> And almost recruit for you. So, I think what I would ask this board and whoever ends up on the screening committee is
that we need to be looking at recent interviews and other candidates and trying to potentially recruit someone who's not necessarily looking, but maybe would if they were reached out to >> right now. Okay. >> All right. So, let's jump over to the
>> Are you good with being the questions? Yeah. Coming to you. Okay. Um, so I am on to the job description. >> So the job description, I think we should have this good to go and post. It doesn't mean we can't make changes after it's posted, but I think we need to have
at least something up when we post the job position to link back to. >> So statement of duties, >> I I don't know, you know, if we want to go through this um line by line. >> This is all part of the wage study, right? >> Yes. >> Yeah. in 2022.
>> Yeah. I don't think it's changed. >> No. So, and I think it was it's it's very thorough. I mean, there's judgment, um, you know, complexity, work environment, >> hard hat required, nature, and >> lighting.
>> Um, the what were what were the issues that Carl had about typos and things? Was that from the job? a different that was a that was job description. Yeah, >> I just wanted to make sure that we weren't missing it without him here. >> No, that was a different one. >> Okay.
>> Um, so accountability, we've got all of this stuff in here. Occupational risk, essential functions, which again, I went through these. They all make sense to me. Um, can certainly have um Keith go through and and take a look at it again, but you guys did this in 22. >> I'm sorry. I really love this one.
Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone system, computer, and or most other office equipment, keyboarding, and or word processing. It's just funny. >> Yeah. No, I think this is I think it's very paper.
>> And we have KSA, well, they call it KAS, knowledge, abilities, and skills. Um, >> I have no problem with this job posting though. It looks fine to me. >> Okay. >> So, >> unless anyone else had any objection. >> No, it looks good. The only thing I would recommend is we just have um
>> Kate >> Keith take a look at this. Kate take a look at both the job description and the job posting. And Keith >> um >> and then if they're good to go with the changes, then um we should instruct as
long as we get the the okay from town council. If they're suggesting changes, do we need to take a vote to accept like minimal non-ontextual >> uh >> verbiage? Do we need to vote again? >> If it doesn't change the context of
anything, I would recommend >> I think you could do like Oh, sorry. >> I mean, I think you could again I don't not that I get a vote in this, but I I think that you know, again, the board chair can have some discretion. >> Yeah. Okay. that as long as there's nothing significant that's being proposed to be changed, you know, the board chair can just let the rest of the
board know, you know, share a final document once it's completed. >> You know, it might be things in here like nondiscrimination, like things like that that we may have to add into one or the other, you know, from uh legal things. So, I would >> How about this?
>> Recommend Yeah. You get a motion. >> I think so. I move the board selectman approve the town administrator's position statement and job description as amended which because you made some changes
>> um contingent upon the review and approval of the finance director, the town administrator, the HR manager and town council. >> Yep.
>> And further designate chairman Cone to review any edits in order to post. >> Second me. >> All right. All those in favor? >> I >> I >> All right. Thank you.
>> That was >> Sorry, Trisha. I tried to say it slowly. Was making it up as I went along. >> It wasn't too painful at all. Okay. Now, next item related. Um, do we want to estab
if we want to wait, but um to establish a town administrator screening committee. So, we did discuss um putting together a working group um and we had discussed maybe potentially department heads, HR, two selectmen, but
then we kind of also spoke about just keeping it the uh board of selectmen. Um do we want a police chief, fire chief? Do we want someone from finance committee? >> Um what are the thoughts here? I don't think it I don't think it would be good
to have a department head interviewing their potential. >> I think two selectmen, fire chief, police chief, and HR manager. >> Two selectmen. >> Sounds right to me. >> Two selectmen. >> Say that again. >> Fire chief, police chief, HR manager. >> Did you have an objection to that?
>> I don't have an objection. My only comment was going to be if you did the full board then everything is public and I think I think initially >> Yeah. No, that's >> better off. So that's that was my two cents. >> I'm with you. So, do we ask the police chief and the fire chief if they're even interested? >> I am.
>> He's shaking his head. >> He said he was willing to do. >> Yeah. Good. >> But I did. This is I think he got it. I leaned back and looked. He nodded. We're good. >> I got approval. >> Okay. Um >> but the question is who on this board would like to serve on the screening working group.
>> Is the person who's not here getting automatically nominated? >> I don't know. I don't know if Carl has capacity to do it, but um maybe. But I think just to be clear, I think it's reviewing resumes >> and
essentially bringing forth a top >> the top candidate >> one, two, or no more than three. >> I'm I'm actually fine doing it again. I did the police chief um search last year and that's still kind of in my head in terms of, you know, what I was looking for, that sort of thing. So, I'm fine
doing it. But if if there are two other people who wanted to do it, I'm I'm happy to. >> It's going to be significant time. >> Yeah. >> Commitment between now and >> probably >> Yeah. I don't I mean I would be
interested in doing it, but my schedule every meeting would have to be after 2:30. >> Nice part about a work a working group too is that you can do it at your leisure, too. You'll be getting all getting the resumes. You might not have to have too many meetings because you'll
you'll kind of get the resumes and what we did in the our screening committee is we prioritized them into groups. Yeah. >> So they did like a one, a two, and a three. So three was like really not relevant, doesn't live anywhere near us, never did anything like this before. We're not going to do that. >> The second tier group was a maybe this
is a little bit outside the box. And then tier one was that the these seem like really viable candidates. Let's see how they do. >> So after you get it down to those piles, then from there you can kind of >> have the phone interviews as a group. We met and we we met in person here and we
um were able to um argue why we wanted or didn't want people which is good because you know you pick your five you know I pick my five someone else picks their five and so on might be different but you talk each other into or out of >> you know what your choice was and and it's it's great I mean it's great to
have Mark's >> feedback as a you know public safety chief he was like oh you don't want a guy that does this or a girl that does that you know you do want want this kind of a thing. It was very helpful to have um the varying um opinions and I think
you know having Tina's insight on it as well would would be helpful. >> So >> I did it last time so I prefer not to this time although if if it needs to be me I will do it but >> I think we have two great candidates. >> Well I was going to say if you want to
fight me for it you can have it but if >> Well he's a little busy. I have about 47 sports going on for the next three months. So, I will do it if no one else wants to. But, all right. >> So, I guess it's whether Missy or Carl. I don't mind doing it. I just don't want
to impact the rest of the working group with a schedule that can only meet. But if most of it can be done offline, then I'm fine with >> most of it would be offline. We would meet, you know, either by phone or or Zoom or, you know, it could be in the afternoon >> um
>> or early evening. >> Yeah. then I I would I would like to be involved if possible. I just again don't. >> And I will say too, just because the working group is small doesn't mean that you're not all open to people's feedback and whatnot. So feel free if you have things that you're concerned about or you want people to be looking for
things. I think Keith brought up some some um key points with the job description. So if there are things that people are like, "Oh, please make sure you're >> you're looking at this or oh, this is a red flag, feel free to >> let the working group know." >> Okay.
>> All right. So, you want a motion? >> Sure. >> I move the board of selectment create a town administrator screening working group consisting of the following. Two selectmen, the HR director, right? Yeah. HR director, uh, the police chief and
the fire chief. And further, the two selectman representatives be Eric Cron and Melissa Baitman. >> Second. All those in favor? >> That was fast. >> I >> I >> That's unanimous. >> All right. stuck now.
>> The fastest all night. >> All right. >> Anytime someone else is signing up for something, he'll be >> So, we have a resignation of council and aging advisory board associate member um Deb Bruno. Um so, we just need a motion
to accept or not accept the resignation. Can we not accept? >> We ask that almost every time. >> I know. >> I know. I move the board of select and accept the resignation from Deb Bruno effective immediately from the council on aging advisory board. >> Second. >> All those in favor?
>> I. And we thank Deb for her her service. >> Yes. So she was um an associate member if anyone is interested in serving on the board as an associate member. That means there's an opening. >> Okay. Uh next we have Hey, we have an appointment to um zoning board of
appeals associate member David Flomer. The office received a volunteer application from David Flmer requesting to be appointed to the ZBA. The ZBA discussed this at their last meeting and voted in favor of recommending Mr. Flmer to the position. Uh and and the associate member is a one term one-year
term. Is that Yeah, one year term. All right. Do I have a motion? >> I move the board of selectman appoint David Falmer to the position of zoning board of appeals associate member effectively effective immediately through June 30th, 2026. >> Second. All those in favor? I.
>> All right. >> Uh, now we need a discussion on agenda topics for the joint meeting with school and finance committee. So included in the board materials is a draft agenda for the tribe board meeting of the board of selectment and finance committee and school committee in preparation for the meeting.
>> Uh, do we have any questions, comments, concerns? >> I have a lot of concerns about the budget. >> Um, no. Well, I think the goal, if we're thinking about what we're hoping to achieve in this joint meeting, I think
the goal of this meeting should really be focused on we all need to be sort of a united front and and thinking about this together because we all have varying responsibilities and priorities and if the three of our committees and
boards can be on the same page as to how we're going to approach this year. Yeah. >> And the discussion be based around that because there's no sides. We're all part of the same >> community and we have to figure out a way to get through this year together.
>> So the right now the appointments it just the agenda says joint meeting with Kingston school committee and finance committee initial budget expectation discussions discussions regarding possible override. That's that's got to be there. And then the annual town meeting timeline. So, um I think this is
a a great outline for the agenda and I'm I I know we don't need a motion, but I I wouldn't change anything >> if we're talking about potential um like versions of the budget because I think if we're talking about a potential override, we're also talking about we need to create a budget
to approve if an override fails. So, we're going to have to create two budgets. I think it makes I think it makes sense to do that because I think it's important to let the public know that if they decide if an override is proposed and they decide that they aren't in favor of an override, they have to I
think it's important to make people aware of the impact the services that's going to have so people understand as clearly as they can what the impacts are. uh finance director Kathleen Barrett and I have been working on a trying to project out a five-year
financial forecast to help the three boards um based on what we know for growth uh what we know for you know estimating revenues um take trying to take into consideration expenses and again they
are estimates um but we're trying to at least project you know if there's going to be a budget impact in fiscal 27 or or a year after that what that may be based on a number of assumptions. So all three
boards when they discuss things can have a a starting point and we can all agree to disagree on some of the some of the assumptions that are made and it's a working document so it can be refined as time goes on. But um you know so I'm hoping that's at least a
tool for the three committees to start discussions on. There's there's been talk about, you know, adding staff here and there. I've asked department heads to look at are there any major departmental expenses that you see over
the next five years um impacting your departmental budget and provide those to me to provide to me what those what years those are in. Um so again it can be discussed and shouldn't be a surprise if you know somebody's looking to do something a
little bit differently. Um you know the I think once you have that the challenge I one of the challenges I think that I think is going to be faced and again I'm not trying to point fingers. It's just reality and I've never been on a school side of things so I don't maybe
understand or respect the situation that they're in. There's a budget timeline that's been approved by the by the voters of the community. It's it was updated two years ago, I think. Um I know it's been difficult for the school because they don't have final
numbers. Neither do we. Um you know, the the town of Ducksberry submits >> it has a has the first town meeting in in in the state in in February in February or March. Um their deadline to get >> departmental budget information in
>> is December. >> Um Middle Burough is the same way. Now, it may be a little bit different because we have a regional school system as well. And I respect that and I'm not again I'm not trying to pick on the schools. Part of the discussion I think that ought to occur that evening is this is the budget timeline. Is there a
desire to make any changes? And if there are, it's time's time to put that on the fall town meeting warrant and we can make those changes. So, um, all three committees can ideally be locked step because I think what we learned as a board and as staff last year when um an
override was was an a potential uh had a potential of occurring or being presented was you got to get in front of it. You got to educate. You got to get it out early and make sure people understand what the impacts are and why you're doing what you're doing. and getting a budget in March for half the
budget of the municipal budget is is not going to allow the community to understand. I I think what we the big hesitation that I hear and you and >> be a bridge between Wait, did you serve on school? >> I served on school committee just for those that didn't know.
>> Um so, um >> how many years? >> A little too many. Many many years. Um, so one of the problems with that I'm hearing more often, um, and I said it myself is the big they're huge numbers that that can change at the last minute and though
but but >> they do know they they settled I'm just making this number up. They settled a 3% raise for teachers versus a 1.5 versus a two. So you know how that you know the exact dollar amount that's going to >> you can build a lot of your budget and
then you can just take the exact special ed budget from the prior year move it forward with no change or minimal change and then you can take um your kids going to vote and say if it was four because it's like 60 grand if they go to Norfolk
Aggie that's 60 70 grand whatever it is so and that goes yeah all of that stuff so there's transportation there's the there's the tuition that that we have to pay. There's not many. There's usually like three, four or five kids, but between three and five kids is a big difference.
>> May not seem like it, but that could be 120. >> The population shifts every year. And there are things like that, too. >> My point is they could say, "Here's our budget number, but um the special ed um that could change. the regional
transportation reimbursement is going to that could be a 60% or 75% reimbursement. So that changes and special ed um circuit breaker changes yeartoear but we know that it's often I don't know 68 70% more recently it's
been higher >> um but if the state's having a problem they'll go lower they'll say it's 60% reimbursement that that affects you your budget tremendously but if they come in and say we are giving you these numbers based on 65% regional transportation
reimbursement 65% um uh circuit breaker and then no change in the number of kids going out of district because they think when they give us a number that's it they can never go back and we change it all the time we do and we can even I mean I said
this years ago >> at town on town meeting floor you can you can the school committee can go up and say I'm amending this budget I'm adding 100,000 because we got hit with >> a kid you know someone going out of district or regional train whatever >> so I think we just need to build trust
with the the school committee members and the administration and say give us your best number and your assumptions and if your assumptions change >> that's okay >> yeah that's okay >> that's okay we'll figure it out together yeah we'll figure it out together I think that's I know speaking for myself
and the five budgets I put together one of the concerns I've heard was you know the fincom is not going to be willing to you know adjust budgets and I and I again I wish car here. I know he hated the idea that we went back four and five times with minor changes, but that's not
I I found the fincom to be very um you know to work very I worked really well with them. I thought they were very collaborative. They they understood what we were trying to do and if there was a reason a legitimate reason that that something needed to be adjusted because again we were dealing with >> estimates of health insurance rates, estimates for retirement costs,
>> you know, big ticket items and we would try to project as conservatively as we could. Meaning no worse than this. Um, and a couple of times they were worse than that. But, um, you know, again to your point, I think if we can show what the what the
historical trends have been, try to make, you know, estimate based on those historical trends and and give those assumptions to everybody's, it's not going to be perfect and I think everybody knows that. But, >> but and they knew that. So, I mean, I will tell you when we would get our first budget, it would usually be beginning of January, they would they
would the the the superintendent would give us our first budget and Christine Healey, the business manager, would say, "This is based on our estimates on the reimbursement, all these other things, and she would tell us sometimes what those assumptions are because if she
didn't on round two, it'd be like, "Oh, we're, you know, we just saved 300,000." I'm like, well, no, it's just the regionalization and circuit breaker went up because the governor said she was going to give us more, >> you know, um, so it would it would adjust and it looks like we made
savings. It's really just that the the assumptions change. >> I think this discussion will be a a good kickoff to the year anyway because last year I found out that we we look at the budgets differently like we just do. So we we look at last year's costs, this
year's cost, and what what's changing? are we adding someone? Are we taking away something? They were looking at the whole the whole picture, meaning all of the income potentially and reimbursements as well as the cost. And I said I said to the school committee
member that I met with, what if you just look at the costs in the beginning and try to figure out if you want these budget items. There were some issues this year because the there were some there was some movement of accounts and it was hard to as they say in accounting tick and tie, right? Right. Tick and
tie. >> Um so it was hard to do that because things had shifted and been broken into different areas. So it was very difficult to look at one year and then the next year. So that is improving. But that was a challenge for them last year. So I think knowing that helped me better
understand what they were looking at. And I think if we just can open the dialogue between the committees so we have a better understanding and we're all on the same page and looking at the same information >> that's better than last year. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. I I agree. I think um so I I guess to answer your question I I think the agenda looks good. I think we have um a good starting place and hopefully we'll have a new member on the local school committee. I don't know if this is appropriate, but I don't know if Derek,
a member of finance committee, has any suggestions for the agenda if he feels like it's okay. >> No, it um it it looks good to me. Um and look forward to having a discussion. I know it's going to be a um an interesting year going forward. So,
>> they always are. >> Thanks for hanging in, Derek. >> I've been I was on school committee since 2006, and every year is >> a disaster. the um and just I I think there was a quick discussion. I was outside talking to Kathleen when the
meeting started, but um the the superintendent >> and the school committee chair want to have the interviews for the school committee opening on October 9th. >> Yeah. >> 7th. >> So seventh. >> It'll be after it'll be after this joint meeting.
>> Okay. And we're doing the what? It was September 25th is the due date at 4 p.m. Just keep saying it. Hopefully we get lots of people. And if anybody's listening and interested in school committee, you do not have to be an educator. You don't have to be an expert. You just have to have No, you just honestly we had um Sheila Man was
on our school committee I think before she had kids >> maybe. Um >> way back when when I first joined. >> Sorry. Um, but the point is, I think, you know, for for a lot of these committees and boards, I mean, you you need to have common sense, be able to think things
through rationally, listen, um, debate, >> be willing to ask questions, >> be willing to ask questions, learn, um, and there will be people there to help you. So, >> so anyone who is still watching this meeting, if you could share that information with everyone you know,
>> absolutely. >> If not you, then maybe someone you know. >> Yep. All right. Uh, next item is update on the status of establishing a department of public works. It's just on hold as I mentioned last time. Um, I think, you know, bringing in a a new um town administrator, it'll be important
to get um that person's um um I mean there's some things that we can work on before then. >> So, are we thinking spring, not fall? >> Yeah. >> Okay. And then my second question, and then not necessarily for tonight related to the Department of Public Works is we have an interim superintendent, interim for
>> foreman. Mhm. >> I want to know how long we would consider keeping someone in an interim position. I think it's there's a sense of um sort of instability with that just in general. I just want to make sure I know we had um Chief Douglas served in
interim capacity for quite a long time. Um so just want to make sure we have that we're cognizant of that. No one has said anything to me just to be clear. I'm just thinking >> interim is meant to be short term. So, we just need to think about that as we push this out.
>> All right. Um, meeting minutes. We have approval of open session meeting minutes from July 29th, August 5th, and August 12th. And would anybody like to make a motion? >> I move the board accept the board of selectmen accept the open session
meeting minutes July 29th, 2025, August 5th, 2025, and August 12th, 2025 as presented. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I >> I >> All right. Town administrator's report. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um,
the facilities department every year applies for a competitive grant through the green communities grant program uh that's administered through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and um has been very successful in getting grants every year. This year
they're they received uh grant funds to insulate uh 4,200 linear feet of the foundation and windows um that are inefficiently insulated at the Kingston Elementary School, insulate 24 air conditioning units and weather strips 37 doors at the
elementary school. At the intermediate school, they're insulating 52 air conditioning units, weather stripping 18 doors, and insulating all the domestic pipes with ASJ fiberglass insulation. So, uh, big shout out to Melissa and our facilities department for always
applying for and always getting grant money, uh, that to help with the reduction of, um, utility costs in town. Uh, we talked about a little bit at the beginning of the meeting, Crescent, Crescent, and River Streets, um, have both re recently been paved. Grove Street is scheduled to
be paved on the 2nd of September, uh, next week. crack sealing is going to happen uh on Lake and Evergreen Streets this week as well as Dillingham Way and Old Mill estates. Um we had our library tech technician Kathleen McDougall uh submitted her resignation effective as
of August 1st. We wish her well. Um, and I think it was also mentioned this morning that uh or this this evening, excuse me, earlier that letters have been sent out to all the property owners on unaccepted streets um identifying the improvements that need to be made uh prior to having their roads maintained this w this winter with
the exception of Country Club Way. I've held off on Country Club Way uh because right now there's a peer review going on um by an engineering firm that's reviewing the uh the scope of work that the the owner of of uh Indian Pond Estates has done as
part of the agreement between the town and and Kingston that he defaulted on. They've submitted a scope of work that I that I respectfully believe is woefully inadequate. Uh we've hired an engineering firm to do a U peer review. We expect that peer review to be back by
the end of August, hopefully end of this week. Um, and I expect there to be um a much lengthier list of improvements that need to be made. And I wanted to wait until this peer review was done to ident to see if they identified any
um additional issues that may cause uh potential damage to town vehicles or to to town staff before we sent the before we sent that letter out. Um, we had two, um, catch basins that have been paved over, which I guess is typical practice
I'm learning. Uh, when you put a fir a first coat of asphalt down and you cut that out and and raise the grates when the second coat of asphalt is laid, that's never been done. Uh we believe there's upwards of 40 manhole covers that are still buried up there um that
uh could potentially collapse under the weight of um you know winter a truck from street trees and parks or or even a more expensive vehicle from the fire department. So, uh, we've we think we've
we're going to be ident identifying, um, with some specificity where these 40, uh, drainage structures are. And I and and from my my opinion anyways is we should be asking the developer to
excuse me make the make more a more permanent repair to those structures so we aren't facing a a situation where a truck um drives over and a and a catch basin plate uh potentially collapses or partially collapses causing damage to a
truck or wor in worst case damage to a resident or or a town employee. Um and then lastly, we again we talked about it briefly. Our new town website that's been it's been updated uh is online. Um if people have comments, concerns both positive and negative, we're all ears.
We want to try to improve things if we can. Uh we're trying to make it more interactive. Um, our streets, trees, and parks interim superintendent talked briefly tonight about uh the fact that you can now reach out uh and uh fill out a a brief form, two or three minutes to
tell him that uh you know there's a pothole on Evergreen Street or whatever that happens to be. Um and they'll notify him and it will allow you to see how that um how that uh report is is being processed
uh through the system. Um I don't think and again I ask out of respect if you send the same um form 20 and 30 times as a dep on on Evergreen Street. I don't believe it's going to get fixed any quicker. So I' I'd urge people to try to
use some um >> it's not crowdsourced road repair. >> No. So, and I guess the last thing I mentioned, you know, there's there's a lot of discussion at the intersection of um Maine and I'm having a brain cramp. >> Landing main and lane. >> Oh, yeah. The curve
>> landing and and Maine. That was a an improvement that was done by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts after input from the town. It's it's been meant to calm traffic as you turn onto Landing Road, especially going north. Um it was very difficult to see when they
first put they first constructed it. There were cones that were put out until today when the state took those cones away. So, we're working on getting those cones reinstated. I will say the curb, I believe, is sloped and the curb is has a very very short reveal and that's done intentionally. So, if you happen to
drive on the curb, you shouldn't um in in a perfect world anyways, damage your car. A typical curb reveal is somewhere between four and six inches. This is a couple of inches. So, they've taken that that concern people have about not may being able to make the corner into consideration a little bit. I know it's
not ideal for boat trailers or or somebody uh towing something. I respect that. It might mean that you need to slow down a little bit and take that corner a little bit sharper when there isn't a car on the other side of the street. Yeah. >> And I recognize uh that there is not a more a a convenient alternative to get
your boat to the Ardina >> because the next alternative is um >> Maple Street. >> Maple Street and that's not any better. >> Well, you could take the next road. What is it? Lynen, but that's a 90 degree turn. It's not going to be any better. >> So, no. So, it's there there is, you
know, the the better alternative is unfortunately going to Ducks and coming back. And that's obviously, you know, time commitment and and gets you out of your way. >> We understand the situation. Um, you know, it was done to calm traffic. It was done to reduce the number of large trucks that were going and we always get
stured a couple times a year on the bridge on Landing Road and that potentially alleviate some of that concern, >> not just for the height of the bridge, but also the width of the bridge. Um, so there was some thought um put into that.
Uh, I tried to address that on on on one of the Facebook posts that were concerned about a third traffic light and had a um a one-word um well thoughtout answer um from somebody and uh which is why I don't post very often on Facebook. But uh I thought it was
worthwhile to try to get the you know get some accurate information out there. >> You just need to have a fake Facebook account. I don't know. I am who I am and if they don't, you know, I I So, um, >> you know, I understand the frustration some people are having. They're used to driving at at their at their leisure and
and kind of using it as a >> um, you know, almost like an off-ramp, so to speak, and uh, it's not anymore. And and just please be careful and and be cautious and just change some driving habits if you can. Some folks might not realize too that in the the studies
we've seen for roadways that the T intersection is much safer than the angled intersection. So that's probably part of it as well. And then folks might also not realize that there have been accidents right in front of that house right there where a car had gone into
the stone wall. So we just have to be mindful that sometimes even though it's a change, it's not completely random. >> No, it's it's not random. I mean it's well thought out. you don't have to like it. I get that, right? Um but it wasn't just >> done at the drop of a a hat and and I I
tried to mention in my response on Facebook as well, >> there was some there was some comments made. Let's let's fix some of the challenges up on exit 20. We are >> um you know, we're on the state 10-year plan for 2028. The towns of Kingston and Dbury have submitted money um for
engineering costs to have that uh that roadway and the intersections to the to uh to Route Three. um improved to improve to for most importantly to improve safety. Um we're hoping that Mass DOT funds it like they're supposed
to in 2028 and in three short years we'll be um having different ways to have to drive and not be happy about those. Right. So >> Jones is hard. >> Yep. I I realize this isn't on the agenda, but as you mentioned the plowing, um I just wanted to bring this
to the attention of the board as well as the the public. We um we talked about the plowing of private roads at length >> for the last two years, probably longer than that, but specifically the last two years. Um we had two meetings about the plowing of public roadways. The first
being a regular meeting, the second being a public hearing. That public hearing took place on October 8th, 2024. In that meeting, we heard from many residents. We ended up with a very long
um vote that included providing postcourt and Cobb Avenue plowing for the 2024 2025 winter season with the stipulation that they must move the fences in the right ofway by October 1st, 2025 or forfeit winter maintenance
in the future. I know we all received a letter um recently from residents on Kav with their concerns. Um I believe you said you were out with Sean earlier. >> Sean and I went out today. Um I wanted to be able to see it, I guess, and be more familiar with it because I knew I thought it would come up this evening
and I and I'm not as familiar with it as I wanted to be. So I wanted to go out and it was like we were driving in an ice cream truck. As soon as we parked that town truck, everybody >> everybody came out. >> It was unbelievable. It was >> Maybe you should have brought an ice cream truck. >> It was amazing. Listen, if that's all it took, that's all I I I would have I
would have brought a box >> town meeting with ice cream trucks. It might work. >> So, um you know what we tried to explain to a handful of residents um today on Cobb was um you know, the board's not trying to be punitive at all. Um that
the challenge we have uh is these roads are narrow. They frankly weren't built to have to have homes on them in the winter time uh typically. Um, and we want to try to be flexible. There may be some the some of the residents had
some thoughts and ideas about how we can u try to get to the goal of having uh areas on the sides of the road for snow storage. Um, and without risking the damage of of the of in this case a poly fence. Um, and
and they're going to talk amongst themselves and Sean and I are going to talk and we may come back to the board. We may have we may have something that is will at least on Cobb a potentially um be an alternative that that that would
be functional. Um wouldn't be ideal and and again what it will do is some some some residents on the roads are going to say what about me? >> Um the other road that we we went down today was and I'm sorry I'm I'm going to blank. You mentioned it just now.
>> Postcourt. Postcourt is the problem with postc court is that that road is narrower than >> the other. The fence is closer to the road. >> It's a right of way. It's not even a road. >> There's just really there's no >> series of easements. I think >> there is there is really not a not an
alternative but to move that fence if they want that road plowed this winter. Um so >> if I recall from this meeting, it's the fence actually belongs to someone who lives on Main Street, which complicates the issue even more. So the fence is along post court, but the people who
live at that house actually have egress on Main Street. >> So the people who own the fence aren't really motivated necessarily to move the fence because it doesn't affect >> them. So it's a complicated issue. But again, we're not just picking on Cobb and Postc Court. We had stipulations for Metobrook and Padbury and Bradford and
all these other roads that they had to make some changes and they have. >> So it just may be something that >> Yeah, most everybody I think is most everybody is willing to um you know cooperate and and try to try to address the situation. Um you know I
think Cobb is a little bit unique because it's down the nook and it's such a narrow pathway and uh because of some of the um frontages on the other on on the opposite side of the road of the fence. There may be some opportunities there to >> uh get creative with where we put the
snow if we do get snow this year. Um, >> so will we have this on a future agenda to discuss maybe in October >> if if the board I guess from my point of view um we certainly can if the board wants to bring it up and make it that formal if you if the if if it's
>> or we can just get in the >> I mean if they follow the policy right but if they follow the policy we don't need to bring it up >> no I mean I so so you know Cobb is looking for relief um if if the board wants to >> and we can put this on an agenda so you
can formally vote on it. Give, you know, give um the interim superintendent of streets, streets, and parks and I a little bit of >> flexibility to work with the residents to try to find an alternative that that satisfies Sean um without making, you know, without formally coming back to
the board. Happy, you know, either whatever whatever preference the board has. I I think you probably don't need a vote for >> I think the goal is to get >> I don't think I don't think it I can't do it tonight but um we can I say just do your work. Do what you guys come need
to come up with and then let us >> if if let's put it this way. If this is an area where they can't the there are roadways that would like to be plowed that don't adhere to the agreed upon policy then it would require a vote because we already said you're forfeiting it. >> I think you've already voted. I mean if
if >> we forfeited it. I'm just saying if they if if they are saying we want you to reconsider, >> we would ask them to come to the board of >> they'd have to do. >> Yep. Absolutely. >> And I would like to I think we had talked earlier is I would like to look at the >> release of liability or what the
possibility is to that if we did do it with stipulations. >> Yes. So one of the things that we talked about, you know, there are overhanging limbs on on Cobb that we would need cut back. They'd have to they'd have to widen a bit of the the road or at least
the um the shoulder on on one of the on the opposite side of the road from the fence. Uh Selectman Aenbright made a great point of of trying to get some sort of a formal release from the fence owners that if if >> um during winter maintenance the fence
is damaged by a town vehicle um that you know it would not need to be at the expense of the town. I think that makes a lot of sense and we and I and they seem to be very willing to do something like that. Um it's just, you know, again, it's a it's
a challenging area where the trucks, you know, it's plowed now by a pickup truck, so we can't go any smaller, >> right? >> Um the truck has to back up the entire length. And from what I understand in the past when we had some big snowstorms and some icy roads, we had to actually have, you know, backhoes and loaders uh
tow the truck back up the hill. they have to back down the road when they're salulting because of the ice. So, it's um you know, it's it's not from a lack of effort from street, streets, and parks. They're trying to do whatever they can to to provide the winter maintenance and support that we can, >> but those areas in some cases are very
challenging. >> Yeah. I think if unless we have to look at the policy or make exceptions, I don't I don't think we need it. >> Okay, great. >> All right. Any other selectman comments? >> If not, >> no, I don't think so. >> Next regular meeting is September 9th, 2025. Um
>> Kim, do you want to do the motion to >> I do? Let me see. So, uh move to adjourn open session to recess to executive session, not to return to open session. Um we'll be in room 203 to for the purpose of conducting strategy sessions
and preparations for negotiations with non-union personnel and sorry or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with non-union personnel. It's town administrator. >> Yep. Second. All those in favor roll call I miss I
>> miss. Sorry. >> All right. All right. Everything executive has a role. Oh yes.